Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01189 (beta-endorphin)
 21,003 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Diethylnitrosamine is known to cause squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the lung in Syrian golden hamsters. Sections of lungs obtained from hamsters treated with the systemic carcinogen diethylnitrosamine showed a significant increase in the number of argyrophilic cells of neuroepithelial bodies. The hyperplastic response was retained at least 4 weeks after cessation of treatment. To examine whether these affected cells exhibited enhanced survival in vitro, lung cells were dissociated with Pronase and grown in culture. After 7 days, argyrophilia, dense-cored vesicles, and corticotropin-like immunoreactivity were observed in many of the cells derived from hamsters treated for 5 or 8 weeks. These findings suggest that the endocrine-like cells of neuroepithelial bodies are affected by diethylnitrosamine as evidenced by a numerical increase in vivo and by the properties exhibited by cells in vitro. The relationship of this diethylnitrosamine-induced reaction to bronchial carcinoid tumors or small-cell carcinoma of the lung remains to be established.
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PMID:Lung endocrine-like cells in hamsters treated with diethylnitrosamine: alterations in vivo and in cell culture. 694 63

Immunoreactive methionine enkephalin and beta-endorphin were sought by serial dilution of tissue extracts and assay of chromatographic fractions in non-endocrine tumour tissue from three patients with the ectopic adrenocorticotrophin syndrome associated with carcinoid tumours and in normal lung tissue and thymic tissue from a patient with myasthenia gravis. In all cases serial dilution of extracts showed parellelism to standard radioimmunoassay curves. The two peptides were found in high concentration in the three tumours but were undetectable in the control tissues. In a single case tested the methionine enkephalin concentration in a vein draining the tumour was twice that in a peripheral vein. In view of their profound effect on behaviour in animals and potent analgesic activity in animals and man the ectopic secretion of methionine enkephalin and beta-endorphin may modify the clinical features of a wide variety of tumours and produce some of the diverse clinical syndromes associated with malignancy.
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PMID:Ectopic production of methionine enkephalin and beta-endorphin. 737 Jun 41

Inferior petrosal sinus sampling (IPSS) for adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels in patients with Cushing's syndrome has become a useful method to distinguish ACTH-secreting pituitary tumors (Cushing's disease) from other causes of the syndrome, principally ectopic adrenocorticotropin secretion by an occult tumor. Although the test is generally regarded as highly specific, the authors recently encountered two patients whose IPSS measurements were false-positive for Cushing's disease. The results of IPSS suggested a pituitary origin of ACTH secretion in both patients, but transsphenoidal surgery failed to disclose a pituitary adenoma or to improve postoperative plasma cortisol levels. Both patients subsequently were found to have an ACTH-secreting carcinoid tumor of the lung. The false-positive IPSS studies were due to periodic hormonogenesis. The patients must be hypercortisolemic at the time IPSS is performed for the study to be valid.
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PMID:False-positive inferior petrosal sinus sampling in the diagnosis of Cushing's disease. Report of two cases. 749 Jun 27

We evaluated three cases of pigmented pulmonary carcinoid tumors that were retrieved from the files of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC. Clinical follow-up showed no indication of tumor recurrence or metastases, nor was there evidence of malignant melanoma. All three cases exhibited histologic features of typical carcinoid tumor; there were focal oncocytic changes in two cases. Finely dispersed, brown pigment, believed to be melanin, was distributed in two different patterns: in sustentacular cells (case 1) or within the tumor cells (cases 2 and 3). Fontana-Masson stain was positive in areas of this pigment in all cases. The tumor cells showed immunoreactivity for chromogranin, synaptophysin, keratin (AE1/AE3 and CAM-5.2), and S100 protein in all cases. Focal staining for vimentin and corticotropin was seen within neoplastic cells in two cases. The pigmented sustentacular cells in case 1 showed focal immunoreactivity for S100 protein and HMB-45. Ultrastructural studies of paraffin-embedded tissues were performed in two cases. They showed well-developed melanosomes in the pigmented sustentacular cells in case 1. In both cases, cytoplasmic neurosecretory-type granules were identified in neoplastic cells. These findings demonstrate that pigmented pulmonary carcinoid tumor has an immunohistochemical profile similar to that of typical pulmonary carcinoid tumor. In some instances, pigmented pulmonary carcinoid tumors may show ultrastructural evidence of melanocytic and neuroendocrine differentiation. These immunohistologic and ultrastructural findings distinguish pigmented pulmonary carcinoid tumor from malignant melanoma and support the concept of "multidirectional cellular differentiation."
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PMID:Pigmented pulmonary carcinoid tumor. An immunohistochemical and ultrastructural study. 768 14

A 54-year-old man who had an appearance strongly suggestive of Cushing's syndrome, collapsed after the removal of a carcinoid tumour of the thymus. The clinical suspicion of acute adrenal insufficiency was supported by invasive haemodynamic data and the diagnosis was subsequently confirmed biochemically. These post-operative events were subsequently ignored and a further crisis was probably prevented by tumour recurrence (and hence resumption of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) production). The ectopic production of ACTH from a carcinoid tumour of the thymus is recognised but a report of acute adrenal insufficiency from its removal is probably unique.
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PMID:Post-thymectomy collapse: an unusual case of acute adrenal insufficiency. 778 88

We present the case of a 65-year-old woman with an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secreting bronchopulmonary carcinoid. This patient showed the typical long history of Cushing's syndrome, including hypokaliemia, impaired glucose tolerance, high levels of ACTH and beta-endorphin, and coproduction of other peptides. At the onset of clinical symptoms in 1979 an adrenal adenoma was suspected, and left-sided adrenalectomy was performed. The symptoms soon recurred, and the diagnosis of ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome was made. As no ACTH-secreting tumor was found, the right adrenal was resected, and the patient was followed up regularly. Fourteen years later chest roentgenography and computed tomography revealed a para-aortic pulmonary lesion, which was suspicious for a bronchopulmonary carcinoid. ACTH and beta-endorphin were excessively, pancreatic polypeptide slightly elevated at that time. The final diagnosis was made using somatostatin receptor scintigraphy which confirmed the hormonal activity of the suspicious lesion; no additional focus was found. This method turned out to be not only a useful additional localization technique but also a promising tool for characterization and staging of a suspected ACTH-producing carcinoid. The tumor was resected curatively, and the diagnosis was confirmed histologically.
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PMID:Ectopic ACTH secretion due to a bronchopulmonary carcinoid localized by somatostatin receptor scintigraphy. 789 18

A case of carcinoid tumor of the lung with focal melanin production was encountered in a 56 year old Japanese woman. The tumor was found 16 years previously by mass survey chest X-ray and had enlarged two-fold in the intervening period. The tumor consisted of a variety of tumor cells showing a spindle, polygonal and pleomorphic appearance with abundant vasculature in the stroma. All tumor cells showed argyrophilia, together with a few showing argentaffinity. Melanin-containing tumor cells were also present in parts. Ultrastructurally, most tumor cells possessed various numbers of neurosecretory granules and a few of them contained granular type melanosomes. Tumor cells were connected with desmosomes and a few of them contained tonofilament-like microfilaments. Only a few contained both neurosecretory granules and melanin. By immunohistochemistry, serotonin, met-enkephalin and beta-endorphin positive cells were observed scattered throughout the tumor. A few tumor cells positive for tyrosine hydroxylase were also detected. Additionally, most tumor cells were positive for keratin. On the basis of these findings, the tumor of the current case is a pulmonary carcinoid tumor with focal melanin production.
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PMID:Peripheral carcinoid tumor of the lung with focal melanin production. 804 98

In 29 consecutive patients with adrenocorticotropin (ACTH)-dependent Cushing's syndrome, we compared the usefulness of multiple baseline ACTH evaluations (10/29), multiple hormone evaluation (29/29) and ACTH-releasing hormone (CRH) stimulation (21/29) during simultaneous and bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling. The basal inferior petrosal sinus/periphery ratio for ACTH concentrations was greater than 2 in 18 of the 29 patients and CRH challenge caused the appearance of an inferior petrosal sinus/periphery ratio greater than 3 in 6 other patients. The presence of an ACTH-secreting adenoma was surgically proven in all the 24 patients who had an ACTH inferior petrosal sinus/periphery ratio greater than 2 basally or greater than 3 after the CRH test but also in 1 patient who had an inferior petrosal sinus/periphery ratio lower than 2 basally or 3 after the CRH test. In 4 patients, both the very high peripheral ACTH levels, the inferior petrosal sinus/periphery ratio and the complete lack of ACTH increase after CRH indicated the presence of an ectopic ACTH syndrome: a bronchial carcinoid was found in 2 patients, whereas the site of the tumor is still unknown in the remaining 2. An ACTH intersinus gradient greater than 1.4 was found in 23 patients. Among these 23 patients, the side of the adenoma was correctly predicted in 19 patients and wrongly in 4.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Simultaneous and bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling for the diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome: comparison of multihormonal assay, baseline multiple sampling and ACTH-releasing hormone test. 811 22

Bronchial carcinoid tumors are rare neuroendocrine neoplasms that arise from the Kulchitsky cells of the bronchial epithelium. These tumors can manifest as central carcinoid tumors, pulmonary carcinoid tumorlets, or peripheral carcinoid tumors. Occasionally, the peripheral carcinoid tumors produce corticotropin and result in Cushing's syndrome. Herein we report the first case of Cushing's syndrome associated with a peripheral pulmonary carcinoid tumor that was excised by video-assisted thoracoscopy. After excision, the patient had complete remission. Video-assisted thoracoscopy may be ideal for resecting a peripheral pulmonary carcinoid, especially in patients with debilitation but no evidence of metastasis.
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PMID:Thoracoscopic excision of a peripheral corticotropin-secreting pulmonary carcinoid tumor. 763 Feb 25

To differentiate between ectopic ACTH syndrome and Cushing's disease, gene expression of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), proopiomelanocortin (POMC), and glucocorticoid receptor was examined in 10 pituitary adenomas (Cushing's disease) and in 10 ectopic ACTH-producing tumors. CRH increased plasma ACTH levels in all patients with Cushing's disease and in five patients with ectopic ACTH syndrome whose tumors contained CRH and CRH mRNA. In five CRH nonresponders, CRH was not detected in tumors that contained no CRH mRNA or that contained only long-size CRH mRNA. Dexamethasone (Dex) decreased plasma ACTH levels in all patients with Cushing's disease and in three patients with ectopic ACTH-producing bronchial carcinoid. These tumors contained glucocorticoid receptor mRNA. CRH increased and Dex decreased ACTH release and POMC mRNA levels in pituitary adenoma and bronchial carcinoid cells. PMA increased POMC mRNA levels only in carcinoid cells. These results reveal characteristics of ectopic ACTH-producing tumors: long-size CRH mRNA and PMA-induced POMC gene expression. In addition, there are two ectopic ACTH syndrome subtypes: tumors containing ACTH with CRH (CRH responder) and tumors without CRH. Dex decreases ACTH release and POMC mRNA levels in some bronchial carcinoids. Therefore, CRH and Dex tests have limited usefulness in differentiating between Cushing's disease and ectopic ACTH syndrome.
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PMID:Corticotropin-releasing hormone, proopiomelanocortin, and glucocorticoid receptor gene expression in adrenocorticotropin-producing tumors in vitro. 825 33


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