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)

Immunoreactive beta-endorphin (IR-beta-ENDO) was measured in the plasma, pituitary, and hypothalamus of young (3-5 mo.) and old (19-23 mo.) male Sprague-Dawley rats, using a specific radioimmunoassay. Plasma IR-beta-ENDO in old male rats (3.44 +/- 0.54 ng/ml) was more than three times higher than values observed in young male rats (1.00 +/- 0.10 ng/ml). Pituitary content and concentration of IR-beta-ENDO also were significantly greater in the old (5.85 +/- 0.51 microgram/gland and 1.17 +/- 0.10 microgram/mg protein) than in the young (3.53 +/- 0.29 microgram/gland and 0.78 +/- 0.06 microgram/mg protein) male rats. The content of IR-beta-ENDO in the hypothalamus of old and young rats was nearly the same (43.45 +/- 2.47 and 49.88 +/- 6.35 ng/hypothalamus, respectively), whereas the concentration of IR-beta-ENDO in the hypothalamus of the old male rats (3.89 +/- 0.25 ng/mg protein) was approximately 50% lower than that observed in the young male rats (7,80 +/- 0.85 ng/mg protein). These changes in plasma, pituitary, and hypothalamic IR-beta-ENDO may contribute to the increase in prolactin and decrease in gonadotropins observed in old male rats, since beta-ENDO administration is known to produce these effects on prolactin and gonadotropin secretion.
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PMID:Immunoreactive beta-endorphin in the plasma, pituitary and hypothalamus of young and old male rats. 627 45

Immunoreactive beta-endorphin (IR-beta-ENDO) was compared in the plasma, pituitary and hypothalamus of young female rats on the day of estrus and old constant estrous (CE) female rats, and in intact and chronically castrated old CE female rats. The concentration of IR-beta-ENDO in the plasma and the content and concentration of IR-beta-ENDO in the neurointermediate lobe of the pituitary were significantly greater in the old CE female rats than in the young female rats on the day of estrus. The content and concentration of IR-beta-ENDO in the anterior pituitary and hypothalamus were similar in the two age groups. To determine if estrogen contributed to the increase in plasma and pituitary levels of IR-beta-ENDO observed in the old animals, a group of old CE female rats were castrated and compared to sham operated control CE rats. Thirty days after castration, levels of plasma, pituitary and hypothalamic IR-beta-ENDO were comparable in the intact and the chronically castrated old female rats. These data indicate that in old CE female rats, plasma and pituitary IR-beta-ENDO are significantly increased in comparison to young female rats on the day of estrus, and that these increased levels of IR-beta-ENDO observed in old female rats do not appear to be influenced by gonadal estrogen.
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PMID:Immunoreactive beta-endorphin in the plasma, pituitary and hypothalamus of young female rats on the day of estrus and intact and chronically castrated old constant estrous female rats. 631 Feb 92

The effects of a sustained-release implant for naloxone (NAL) on serum concentrations of prolactin (PRL), immunoreactive beta-endorphin (IR-beta-ENDO), growth hormone (GH) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were evaluated in ovariectomized female rats. After 9 days of exposure to NAL, serum levels of none of these 4 pituitary hormones were altered. However, the NAL implant antagonized the stimulatory effects of morphine (15 and 30 mg/kg body weight) on PRL and IR-beta-ENDO secretion, enhanced the stimulatory effects of morphine on GH secretion, and had no effect on morphine-induced suppression of TSH secretion. These results indicate that while chronic NAL exposure does not, by itself, persistently alter pituitary hormone secretion, it differentially effects the response of these hormones to morphine exposure. These data suggest that chronic treatment with narcotic antagonists may invoke differential compensatory mechanisms to maintain normal hormone secretion.
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PMID:The effects of chronic naloxone on pituitary hormone secretion in female rats. 632 81

Day-time plasma beta-endorphin/beta-lipotrophic hormone (beta-ENDO/beta-LPH), ACTH and cortisol have been determined in 26 patients with major depression and 25 controls. beta-ENDO/beta-LPH and cortisol were significantly elevated in patients, while ACTH was not. Cortisol levels were significantly negatively correlated with age in controls as were beta-ENDO/beta-LPH and ACTH. In patients, by contrast, cortisol levels were positively, albeit not significantly, related to age. Peptide levels were not related to age in the patient group. Instead, beta-ENDO/beta-LPH was negatively correlated with clinical ratings of symptom severity in patients and positively associated with an acute psychosocial precipitant. The findings cast further light on beta-ENDO/beta-LPH as a measure of hypothalamic-pituitary over activity in depressive illness. A negative association with symptom severity suggests that beta-ENDO/beta-LPH responses are, like those of ACTH, down-regulated in the course of depressive illness.
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PMID:The elevation of plasma beta-endorphin levels in major depression. 812 14