title: Atriopeptin: an endogenous corticotropin-release inhibiting hormone.
abstract: Activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis is a major component of the body's response to stress. Current theories on the pathophysiology of disorders associated with hyperfunction of the axis, such as depression and Cushing's stress, are based on the concept that anterior pituitary adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) secretion is stimulated by hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormones and inhibited by adrenal corticosteroids. Hypothalamic inhibitory control of pituitary ACTH secretion has been also postulated, but has not gained general acceptance because of the lack of definitive evidence for a corticotropin-release inhibiting hormone. It is shown here that in conscious rats stress-induced secretion of ACTH and corticosterone is markedly enhanced by the immunoneutralisation of atriopeptin. Therefore, we propose that atriopeptin is a physiologically relevant corticotropin-release inhibiting hormone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Edinburgh, U.K.
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Antoni
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Lowry
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Noble
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Seckl
mesh_terms: D000302:Adrenal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000378:metabolism; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D007106:Immune Sera; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D003345:Corticosterone