Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01178 (oxytocin)
 15,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Enkephalin and neurophysin immunoreactivity have been co-localized in terminals of frozen-dried cat posterior pituitary, using two methods of immunocytochemistry--the protein A-gold procedure and the PAP method. Absorption controls show reduced staining in all cases. Intermediate lobe cells are negative using the enkephalin and neurophysin antisera, but with alpha-MSH antiserum, posterior lobe terminals are negative and intermediate lobe cells are positive. The data are compatible with the hypothesis that inhibition of release of oxytocin and vasopressin by the pituitary opioid system is accomplished by an autoregulatory mechanism in which the release of enkephalin with oxytocin or vasopressin serves to inhibit release of the neurohormones.
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PMID:Co-localization of neurophysin- and enkephalin-like immunoreactivity in cat pituitary. 616 69

alpha-Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) has been shown to act directly on the mammalian melanocyte in short-term cultures of hair follicles obtained from the Siberian hamster. Melanogenesis was stimulated through an increase in tyrosinase activity which resulted in an increase in melanin production. The response of hair follicle melanocytes to alpha-MSH occurred only in follicles taken from moulting animals, implying that they show a discontinuous expression of MSH receptors during the hair follicle growth cycle. Synthetic 1-24 ACTH had no effect on melanogenesis regardless of whether the follicles came from moulting or non-moulting animals. The pineal peptide, [8-arginine]-vasotocin (AVT), inhibited melanin production without a concomitant decrease in tyrosinase activity. In this respect AVT resembled melatonin, although AVT showed a potency ratio of less than half on a molar basis. The action of AVT, like that of melatonin, must ultimately be on some post-tyrosinase step in melanin biosynthesis. In these hair follicle melanocytes AVT seems to bind to specific receptors since neither of the closely related peptides, oxytocin and [8-arginine]-vasopressin, displayed any activity in our culture system.
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PMID:Effects of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone and [8-arginine]-vasotocin upon melanogenesis in hair follicle melanocytes in vitro. 627 86

Highly purified porcine neurophysin-II, prepared from pig posterior pituitary lobe tissue was injected into fifteen rabbits in the preparation of anti-neurophysin sera. All antisera, when used in association with immunohistochemical procedures, gave an immunoreaction in structures of the rat hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system. Four antisera, however, also stained cells of the arcuate nucleus, corticotrophs and melanotrophs. Staining of the latter two cell groups also occurred in tissues obtained from Brattleboro rats. Preadsorption of the latter neurophysin antisera with either alpha-MSH, beta-LPH, beta-endorphin, ACTH (1-24), ACTH (17-39), ACTH (1-39), gastrin and CCK, failed to inhibit the staining of the corticotrophs, melanotrophs and cells of the arcuate nucleus. Inhibition of staining was achieved only by preadsorption of the antineurophysin sera with the neurophysin antigen or an homogenate prepared from the anterior pituitary. These results support the observation by others that the biosynthesis of the ACTH-beta-endorphin system in the pituitary and hypothalamus may also be accompanied by the appearance of neurophysin.
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PMID:Presence of neurophysin-like material in the pituitary corticotrophs and melanotrophs and cells of the arcuate nucleus of the rat as revealed by immunocytochemistry. 632 40

Histamine administered intraperitoneally increased, in a dose-dependent manner, AVP, OXT and PRL levels in plasma of rats, whereas alpha-MSH levels were not affected. Levels of AVP in plasma after histamine 20.0 mg/kg treatment were approximately 100-fold higher than those of controls, while OXT and PRL levels were approximately 7-fold higher after this treatment. CSF content of AVP, OXT, PRL and alpha-MSH was not influenced by histamine, indicating that a stimulated release of hormones from the pituitary into the blood is not accompanied by a concomitant increase of secretion of these hormones into the CSF. Convulsions induced by pentylenetetrazol were accompanied by a temporary increase in AVP levels and by strongly and consistently elevated OXT levels in plasma. PRL and alpha-MSH plasma levels were affected in a biphasic manner. A convulsion type 1 induced elevated PRL levels and diminished alpha-MSH levels, while a convulsion type 2 had no effect on plasma PRL concentration, but increased the concentration of alpha-MSH. Only the level of OXT in CSF was increased after a pentylenetetrazol-induced convulsion type 1. The present data suggest that histamine affects the release of AVP, while pentylenetetrazol might act more specifically on the OXT-releasing system. Furthermore, a possible relationship between the pentylenetetrazol-induced increase of OXT levels in the CSF and amnesia is suggested.
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PMID:Hypophyseal hormone levels in blood and cerebrospinal fluid in response to histamine and pentylenetetrazol. 715 99

Sixteen peptides were injected intracerebroventricularly to test their effects on rectal temperature of rabbits in a thermoneutral environment. In initial tests 5 micrograms alpha-MSH, ACTH(1--24), oxytocin, vasopressin and glucagon altered body temperature while ACTH(1--10), cholecystokinin, contraceptive tetrapeptide, gastrin, insulin, interferon, leupeptin, LHRH, panhibin (somatostatin), and proctolin did not. Bombesin also altered body temperature but in no consistent direction. In further tests on the effective peptides 1.25--5.0 micrograms alpha-MSH and ACTH(1--24) produced dose-related decreases in rectal temperature as great as 1.0 degrees C. The same doses of oxytocin and glucagon produced small, prolonged hyperthermias which did not exceed 0.4 degrees C. Vasopressin caused rapid development of small increases in rectal temperature; temperature returned to normal in 2--3 hr. The results suggest that five of the peptides tested may have roles in central mediation of normal body temperature, hypothermia, hyperthermia and fever.
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PMID:Central administration of peptides alters thermoregulation in the rabbit. 724 7

The pituitary contents of oxytocin, vasopressin and alpha-MSH were measured in fetal and newborn rats to assess possible changes in their release during the process of labour. In the 24 h period during which delivery is likely to occur in the Wistar rat, both the oxytocin and vasopressin content of the fetal pituitary gland increased, whereas alpha-MSH content remained the same. During and/or just before labour, the oxytocin content was found to decrease by 30%, indicating an enhanced fetal release of the hormone at this stage. It was concluded that the expulsion of each fetus did not provide an extra stimulus for release of oxytocin by the fetus. In addition, if the fetus remained in the uterus after decapitation of the mother, the oxytocin content of the fetal pituitary gland decreased a further 30%. Neither vasopressin nor alpha-MSH content was altered by the process of labour or by the fetus remaining in the uterus after decapitation of the mother. The levels of vasopressin and alpha-MSH were, however, 20 times higher than the oxytocin content in the fetus and the newborn, which might have obscured the demonstration of a relatively small change in levels of these two hormones.
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PMID:Pituitary content of oxytocin, vasopressin and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone in the fetus of the rat during labour. 743 Aug 91

The efferent projections of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons in the arcuate nucleus and nucleus of the solitary tract have been extensively characterized in the rat, but are less well understood in the human brain. We report here that ACTH, alpha-MSH, beta-endorphin, and N-acetyl-beta-endorphin immunoreactive axons are localized in the neural lobe of the human pituitary gland, in congruence with prior evidence that beta-endorphin and other POMC-derived peptides modulate vasopressin and oxytocin secretion.
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PMID:POMC-derived peptide immunoreactivity in neural lobe axons of the human pituitary. 823 36

Previous data have clearly suggested that the posterior pituitary (PP), consisting of neural lobe (NL) and intermediate lobe (IL), has a role in the control of anterior pituitary PRL secretion. However, basic aspects of this regulatory mechanism like (1), the role of an intact hypothalamic innervation of the PP as well as (2) the site of production of previously found PRL releasing substance(s) have not yet been characterized. Denervation of the PP (PPD) is an effective method for having a selective lesion of the innervation of PP, indeed, PPD results in a disappearance of neurosecretory materials from NL and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity from IL, leaving blood supply of all three lobes intact. Blood samples were taken from freely moving sham an PP-denervated lactating rats before and after 4-h separation from their pups and during the suckling stimulus. PPD blocks separation-induced depletion but only attenuates suckling induced release of PRL. Furthermore, it doubles plasma level of alpha-MSH during the entire sampling period, which has been used as a marker for in vivo secretory activity of IL cells. Lack of the separation-induced depression in plasma PRL of PPD animals can be partially restored by normalizing the diabetes insipidus with treatment of a vasopressin analogue, 1-desamino-8-D-arginine-vasopressin (dDAVP). In contrast, dDAVP, neither alone nor in combination with oxytocin (OXY), can change PPD-induced elevation of plasma alpha-MSH as well as attenuation of PRL response induced by suckling. It is concluded that: (1) contribution of the THDA system parallel to the confirmed role in the regulation of alpha-MSH seems to be crucial for the depletion of plasma PRL induced by separation but not for the elevation due to suckling stimulus, (2) intact hypothalamic innervations of both NL and IL, regulating water intake and the secretion of alpha-MSH, respectively, are necessary for normal secretory responses of AL during lactation, (3) as well as for the presence of PRF activity in PP, (4) which does not solely responsible for suckling-induced PRL release. Therefore, an interplay between several substances produced by NIL of the pituitary gland must have been responsible for the intact regulation of PRL secretion during lactation.
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PMID:Effect of posterior pituitary denervation (PPD) on prolactin (PRL) and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) secretion of lactating rats. 922 42

gamma-Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (gamma-MSH), atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), and oxytocin have been identified as candidate hormonal mediators of the reflex natriuresis that follows acute unilateral nephrectomy (AUN). Pharmacological characterization of the third melanocortin receptor (MC3-R) indicates that it uniquely responds to physiological concentrations of gamma-MSH. We tested the roles of gamma-MSH, ANP, and oxytocin in the postnephrectomy natriuresis by carrying out AUN during continuous intrarenal infusion of specific antagonists for their cognate receptors. In anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats, urinary sodium excretion (UNaV) increased from 0.34 +/- 0.04 to 1.12 +/- 0.11 mu eq/min 90 min after AUN (P < 0.001). No change in UNaV occurred in rats undergoing a sham AUN procedure. Plasma immunoreactive gamma-MSH concentration was 53 +/- 8 fmol/ml after sham AUN but 112 +/- 17 fmol/ml after AUN (P < 0.01). SHU-9119 and SHU-9005 are substituted derivatives of alpha-MSH with potent antagonism at the MC3-R in vitro. Infusion of these compounds at 5 pmol/min completely blocked the natriuretic response to AUN despite a similar elevation in plasma gamma-MSH (111 +/- 12 vs. 49 +/- 8 fmol/ml in sham rats, P < 0.01). Intrarenal infusion of the ANP receptor antagonist A-71915 (5 pmol/min) or the oxytocin receptor antagonist [d(CH2)(5)1, Tyr(Me)2,Orn8] vasotocin (10 pmol/min) effectively inhibited the natriuresis induced by intravenous infusion of ANP or oxytocin (each at 1 pmol/min), respectively, but did not block the natriuresis after AUN. Plasma immunoreactivity of these peptides was not increased after AUN. These results indicate that reflex natriuresis after AUN is accompanied by an increase in plasma gamma-MSH but not ANP or oxytocin concentration and is prevented by intrarenal infusion of receptor antagonists with selectivity for MC3-R. The data indicate that gamma-MSH or a closely related peptide mediates postnephrectomy natriuresis and provide further support for the possibility that gamma-MSH may play a wider role in sodium homeostasis.
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PMID:Prevention of reflex natriuresis after acute unilateral nephrectomy by melanocortin receptor antagonists. 957 53

Reflexive erection initiated by recruitment of penile afferents, involves both autonomic and somatic efferents. The reflex is mediated at the spinal cord level, modulated by supraspinal influences, and may use several transmitters. Dopamine, acetylcholine, nitric oxide, and peptides, such as oxytocin and ACTH/alpha-MSH, seem to have a facilitatory role, whereas serotonin may be either facilitatory or inhibitory, and enkephalins are inhibitory. Peripherally, the balance between contractant and relaxant factors controls the degree of contraction of the smooth muscle of the corpora cavernosa, and determines the functional state of the penis. Noradrenaline contracts both corpus cavernosum and penile vessels via stimulation of alpha1-adrenoceptors. The role of endothelins in the control of penile smooth muscle tone is presently unclear. Neurogenic nitric oxide (NO) is considered the most important factor for relaxation of penile vessels and corpus cavernosum. The role of other mediators, released from nerves or endothelium has not been definitely established. International Journal of Impotence Research (2000) 12, Suppl 4, S26-S33.
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PMID:Neurotransmitters: central and peripheral mechanisms. 1103 83


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