To the Editor: I read with great interest the study by Rademaker et al 1 reporting the beneficial cardiovascular and humoral effects of urocortin 2 in sheep with heart failure induced by pacing. Urocortin 2 is a potent vasodilator peptide that acts specifically on the corticotropin-releasing factor type 2 receptor. The study by Rademaker et al 1 suggests that this peptide may have therapeutic p...

The presence of the opioids, beta-endorphin, met-enkephalin, and endomorphin, and of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and the CRF family member, urocortin (Ucn), is described in cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons in the brain of the amphibian, Xenopus laevis.

OBJECTIVE Spontaneous labor at term involves the activation of placental corticotropin-releasing hormone and the fetal adrenal axis, but the basis for extreme preterm labor is unknown. Our objective was to determine whether placental corticotropin-releasing hormone is activated in extreme preterm labor. STUDY DESIGN One thousand five hundred six mothers delivering at less than 28 weeks' gesta...

We report the regulation of type 1 receptor mRNA in Y-79 human retinoblastoma cells, grown in the absence or presence of pharmacological levels of phorbol esters, forskolin, glucocorticoids and their combinations. To control for inducibility and for assessing the sensitivity of the Y-79 system to glucocorticoids, corticotropin releasing hormone mRNA levels were measured in parallel. All treatme...

Methods: Five beagle bitches were administered MPA subcutaneously at 10 mg/kg, every four weeks. A combination of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH), and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) was administered before and 2, 5, 8, and 11 months after the initial MPA treatment. Blood samples for determination of plas...

The effects of stress on energy balance and the involvement of the neuropeptide corticotropin releasing factor in modulating the anorexia of stress and sympathetic nervous system tone are well recognized. Currently, studies centered on the roles of the more recently described members of this family of ligands, the urocortins, and their preferred receptor, the corticotropin releasing factor type...

The presence of corticotropin-releasing factor-like material in the intermaxillary glands was studied by immunocytochemical techniques during the metamorphosis of Bufo arenarum. The intermaxillary glands appeared at stage XV (midprometamorphosis) with CRF-like material slightly immunoreactive. These glands are located posterior to the premaxillae and between the nasal capsules in the roof of th...

Obesity has become one of the leading causes of illness and mortality in the developed world. Preclinical and clinical data provide compelling evidence for ghrelin as a relevant regulator of appetite, food intake, and energy homeostasis. In addition, ghrelin has recently emerged as one of the major contributing factors to reward-driven feeding that can override the state of satiation. The corti...

=Abstract~Immunohistochemical methods, employing a specific antiserum against human corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) and serotonin, were applied to determine the distribution of corticotropin releasing factor-immunoreactivity (CRF-IR) and serotonin-IR in the deep cerebellar nuclei of the Squirrel monkey. CRF-IR labeled fibers were demonstrated in three all deep cerebellar nuclei, including ...