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)

Alprazolam (Xanax) or 8-chloro-1-methyl-6-phenyl-4H-S-triazolobenzodiazepine is a potent drug for the treatment of anxiety disorders. The chemical structure differs from the classical benzodiazepines by incorporation of the triazoloring. Due to the triazolo ring, the drug can have additional modes of action than the normal benzodiazepines. The triazolobenzodiazepines are potent inhibitors of the platelet-activating factor. This factor is a potent stimulator of the corticotropin-releasing hormone. This hormone has an effect on the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis but the corticotropin-releasing hormone is also known to be a stimulator of the locus coeruleus. The corticotropin-releasing hormone in patients with panic attacks is elevated. This could be a result of the hyperactive metabolism which is observed by positron emission tomographic (PET) studies of the right parahippocampal area.
 ...
PMID:Mode of action of the triazolobenzodiazepines in the treatment of panic attacks: a hypothesis. 136 62

Conjugate of horseradish peroxidase and wheat germ agglutinin (HRP-WGA conjugate) was injected into the midbrain central gray (MCG) of three adult rats. Frontal sections of the diencephalon were first treated with diaminobenzidine and hydrogen peroxide to detect the retrogradely transported conjugate. They were then stained immunohistochemically to detect pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptides (ACTH, beta-endorphin and alpha-MSH). The coexistence of the three POMC-derived peptides was confirmed by the immunohistochemistry of three consecutive sections stained with antiserum specific to each peptide. Some of the neuronal perikarya distributed in and around the arcuate nucleus were positive to the immunohistochemical stain for POMC-derived peptides, and, concomitantly, were labeled with HRP-WGA conjugate, which indicated that they projected to the MCG. They were mostly concentrated in the rostral three-fifths of the arcuate nucleus. The finding that some of the POMC neurons in the arcuate nucleus project to the midbrain central gray deserves interest, because the central gray is involved in analgesia induced by opioid peptides.
 ...
PMID:Projection of pro-opiomelanocortin neurons from the rat arcuate nucleus to the midbrain central gray as demonstrated by double staining with retrograde labeling and immunohistochemistry. 245 87

Previous studies in our laboratory have indicated that ethanol alters beta-endorphin (beta-EN) levels in specific rat brain regions. The present investigation was conducted to evaluate the effects of an adenosine agonist and an adenosine antagonist on these alterations. Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 150-200 g were used in this study. The animals were injected intraperitoneally at 11.00 h with ethanol (3 g/kg as a 22.5% w/v solution in saline), N6-cyclohexyladenosine (CHA; 0.1 mg/kg), theophylline (30 mg/kg), a combination of ethanol and CHA, or a combination of ethanol and theophylline. The control rats received saline. The animals were sacrificed 1 h after injection. Frontal cortex (CTX), hypothalamus (HY), hippocampus (HI), and midbrain (MB) were dissected, and their beta-EN levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. Ethanol administration significantly increased the beta-EN levels in HY (39% increase), HI (28% increase), and MB (19% increase), but had no effect in CTX. The adenosine agonist (CHA) produced similar significant increases in beta-EN levels in HY and MB, but did not alter these levels in CTX or HI. In contrast, the adenosine antagonist theophylline did not alter beta-EN levels in any brain region studied. However, theophylline pretreatment significantly reduced ethanol-induced changes in beta-EN levels in HY, completely blocked ethanol effects in HI, and reversed ethanol alterations in MB. On the other hand, CHA, concurrently administered with ethanol, potentiated ethanol-induced increases of beta-EN levels in HY and HI. These findings suggest that the ethanol-induced increases in beta-EN levels in specific rat brain regions may be modulated by adenosinergic compounds and that adenosine receptors may play a role in ethanol effects on rat brain levels of beta-EN.
 ...
PMID:Ethanol-induced alterations in beta-endorphin levels in specific rat brain regions: modulation by adenosine agonist and antagonist. 896 93