The pituitary-adrenocortical axis and the immune system.
Recent findings indicate that interactions between the pituitary-adrenocortical axis and the immune system involve more than simply the effects of glucocorticoid hormones. This altered view has resulted from the observations that: 1) cells of the immune system have receptors for and are directly acted upon by ACTH and endorphins, and 2) the immune system is an important non-pituitary source of these peptide hormones. In this chapter, while we review in a cursory way the older findings with glucocorticoid hormones, we concentrate on the newer developments which suggest that leukocyte- and pituitary-derived ACTH and endorphins perform regulatory functions within and between the immune system and the pituitary-adrenocortical axis.
D000302:Adrenal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000502:physiology; D000917:Antibody Formation; D004723:Endorphins / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000187:drug effects; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015846:Monokines; D010907:Pituitary Hormones / Q000378:metabolism; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000276:immunology*; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin / Q000378:metabolism; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid / Q000378:metabolism
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D004723:Endorphins; D008222:Lymphokines; D015846:Monokines; D010907:Pituitary Hormones; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin