Endocrine Abstracts

Growth hormone (GH) secretion is regulated by a complex interplay between GH-releasing hormone (GHRH), somatostatin and several other central and peripheral modulatory signals. Ghrelin has been hypothesized as physiological amplifier of GH pulsatility and acts via mechanisms, at least partially, independent of GHRH and somatostatin. The GH response to GHRH is strongly inhibited by previous administration of recombinant human GH (rhGH), likely as a consequence of a somatostatin...

Background: The activation of the GHS-R1a receptor by acylated ghrelin (AG) or by synthetic GH secretagogues (GHS), potently stimulates GH release and mediates other neuroendocrine/metabolic effects. Beta-adrenergic receptor agonists negatively influence GH secretion and other metabolic functions. The GH response to AG and GHS is refractory to the inhibitory effect of β2-adrenoceptors activation but no other report has evaluated the interactions between AG and salbutamol ...

Background: Obestatin is a 27 aa peptide derived from the ghrelin gene. Obestatin was first described to exert anorexigenic effects by decreasing gastric motility in rodent models, however these results have been debated and there is presently only small information regarding its activity and its regulation in humans. Furthermore, its interactions with acylated ghrelin (AG), derived from the same gene, have not been evaluated. Therefore, in these preliminary data, we sought to...

Background: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most frequent form of secondary hypertension, with a high prevalence in resistant hypertension (RH), a condition of insufficient blood pressure (BP) control despite a 3-drug based treatment at full dose, including a diuretic. The prevalence of PAin refractory hypertension (ReH), a condition of persistently elevated BP values despite therapy with 5 drugs, is not known.Objective: To investigate the prevalence o...

Ghrelin circulates in two different forms. Acylated ghrelin (AG), a natural ligand of the GH Secretagogue receptor (GHS-R) type 1a, exerts several biologic central and peripheral actions including stimulation of GH secretion, but also modulation of insulin secretion, glucose and lipid metabolism. Unacylated ghrelin (UAG), despite unable to bind the GHS-R1a, is biologically active showing some influence in vitro and in vivo on glucose and lipid metabolism likely m...

Cortistatin (CST), a neuropeptide with high structural homology with somatostatin (SS), binds all SS receptor (SS-R) subtypes but, unlike SS, also shows high binding affinity to ghrelin (GRLN) receptor (GRLN-R). In humans CST exerts the same endocrine activities of SS, suggesting that the activation of the SS-R might mask the potential interaction with the GRLN system.CST-8, a synthetic CST-analogue devoid of any binding affinity to SS-R but capable to b...