Normal function of the endocrine system

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Newell-Price ◽  
Alia Munir ◽  
Miguel Debono
Keyword(s):  
Adrenal Glands ◽  
Hormone Secretion ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Reproductive Organs ◽  
Normal Function ◽  
Signalling Pathways ◽  
Clinical Specialty ◽  
Intracellular Signalling Pathways ◽  
System P ◽  
Endocrine Organs

Endocrinology is the study of hormones (and their glands of origin), their receptors, the intracellular signalling pathways they invoke, and their associated diseases. The clinical specialty of endocrinology focuses specifically on the endocrine organs, that is, the organs whose primary function is hormone secretion, including the hypothalamus, the pituitary, the thyroid, the parathyroid, the adrenal glands, the pancreas, and the reproductive organs.

Caspases and apoptosis

2002 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 9-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy S Salvesen
Keyword(s):  
Cysteine Proteases ◽  
Signalling Pathways ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Mature Adult ◽  
Intracellular Signalling Pathways ◽  
Adult Cell ◽  
Caspase Family ◽  
Cell Fragments ◽  
Pro Inflammatory Cytokines

The ability of metazoan cells to undergo programmed cell death is vital to both the precise development and long-term survival of the mature adult. Cell deaths that result from engagement of this programme end in apoptosis, the ordered dismantling of the cell that results in its 'silent' demise, in which packaged cell fragments are removed by phagocytosis. This co-ordinated demise is mediated by members of a family of cysteine proteases known as caspases, whose activation follows characteristic apoptotic stimuli, and whose substrates include many proteins, the limited cleavage of which causes the characteristic morphology of apoptosis. In vertebrates, a subset of caspases has evolved to participate in the activation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and thus members of the caspase family participate in one of two very distinct intracellular signalling pathways.

Uncertainties Associated with Assessing the Risk of an Endocrine Active Substance in the Canadian Environment

2001 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Servos ◽  
Don Bennie ◽  
Kent Burnison ◽  
Philippa Cureton ◽  
Nicol Davidson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Endocrine Disruption ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Problem Formulation ◽  
Normal Function ◽  
Weight Of Evidence ◽  
Biological Responses ◽  
Low Concentrations ◽  
Multigenerational Effects

Abstract A number of biological responses and multigenerational effects, mediated through the disruption of endocrine systems, have been observed in biota exposed to relatively low concentrations of environmental contaminants. These types of responses need to be considered within a weight of evidence approach in our risk assessment and risk management frameworks. However, including endocrine responses in an environmental risk assessment introduces a number of uncertainties that must be considered. A risk assessment of nonylphenol and nonylphenol polyethoxylates (NP/NPE) is used as a case study to demonstrate the sources and magnitude of some of the uncertainties associated with using endocrine disruption as an assessment endpoint. Even with this relatively well studied group of substances, there are substantial knowledge gaps which contribute to the overall uncertainties, limiting the interpretation within the risk assessment. The uncertainty of extrapolating from in vitro or biochemical responses to higher levels of organization or across species is not well understood. The endocrine system is very complex and chemicals can interact or interfere with the normal function of endocrine systems in a number of ways (e.g., receptors, hormones) which may or may not result in an adverse responses in the whole organism. Using endocrine responses can lead to different conclusions than traditional endpoints due to a variety of factors, such as differences in relative potencies of chemicals for specific endpoints (e.g., receptor binding versus chronic toxicity). The uncertainties can also be considerably larger and the desirability of using endocrine endpoints should be carefully evaluated. Endocrine disruption is a mode of action and not a functional endpoint and this needs to be considered carefully in the problem formulation stage and the interpretation of the weight of evidence.

scholarly journals The effect of IL-2 stimulation and treatment of TRPM3 on channel co-localisation with PIP2 and NK cell function in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome patients

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Eaton-Fitch ◽  
Hélène Cabanas ◽  
Stanley du Preez ◽  
Donald Staines ◽  
Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ◽  
Nk Cells ◽  
Cell Function ◽  
Nk Cell ◽  
Chronic Fatigue ◽  
Signalling Pathways ◽  
Cell Cytotoxicity ◽  
Fatigue Syndrome ◽  
Intracellular Signalling Pathways ◽  
Nk Cell Cytotoxicity

Abstract Background Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a serious multifactorial disorder. The origin remains ambiguous, however reduced natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity is a consistent immunological feature of ME/CFS. Impaired transient receptor potential melastatin 3 (TRPM3), a phosphatidylinositol dependent channel, and impaired calcium mobilisation have been implicated in ME/CFS pathology. This investigation aimed to examine the localisation of TRPM3 at the NK cell plasma membrane and co-localisation with phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2). The effect of IL-2 priming and treatment using pregnenolone sulfate (PregS) and ononetin on TRPM3 co-localisation and NK cell cytotoxicity in ME/CFS patients and healthy controls (HC) was also investigated. Methods NK cells were isolated from 15 ME/CFS patients and 15 age- and sex-matched HC. Immunofluorescent technique was used to determine co-localisation of TRPM3 with the NK cell membrane and with PIP2 of ME/CFS patients and HC. Flow cytometry was used to determine NK cell cytotoxicity. Following IL-2 stimulation and treatment with PregS and ononetin changes in co-localisation and NK cell cytotoxicity were measured. Results Overnight treatment of NK cells with PregS and ononetin resulted in reduced co-localisation of TRPM3 with PIP2 and actin in HC. Co-localisation of TRPM3 with PIP2 in NK cells was significantly reduced in ME/CFS patients compared with HC following priming with IL-2. A significant increase in co-localisation of TRPM3 with PIP2 was reported following overnight treatment with ononetin within ME/CFS patients and between groups. Baseline NK cell cytotoxicity was significantly reduced in ME/CFS patients; however, no changes were observed following overnight incubation with IL-2, PregS and ononetin between HC and ME/CFS patients. IL-2 stimulation significantly enhanced NK cell cytotoxicity in HC and ME/CFS patients. Conclusion Significant changes in co-localisation suggest PIP2-dependent TRPM3 function may be impaired in ME/CFS patients. Stimulation of NK cells with IL-2 significantly enhanced cytotoxic function in ME/CFS patients demonstrating normal function compared with HC. A crosstalk exists between IL-2 and TRPM3 intracellular signalling pathways which are dependent on Ca2+ influx and PIP2. While IL-2R responds to IL-2 binding in vitro, Ca2+ dysregulation and impaired intracellular signalling pathways impede NK cell function in ME/CFS patients.

Staphylococcal infection and pathomurfological characteristic of the pituitary-adrenal-thyroid system

2020 ◽  
Vol 03 (04) ◽  
pp. 69-73
Author(s):  
Samira Mammadhasan Yagubova ◽  
◽  
Elchin Chingiz Akbarov ◽  
Tarana Nadir Mirzayeva ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Changes ◽  
Adrenal Glands ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Staphylococcal Infection ◽  
The Body ◽  
Glandular Cells ◽  
Exogenous Factors ◽  
Specific Symptoms

During the staphylococcal infection, changes in the interaction of glandular cells, dystrophic and disorganizing pathologies in tissues, especially acute structural and hemodynamic changes in the stroma of the glands in the pituitary-adrenal-thyroid system, develop from the first day of the experiment. At the end of the experiment, on the background of a decrease in exudative processes, fibroplastic reactions are significantly activated, resulting in signs of incomplete regeneration – mainly sclerotic processes and cystic-atrophic changes in the parenchyma. Structural changes in tissues in the early stages of staphylococcal infection and the dynamics of development are characterized by specific symptoms in each of the glands. Since the pituitary gland is exposed to endogenous and exogenous factors earlier and more often than the adrenal glands, and the adrenal glands are earlier than the thyroid gland, dystrophic and destructive changes in the pituitary and adrenal glands are more pronounced at the early stage of the experiment. These morphological changes can change the hormonal status of the body and lead to dysfunction of the endocrine system as a whole – a decrease in the functional activity of the glands to some extent, and even inhibition of adenohypophyseal cells. Key words: staphylococcal infection, peritonitis, pituitary, adrenal and thyroid glands

scholarly journals Value of Radiomics Features From Adrenal Gland and Periadrenal Fat in CT Images for Predicting COVID-19 Prognosis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mudan zhang ◽  
Xuntao Yin ◽  
Wuchao Li ◽  
Yan Zha ◽  
Xianchun Zeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adrenal Gland ◽  
Adrenal Glands ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Ct Images ◽  
Threshold Probability ◽  
Test Set ◽  
Clinical Model ◽  
Disease Prognosis ◽  
Independent Test ◽  
Test Sets

Abstract Background: Endocrine system plays an important role in infectious disease prognosis. Our goal is to assess the value of radiomics features extracted from adrenal gland and periadrenal fat CT images in predicting disease prognosis in patients with COVID-19. Methods: A total of 1,325 patients (765 moderate and 560 severe patients) from three centers were enrolled in the retrospective study. We proposed a 3D cascade V-Net to automatically segment adrenal glands in onset CT images. Periadrenal fat areas were obtained using inflation operations. Then, the radiomics features were automatically extracted. Five models were established to predict the disease prognosis in patients with COVID-19: a clinical model (CM), three radiomics models (adrenal gland model [AM], periadrenal fat model [PM], fusion of adrenal gland and periadrenal fat model [FM]), and a radiomics nomogram model (RN).Data from one center (1,183 patients) were utilized as training and validation sets. The remaining two (36 and 106 patients) were used as 2 independent test sets to evaluate the models’ performance. Results: The auto-segmentation framework achieved an average dice of 0.79 in the test set. CM, AM, PM, FM, and RN obtained AUCs of 0.716, 0.755, 0.796, 0.828, and 0.825, respectively in the training set, and the mean AUCs of 0.754, 0.709, 0.672, 0.706 and 0.778 for 2 independent test sets. Decision curve analysis showed that if the threshold probability was more than 0.3, 0.5, and 0.1 in the validation set, the independent-test set 1 and the independent-test set 2 could gain more net benefits using RN than FM and CM, respectively. Conclusion: Radiomics features extracted from CT images of adrenal glands and periadrenal fat are related to disease prognosis in patients with COVID-19 and have great potential for predicting its severity.

scholarly journals Spatio-temporal modelling of the Hes1 and p53-Mdm2 intracellular signalling pathways

2011 ◽  
Vol 273 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Sturrock ◽  
Alan J. Terry ◽  
Dimitris P. Xirodimas ◽  
Alastair M. Thompson ◽  
Mark A.J. Chaplain
Keyword(s):  
Intracellular Signalling ◽  
Signalling Pathways ◽  
Intracellular Signalling Pathways ◽  
Temporal Modelling ◽  
Spatio Temporal

scholarly journals Noncoding RNAs Carried by Extracellular Vesicles in Endocrine Diseases

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margherita A. C. Pomatto ◽  
Chiara Gai ◽  
Maria Chiara Deregibus ◽  
Ciro Tetta ◽  
Giovanni Camussi
Keyword(s):  
Extracellular Vesicles ◽  
Thyroid Autoimmunity ◽  
Noncoding Rnas ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Rna Molecules ◽  
Enzyme Degradation ◽  
Obesity And Diabetes ◽  
Endocrine Organs ◽  
Complicated Pregnancy ◽  
Metabolic Dysfunctions

RNA molecules are essential and fine regulators of important biological processes. Their role is well documented also in the endocrine system, both in physiological and pathological conditions. Increasing interest is arising about the function and the importance of noncoding RNAs shuttled by extracellular vesicles (EVs). In fact, EV membrane protects nucleic acids from enzyme degradation. Nowadays, the research on EVs and their cargoes, as well as their biological functions, faces the lack of standardization in EV purification. Here, the main techniques for EV isolation are discussed and compared for their advantages and vulnerabilities. Despite the possible discrepancy due to methodological variability, EVs and their RNA content are reported to be key mediators of intercellular communication in pathologies of main endocrine organs, including the pancreas, thyroid, and reproductive system. In particular, the present work describes the role of RNAs contained in EVs in pathogenesis and progression of several metabolic dysfunctions, including obesity and diabetes, and their related manifestations. Their importance in the establishment and progression of thyroid autoimmunity disorders and complicated pregnancy is also discussed. Preliminary studies highlight the attractive possibility to use RNAs contained in EVs as biomarkers suggesting their exploitation for new diagnostic approaches in endocrinology.

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