Galanin, a neuropeptide, is found in the central nervous system and in a number of nonbrain areas including adrenal sympathetic medullar tissue and pancreas. Several studies involve galanin in the regulation of GH, which responds to stressful stimuli. This study refers to the investigation of the effect of a 20-min exercise on plasma human galanin (hGAL) and GH in middle-aged healthy volunteer adults. Thirteen individuals, 5 males and 8 females aged 40-50 years (44.7 +/- 2.95) were selected on the basis of normal body mass index (22.5 +/- 2.3 kg/m2) and the absence of endocrine or any other abnormality. Basal concentrations of GH and hGAL were measured between 0800 and 0900h after an overnight fast. Post exercise levels were recorded after termination of the stressful test and 15 min thereafter. GH and hGAL were determined by an immunoradiometric and radioimmunoassay, respectively. The exercise-potentiated GH response in all subjects with post-exercise levels significantly higher (11.09 +/- 1.8 ng/ml vs 1.27 +/- 0.7 ng/ml, p<0.0001, F=32.44) with the peak in the hormone level detected 15 min after the end of exercise (12.09 +/- 1.96 ng/ml). Plasma hGAL levels were also substantially affected by the acute exercise test, in that post exercise peripheral blood concentration was significantly higher from the basal values (21.51 +/- 9.94 vs 13.46 +/- 7.2 pg/ml, p<0.02, F=5.50). Again the hGAL values peaked 15 min after the end of exercise (24.0 +/- 10.5 pg/ml, P<0.015, F = 4.68). However, the time-correlation of the increments of GH and hGAL did not reach a statistically significant level (20 min: r=0.41, p=0.161., 35 min: r=-0.095, P=0.758). These results clearly show an independence of the two hormones. The responsivity of hGAL of middle-aged individuals to the exercise stimulus might be due to the higher releasable pool of the hormone.
Cortisol and prolactin, which are considered to have an immunomodulatory effect, and selected autoantibodies were determined in Hashimoto's thyroiditis. 37 patients (8 males and 29 females) (54 +/- 13.8 years) and an equal number of sex- and age-matched normal subjects (52.6 +/- 14.2 years) were studied. None of the 74 subjects suffered from any other immunological, infectious, hepatic, renal or malignant diseases. Patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis exhibited significantly higher (p < 0.016) prolactin values (14.0 +/- 3.8 ng/ml) than did control subjects (6.5 +/- 1.3 ng/ml). In contrast, cortisol levels were lower in Hashimoto's thyroiditis (13.5 +/- 3.2 microg/dl) vs. normal state (16.0 +/- 1.13 microg/dl), (p < 0.05). The prevalence of anti-TPO and anti-Tg antibodies was 100 % and 43 % in the patients with Hashimoto's disease. In contrast, no subject of the control group was positive for anti-TPO, although 9 subjects (24 %) were positive for anti-Tg autoantibodies. The percentage of positive autoantibodies to nucleus, smooth-muscle, and parietal cells in the patients (36.0, 10.9 and 18.5 %, respectively) was higher than that in healthy group (11.0 and 0 % respectively). Notably, neither group was positive for antibodies against double-stranded DNA or mitochondria. In conclusion, our results provide evidence for a polyclonal activity in Hashimoto's thyroiditis, an organ-specific autoimmune disease, associated with an altered prolactin-adrenocortical status. Such information should initiate longitudinal studies to clarify the exact time sequence of these events related to the disease's activity.
This study investigated the leptin response to vigorous exercise. We examined 12 sedentary subjects (7 males and 5 females) aged 45-59 yr (53 +/- 6.3) with body mass index of 26.1 +/- 8 Kg/m2. The selection of the population was based on the absence of endocrine or any other pathological anomaly. Basal concentrations of leptin, cortisol, insulin and glucose were measured at 08:00 h after an overnight fast. After that the individuals were placed on a computer-controlled ergometer performing a 20-min run at 70% VO2 max under controlled environmental conditions. Blood samples were obtained immediately after the completion of the test. For the following hour, all subjects were placed in the supine position and blood samples were taken at the end of the time period. Statistical evaluation was performed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for independent variables. Plasma leptin levels exhibited a statistically significant decrease at the end of the 20 min running period (1.5 +/- 0.1 ng/ml vs 3.2 +/- 0.4 ng/ml, p<0.005). Interestingly, after 1 h in the supine position, leptin levels reached the basal values (3.17 +/- 0.1 ng/ml). The concentration of insulin, glucose and cortisol were unaltered during the exercise test (9.8 +/- 1.3 vs 8.85 +/- 1.27 microIU/ml, 95.58 +/- 6.71 mg/dl vs 98.4 +/- 0.78 mg/dl and 10.35 +/- 0.74 microg/dl vs 9.5 +/- 0.7 microg/dl respectively). In conclusion, our data demonstrate a relationship between stressful physical activity and plasma leptin levels in middle-aged subjects.
The function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis as related to the degree of severity of a septic process was assessed by measuring plasma levels of beta-endorphin, ACTH and cortisol. Sixty-one cases of postoperative patients treated at the intensive care unit were classified into four groups according to the severity of infection: Group 1 (control) included patients who did not show any sign of infection, group 2 patients with sepsis, group 3 patients with septic syndrome and group 4 patients with septic shock. Compared to G1 patients' ACTH values (4.16+/-2.6pg/ml), a statistically significant increase in ACTH values in various stages of septicemia (p < 0.005) with a noticeable difference also between G3 (7.11 +/-3.7pg/ml) and G4 (11.5+/-6.6pg/ml) (p<0.05) was found. Differences were also observed in beta-endorphin (with a level of significance between the several groups of p = 0.0001). Also, beta-endorphin values in G4 (40.6+/-30.3 pg/ml) differed significantly from each of G1 (17.5 +/-6.6 pg/ml), G2 (21.1+/-11.3 pg/ml) and G3 (23.5+/-12 pg/ ml) (p<0.05). A progressive hypercortisolemia was obvious, with values of G4 (37.2+/-15.6 microg/dl) differing significantly from those of G1 (18+/-4.6microg/dl) and G2 (24-/+8.4microg/dl) (p<0.05) and of G3 (28.5+/-12.3 microg/dl) from that of G1 (p < 0.05). Interestingly, a dissociation of ACTH, beta-endorphin and cortisol was observed, in that the increased values of beta-endorphin and cortisol, detected in the G3 were not associated with a parallel increase in ACTH. These findings might be interpreted in the sense of an impairment of the stress stimulation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. Provided that such a situation can be lethal, our results further confirm the idea that a low-dose, steroid replacement might be beneficial to critical illness.
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