Steroid hormones and the cardiovascular system: direct actions of estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, gluco- and mineralcorticoids, and soltriol [vitamin D] on central nervous regulatory and peripheral tissues.
Knowledge of steroid hormone sites of action and related effects in cardiovascular and neural regulatory tissues is reviewed. Evidence for nuclear receptor sites is derived mainly from autoradiographic studies with relatively intact tissues and some biochemical studies with tissue homogenates. In the heart and in the walls of blood vessels, estradiol, dihydrotestosterone, corticosterone, aldosterone, dexamethasone, and soltriol (vitamin D) show nuclear binding. In the brain and spinal cord, neuronal regions associated with cardiovascular regulation contain nuclear receptors in specific patterns for each steroid hormones, including progesterone and soltriol. These data indicate that all steroid hormones exert direct actions on the cardiovascular system at its different levels of organization, thus enabling adjustment to the changing demands during reproduction (gonadal steroids), stress (adrenal steroids), and solar seasons (vitamin D-soltriol).
Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599.
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Stumpf
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000294:innervation; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D004958:Estradiol / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D011374:Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000502:physiology; D013739:Testosterone / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D013739:Testosterone; D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol; D002117:Calcitriol