Human corticotropin-releasing factor (hCRF) is a potent respiratory analeptic. Physiological and clinical aspects.

During intravenous corticotropin-releasing factor stimulation tests we observed a deepening of the tidal volume in 35 patients. To investigate this presumed respiratory stimulation we measured respiratory parameters in 12 healthy male volunteers in a single-blind placebo-controlled trial. The intravenous 60-s infusion of 100 micrograms of human corticotropin-releasing factor induced a very potent respiratory stimulation in every subject: respiratory minute volume (mean +/- S.D.) increased by 81% from 6.319 +/- 0.577 to 11.464 +/- 1.264 liters per min (P less than 0.001), whereas there was only a slight rise in the mean respiratory rate from 12.4 +/- 3.0 to 14.7 +/- 2.7 breaths per min (P le…