Exam 3 Pituitary Hormones Flashcards
What are the anterior pituitary hormones?
- growth hormone
- somatostatin
- gonadotropins → FSH and LH
- gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH)
- prolactin
What are the posterior pituitary hormones?
- vasopressin
- vasopressin antagonists
- oxytocin
What are some things to know about the pituitary gland?
- the master gland
- also called the hypophysis
- size of a pea (0.5 g)
- has two lobes: frontal and posterior that secrete different hormones
- has nerve cells that connects posterior pituitary and hypothalamus
What are the two exceptions where vein connects two organs?
- portal vein that connects hypothalamus and pituitary gland
- hepatic portal vein that connects intestine to liver
What are the hormones associated in the hypothalamic-pituitary-endocrine gland axis?
- GnRH and SST (somatostatin) from the hypothalamus → anterior pituitary secretes GH → peripheral tissues
- TRH from hypothalamus → anterior pituitary secretes TSH → thyroid that secretes thyroxine and triiodothyroxine
- CRH from hypothalamus → anterior pituitary secretes ACTH → adrenal cortex secretes glucocorticoids
- GnRH from hypothalamus → anterior pituitary secretes FSH and LH → gonads secretes estrogen, progesterone, testosterone
What are things to know about growth hormone and prolactin?
- single chain protein hormones
2. activate receptors associated with JAK/STAT pathway
What are things to know about TSH, FSH, and LH?
- dimeric protein hormones sharing a common alpha chain → but have their own beta chain
- activate GPCRs
What are things to know about adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)?
- single chain peptide
2. activates a GPCR
What are the functions of growth hormone?
- required during childhood and adolescence for attainment of normal adult size
- mediated primarily via increasing the production of insulin like growth factor I (IGF-I) in the liver, bone, cartilage, and muscle → for bone growth
- anabolic effects in the muscle → increases lean body mass
- catabolic effects in lipid cells → reduces central adiposity (get fat in the belly and harder to generate muscle)
- reduction in insulin sensitivity → compensated by the insulin activity of IGF-I
Does GH stimulate growth by itself?
NO! by itself, it does not stimulate growth but it stimulates IGF-I that promotes cellular growth of the bones!
What happens when someone has a deficiency of growth hormone?
- failure to reach the predicted adult height
- disproportionately increased body fat → central adiposity
- decreased muscle mass
What is the structure of growth hormone?
- 191 amino acid protein with two disulfide bonds
- similar to the structure of prolactin
- the recombinant form (rhGH, somatotropin) has the identical structure
What is the metabolism of growth hormone?
- half life of 20-25 minutes
- cleared by the liver
- rhGH is administered subcutaneously, active blood levels persist for about 36 hours
What are the clinical uses of growth hormone?
- growth hormone deficiency → congenital from genetic mutations, acquired from damage to pituitary or hypothalamus by a tumor, infection, surgery, or radiation therapy, short stature and adiposity in childhood, and hypoglycemia due to unopposed action of insulin
- treatment of pediatric patients with short stature without GH deficiency → for genetic disorders like Prader-Willi syndrome and Turner syndrome and for idiopathic short stature (controversial use since it costs $35K per inch)
- performance enhancer in athletics (banned by IOC)
- anti-aging? → skin can become smoother
- antiobesity (under investigation)
- use of recombinant bovine growth factor (rbGH) in dairy cattle → to make the cows make more milk but does not affect the quality of the milk
What is mecasermin?
- a recombinant human IGF-I (rhIGF-I)
- used in treatment of severe IGF-I deficiency → where people are not responsive to exogenous GH and/or have mutations in the GH receptor or development of neutralizing antibodies to GH
- prepared as a complex with recombinant human IGF-I binding protein-3 (rhIGFBP-3) → rhIGFBP-3 is needed to maintain an adequate half life of rhIGF-I
- hypoglycemia may occur due to the insulin activity of rhIGF-I since IGF has insulin like activity
What are the different growth hormone antagonists?
- GH secreting pituitary adenomas
- somatostatin analogs
- GH receptor antagonist
What are things to know about GH secreting pituitary adenomas (tumor that secretes hormones)?
- occur most commonly in adults → acromegaly (abnormal growth of cartilage, bone, and many other organs)
- occurrence before the epiphyseal closure leads to gigantism (rare)
- can be treated with GH antagonists (somatostatin analogs, GH receptor antagonist)
What are things to know about somatostatin analogs?
- octreotide
- lanreotide
they block the release of GH in the pituitary
What are things to know about GH receptor antagonists?
- Pegvisomat → PEG derivative of a mutant GH that binds to GH receptor but blocks signal transduction → doesn’t stimulate or activate the receptor
What are the effects of FSH?
in women: directs ovarian follicle development and stimulates the conversion of testosterone to estrogens
in men: regulates spermatogenesis and stimulates the conversion of testosterone to estrogens