Pseudo-Cushing's syndrome: an example of alcohol-induced central disorder in corticotropin-releasing factor-ACTH release?
Six chronic alcoholics with stigmata of Cushing's syndrome were studied before and after a period of alcohol abstinence. In all of them, after a minimum period of 3-4 weeks, a marked clinical and laboratory improvement was noted. The authors suggest that damage at brain level, with neurotransmitters' disturbance, caused by chronic alcoholism underlies the Pseudo-Cushing's Syndrome. The primum movens could be a disorder of the pituitary-adrenal axis secondary to a dysfunction of neurotransmitters with stimulation of ACTH-secreting cells of the adenohypophysis by the certicotropin-releasing factor (CRF).
D015062:11-Hydroxycorticosteroids / Q000652:urine; D015068:17-Ketosteroids / Q000652:urine; D000293:Adolescent; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood*; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D003480:Cushing Syndrome / Q000097:blood*; D003907:Dexamethasone; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011863:Radioimmunoassay
D015062:11-Hydroxycorticosteroids; D015068:17-Ketosteroids; D003907:Dexamethasone; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D006854:Hydrocortisone