Endocrine Abstracts

BackgroundStress responsiveness is mediated through sympathetic and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation. The gold standard investigation is the plasma catecholamine and cortisol response to the insulin tolerance test (ITT). This is invasive, and the use of salivary surrogates for stress responses would be a great advance.ObjectiveDemonstrate whether salivary alpha-amylase is a potential surrogate m...

BackgroundChronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating condition with high morbidity and associated reduced quality of life. There are data suggesting neuro-endocrine axis involvement in CFS including disturbance in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, growth hormone axis, opioidergic system and interactions with 5-Hydroxy Tryptamine (5-HT) system. Studies with selective 5-HT-releasing agents, using prolactin or cortisol responses to stimulation, fou...

Central dopamine and oxytocin have been shown in many studies to facilitate aspects of male sexual function. However, it is poorly understood how these two neuromodulators interact to mediate sexual behaviour or which receptors are involved. Much evidence has recently implicated a role for the dopamine D2 receptor in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and supraoptic nucleus (SON) in regulating aspects of male sexual behaviour. Using Sprague-Dawley male rats (225–250 g), we...

IntroductionThe secretion of multiple hormones occurs in both a circadian and an ultradian manner. Both animal and human studies have shown that cortisol has an ultradian rhythm. Variations in ultradian cortisol secretion may explain inter-individual variation in the stress response.ObjectiveWe have developed an automated blood sampling system (ABS) that allows undisturbed sampling of blood, thus reducing str...

BackgroundIndividuals who do day/night shifts or who are exposed to 24 hours of daylight have a greater CVS risk. This may relate to effects on the diurnal rhythm of sleep, appetite or cortisol.AimsTo investigate the variations in the diurnal cortisol secretion, appetite and sleep in young healthy civilians from the UK during a five week expedition to Svalbard in the Arctic with 24 hours of daylight.<p cl...

Lys-γ3-MSH is a melanocortin peptide derived from the C-terminal of the 16 kDa fragment of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC). The physiological role of Lys-γ3-MSH is unclear, although it can potentiate the steroidogenic response of adrenal cortical cells to adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH). This effect appears to correlate with an ability to increase the activity of hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) and therefore the rate of cholesterol ester hydrolysis. Ligand binding studies hav...

The vasoactive peptide adrenomedullin (ADM) has effects on several vascular beds including the cerebral circulation. The peptide has a positive impact on blood-brain-barrier (BBB) integrity, and transcription of ADM mRNA is enhanced by pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-1 and TNF-alpha in neuronal cell types. The current study has investigated whether ADM may be a marker for disease progression, in vivo in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model of the human disease...