The corticotrophin-releasing factor-binding protein: from artefact to new ligand(s) and axis

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Corticotrophin-releasing factor in the human placenta When the occurrence in the human placenta of significant amounts of the 41 residue hypothalamic peptide, corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF), was first reported in the literature (Shibasaki et al. 1982), many endocrinologists engaged in research on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis were somewhat sceptical, particularly about the high concentrations of immunoreactivity that were being found. We had come to accept that the placenta produced a number of protein hormones, in particular, homologues of the pituitary protein and glycoprotein hormones, namely placental lactogen and chorionic gonadotrophin, which are secreted into the maternal bloodstream in quite significant amounts. But, invariably the concentrations in placental tissue of the smaller peptide hormones, both of the pituitary and hypothalamic type, were some orders of magnitude less (Kreiger 1982). The initial report (Sasaki et al. 1984) of CRF in peripheral blood of pregnant women in their third trimester at concentrations normally associated

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: