Corticotropin-releasing factor disorders

Altemus, et al Pigott, T., Kalogeras, K.., 1992. Abnormalities in the regulation of vasopressin and corticotropin releasing factor secretion in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Archive of General Psychiatry 49 9-20. 

Arborelius L, Owens MJ, Plotsky PM, Nemeroff CB. (1999). The role of corticotropin-releasing factor in depression and anxiety disorders. J Endocrinol. 160(1) 1-12. 

Altemus M, Cizza G, Gold P (1992) Chronic fluoxetine treatment reduces hypothalamic vasopressin secretion in vitro. Brain Res 593 311-313 Appenrodt E, Schnabel R, Schwarzberg H (1998) Vasopressin administration modulates anxiety-related behavior in rats. Physiol Behav 64 543-547 Arborelius L, Owens MJ, PlotskyPM, Nemeroff CB (1999) The role of corticotropin-releasing factor in depression and anxiety disorders. J Endocrinol 160 1-12 Argiolas A, Gessa GL (1991) Central functions of oxytocin. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 15 217-231... 

Coplan, J.D., Andrews, M.W., Rosenblum, L.A., Owens, M.J., Friedman, S., Gorman, J.M., et al. (1996) Persistent elevations of cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of corticotropin-releasing factor in adult nonhuman primates exposed to early-life stressors implications for the pathophysiology of mood and anxiety disorders. Proc Nall Acad Sci, USA 93 1619-1623. 

Effects of early environmental adversity on HPA mediation of neurodevelopment have also been demonstrated in non-human primates (Coplan et al., 1995). Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) intracerebro-ventricular administration in rhesus monkeys that had been separated from their mothers produced behavioral inhibition and increases in ACTH and cortisol. Coplan et al (1995) presented evidence for persistently elevated cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in grown macaques that had been reared by mothers in unpredictable environmental conditions. Further studies in adversely reared adult monkeys demonstrated an inverse relationship between mean CRF concentrations and GH response to clonidine (Coplan et al., 2000). In light of evidence that reduced GH response to clonidine has been shown in other anxiety disorders (Charney and Bremner, 1999), Coplan et al. (2000) hypothesize that GH response to clonidine may inversely reflect trait-like increases of central nervous system CRF activity. Data linking childhood anxiety to growth deficits are consistent with this view (Pine et al., 1996). Activity, of the HPA axis, as related to early environmental... 

Chappell, P., Leckman, J., Goodman, W., Bissette, G., Pauls, D., Anderson, G., Riddle, M., Scahill, L., McDougle, C., and Cohen, D. (1996) Elevated cerebrospinal fluid corticotropin-releasing factor in Tourette s syndrome comparison to obsessive compulsive disorder and normal controls. Biol Psychiatry 39 776-783. 

Nemeroff CB Corticotropin-releasing factor, in Neuropeptides and Psychiatric Disorders. Edited by Nemeroff CB. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press, 1991a, pp 75-92... 

Owens MJ, Vargas AM, Nemeroff CB The effects of alprazolam on corticotropin-releasing factor neurons in the rat brain implications for a role for CRF in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorder. J Psychiatr Res 27 (suppl 1) 209, 1993 Ozaki N, Chuang DM Lithium increases transcription factor binding to AP-1 and cyclic AMP-responsive element in cultured neurons and rat brain. J Neurochem 69 2336-2344, 1997... 

Pseudohypericin has been shown to be a corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), receptor antagonist. CRF has been implicated as a pathogenic factor in affective disorders, with elevated levels that are normalized after treatment with antidepressants found in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with depression. CRF acts on CRFX receptors in the pituitary gland to stimulate the release of adrenocoticotropic hormone, which stimulates the release of glucocorticoid stress hormones from the adrenal glands (19). It is possible that St. John s wort s activity comes from pseudohypericin s ability to block the CRFX receptor. 

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