Related to Hypothalamic and Pituitary Hormones

1 Somatostatin i i i Octreotide Acromegaly, carcinoid and secretory-GI tumors 

GnRH Leuprolide, nafarelin Endometriosis, prostate carcinoma (repository form) 

Vasopressin 1 Desmopressin (V2 selective) Neurogenic (pituitary) diabetes insipidus Hemophilia A (T factor VIII from liver) von Willebrand disease (T vW factor from endothelium) Primary nocturnal enuresis 

Definition of abbreviations ACTH, adrenocorticotropin hormone DA, dopamine FSH, follicle-stimulating hormone GH, growth hormone GnRH, gonadotropin-releasing hormone LH, luteinizing hormone PIH, prolactin-inhibiting hormone. 

The clinical uses of drugs used to treat functions associated with hypothalamic or pituitary hormones are summarized in Table Vlll-4-1, 

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Table VII-2-1. Drugs Related to Hypothalamic and Pituitary Hormones...

Men with infertility also can benefit from therapy with follitropin alfa if their infertility is related to hypothalamic or pituitary hormonal dysfunction and not primary testicular failure, because it... 

There has been some concern that the recently observed decline in sperm quality may be related to exposure to environmental estrogens (Sharpe and Skakkebaek, 1993) and at the same time there has been speculation that these estrogenic compounds may exert inhibitory effects against prostate cancer (Kurzer, 2002). Theoretically, exposure to high levels of dietary estrogens could alter the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in men, but dietary studies to date have not shown such an hormonal effects. 

Among the catecholamines, dopamine has long been of interest to both chemists and neuroscientists. It is one of the most important neurotransmitters and is ubiquitous in the mammalian central nervous system[5]. It modulates many aspects of brain circuitry in a major system of the brain including the extra pyramidal and mesolimbic system, as well as the hypothalamic pituitary axis[6]. It also plays a crucial role in the functioning of the central nervous, cardiovascular, renal and hormonal systems[4], A loss of dopamine containing neurons or its transmission is also related to a number of illnesses and conditions including Parkinson s disease, schizophrenia, motivational habit, reward mechanisms and the regulation of motor functions and in the function of the central nervous, hormonal and cardiovascular system[5,18,19]. It is therefore of interest to measure dopamine in the extracellular fluid in animals to order to monitor neurotransmission processes and correlate neurochemistry with behavior[19]. 

Peptide-secreting cells of the hypothalamic-hypophyseal circuits originally were described as neurosecretory cells, receiving synaptic information from other central neurons, yet secreting transmitters in a hormone-like fashion into the circulation. The transmitter released from such neurons was termed a neurohormone, i.e., a substance secreted into the blood by a neuron. These hypothalamic neurons also may form traditional synapses with central neurons, and cytochemi-cal evidence indicates that the same substances that are secreted as hormones from the posterior pituitary (oxytocin, arginine-vasopressin see Chapters 29 and 55) mediate transmission at these sites. Thus, the designation hormone relates to the release at the posterior pituitary and does not necessarily describe all actions of the peptide. 

De Sio et al. 2005) that have focused in particular on the effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and related systems in traffic police officers. The data obtained suggested that occupational exposure to PM could affect hormone concentrations. However, it is also well known that traffic policemen are a working population exposed to high levels of stress (Piercecchi-Marti et al. 1999) and psychosocial stressors are able to alter the HPA axis causing alterations to the neuroendocrine system. Moreover, a clear correlation between PM exposure and observed effects on the HPA axis cannot be established since personal PM monitoring of exposed occupational categories has not yet been performed. Consequently, caution should be used when considering the results of these studies. 

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