Prolactin: evidence that it is separate from growth hormone in human blood

A highly sensitive bioassay has been developed for prolactin, which uses a mammalian end organ and which is capable of measuring the hormone in unextracted human plasma. High prolactin activity, largely neutralizable with antiserum to human growth hormone, is stimulated along with high immunoassayable growth hormone by insulin-induced hypoglycemia. High prolactin activity, not neutralizable with antiserum to growth hormone, exists with low concentrations of plasma growth hormone in postpartum patients and patients with galactorrhea.     

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone: evidence for thyroid response to intravenous injection in man

Administration of thyrotropin-releasing hormone to normal subjects causes a prompt rise in plasma thyrotropin concentration, followed by a significant increase in circulating plasma triiodothyronine. These observations may prove to be of value in simultaneously assessing the ability of the pituitary and thyroid glands to respond to their trophic hormones.     

Prostaglandins stimulate thyroid function in pregnant women

Intravaginal or intravenous administration of prostaglandin F(2alpha) to pregnant women produced significant elevations of plasma triiodothyronine and thyroxine concentrations, but no rise of thyrotropin. These observations are consistent with those of previous in vitro studies indicating that prostaglandins can act directly on the thyroid gland to stimulate thyroid hormone synthesis or release, or both.     

Inhibition of adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion in the rat by immunoneutralization of corticotropin-releasing factor

Intravenous administration of rabbit antiserum to ovine corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) markedly reduced the CRF-induced rise of plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in intact nonstressed adult male rats while blocking more than 75 percent of the ACTH release observed in rats exposed to ether stress. Furthermore, antiserum to CRF significantly lowered ACTH levels in adrenalectomized animals. These results suggest that endogenous CRF plays a physiological role in regulating ACTH secretion.     

Role of enzymatic wall-softening in plant morphogenesis: hormonal induction in Achlya

Sexual hormone A, which induces antheridial branching in male strains of Achlya, also elicits a rise in cellulase. The peak of induced cellulase corresponds in time with the appearance of branches that are the male sexual organ primordia; only those strains that branch in response to the hormone show a concomitant rise in cellulase. The response to the hormone is inhibited by compounds that block protein synthesis, for example, p-fluorophenylalanine and puronmycin. Vegetative branching, induced by substrates such as casein hydrolysate, is also accompanied by a rise in cellulase.     

Effect of Hypoglycemia on Performances, Metabolites, and Hormones in Periparturient Dairy Cows

In this research work, 24 multiparous holstein cows were used to evaluate the effect of hypoglycemia on periparturient metabolism and lactation performance. The cows were arranged into two groups of hypoglycemia （L） and normal plasma glucose （N） based on plasma glucose level. The same diets were fed ad libitum from 28 days before expected calving date to 28 days after calving. The parameters relative to energy balance, such as dry matter intake （DMI）, body weight （BW）, milk yield （MY）, and concentrations of plasma glucose, nonesterified fatty acids （NEFA）, β-hydroxybutyric acid （BHBA）, insulin （INS）, glucagons （GLN）, leptin （LP）, neuropeptide Y （NPY） in plasma were measured at regular intervals. Incidence of hypoglycemia was higher prepartum than that of postpartum （88% vs. 50%）, and the recurrence of hypoglycemia was reversed （31% vs. 100%）. Hypoglycemia did not affect feed intake before and after calving. With the increase of postpartum feed intake, incidence of hypoglycemia decreased rapidly, even disappeared at 28 days of postpartum. Hypoglycemia had no impact on prepartum BW, but BW in L group was lower than that of cows in N group at 1 day and 14 days of postpartum （P〈0.05）. Milk yield was not affected by hypoglycemia. Cows in L group had higher plasma NEFA concentration than cows in N group. It reached a peak （1442 μmol L^-1 vs. 1052 μmol L^-1） at day 1 of postpartum （P〈0.05）. Plasma BHBA concentration of cows in L group was higher than that in N group, which reached a peak （2.01 mmol L^-1 vs. 1.34 mmol L^-1） at 14 days of postpartum （P〈0.05）. Plasma concentration of INS and GLN was unaffected by treatment, but postpartum plasma GLN concentration obviously increased, especially in L group. Plasma concentration of LP and NPY before calving was unaffected by treatment, but postpartum LP level in L group was slightly lower than that in N group, and NPY level in L group was significantly higher than that in N group （P〈0.05）. Overall, periparturient dairy cows are easy to develop hypoglycemia, which stimulates lipid metabolism. Adaptive changes of some metabolites and hormones, such as NEFA, BHBA, INS, GLN, LP, NPY are of benefit to increase feed intake and recovery of NEB in periparturient period, but there still are some issues on interaction of those endocrine factors in the energy balance of periparturient cows to be understood further.     

Methamphetamine-induced insulin release

Administration of methamphetamine or amphetamine to rats and mice produces a rapid increase in the level of immunoassayable plasma insulin not attributable to hyperglycemia. While in the mouse this release of insulin is followed consistently by a profound hypoglycemia, in the rat this response is variable. Studies in vitro demonstrate that insulin is released by a direct effect of methamphetamine on the pancreas.     

An activating mutation of AKT2 and human hypoglycemia

Pathological fasting hypoglycemia in humans is usually explained by excessive circulating insulin or insulin-like molecules or by inborn errors of metabolism impairing liver glucose production. We studied three unrelated children with unexplained, recurrent, and severe fasting hypoglycemia and asymmetrical growth. All were found to carry the same de novo mutation, p.Glu17Lys, in the serine/threonine kinase AKT2, in two cases as heterozygotes and in one case in mosaic form. In heterologous cells, the mutant AKT2 was constitutively recruited to the plasma membrane, leading to insulin-independent activation of downstream signaling. Thus, systemic metabolic disease can result from constitutive, cell-autonomous activation of signaling pathways normally controlled by insulin.     

Parathyroid hormone in plasma in adenomatous hyperparathyroidism, uremia, and bronchogenic carcinoma

The concentration of parathyroid hormone (measured by radioimmunoassay) in plasma of patients with severe chronic uremia is frequently much higher than it is in the majority of cases having adenomatous hyperparathyroidism. igher-than-normal concentrations of parathyroid hormone in plasma are found in a significant percentage of unselected patients with bronchogenic carcinoma.     

Luteinizing hormone-releasing activity in hypophysial stalk blood and elevation by dopamine

Pituitary halves incubated in pituitary stalk plasma release more luteinizing hormone than their opposite halves incubated in plasma from peripheral blood. Glands incubated in stalk plasma from dopamine-treated rats release more luteinizing hormone than glands incubated in stalk plasma from untreated controls. Luteinizing hormone-releasing activity in stalk plasma may be due to the luteinizing hormone-releasing factor, and the secretion of luteinizing hormone-releasing factor may be controlled by a dopaminergic mechanism.     

Anaerobic brain function: effects of stagnant and anoxic anoxia on persistence of breathing in reptiles

Turtles tolerate anoxic anoxia about 14 times longer than stagnant anoxia. In snakes and crocodiles this difference is much less marked. Apparently, the remarkable anaerobic viability of turtles is dependent on blood circulation, Analyses of plasma indicate that loss of brain function in anoxic crocodiles is not caused by systemic acidosis or hypoglycemia. It is suggested that the ability of the central nervous system of the turtle to function without oxygen is due to a comparatively high rate of anaerobic uptake or metabolism of glucose.     

METABOLISM IN DIABETIC COMA PRODUCED BY ALLOXAN

Alloxan given parenterally produces in the rat a state of diabetic coma which is analogous to the severe coma of human diabetes. Such animals, moreover, show a rise in plasma inorganic phosphate and blood sugar. They also show in the liver a decrease in glycogen and in the total acid-soluble phosphates. An increase in liver inorganic phosphate occurs with a concurrent fall in adenosine pyrophosphate and other organo-phosphates. Hence the rise in plasma inorganic phosphate during coma is at least partially due to a loss of liver phosphate. It is probable that this rise in plasma inorganic phosphate results from a breakdown of organo-phosphates which result from the depressed oxidations associated with insulin lack. Insulin, when administered in exceptionally large doses, tends to cause improvement in both the clinical and chemical state of comatose rats.     

Circadian pattern of plasma 17-hydroxycorticosteroid: alteration by anticholinergic agents

Atropine, administered to cats just prior to the time of the expected circadian rise in levels of 17-hydroxycorticosteroid in plasma, blocks this rise. Atropine does not alter this circadian pattern when administered at other times in the circadian cycle. Results similar to those obtained with atropine have been observed with short-acting barbiturates. Dibenzyline administered just prior to the time of the expected circadian rise is ineffective in blocking this rise. These findings support the hypothesis that the circadian pattern of plasma 17-hydroxycorticosteroid levels reflects activation, by the central nervous system, of the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal axis during a "critical time period" in the circadian cycle.     

Arginine vasopressin as a thyrotropin-releasing hormone

Although hypothyroidism (with concomitant increased levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone) has been associated with elevated plasma vasopressin, the role that vasopressin plays in controlling thyroid-stimulating hormone secretion from the adenohypophysis is not understood. In two in vitro pituitary cell systems, vasopressin caused a specific and dose-related release of thyroid-stimulating hormone from cells that was equal in potency to that elicited by thyrotropin-releasing hormone, the primary acknowledged regulator of thyroid-stimulating hormone release. When injected into the hypothalamus, however, vasopressin specifically inhibited the release of thyroid-stimulating hormone. Thus, vasopressin may exert differential regulatory effects on thyroid-stimulating hormone secretion in the hypothalamus and pituitary gland.     

Ornithine decarboxylase stimulation in rat ovary by luteinizing hormone

In normal albino rats with a 4-day estrous cycle, the activity of ovarian ornithine decarboxylase undergoes a transitory rise on the evening of proestrus and only at that time. The response could be elicited by the administration of either luteinizing hormone or human chorionic gonadotrophin. When antiserum to luteinizing hormone was injected at 2 p.m. on the day of proestrus, the induction of ornithine decarboxylase was blocked, an indication that the enzyme is under luteinizing hormone control. The strategic positioning of the induction of ornithine decarboxylase between the normal release of luteinizing hormone and ovulation impties that putrescine is associated with the ovulatory process, and opens a new avenue of research on the control of ovulation.     

THE AUTONOMIC BASIS OF EMOTION

(1) It is shown that hypothalamic stimulation in cats, with faradic currents eliciting the syndrome of sham rage, produces after the elimination of the sympathetico-adrenal system a hypoglycemia when the vagi are intact. After bilateral vagotomy the stimulation results in a slight and delayed rise in blood sugar. (2) If in cats in which, due to a sectioning of the spinal cord at the sixth cervical segment, the effect of central discharges on the sympathetico-adrenal system is eliminated, a rage response is elicited by a barking dog it produces a fall in blood sugar. The sectioning of the vagi below the diaphragm abolishes this reaction. From these experiments it is concluded that the normal emotional process as well as the sham rage reaction is characterized by a simultaneous discharge over the vago-insulin and sympathetico-adrenal system. The latter predominates in the normal animal and masks the effects on the former.     

Plant biology. Enhanced: growth by auxin: when a weed needs acid

In his Perspective, Grebe discusses how a plant proton pump residing in intracellular compartments, rather than in the plasma membrane of the cell surface, regulates growth and development. The pump modulates the expression at the plasma membrane of both a transporter for the hormone auxin and another proton pump. These findings open new views on how plants regulate cell wall acidity and hormone transport during development.     

Corticotropin-releasing factor stimulates secretion of melanocyte-stimulating hormone from the rat pituitary

Administration of synthetic ovine corticotropin-releasing factor led to rapid, parallel increases in adrenocorticotropin and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone concentrations in rat plasma. Prior treatment with dexamethasone almost completely blocked the adrenocorticotropin response but not the increase in melanocyte-stimulating hormone. These data demonstrate that corticotropin-releasing factor is a potent stimulator not only of adrenocorticotropin secretion from the corticotrophs of the anterior pituitary gland but also of peptide secretion from the intermediate lobe. Such data suggest that melanocyte-stimulating hormone and beta-endorphin play a role in the physiological response to stress.     

Radioreceptor assay for 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3

A competitive protein binding assay with a sensitivity of 80 picograms has been developed for 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3), the hormonal form of vitamin D(3). lalpha,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D(3) displaced tritiated hormone from a cytosol-chromatin receptor preparation isolated from chick small intestine, providing a simple assay for the hormone. The concentration of lalpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) in human plasma, as determined by this assay, is approximately 6 nanograms per 100 milliliters; in patients with renal disease the concentration of this kidney-produced hormone is significantly lower.     

小麦叶片老化期间内肽酶活力上升的影响因素

叶片老化期间,蛋白质的丧失是一个早期事件。在许多植物离体叶片暗诱导和连体叶片老化试验中,发现蛋白质的下降与内肽酶活力上升有关〔２,４〕。因此,研究叶片老化期间内肽酶活力上升的影响因素将有助于对叶片老化机制的进一步了解,从而对延缓叶片老化进程有重要意义...