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)

ACTH and lipotropins (beta- and gamma-LPH) are synthesized from a common precursor by the pituitary corticotropic cell. We have measured LPH plasma levels under physiological and pathological conditions and we have compared them with ACTH plasma levels in the same circumstances. Spontaneous variations (nycthemeral rhythm) in LPH, ACTH and cortisol plasma levels were parallel, while responses to Dexamethasone freination test and stress (Insulin induced hypoglycemia) or more specific stimulation (Metopirone, lysine-vasopressin) were parallel and superimposable. LPH levels were always higher than ACTH levels in two pathological circumstances: chronic renal failure and Cushing's syndromes with ectopic ACTH producing tumors. The determination of both ACTH and LPH levels assists the diagnosis of corticotropic insufficiency and etiologic investigation of Cushing's syndrome, after hypercorticolism had been established. Although unable to confirm the presence of corticotropic adenoma in patients with Cushing's disease, or the predict effectiveness of pituitary surgery, these determination bring good arguments for treated Cushing's diseases follow up.
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PMID:[ACTH, beta-endorphin and lipotropins: physiopathological studies in man (author's transl)]. 628 91

1. We examined the effect of ischaemic pain and sustained isometric muscle contraction on plasma immunoreactive gamma-lipotropin (gamma LPH), beta-endorphin/beta-lipotropin (beta END/beta LPH) and corticotropin (ACTH), which are all synthesized from a common precursor (pro-opiocortin), and plasma cortisol in 10 normal subjects. 2. Experimental pain was produced by inflation to 250 mmHg of a sphygmomanometer cuff, placed above the elbow of the 'dominant' arm, after which the subject squeezed a hand dynamometer, loaded to 12 kg, 20 times at 2 s intervals. Blood was drawn before, after 5 and 10 min of pain, and 30 min after release of the cuff. In a control session, the subjects were asked to squeeze the handgrip alone for 5 min at 30% of their maximum strength, a procedure which elevates the blood pressure without causing pain. 3. One subject had unexplained high (30--71 pmol/l) baseline peptide concentrations. Baseline values for the nine other subjects were: ACTH, 7.3 +/- 1.9 pmol/l (mean +/- SEM); gamma LPH, 18.6 +/- 1.0 pmol/l; beta END/beta LPH, 10.0 +/- 1.1 pmol/l; cortisol, 599 +/- 55 nmol/l. Neither procedure significantly increased the plasma concentration of ACTH or any other peptide, whereas plasma cortisol was significantly increased at both 5 min and 10 min. Plasma ACTH was positively correlated with plasma gamma LPH (r = 0.701; P less than 0.001), beta END/beta LPH (r = 0.970; P less than 0.001) and plasma cortisol (r = 0.758; P less than 0.05). 4. The present study demonstrates that, in normal man, plasma endorphins do not change with experimental ischaemic pain. The rise in plasma cortisol without concomitant rise in ACTH is not explained, but suggests the action of some other agent at the level of the adrenal cortex.
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PMID:The response of plasma immunoreactive adrenocorticotropin, beta-endorphin/beta-lipotropin, gamma-lipotropin and cortisol to experimentally induced pain in normal subjects. 628 7

The effect of synthetic ovine corticotropin-releasing factor (oCRF), alpha-melanotropin (alpha-MSH) and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) on the release of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-related peptides (beta-endorphin, beta-lipotropin, adrenocorticotropin, and the 12K N-terminal) was studied in primary cultures of human anterior pituitary (HAP) cells. The peptides released into the medium were measured by specific radioimmunoassays. HAP cells responded to oCRF at concentrations as low as 10 ng/ml by significantly increasing peptide secretion (p less than 0.005). AVP was also effective, but, it is only 0.1% as potent as oCRF. alpha-MSH was ineffective even at a dose of 10 micrograms/ml. Immunoreactive (IR)-beta EP, IR-beta LPH, IR-ACTH, and IR-HNT were released in approximately equimolar ratios. Partial characterization of the peptides released by HAP cells with gel chromatography on Sephadex G-50 superfine revealed two peaks of IR-beta EP (as beta EP and beta-LPH), two peaks of IR-beta LPH (as beta-LPH and gamma-LPH), one peak of IR-ACTH, and two peaks of IR-HNT. In conclusion, oCRF is a potent secretagogue for the equimolar release of ACTH, HNT and related peptides in the human pituitary gland.
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PMID:Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF): effects on the release of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-related peptides by human anterior pituitary cells in vitro. 628 59

Eleven patients affected by common migraine (CM), eleven affected by daily chronic headache (DCH), and eight healthy volunteers were studied. Plasma levels of beta-endorphin (beta EP), beta-lipotropin (beta LPH). ACTH and cortisol were measured in basal conditions and after traditional Chinese acupuncture (TCA). Basal beta LPH and beta EP plasma levels (pg/ml) in the DCH patients (57.6 +/- 9.5 and 16.8 +/- 2.5, respectively; M +/- SE) were lower than those found in the controls (83.6 +/- 13.7 and 26.0 +/- 6.1; p less than 0.001), while those found in the CM cases showed inter-mediate values (75.3 +/- 12.0 and 24.4 +/- 5.8). ACTH and cortisol concentrations in both the CM and DCH patients were in the same range as those of the control group. TCA caused an increase in beta LPH and beta EP plasma concentrations in the control group (beta LPH: 117 +/- 16.9; beta EP: 44.1 +/- 6.7). Opioid plasma levels, however, remained unmodified after TCA in both the CM and DCH groups. ACTH plasma levels remained stable after TCA in all three subject groups. Patients suffering from primary headache are characterized by low beta LPH and beta EP plasma levels and by a poor reactivity of circulating opioids to non-stressful stimuli.
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PMID:Primary headaches: reduced circulating beta-lipotropin and beta-endorphin levels with impaired reactivity to acupuncture. 629 71

The effects of synthetic corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and dopamine on immunoreactive beta-endorphin/beta-lipotropin (i beta-END/LPH) and alpha MSH release were studied in superfused human fetal pituitary glands. CRF (20 ng) stimulated the release of i beta-END/LPH in four anterior hemipituitaries from fetuses older than 20 weeks in gestation. There was no effect on three anterior hemipituitaries from fetuses of 19-20 weeks gestation. CRF had no effect on i beta-END/LPH or alpha MSH secretion from neurointermediate lobes regardless of fetal age. Dopamine (10(-6) M) had no effect on i beta-END/LPH or alpha MSH secretion from either anterior or neurointermediate lobes. The data suggest that anterior pituitary responsiveness to CRF develops at about 20 weeks gestation and that fetal neurointermediate lobe secretion of peptides is not regulated by CRF.
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PMID:Effects of synthetic corticotropin-releasing factor and dopamine on the release of immunoreactive beta-endorphin/beta-lipotropin and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone from human fetal pituitaries in vitro. 629 May 22

The expression of the proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene by normal lung and thyroid was examined by measurement of the content of ACTH, beta-lipotropin (beta LPH), and beta-endorphin (beta EP) in porcine lung and thyroid tissue. Acid extracts of normal porcine lung and thyroid tissue each contained appreciable amounts of immunoreactive (ir) ACTH, ir-beta LPH, and ir-beta EP. The content of ir-beta LPH in both tissues exceeded by severalfold, on a molar basis, the content of ir-ACTH and ir-beta EP, suggesting that the common precursor POMC was processed predominantly to peptides other than ir-ACTH and ir-beta EP. A porcine thyroid extract (Calcitare, porcine calcitonin, Armour) showed equivalent levels of beta EP-like immunoreactivity and bioactivity, measured by opiate radioreceptor assay; in contrast, ACTH-like bioactivity, measured by rat zona fasciculata steroidogenesis, was only 4% of ACTH-like immunoreactivity. On reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography, Calcitare showed multiple peaks of ACTH-like immunoreactivity, one of which coeluted with porcine ACTH-(1-39), and two much smaller peaks of beta EP-like immunoreactivity, of which the smaller coeluted with porcine beta EP. These data suggest that both lung and thyroid gland synthesize POMC, which in normal tissue is usually predominantly processed to species other than ACTH and beta EP. Ectopic secretion of ACTH and beta EP by lung and thyroid neoplasms may thus represent the loss of a system(s) normally responsible for processing the precursor beyond ACTH and beta EP.
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PMID:Adrenocorticotropin, beta-endorphin, and beta-lipotropin in normal thyroid and lung: possible implications for ectopic hormone secretion. 629 10

The Wulzen's cone of the bovine adenohypophysis presents a variable development and general arrangement. It is joined to the pars intermedia with no intervening connective tissue. It is covered by a single layer of cubical cell epithelium on the side of the hypophysial cleft. Immunofluorescence reveals the presence of different glandular cell types. The most abundant cells are those demonstrated by an anti-oPRL antibody and are either isolated or clustered. Other cells react with anti-hGH, anti-bLH, anti-beta aLH or anti-beta hTSH antibodies. Some cells react simultaneously with anti-beta MSH, anti-1-24ACTH, anti-17-39ACTH, anti-beta LPH and anti-beta endorphin antibodies. Cell types other than the numerous prolactin cells appear only as isolated elements. We did not observe cells reacting with anti-leu-enkephalin, anti-met-enkephalin or anti-calcitonin antibodies either in the Wulzen's cone or in the pars distalis or pars intermedia.
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PMID:Immunocytochemical study of Wulzen's cone of the bovine pituitary. 629 24

The association of acanthosis nigricans with pituitary tumors and insulin-resistant diabetes suggests that a pituitary peptide may promote papillomatosis and acanthosis characteristic of acanthosis nigricans. Although such a peptide has not been isolated, it may derive by sequential cleavage from the 31,000-dalton precursor peptide to ACTH and beta-lipotropin (beta-LPH). In order to evaluate the role of pituitary peptides in the pathogenesis of acanthosis nigricans, we compared plasma levels of beta-endorphin (beta-EP) and ACTH in plasma of 8 fasting patients with obesity-associated benign acanthosis nigricans and 7 fasting normal controls utilizing sensitive radioimmunoassay procedures. Mean plasma beta-EP levels for the acanthosis nigricans and control subjects were not significantly different (90 pg/ml vs. 140 pg/ml), nor was any significant difference observed between plasma ACTH levels of the 2 groups (42.3 and 31.2 pg/ml, respectively.) Our data indicate that plasma levels of the pituitary-derived peptides ACTH and beta-EP are not increased in obesity-associated benign acanthosis nigricans, and suggest that its proposed hormonal mediator might originate independently from the large peptide precursor of ACTH, beta-LPH and their fragments.
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PMID:Neuropeptides in the pathogenesis of obesity-associated benign acanthosis nigricans. 629 89

Several peptides normally produced in the anterior pituitary lobe were searched in rat antral mucosa by immunocytochemistry. Peptides derived from pro-opiomelanocortin were tested: some endocrine cells were immunoreactive with ACTH 17-39 antiserum, and only a few elements were stained with ACTH 1-24 and beta LPH antisera. No immunoreactive cells were observed using alpha MSH, beta MSH and beta endorphine antisera. Using an antiserum against beta endorphin, a few cells and nerve fibres were immunostained. The other pituitary hormones were also tested: numerous antral cells contained immunoreactive GH, and some cells immunoreactive PRL or compounds chemically related to these hormones. No cells were stained with antisera directed against glycoproteic hormones. This work showed that several peptides previously localized in the pituitary gland were found in the antral mucosa. Further studies are needed to identify the cell types containing these peptides and to determine their origin.
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PMID:[Immunohistochemical localization of pituitary peptides in the rat pyloric antrum mucosa]. 629 30

Synthetic ovine CRF, in an amount approximating that found in pituitary portal plasma of the rat, induced a significant increase in the secretion of both ACTH and immunoreactive beta-endorphin/beta-LPH (i beta-END/LPH) by human fetal hemipituitaries in an in vitro superfusion system. This finding suggests that a molecule similar to synthetic ovine CRF may be a physiologic hypothalamic releasing factor in man.
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PMID:Synthetic corticotropin-releasing factor stimulates secretion of immunoreactive beta-endorphin/beta-lipotropin and ACTH by human fetal pituitaries in vitro. 629 94


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