Effect of some adrenal steroid hormones on skin fibroblast replication in vitro.

Abstract

We have previously drawn attention to the fact that, in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, the familiar steroid-induced skin-thinning effect which occurs in those given long-term oral corticosteroid medication is absent in those treated with ACTH- (Grahame, 1969). This observation is compatible with the earlier observations of Savage, Copeman, Chapman, Wells, and Treadwell (1962) and West (1961) that 'steroid bruising' is rare in ACTHtreated rheumatoid arthritis patients. This study was undertaken to investigate this apparent disparity of effect between ACTH and oral corticosteroids.It is well established that in vitro corticosteroids (including synthetic analogues) inhibit fibroblast growth and replication (Berliner, Bartley, Kenner, and Jee, 1970). It follows that the 'protective' effect of ACTH could be due to a direct effect of ACTH itself, or perhaps to the effect of androgenic steroids released by the adrenal cortex in response to ACTH stimulation, since it has been shown that the skin of hirsute women is thicker and contains more collagen (Shuster, Black, and Bottoms, 1970) and that their urine contains increased amounts of testosterone (Nabarro, personal communication

Human Dermal Fibroblast: A Promising Cellular Model to Study Biological Mechanisms of Major Depression and Antidepressant Drug Response

“…They showed that HDF can synthesize cortisol [ 117 ] and express other important HPA axis factors such as proopiomelanocortin (POMC), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) [ 107 , 115 , 152 ], and corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH). It has been shown that HDF treatment by cortisol reduces cell proliferation [ 118 , 119 ]. Moreover, HDF express melanocortin receptor 1 (MCR1) [ 109 - 111 , 113 ] as well as CRH receptors [ 108 , 114 ].…”