Bikman: Endocrine Path Flashcards
Anterior Pituitary hormones
ACTH
LH
FSH
GH
PRL
TSH
Which glands are affected with primary, secondary, tertiary deficiencies?
Primary - Target gland
Secondary - Pituitary
Tertiary - Hypothalamus
Where do most problems occur in the hypothalamus-pituitary axis?
Hypothalamus and Pituitary
(Tertiary and Secondary)
Posterior pituitary
- Consists of neurons with a cell body in the hypothalamus and the axon ending in the posterior pituitary
- Neurons release the small peptides oxytocin and ADH directly into the blood
Posterior Pituitary Disorders
Hypersecretion of ADH - SIADH
Hyposecretion of ADH - Diabetes Insipidus
Hypersecretion of oxytocin - Galactorrhea
Hyposecretion of oxytocin - lack of milk ejection, prolonged labor, lack of compassion/bonding
What are the causes of SIADH?
- Ectopic production of ADH (by cancer cells)
- Surgery (surgery related stress)
- Some drugs
- Cranial abnormalities (trauma, tumor, etc)
What are the clinical manifestations of SIADH?
- ↑water retention
- ↑Na+ loss due to ↑BV
- Hyponatremia - blood is becoming more dilute while urine is becoming more concentrated
- Hypoosmolarity - ↓serum osmolarity
The body is slowlyl becoming hypOtonic; the urine, hypERtonic
What are actions of SIADH?
-
↑permeability of renal collecting duct to water
- ADH inserts aquaporins into the wall of the collecting duct
- Constriction of arterial SM @ high concentrations
What are treatments for SIADH?
- Restrict H2O
- Remove tumor (if present)
- ADH receptor blocker
What are the clinical manifestations of diabetes insipidus?
- Manifests with polyuria (high urine flow)
- Polydipsia - drinking lots of H2O
- Dilute urine - cannot concentrate it
- Dehydration
What are the different types of diabetes insipidus?
- Neurogenic
- Nephrogenic
- Psychogenic
Neurogenic Diabetes Insipidus
Insufficient ADH
Damage to the brain or posterior pituitary from head trauma, cranial surgery or tumor; idiopathic
Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus
Insufficient ADH response
- Lack of ADH receptors in kidney or failure of receptors to modify permeability of the collecting duct
- Genetic
- Temporary nephro DI can be caused by some drugs, pregnancy, electrolyte imbalance, kidney trauma
- Permanent nephro DI from kidney failure
Psychogenic Diabetes Insipidus
Drinking too much H2O
From trying to get rid of toxins, demons?!, etc
Tx for Neurogenic DI?
ADH replacement
Tx for nephrogenic DI?
Drink lots of H2O and eat a lot of NaCl
Tx for psychogenic DI?
Restrict H2O intake
What is oxytocin release stimulated by?
- Cervix stretching during birth
- Breast stimulation (nursing)
- Psychological: Hearing the baby cry, thinking about the baby, stress
What are the effects of oxytocin?
- Role in intimacy (bonding, orgasm)
- May cause a degree of amnesia
- Endorphins might also play a role
What are the hormones that are released by the anterior pituitary?
- FSH - Follicle Stimulating hormone
- LH - Lutenizing hormone
- ACTH - Adrenocorticotrophic hormone
- TSH - Thyroid Stimulating hormone
- PRL - Prolactin
- GH - Growth hormone
Hormone pairs in the hypothalamic-pituitary axis
- GnRH –> FSH, LH
- TRH –> TSH
- CRH –> ACTH
- PIF –> PRL
- GHRH –> GH
Hypothalamic Factor Stimulation Tests
Determining if problem originates in hypothalamus or anterior pituitary
- Take blood from patient under resting conditions
- Inject one or more hypothalamic releasing factors
- Wait a few minutes and then take another sample
- Compare the amount of various anterior pituitary hormones before and after injection of hypothalamic factors
If pituitary hormone increases - Hypothalamus
If pituitary hormone does NOT increase - Pituitary
Hypothalamic hormone is high, pituitary hormone is low - Target gland
Anterior pituitary disorders
Hypopituitarism - Pituitary infarction, Empty sella syndrome
Hyperpituitarism - Pituitary adenoma, end organ destruction, hypothalamic disorder, carcinoma (not as common as adenoma)
Tx of pituitary adenoma
- Hormone therapies (depending on the problem)
- Surgery (may return)
- Radiation
Symptoms of pituitary adenoma
- Visual defect (if tumor is large)
- Headache (if tumor is large)
- Oculomotor palsies may result
- Manifestation: can’t properly dilate or constrict the pupil in one or both eyes
- No eye tracking
- Can’t open eyelids properly
Regulation of PRL Release
Actions of PRL
- Proliferation of glandular tissue of mammary glands
- Synthesis of milk proteins by mammary glands
- ↑calcium mobilization from bone and secretion of calcium into milk
- Stimulates immune system
Sex Effects of Hypersecretion of PRL
- Females
- Amenorrhea
- Galactorrhea
- Hirsutism
- Osteopenia - weakening of the bones due to ↑Ca2+ mobilization
- Males
- Hypogonadism
- Impaired libido
- Infertility
- Gynecomastia
- Galactorrhea
Tx for Hypersecretion of PRL
- DA agonists i.e. bromocryptin
- Somatostatin analogs i.e. octreotide
Manifestation of Hyposecretion of PRL
- Poor milk production
- Poor immune system function
Tx for Hyposecretion of PRL
- ↓plasma concentrations of PRL
- TRH-stimulation test utilized to determine if the problem is at pituitary or hypothalamus
- ↓PRL after TRH injection: problem at pituitary
- ↑PRL release after TRH injection: problem at hypothalamus
Hypersecretion of GH disorders
- Gigantism (pre-pubertal adenoma)
- Tall & long limbs
- Acromegaly (post-pubertal adenoma)
- May be tall
- Enlarged bones of face, hands
- Enlarged soft tissues (tongue, heart)
Why can GH hypersecretion be lethal?
Increased risk of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
What are clinical manifestations of GH hypersecretion?
- Large tongue, lips, fingers, toes, jaw bone, ears, skull bones
- ↑blood glucose
- Headaches if tumor is large
- Vision problems if tumor is large
- Joint pain
- Barrel chest
- CV diseases - HTN, cardiac hypertrophy, etc. = early death
- Malignancies may become more aggressive (GH and IGF are growth factors)
Tx for hypersecretion of GH
Somatostatin analog - inhibits GH, glucagon, insulin
Hyposecretion of GH
- Growth failure
- ↑% of fat and reduced lean mass
- Poor strength and development of bones (bones are thin and fragile)
- Poor immune function
Hyposecretion of GH: young adult onset
- Poor lactation
- Poor immune function
- ↓blood glucose
- Depression
- ↓mass of bone