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)

Systemic administration of human interferon-alpha stimulates the pituitary-adrenal axis in men, but the exact mechanism still remains to be established. The present study was undertaken to examine the hypothesis that interferon-alpha may alter the circulating concentrations of the cytokines which involve the activation of the pituitary-adrenal axis. Eleven patients with chronically active hepatitis C were treated with human lymphoblastoid interferon-alpha (IFN: 6 x 10(6) IU/day) and changes in plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), serum cortisol and cytokine concentrations were observed on both the first and second days of the treatment. Subcutaneous administration of IFN significantly increased plasma ACTH and serum cortisol concentrations by 3 h after the injection. Serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) increased with the increase in circulating ACTH and cortisol. There was a significant correlation between serum cortisol and IL-6 concentrations at 3 h. In contrast, an increase in serum interleukin-1 beta was only observed in one case. On the second day of IFN treatment, simultaneous administration of 25 mg diclofenac sodium eliminated the IFN effects on circulating ACTH, cortisol and IL-6 concentrations. The present studies demonstrated that circulating IL-6 increases after systemic IFN administration, resulting in activation of the pituitary-adrenal axis.
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PMID:Increase in serum interleukin-6, plasma ACTH and serum cortisol levels after systemic interferon-alpha administration. 855 63

Various skin disorders may occur during antiviral therapy with interferon (IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) for chronic hepatitis C. This article describes to our knowledge the first report of lingual hyperpigmentation during pegylated (PEG)-IFN/RBV combination therapy in five dark-skinned hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients. Lingual pigmentation during antiviral therapy was not associated with age, gender, HCV genotype, doses of RBV, or duration of the treatment or treatment outcome. Since IFN increases the expression of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) surface receptors, the use of PEG-IFN having a longer plasma half-life may even increase incidence for such cutaneous side effects particularly in dark-skinned HCV patients.
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PMID:Tongue and skin hyperpigmentation during PEG-interferon-alpha/ribavirin therapy in dark-skinned non-Caucasian patients with chronic hepatitis C. 1640 55

Endogenous opioids participate in growth regulation. Liver regeneration relates to growth. Thus, we explored the expression of methionine enkephalin and of the delta opioid receptor 1 immunoreactivities with a polyclonal rabbit antibody in deparaffinized liver of patients with chronic liver disease. Fifteen of a total of fifty-eight samples expressed both opioid receptor and methionine enkephalin immunoreactivities, one sample expressed receptor but not methionine enkephalin immunoreactivity, and two samples expressed methionine enkephalin but not receptor immunoreactivity. Ten of the 45 (22%) samples from patients with chronic hepatitis C, four of the eight (50%) samples from patients with chronic hepatitis B, one of the five (20%) samples from patients with autoimmune hepatitis expressed both met-enkephalin and delta opioid receptor 1 immunoreactivities. The expression of methionine enkephalin and delta opioid receptor 1 immunoreactivities suggests that methionine enkephalin exerts an effect in situ, which may include regulation of liver regeneration. However, another possibility that concerns an effect of methionine enkephalin in the liver arises. As morphine, which acts via opioid receptors, has been reported to increase hepatitis C virus replication in vitro and to interfere with the antiviral effect of interferon, methionine enkephalin, analogous to morphine, may enhance the replication of the hepatitis C virus in the liver of patients with this type of viral hepatitis, and interfere with the therapeutic effect of interferon. These results may explain at least in part, why some patients with chronic hepatitis C infection do not respond to interferon therapy.
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PMID:Human hepatic met-enkephalin and delta opioid receptor-1 immunoreactivities in viral and autoimmune hepatitis. 1875 88

Adrenal disease is an uncommon manifestation of hepatitis C infection and its related treatment regimen. This is a case of subclinical hypoadrenalism, probably induced by hepatitis C infection and further exacerbated by interferon-alpha2beta and Ribavirin therapy. The adrenal deterioration during the treatment course was observed closely with 24-hour salivary profiles and 250 mug adrenocorticotropin stimulation tests using parallel serum and salivary cortisol concentrations. A number of possible pathogenic mechanisms are discussed, and the controversy over its management is emphasized.
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PMID:Exacerbation of hepatitis C induced subclinical hypoadrenalism by Interferon-alpha2beta: A case report. 1880 Nov 74