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)

Initial attempts to measure alpha-MSH in trout blood by radioimmunoassay proved unsuccessful due to apparent losses of immunoreactive hormone, especially in the plasma of trout adapted to a black background. An extraction protocol for alpha-MSH from plasma is described. Subsequent radioimmunoassay revealed progressive increases in immunoreactive alpha-MSH as trout became adapted to a black background. Plasma alpha-MSH titres were raised during fungal infection, and also showed significant differences in fish obtained from different fish farms.
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PMID:Measurement of immunoreactive alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone in the blood of rainbow trout kept under various conditions. 685 94

An impairment of cortisol synthesis can be assumed for the new antimycotic fluconazole based on its chemical structure (triazole derivative) and mechanism of action (inhibition of ergosterol synthesis). In healthy volunteers, however, no influence on steroid hormone production could be found. The present study was undertaken to clarify whether this is also true for critically ill, long-term patients in an intensive care unit. The basal cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels were determined by means of radioimmunoassay in 11 patients being treated with antimycotics at fixed times. Antimycotic treatment was carried out using either fluconazole (n = 6) or a combination of amphotericin B and flucytosine (n = 5) for 14 days. Seven days after cessation of the treatment the above-mentioned hormones were again determined. Patients with the same baseline criteria who did not require antimycotic treatment (n = 8) served as controls. During the entire study period adequate cortisol synthesis was found after ACTH stimulation in all three patient groups. They all presented with relatively raised basal cortisol levels (range 16.4-31.0 micrograms dl-1) and an increase in ACTH-stimulated cortisol synthesis from 31% (group ampho B/flucytosine) to 78% (group fluconazole). The basal ACTH values were always within the normal range (9.2-16.4 pg ml-1). Neither the basal ACTH levels nor the basal cortisol levels as well as the cortisol levels determined after the ACTH test showed adrenocortical suppression in the patients of all three groups. Thus, according to the present results clinically relevant impairment of cortisol synthesis after treatment with fluconazole can be excluded.
Mycoses
PMID:Function of the adrenal cortex during therapy with fluconazole in intensive care patients. 839 4

Inflammatory and granulomatous diseases of the pituitary are rare causes of sellar masses. Lymphocytic hypophysitis is the most relevant of these disorders, and it is characterised by autoimmune pathogenesis with focal or diffuse inflammatory infiltration and varying degrees of pituitary gland destruction. Endocrine symptoms may include partial or total hypopituitarism, with adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) deficiency being the earliest and most frequent alteration. Pituitary abscess is a rare but potentially life-threatening disease and, in 30-50% of patients, anterior pituitary hormone deficiencies or central diabetes insipidus (DI) at onset may be observed: the earliest manifestation being growth hormone deficiency (GHD), followed by follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)/luteinising hormone (LH), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and ACTH deficiencies. Fungal infections of the pituitary are also very rare and include aspergillosis and coccidioidomycosis. Concerning pituitary involvement in systemic diseases, in sarcoidosis endocrine complications are rare, but the hypothalamus and pituitary are the glands most commonly affected. DI is reported in approximately 25-33 % of all neurosarcoidosis cases and is the most frequently observed endocrine disorder. Hyperprolactinaemia and anterior pituitary deficiencies may also occur. Rarely, partial or global anterior pituitary dysfunction may be present also in Wegener's granulomatosis, either at onset or in the course of the disease, resulting in deficiency of one or more of the pituitary axes. Other forms of granulomatous pituitary lesions include idiopathic giant cell granulomatous hypophysitis, Takayasu's disease, Cogan's syndrome and Crohn's disease. The hypotalamic-pituitary system is involved mainly in children with Langerhans' cells histiocytosis who develop DI, which is the most common endocrine manifestation. Anterior pituitary dysfunction is found more rarely and is almost invariably associated with DI. Pituitary involvement may also be observed in another form of systemic hystiocitosis, that is, Erdheim-Chester disease. Tuberculosis is a rare cause of hypophysitis, which may present with features of anterior pituitary dysfunction, such as hypopituitarism with hyperprolactinaemia. In conclusion, in patients with a sellar mass and unusual clinical presentation (DI, neurological symptoms), aggressiveness and onset and in the presence of systemic diseases, inflammatory and granulomatous pituitary lesions should be carefully considered in differential diagnosis.
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PMID:Pituitary tumours: inflammatory and granulomatous expansive lesions of the pituitary. 1994 28

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is the most common systemic fungal disease in central-south America, but is rare in Japan. We experiensed a case of PCM in a patient, who came from Bolivia and presented with mouth pain and reduced dietary intake but no fever. Adrenal insufficiency was diagnosed with extremely high serum adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and was resolved with hormone supplementation. The PCM was treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole which was switched to itraconazole and improvement was achieved.
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PMID:[A case of paracoccidioidomycosis with severe adrenal insufficiency]. 2274 52

An 8-year-old, male neutered, domestic longhair cat was referred for investigation of insulin-resistant diabetes mellitus. Routine haematology, serum biochemistry, urinalysis (including culture), total T4 and urine creatinine:cortisol ratio were unremarkable, but markedly increased insulin-like growth factor-1 concentration was identified and a pituitary mass was subsequently documented. The cat was treated conservatively with the dopamine agonist L-deprenyl and was re-presented 16 months later for worsening polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia, marked lumbar muscle atrophy, development of a pendulous abdomen and marked thinning of the abdominal skin. Hyperadrenocorticism was diagnosed based on abdominal ultrasonography, dexamethasone suppression testing and endogenous adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). The cat was treated with trilostane (30 mg q24h PO) and showed some clinical improvement, but developed an opportunistic fungal infection and skin fragility syndrome 4.5 months after commencing treatment, and was euthanased. A double-pituitary adenoma comprising a discrete somatotroph adenoma and a separate plurihormonal adenoma (positive immunoreactivity for ACTH, melanocyte-stimulating hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone) was identified on post-mortem examination. These two pituitary adenomas were suspected to have arisen as independent neoplastic entities with the plurihormonal tumour either being clinically silent at the initial presentation or having developed over the subsequent 16 months.
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PMID:Concurrent somatotroph and plurihormonal pituitary adenomas in a cat. 2355 10