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)

The substances stimulating the release of immunoreactive corticotropin-releasing factor from cultured human placental cells were investigated. Monolayer primary cultures of trophoblast cells from pregnant women at term were used. The immunoreactive corticotropin-releasing factor released in the culture medium eluted from high-performance liquid chromatography with the same retention time as human corticotropin-releasing factor. Norepinephrine and acetylcholine increased immunoreactive corticotropin-releasing factor release into the culture medium in a dose-related manner. Epinephrine was partially active, whereas dopamine and serotonin did not induce significant changes of immunoreactive corticotropin-releasing factor release from placental cultures. Angiotensin II, interleukin-1, oxytocin, and arginine-vasopressin also increased placental immunoreactive corticotropin-releasing factor release in a dose-related manner, whereas other peptides (vasoactive intestinal peptide, substance P, somatostatin, atrial natriuretic factor, interleukin-2) were ineffective. These results showed that several neurotransmitters and peptides stimulate the release of immunoreactive corticotropin-releasing factor from placental cells, suggesting their possible involvement in the physiologic regulation of placental immunoreactive corticotropin-releasing factor release during pregnancy and parturition.
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PMID:Neurotransmitters and peptides modulate the release of immunoreactive corticotropin-releasing factor from cultured human placental cells. 256 97

Nitric oxide (NO), previously identified with endothelium derived relaxing factor (EDRF), is thought to play a role in central neurotransmission: it is characterized by high lipid solubility and short half life, and NO-synthase, the enzyme which generates NO from L-arginine, has been found in the central nervous system (CNS), both in neuronal and glial cells. NO is believed to be involved in many neural events, such as neurotoxicity from N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor overstimulation, brain damage from vascular stroke, fever, nociception, memory and appetite control. Recent evidence implicates NO as a modulator of endocrine secretions, with inhibition of insulin, growth hormone (GH) and oxytocin release and stimulation of vasopressin (AVP), adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) release. NO and prostaglandins could mediate neuroendocrine activities of cytokines such as interleukin-1 (IL-1) and interleukin-2 (IL-2), particularly in the CNS.
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PMID:Nitric oxide: a gas as a modulator of neuroendocrine secretions. 818 Dec 9

There is growing evidence of interactions between the central nervous system and the immune system. We present evidence that the cytokine interleukin-2 (IL-2) influences expression of the genes encoding the neuropeptides vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT) in the hypothalamus of the nude mouse. A single injection of recombinant mouse IL-2 (rmIL-2) caused a significant increase in VP and OT mRNA levels in the hypothalamus of nude mice. This effect was specific to the nude mouse. These observations stress the potential value of the nude mouse for studying interactions between the central nervous system (CNS) and the immune system.
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PMID:The influence of interleukin-2 on vasopressin and oxytocin gene expression in the rodent hypothalamus. 842 98

This review considers the potential reduction of embryo mortality in vitro and in vivo in ruminants. Data on cytokines provided by different fields of reproductive immunology and biology were collated. Because of the crucial importance of the local interactions between the embryo and its dam, the expression of growth-factor and cytokine genes was analysed in the embryo proper, trophoblast, oviduct and endometrium by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in sheep and in cattle during the pre- and periimplantation periods. Many deleterious cytokines, such as tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and beneficial cytokines, such as transforming growth factor-beta, leukaemia inhibiting factor, colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1), granulocyte-macrophage CSF, IL-1, IL-3, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and IFN-tau appeared to be involved in embryo survival in ruminants and other species. Their administration is efficient in a murine experimental model (CBA/J x DBA/2) of embryonic and fetal mortality. For instance, recombinant ovine IFN-tau (roIFN-tau) injected at the moment of implantation drastically reduces embryonic mortality in this model. In ruminants, roIFN-tau and recombinant bovine IFN-tau are very efficient in maintaining progesterone luteal secretion in cyclic animals. The involvement of IFN-tau in the mechanisms of maternal pregnancy recognition are particularly detailed in relation to inhibition of 13,14 dihydro-15-keto-prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGFM) pulses and oxytocin uterine receptivity. A synthetic model of the anti-luteolytic effects of IFN-tau on the endometrial cell is proposed. Finally, the particular potential of serum pregnancy-specific proteins (PSPs: PSPB, PSP60, pregnancy-associated glycoprotein) for monitoring embryo survival, with examples given for cattle and sheep is underlined.
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PMID:Recent developments and potentialities for reducing embryo mortality in ruminants: the role of IFN-tau and other cytokines in early pregnancy. 926 83

Developmental aspects of oxytocin (OT) receptors (OTR) in uterine tissues before puberty are not known. Bovine ovaries secrete some estradiol, but no progesterone, before puberty; the circulating levels of estradiol are between 1 and 3 pg/ml until puberty. Cross-bred Angus-Brahman heifers, in which puberty occurs around 12 months of age, were used to determine the concentrations of OTR from the late fetal stage to adulthood. PGF2alpha release in response to OT was determined in 3-, 6-, and 9-month-old heifers (n = 4 each). Myometrium, endometrium, and cervical mucosa were obtained from 3-week-old, 3-month-old, 6-month-old, and 9-month-old heifers and from adult cows at estrus. Whole uterus and cervix were taken from third trimester fetuses and at birth. [3H]OT binding and specificity, localization of immunoreactive (ir) OTR, OTR messenger RNA, and OT-induced release of PGF2alpha were determined. The uterus from fetuses and the neonate expressed OTR messenger RNA and bound [3H]OT. At 3 weeks of age, OTR concentrations per mg protein were very low, but at 3 months of age they had increased markedly in all three tissues. At 6 and 9 months of age, levels of OTR had risen further and were similar to those in adult cows at estrus. Prepubertal uterus also possessed separate vasopressin VP1 subtype receptors. The ir-OTR was localized in luminal epithelial cells of endometrium and cervical mucosa, most of which were ir positive, whereas in myometrium, clusters of ir-OTR-positive cells were found among large numbers of ir-OTR-negative cells. The PGF2alpha response to OT was insignificant in heifers of all age groups, in contrast to that in cows at estrus. Endometrial cells from 4- to 5-month-old heifers did not respond to OT with PG release in the absence or presence of added arachidonic acid. Tumor promoters, lipopolysaccharide, and interleukin-2 also failed to elicit PG release in vitro, although they induced PG release in similar cell cultures from cyclic cows. In summary, uterine tissues of prepubertal heifers have high levels of OTR, which appear to be developmentally regulated. These receptors are not coupled to PG synthase, or alternatively, the PG synthase gene is not expressed before puberty, possibly because the tissues have had no previous exposure to progesterone.
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PMID:Ontogeny of oxytocin receptors and oxytocin-induced stimulation of prostaglandin synthesis in prepubertal heifers. 960 82