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)

Renin has been identified in the adrenal gland by several investigators. Nephrectomy is the most potent stimulator of adrenal renin, and in the present study we investigated the mechanism by which nephrectomy stimulates adrenal renin. The pituitary plays a permissive role since hypophysectomy abolished the response of adrenal renin to nephrectomy (from 117.3 +/- 14.55 to 10.37 +/- 1.63 ng angiotensin I/mg protein/hr) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) treatment restored the response to nephrectomy in hypophysectomized rats to 120 +/- 20.62 ng angiotensin I/mg protein/hr. However, large doses of ACTH given to intact rats did not increase adrenal renin to the high level observed after nephrectomy. Potassium also plays an important role, since prevention of hyperkalemia after nephrectomy by treatment with a cation exchange resin, sodium polystyrene sulfonate (Kayexalate), significantly reduced the adrenal renin response to nephrectomy. A third factor involved is the lack of negative feedback by plasma angiotensin II. Infusion of angiotensin II intraperitoneally prevented the rise in adrenal renin after nephrectomy (from 65.25 +/- 7.60 to 9.27 +/- 0.99 ng angiotensin I/mg protein/hr) despite an increase in plasma potassium and corticosterone. In conclusion, three factors influence the response of adrenal renin to nephrectomy: 1) the pituitary through the release of ACTH, 2) a direct stimulation by high plasma potassium levels, 3) the lack of angiotensin II feedback inhibition. Whether the high adrenal renin contributes to the high aldosterone observed in rats after nephrectomy remains to be established.
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PMID:Mechanisms by which nephrectomy stimulates adrenal renin. 302 25

In a tumor cell line of the mouse anterior pituitary (AtT-20/D16-16) consisting of a homogeneous population of corticotrophs, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) activates adenylate cyclase and cAMP-dependent protein kinase. In addition, CRF induces a rise in cytosolic calcium levels in AtT-20/D16-16 cells and stimulates adrenocorticotropin hormone release. To determine whether activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase is essential for CRF to stimulate calcium mobilization and trigger adrenocorticotropin hormone release, an inhibitor of cAMP-dependent protein kinase was inserted into AtT-20/D16-16 cells using a liposome technique. In control cells, CRF, forskolin (a direct activator of adenylate cyclase) and potassium increased cytosolic calcium levels. Insertion of the protein kinase inhibitor into AtT-20/D16-16 cells greatly attenuated CRF and forskolin-stimulated calcium mobilization although it did not alter the rise in cytosolic calcium induced by potassium. Treatment of the cells with liposomes lacking protein kinase inhibitor (but containing an equivalent amount of bovine serum albumin) had no effect upon the calcium mobilization elicited by any of the agents tested. These results reveal an essential role for cAMP-dependent protein kinase in mediating CRF-stimulated calcium mobilization and suggest that its activation may be an essential molecular event for CRF to evoke adrenocorticotropin hormone secretion.
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PMID:Molecular mechanisms of corticotropin-releasing factor stimulation of calcium mobilization and adrenocorticotropin release from anterior pituitary tumor cells. 303 99

Synaptosomal preparations from rat hippocampus were incubated with methylprednisolone or adrenocorticotropin. High affinity choline uptake was not affected by either hormones. Methylprednisolone however enhanced newly synthesized acetylcholine release in the presence of high potassium or acetylcholine concentrations, while adrenocorticotropin had no effect. Dopamine uptake was inhibited when synaptosomes from septum or striatum were incubated with methylprednisolone. We conclude: a) high glucocorticoid concentrations and not adrenocorticotropin can directly enhance acetylcholine release but only from stimulated cholinergic synaptosomes, and b) high glucocorticoids can reduce dopamine uptake by dopaminergic synaptosomes. The results imply that increased glucocorticoid levels during stress or disease, can directly modulate the neuronal activity of specific cholinergic and dopaminergic systems in the brain.
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PMID:Presynaptic effects of glucocorticoids on dopaminergic and cholinergic synaptosomes. Implications for rapid endocrine-neural interactions in stress. 303 12

Superfusion of isolated rat adrenal glomerulosa cells for 6 h with a medium containing 2.5 nM angiotensin II (AII) reduces the aldosterone response to AII, corticotropin and potassium. Here we report that under such conditions there is a decrease in the capacity of the cells to form inositol phosphates in response to a subsequent stimulation with AII. The capacity to convert corticosterone to aldosterone is also reduced by a prior exposure to AII. Superfusion with a high-potassium medium has no such an effect. Reduced phosphoinositide response may be responsible for the decreased aldosterone stimulation by AII, the inhibition of the late stage of aldosterone biosynthesis may account for the heterologous character of desensitization.
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PMID:The mechanism of angiotensin-induced desensitization of adrenal glomerulosa cells. 303 25

We examined the effect of chronic metabolic acidosis on adrenocortical hormone production by administering NH4Cl for 5 days to four normal subjects. Plasma aldosterone concentration, aldosterone secretion, and urinary excretion of aldosterone-18-glucuronide increased significantly, whereas there were no significant changes in the plasma concentrations of cortisol, corticosterone, or deoxycorticosterone, or in the urinary excretion of 17-hydroxycorticoids. By day 2, plasma renin activity (PRA) and concentration (PRC) were not significantly different from control, and the slope of the regression line relating plasma aldosterone concentration to PRA was significantly greater than the slope in the control period, i.e., the sensitivity of aldosterone secretion to renin stimulation was increased. By day 5, however, PRA and PRC were increased above control. Plasma potassium concentration did not change significantly. Thus chronic NH4Cl-induced acidosis induces a sustained stimulation of aldosterone secretion in the absence of a change in adrenocorticotropin-dependent adrenocortical hormone secretion. Factors other than an increase in renin secretion and plasma potassium concentration may be involved in at least the early phase of aldosterone stimulation, suggesting that plasma hydrogen ion concentration might be a separate regulator of aldosterone secretion.
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PMID:Adrenocortical hormone secretory response to chronic NH4Cl-induced metabolic acidosis. 310 28

To determine the effect of beta-endorphin on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, human synthetic beta-endorphin (0.3, 1.0, and 3.0 micrograms/kg X min) was infused iv in normal subjects. Each dose was administered for 30 min, and a control infusion of 5% dextrose and water was given on another day. Ten subjects were studied recumbent and in balance while ingesting a 10-meq Na+ diet. Plasma renin activity (PRA), plasma aldosterone (PA), and plasma cortisol (F) were measured basally and every 30 min for 210 min. The increments in PRA and PA above basal significantly (P less than 0.05) increased (3.1 +/- 1.2 ng/ml X h and 12.2 +/- 5.3 ng/dl, respectively; P less than 0.05) at the end of the beta-endorphin infusion. beta-Endorphin also significantly (P less than 0.01) suppressed F levels. Since in the low salt study, beta-endorphin suppressed F release while stimulating renin secretion, an additional five subjects were pretreated with dexamethasone (0.5 mg every 6 h) and were studied in balance while ingesting a 200-meq Na+ diet to suppress the renin-angiotensin system. Significant (P less than 0.025) increments in PRA (2.1 +/- 0.7 ng/ml X h) and PA (4.1 +/- 1.7 ng/dl) levels above basal were again found during the sequential dose infusion of beta-endorphin (0.3, 1.0, and 3.0 micrograms/kg X min). However, PA elevations were sustained for at least 120 min after the beta-endorphin infusion was stopped despite a drop in PRA 90 min earlier. In additional studies, an attempt was made to define the minimal effective dose of beta-endorphin by 60-min infusions (0.03, 0.1, and 0.3 micrograms/kg X min) in subjects on a 200-meq Na+ diet who were dexamethasone pretreated. The PRA and PA levels rose significantly (P less than 0.05) above basal at the 0.3 micrograms/kg X min dose, but not at the 0.03 or 0.1 micrograms/kg X min dosage levels. There were no changes in blood pressure or potassium during either the 10 or 200-meq Na+ studies. Thus, beta-endorphin stimulates aldosterone release in vivo. However, the underlying mechanisms are complex, since renin levels also increased. The data suggest that the early aldosterone rise may be secondary to an increase in renin release, but renin cannot account for the sustained postinfusion elevations of aldosterone.
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PMID:beta-Endorphin stimulates plasma renin and aldosterone release in normal human subjects. 315 42

We studied the role of altered pituitary function in the reflex natriuresis that occurs after acute unilateral nephrectomy (AUN). In normal rats, AUN increased both sodium (UNaV) and potassium excretion within 90 min. In hypophysectomized rats, no increase in cation excretion after AUN occurred, results which were duplicated in rats in which pituitary function was altered by prior treatment with dexamethasone (2 mg/kg ip for 3 days). In adrenalectomized rats, AUN led to increases in cation excretion similar to those seen in normal rats, indicating that intact adrenal function was not necessary for this excretory response following AUN. These changes in cation excretion were correlated with measurements in peripheral plasma of two peptides derived from the pituitary precursor molecule pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC). Radioimmunoassayable plasma beta-endorphin failed to change after AUN in any of the conditions studied. However, a sensitive radioimmunoassay for the N-terminal fragment (NTF) of POMC indicated that plasma NTF rose significantly after AUN in normal and adrenalectomized rats but did not change in hypophysectomized, steroid-pretreated, or shamoperated rats. The increase in NTF concentration correlated with the increase in UNaV after AUN. These results demonstrate that the reflex increase in cation excretion after AUN is dependent on an intact pituitary gland and is associated with an increase in peripheral plasma concentration of NTF. NTF, or some other peptide residing in the N-terminal portion of POMC, could promote the natriuresis after AUN; the importance of the pituitary gland in this response could be the secretion of this peptide.
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PMID:Role of the pituitary in reflex natriuresis following acute unilateral nephrectomy. 316 42

The effects of chronic glucocorticoid treatment on sympathoadrenomedullary function were assessed in conscious unrestrained Wistar-Kyoto rats. Cortisol (25 mg/kg.day), administered for 7 days using a sc reservoir pump, suppressed activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, as indicated by markedly decreased levels of corticotropin (ACTH) and corticosterone and decreased adrenal weight. Cortisol also decreased body weight and increased blood pressure to hypertensive levels without affecting plasma sodium or potassium. Basal levels of plasma epinephrine were markedly decreased, indicating suppression of adrenomedullary secretion. Plasma norepinephrine levels also were decreased, but to a smaller extent than epinephrine, and levels of dihydroxyphenylglycol, an intraneuronal metabolite of norepinephrine, were unaffected. Plasma catecholamine responses to nitroprusside-induced hypotension were not altered by cortisol. The results suggest that chronic cortisol treatment suppresses basal hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical and basal adrenomedullary activity in conscious unrestrained rats without impairing reflexive activation of the sympathoadrenomedullary system.
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PMID:Sympathoadrenomedullary inhibition by chronic glucocorticoid treatment in conscious rats. 316 35

It is well established that corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), a peptide comprised of 41 amino acids, is the major physiological regulator of the pituitary-adrenal axis by virtue of its role as the hypothalamic hypophysiotropic hormone that modulates the secretion of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) from the anterior pituitary gland. In addition to its neuroendocrine role, CRF appears to function as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator in extrahypothalamic brain areas. The peptide and its receptors are distributed throughout the central nervous system (CNS), and CRF is released by depolarizing concentrations of potassium in a calcium-dependent manner. After direct CNS administration, CRF produces a number of behavioral and physiological effects that are reminiscent of both an organism's response to stress and to the symptoms of patients with major depression. These include: diminished food consumption, decreased sexual behavior, disturbed sleep, alterations in locomotor activity and sympathetic nervous system activation. Alterations in regional brain CRF concentration in rats were observed after acute and chronic stress, i.e. decreased hypothalamic and increased locus coeruleus CRF concentrations. To test the hypothesis that CRF is hypersecreted in patients with major depression, the concentration of CRF in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in drug-free depressed patients and age- and sex-matched controles was measured in two studies. The depressed patients exhibited a clear group-related increase in CSF CRF concentrations. To further test this hypothesis that CRF is chronically hypersecreted in depressed patients, the number and affinity of CRF receptors in frontal cortex was measured in a group of suicides and age-matched controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:The role of corticotropin-releasing factor in the pathogenesis of major depression. 329 91

We studied the effects of cyclosporin A on the renin-aldosterone axis in Sprague-Dawley rats. Two weeks of intragastric administration of cyclosporin A (5 mg/kg/day or or 20 mg/kg/day) resulted in large increases in plasma renin concentration (23 +/- 5, 70 +/- 12, and 79 +/- 11 ng/ml/hr in control rats and rats receiving 5 mg and 20 mg of cyclosporin A, respectively), with no parallel increments in plasma aldosterone. In vitro angiotensin II (ANG II)-stimulated aldosterone secretion by zona glomerulosa cells obtained from cyclosporin A-treated rats was also reduced (4.8 +/- 0.5, 1.5 +/- 0.2, and 0.2 +/- 0.2 ng/10(5) cells in control rats and rats receiving 5 mg and 20 mg of cyclosporin A, respectively). In contrast, in vitro aldosterone response to graded increments of potassium (3.7-10.7 mmol/L) or adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) (10(-11)-10(-8) M) was preserved in cyclosporin A-treated rats. When added in vitro to zona glomerulosa cells from untreated rats, cyclosporin A also attenuated ANG II-stimulated aldosterone secretion, but did not affect potassium or ACTH-mediated aldosterone production. Thus, cyclosporin A-induced hyperreninemic hypoaldosteronism in the rat depends on opposing renal and adrenal effects, with a direct or feedback stimulation of renin secretion and a specific blockade of ANG II-mediated aldosterone production.
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PMID:Cyclosporin A-induced hyperreninemic hypoaldosteronism. A model of adrenal resistance to angiotensin II. 329 44


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