Hormonal negative feedback

B23. Berelowitz, M., Szabo, M., Frohman, L. A., Firestone, S., Chu, L., and Hintz, R. L., Somatomedin-C mediates growth hormone negative feedback by effects on both the hypothalamus and the pituitary. Science 212, 1279-1281 (1981). 

Turner s Syndrome. In Turner s syndrome (XO 45 chromosomes), there is a congenital absence of the gonads, and the ovaries exist only in the form of slender streaks of connective tissue. The patients affected by the Turner syndrome are phenotypically females and have a vagina and uterus. However, at puberty they do not menstruate (amenorrhea), and their breasts never develop. Needless to say they are sterile, in contrast to XO mice, which can procreate. Without female hormones negative feedback is abolished, and, as a result, these patients excrete large amounts of gonadotropins in the urine [88, 89]. 

Adrenal hormone production is controlled by the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is secreted by the hypothalamus and stimulates secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), also known as corticotropin from the anterior pituitary. ACTH, in turn, stimulates the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol. When sufficient or excessive cortisol levels are reached, a negative feedback is exerted on the secretion of CRH and ACTH, thereby decreasing overall cortisol production. The control of adrenal androgen synthesis also follows a similar negative-feedback mechanism. 

The female menstrual cycle is divided into four functional phases follicular, ovulatory, luteal, and menstrual.6 The follicular phase starts the cycle, and ovulation generally occurs on day 14. The luteal phase then begins and continues until menstruation occurs.6 The menstrual cycle is regulated by a negative-feedback hormone loop between the hypothalamus, anterior pituitary gland, and ovaries6 (Fig. 45-1). 

Explain how negative feedback mechanisms limit release of hormones from the adenohypophysis... 

When the concentration of the free form of a hormone decreases, then more of this hormone will be released from the binding proteins. The free hormone is the biologically active form. It binds to the target tissue to cause its actions and is involved with the negative feedback control of its secretion. The binding of hormones to plasma proteins has several beneficial effects, including ... 

Cortisol is an important component of the body s response to physical and psychological stress. Nervous signals regarding stress are transmitted to the hypothalamus and the release of CRH is stimulated. The resulting increase in cortisol increases levels of glucose, free fatty acids, and amino acids in the blood, providing the metabolic fuels that enable the individual to cope with the stress. A potent inhibitor of this system is cortisol itself. This hormone exerts a negative-feedback effect on the hypothalamus and the adenohypophysis and inhibits the secretion of CRH and ACTH, respectively. 

Reports of the effects of Li+ upon the thyroid gland and its associated hormones are the most abundant of those concerned with the endocrine system. Li+ inhibits thyroid hormone release, leading to reduced levels of circulating hormone, in both psychiatric patients and healthy controls [178]. In consequence of this, a negative feedback mechanism increases the production of pituitary TSH. Li+ also causes an increase in hypothalamic thyroid-releasing hormone (TRH), probably by inhibiting its re-... 

Thyroid hormone production is regulated by TSH secreted by the anterior pituitary, which in turn is under negative feedback control by the circulating level of free thyroid hormone and the positive influence of hypothalamic thyrotropin-releasing hormone. Thyroid hormone production is also regulated by extrathyroidal deiodination of T4 to T3, which can be affected by nutrition, nonthyroidal hormones, drugs, and illness. 

In thyrotoxic Graves disease, there is an increase in the overall hormone production rate with a disproportionate increase in T3 relative to T4 (Table 20-1). Saturation of thyroid-binding globulin is increased due to the elevated levels of serum T4 and T3, which is reflected in an elevated T3 resin uptake. As a result, the concentrations of free T4, free T3, and the free T4 and T3 indices are increased to an even greater extent than are the measured serum total T4 and T3 concentrations. The TSH level is undetectable due to negative feedback by elevated levels of thyroid hormone at the pituitary. In... 

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