Psychoneuroendocrinology
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Psychoneuroendocrinology · Oct 1996
Immune regulation in Cushing's syndrome: relationship to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hormones.
Hormones of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis are connected closely with immune measures. To investigate whether Cushing's syndrome (CS) is associated with immune dysregulation, we compared the percentage of specific lymphocyte subsets as well as natural cell activity (NKCA) in 48 patients with Cushing's syndrome and 48 age- and sex-matched normal controls. Lymphocyte subset analysis included the percentage of lymphocytes expressing CD3 (total T), CD4 (T helper/inducer), CD8 (T suppressor/cytotoxic) and CD56 (NK cell) antigens. ⋯ Results indicated a decrease in the percentage of CD4+ cells (p < 0.05), an increase in percentage of CD8+ cells (p < 0.05), a decrease in CD4/CD8 ratios (p < 0.01), and a reduction in NKCA (p < 0.05) in patients with CS compared to matched controls. We also found significant negative correlations between NKCA on the one hand and 24 h UFC (p < 0.05) and plasma beta-endorphin (p < 0.05) on the other. These results indicate there is immune dysregulation in CS patients which can be explained in part by an increase in HPA-axis hormones.
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Psychoneuroendocrinology · Feb 1996
Dynamical entropy is conserved during cocaine-induced changes in fetal rat motor patterns.
Our previous studies demonstrated that the intra-cisternal (IC) administration of cocaine to fetal rats increased motor activity and decreased responsiveness to perioral stimulation. One explanation for these observations comes from the behavioral pharmacology of stimulant drugs: increased motor activity is often associated with a decrease in its variety. Previous power spectral transformation of this data suggests an alternative explanation: cocaine-induced hyperactivity fixates a new behavioral pattern with complexity equal to that of saline controls. ⋯ This invariant is quantified by an absence of change in topological entropy, delta hT = 0. The analyses also showed that, in order to maintain hT values, compensatory changes took place in the leading Lyapounov characteristic exponent, lambda 1 (the distance between sequential values 'stretched' along the increasing amplitudes of the variations) such that delta lambda 1 > 0, and the correlation dimension, DR (the hierarchical range of possible values, 'complicated clustering') was reduced, so that delta DR < 0. Our findings are consistent with the idea that the association between cocaine-induced increases in activity and decreases in adaptive response are not due to the dynamical entropy loss of decreased behavioral variety, but are rather the result of competitive interference by a drug-induced, equally complex, new pattern of spontaneous behavior.
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Psychoneuroendocrinology · Jan 1994
The influence of aging on the plasma concentration and renal clearance of homovanillic acid.
Using percutaneously placed arterial and venous catheters, we examined the influence of aging on the plasma concentration, whole body production rate, and renal clearance of homovanillic acid (HVA) in 60 healthy adult volunteers. The arterio-renal fractional extraction of HVA combined with the renal plasma flow (Fick Principle) were used to estimate the whole body HVA production rate and the renal plasma HVA clearance. ⋯ The diminished clearance of HVA occurred in response to a decreased renal plasma flow; the fractional extraction of HVA across the kidney remained unchanged with aging. This study emphasises the need for using age-matched control groups in neurochemical and neuropsychiatric studies, and demonstrates that increases in the arterial level of HVA do not necessarily reflect an increased rate of HVA production but may arise due to a diminished excretion rate of HVA from the body.
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Psychoneuroendocrinology · Jan 1985
Beta-endorphin, cortisol and postoperative delirium: a preliminary report.
A transient delirium, including hallucinations and disorientation, occurred at some time during a 48 to 72 hr postoperative period in patients recovering from elective surgery in an intensive care unit. The occurrence of delirium in these patients was associated with a significant and unusually prolonged postoperative increase in circulating levels of beta-endorphin (B-endorphin) and cortisol, and a total disruption of normal plasma circadian rhythms of B-endorphin and cortisol. ⋯ Circadian rhythms of B-endorphin and cortisol in the non-delirious patients also remained normal following surgery, although peak plasma concentrations were significantly phase-shifted to later in the day. A disruption in circadian rhythms of the endogenous opiate/hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis may represent an important component of post-operative psychological changes that are frequently observed in the intensive care unit setting.
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It has been suggested that elevated luteal phase prolactin (PRL) levels may have an important role in causing some of the symptoms of the premenstrual tension syndrome (PMTS). Thirty-seven women suffering from severe premenstrual dysphoria were selected for this study. Single morning and afternoon serum PRL evaluations were performed during the follicular (day 9) and late luteal (day 26) phases of the menstrual cycle. ⋯ A marked rebound hyperprolactinemia was observed in a subgroup of women nine days after cessation of bromocriptine. This was associated with no detectable effect on mood, behavior, or menstrual regularity. Thus, our data fail to show any specific relationship between PRL and PMTS.