Altered adrenocorticotropin and cortisol response to corticotropin-releasing hormone in HIV-1 infection

Biglino A, Limone P, Forno B, Pollono A, Cariti G, Molinatti GM, Gioannini P. Altered adrenocorticotropin and cortisol response to corticotropin-releasing hormone in HIV-I infection. Eur J Endocrinol 1995;133:173-9. ISSN 0804-4643 Alterations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis are common in HIV infection. To characterize further the site of these derangements and their possible causes, eight male drug addicts with symptomatic HIV infection (stage IV C2) underwent the following investigations: repeated baseline determinations of cortisol, adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), interleukin 1β (IL-1β), IL-6 and interferon alpha (IFN-α): and ovine corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) test (100 μg IV) for ACTH and cortisol determinations. Baseline cortisol levels were either normal or elevated in all patients. A significant positive linear correlation was found between baseline levels of cortisol and both IL-6 (r=0.955; p<0.001) and IL-1β (r=0.863; p<0.005), but not between cortisol and ACTH or between ACTH and circulating cytokines. Both ACTH and cortisol responses to CRH were nearly absent in six out of eight patients, and delayed in the others. The areas under the curves of both ACTH and cortisol after CRH were significantly lower in HIV patients than in a group of eight healthy control subjects (p=0.0157 for ACTH and p=0.046 for cortisol). Our data suggest the possibility of an inappropriate stimulation of the HPA axis in symptomatic HIV infection by HIV-induced release of cytokines, with a blunted pituitary and adrenal response to CRH. Paolo Limone, Institute of Internal Medicine, University of Torino, C.so AM Dogliotti 14, 10126 Torino, Italy

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Effects of sex and early maternal abuse on adrenocorticotropin hormone and cortisol responses to the corticotropin-releasing hormone challenge during the first 3 years of life in group-living rhesus monkeys

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579409990253 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 45-53 ◽

Cited By ~ 66

Author(s):

Mar M. Sanchez ◽

Kai Mccormack ◽

Alison P. Grand ◽

Richelle Fulks ◽

Anne Graff ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Hpa Axis ◽

Rhesus Monkeys ◽

Group Living ◽

Cortisol Response ◽

Corticotropin Releasing Hormone ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Releasing Hormone ◽

Cortisol Responses

AbstractIn this study we investigated the development of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis in 21 group-living rhesus monkeys infants that were physically abused by their mothers in the first few months of life and in 21 nonabused controls. Cortisol and adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) responses to a corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) challenge were assessed at 6-month intervals during the subjects' first 3 years of life. Abused infants exhibited greater cortisol responses to CRH than controls across the 3 years. Abused infants also exhibited blunted ACTH secretion in response to CRH, especially at 6 months of age. Although there were no significant sex differences in abuse experienced early in life, females showed a greater cortisol response to CRH than males at all ages. There were no significant sex differences in the ACTH response to CRH, or significant interactions between sex and abuse in the ACTH or cortisol response. Our findings suggest that early parental maltreatment results in greater adrenocortical, and possibly also pituitary, responsiveness to challenges later in life. These long-term alterations in neuroendocrine function may be one the mechanisms through which infant abuse results in later psychopathologies. Our study also suggests that there are developmental sex differences in adrenal function that occur irrespective of early stressful experience. The results of this study can enhance our understanding of the long-term effects of child maltreatment as well as our knowledge of the development of the HPA axis in human and nonhuman primates.

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Consistent Reduction of ACTH responses to stimulation with CRH, Vasopressin and Hypoglycaemia in Patients with Major Depression

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.155.4.468 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 155 (4) ◽

pp. 468-478 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

Roger G. Kathol ◽

Richard S. Jaeckle ◽

Juan F. Lopez ◽

William H. Meller

Keyword(s):

Major Depression ◽

Hpa Axis ◽

Negative Correlation ◽

Arginine Vasopressin ◽

Corticotropin Releasing Hormone ◽

Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal ◽

Releasing Hormone ◽

Control Subjects ◽

Basal Cortisol ◽

Cortisol Responses

Eleven patients with major depression and 12 control subjects were administered corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), aqueous arginine vasopressin (AVP), and insulin hypoglycaemia (IH) to test for differences in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis function. Patients with major depression demonstrated lower ACTH responses to CRH when compared with controls, and a trend toward such after administration of AVP. Despite lower ACTH responses in patients with depression, there were no differences in Cortisol responses to these stimuli. In the CRH and AVP tests, there was no correlation between the basal Cortisol and ACTH responses in either controls or patients, but in the IH test there was a negative correlation between these responses for both groups. The ACTH responses to CRH and AVP were positively correlated in controls and patients. Cortisol responses to all three provocative stimuli were positively correlated in both subject groups. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that hypothalamic or supra-hypothalamic overactivity may be involved in the development of HPA-axis abnormalities in patients with depression.

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GH and cortisol rebound rise during and following a somatostatin infusion: studies in dogs with the use of a GH-releasing peptide

Journal of Endocrinology ◽

10.1677/joe.0.1740387 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 174 (3) ◽

pp. 387-394 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

AE Rigamonti ◽

SM Bonomo ◽

SG Cella ◽

EE Muller

Keyword(s):

Hpa Axis ◽

Plasma Cortisol ◽

Cortisol Response ◽

Marked Rise ◽

Releasing Hormone ◽

Gh Secretion ◽

Combined Administration ◽

Cortisol Responses ◽

Plasma Gh

GH-releasing peptides (GHRPs), a class of small synthetic peptide and non-peptide compounds, act on specific receptors at both the pituitary and the hypothalamic level to stimulate GH release in both humans and other animals. GHRPs, like corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), also possess acute ACTH- and cortisol-releasing activity, although the mechanisms underlying the stimulatory effect of GHRPs on the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis are still unclear. In recent years, studies in humans and other animals have provided evidence that the rebound GH rise which follows withdrawal of an infusion of somatostatin (SS) (SSIW) is due, at least in part, to the functional activation of GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) neurons of the recipient organism. Unexpectedly, in humans, SS infusion, at a dose inhibiting basal GH secretion, has been associated with an activation of the HPA axis, leading to the hypothesis that this response was mediated, at least in part, by a central nervous system ACTH-releasing mechanism activated by the SS-induced decrease in GH secretion. Interestingly, the rebound GH rise which follows SSIW was magnified by the administration, before SS withdrawal, of a GHRP, implying that the SSIW approach could also be exploited to investigate in vivo the functional interaction in the process of GH and/or ACTH/cortisol secretion between endogenous GHRH (and/or other ACTH-releasing mechanisms) and GHRPs. In the present study, six young beagle dogs were given, on different occasions, at the beginning and at the end of a 3-h i.v. infusion of SS or saline (SAL), a bolus of physiological SAL or a GHRP compound, EP51216. SSIW induced a GH rebound rise without affecting plasma cortisol concentrations, while the withdrawal of SAL infusion was ineffective on either hormone paradigm. Administration of EP51216 at the beginning of SAL infusion evoked release of both GH and cortisol, whereas EP51216 administration at the withdrawal of SAL infusion evoked somatotroph and cortisol responses which were reduced in amplitude and duration. SS infusion significantly reduced the secretion of GH elicited by EP51216 but did not affect the rise of plasma cortisol levels. Interestingly, SSIW resulted in a marked enhancement of the somatotroph and cortisol responses evoked by EP51216. The marked rise of plasma GH levels induced by the GHRP after SSIW recalled that occurring after acute combined administration of recombinant human GHRH and EP51216, implying that exogenously delivered GHRP had synergized with the endogenous GHRH release triggered by SSIW. In contrast, acute combined administration of GHRH and the GHRP induced a cortisol response not different from that induced by GHRP alone, indicating that endogenous GHRH release was not involved in the enhanced cortisol response following EP51216 administration after SSIW. Similarly, the direct involvement of endogenous CRH could be ruled out, since i.v. administration of ovine CRH after SSIW evoked cortisol peak levels not different from those evoked by CRH at the withdrawal of SAL infusion. In conclusion, enhancement of the GH response to EP51216 alone by SSIW, to an extent reminiscent of that following combined administration of GHRH and EP61216, reinforces the view that SSIW elicits release of endogenous GHRH. Further studies are indeed necessary for a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the enhanced cortisol response, since from now on the involvement of endogenous GHRH or CRH can be ruled out.

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