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

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome is characterized by signs of overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system. Biochemical studies indicate that increased release of norepinephrine is associated with certain symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, and the severity of the withdrawal symptoms correlates positively with the amount of norepinephrine released. In the rat, the brain epinephrine concentration is reduced by alcohol, a phenomenon probably associated with both the intoxicating and rewarding effects of alcohol intake. Furthermore, intoxicating effects of alcohol can be reversed by inhibiting epinephrine synthesis in the rat brain. In this species, alcohol withdrawal is associated with profound depletion of epinephrine in the hypothalamus. When clonidine, a norepinephrine alpha-2-receptor agonist, was infused in alcoholics, these receptors were found to be subsensitive during alcohol withdrawal, and this subsensitivity may contribute to the syndrome. Repeated withdrawals may lead to "kindling" and thus further enhancement of noradrenergic overactivity. Pituitary responsiveness to corticotropin-releasing hormone, which is a central regulator of stress responses and increases the firing rate of brain noradrenergic neurons, is altered during alcohol withdrawal.
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PMID:NIH conference. Alcohol withdrawal and noradrenergic function. 282 72

The authors presented evidence for the effect of 6 analogues of ACTN4-10 on teaching of albino rats in a labyrinth with negative electrocutaneous reinforcement. Sixteen series of experiments on 192 rats demonstrated a positive effect of corticotropin fragments on memory processes. The activating ACTH fragment effect was shown in recording the background and bioelectrically induced rabbit brain activity in response to a photo-flash in 36 experiments on 18 animals. Three groups of 30 patients with alcohol withdrawal syndrome, posttraumatic craniocerebral effect and schizophrenia received injections of corticotropin as a therapeutic agent. A high efficacy of corticotropin in the treatment of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome and after effect of craniocerebral injury and a low efficacy and sometimes aggravation of symptoms in schizophrenia patients were shown.
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PMID:[Psychotropic properties of corticotropin and its analogs]. 300 19

Chronic alcohol consumption has been shown to be associated with abnormalities in the regulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in humans. However, conflicting data exist in the literature, with particular regard to studies performed in actively drinking or withdrawn alcoholics; in addition, the frequent presence of depressive disturbances in such patients may importantly affect the neuroendocrine findings. In this study, we investigated HPA function in 12 male alcoholics, in whom the presence of depression and other possible confounding factors was excluded, during the first and second weeks after cessation of ethanol intake. The plasma corticotropin (adrenocorticotropic hormone, ACTH) and cortisol levels in response to both a stimulation test with human corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH; 100 micrograms IV) and an insulin (0.15 UI/kg IV)-induced hypoglycaemia (ITT) were measured; the cortisol response to a standard overnight dexamethasone (1 mg) suppression test (DST) was also tested. While the mean baseline ACTH and cortisol levels, measured in the morning (0800-0830 h), were not different from those of controls, ACTH and cortisol responses to the CRH test were markedly reduced (area of secretion p < .01 and p < .05, compared to controls). Similarly, the patient group showed an almost absent ACTH and cortisol release following insulin infusion (area of secretion p < .01 compared to controls, in either case). In four patients, non-suppression of plasma cortisol levels was seen on the DST, but no significant difference from normal suppressors was noted as far as the clinical features were concerned. These findings suggest that impaired hypothalamic and pituitary responsiveness, unrelated to depressive disturbances, occurs in recently withdrawn chronic alcoholics. While the possible influence of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome should be taken into account, such a pattern may be due to increased activity of the HPA axis, even in the face of preserved basal adrenal secretion. Whether these findings reflect a direct effect of sustained ethanol exposure on the components of the HPA axis, or a non-specific marker of impaired adaptation in chronic alcoholics, deserves further investigation.
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PMID:An assessment of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning in non-depressed, early abstinent alcoholics. 881 25

The neuropeptides diazepam binding inhibitor (DBI) and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) elicit anxietylike symptoms when administered intracerebroventricularly to laboratory animals. Because of the similarities between the symptoms of certain anxiety states and the alcohol withdrawal syndrome, we hypothesized that increased secretion of either of these endogenous neuropeptides may, at least in part, be responsible for the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. We therefore measured DBI and CRH concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 15 alcohol-dependent patients during acute withdrawal (Day 1) and again at 3 week's abstinence (Day 21). In addition, plasma concentrations of cortisol were measured to evaluate the relationship between pituitary-adrenal axis activation and CSF CRH concentrations. CSF CRH (p < .04), but not CSF DBI, was significantly higher on Day 1 than on Day 21. Although there was a significant decrease in plasma cortisol from Day 1 to Day 21 (p < .001), a significant correlation between CSF CRH and plasma cortisol concentrations was not observed at either time point. Neither CSF neuropeptide correlated with clinical measures of withdrawal severity. These tentative findings may implicate CRH, but not DBI, in the pathogenesis of alcohol withdrawal. Alternately, the central release of CRH and DBI may not be adequately reflected in lumbar CSF.
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PMID:Cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and diazepam-binding inhibitor (DBI) during alcohol withdrawal and abstinence. 887 12

Alcohol intake is known to modulate plasma concentrations of neuroendocrine peptides. However, recent results suggest that the endocrine system may not only respond passively to alcohol intake but that, vice versa, it also actively modulates alcohol intake behaviour. The most coherent body of data concerns the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, with low corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) being associated with more intense craving and increased probability of relapse after acute detoxification. Leptin, beta-endorphin and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), which indirectly regulate the HPA system, also may modulate the intensity of craving or the intensity of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Although most of the currently available data demonstrate association rather than causality between neuroendocrine changes and alcohol-related behaviours, they do provide testable hypotheses and open up perspectives of treating alcohol dependence via manipulation of the neuroendocrine axis.
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PMID:Neuroendocrine pathways of addictive behaviour. 1551 14