Search results for " receptor"

Glucagon-like peptide-2 analog and inflammatory state in obese mice

2020

Obesity is characterized by chronic low grade of systemic inflammation that develops in response to nutrient excess and plays a key role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. It is characterized by macrophage infiltration into adipose tissue (AT) and abnormal cytokine production. These factors damage the metabolic homeostasis leading to alteration in the insulin signaling in specific tissues and organs such as AT and liver. Thus, obese subjects develop over the time resistance to the cellular actions of insulin. Glucagon like peptide-2 (GLP-2) is an intestinal proglucagon-derived hormone released together with GLP1, in response to the passage of food by the distal small intestine. Once…

Regulation of Apoptosis in Endocrine Autoimmunity

2002

Dysregulation of apoptosis is associated with the pathogenesis of organ-specific autoimmune diseases, through altered target organ susceptibility. Apoptosis signaling pathways can be initiated through activation of death receptors such as Fas. A comparative analysis of the expression of Fas and FasL, the antiapoptotic molecule Bcl-2, and apoptosis in both thyrocytes and thyroid-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) from patients with either Graves' disease (GD) or Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) was performed. GD thyrocytes expressed less Fas than HT thyrocytes, whereas GD TILs had higher levels of Fas and FasL than HT TILs. GD thyrocytes expressed higher levels of Bcl-2 compared with HT thyrocytes.…

Association of the rs4567312 variant in the leptin receptor gene with plasma leptin concentrations and lung cancer incidence in the PREDIMED study

2017

Alteration of dopamine D2/D3 receptor binding in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy

2010

Summary Purpose:  To quantify extrastriatal and striatal D2/D3 receptor binding in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) using the high-affinity dopamine D2/D3 receptor positron emission tomography (PET) ligand 18F-Fallypride ([18F]FP). Methods:  Twelve patients with JME and 21 age-matched control subjects were studied. Dynamic images (180 min) were acquired after injection of [18F]FP. Patients had been seizure-free of all seizure types for at least 10 days before scanning. Parametric images of binding potential (BP) were created using the simplified reference tissue model. The images were stereotactically normalized using a ligand-specific template. We performed a voxel-based ana…

Plasma Testosterone Levels and Atherosclerotic Plaque Gene Expression in Men With Advanced Atherosclerosis

2021

Aims: Low plasma testosterone levels have been shown to predict worse outcome in men with severe atherosclerotic disease. We hypothesized that a low plasma testosterone level affects disease risk through changes in gene expression in atherosclerotic plaques. Therefore, we studied plasma testosterone levels in relation to gene expression levels in atherosclerotic plaque tissue of men with advanced atherosclerotic disease.Methods: Plasma testosterone levels were measured in 203 men undergoing carotid endarterectomy. The corresponding atherosclerotic plaque tissue was used for RNA sequencing. First, we assessed how often the androgen receptor gene was expressed in the plaque. Second, correlati…

Dopamine agonists in schizophrenia: a review.

1995

Although it is unlikely that the different types of course and severity of schizophrenia are caused by one neurochemical abnormality alone, indirect pharmacological evidence still suggests a relative excess of dopaminergic activity being implicated in the pathogenesis of most of the schizophrenic symptoms, e.g. positive symptomatology. Synthesis and release of dopamine as well as firing rates of dopaminergic neurons are controlled by stimulation of autoreceptors via a negative feedback regulation. Investigations on therapeutic effects of autoreceptor-nonselective dopamine agonists in schizophrenia have yielded inconsistent results. Dopamine autoreceptor agonists like pramipexole, roxindole,…

Changes in the Expression of Tachykinin Receptors in the Rat Uterus During the Course of Pregnancy1

2001

In the mammalian female reproductive tract, tachykinin neuropeptides, such as substance P (SP), are localized to a population of sensory fibers and their precise physiological role is still unknown. The aim of the present study was to characterize the population of tachykinin receptors in the pregnant rat uterus and to assess their regulation during the course of pregnancy and after delivery. The expression of the tachykinin NK(1) receptor (NK(1)R), the tachykinin NK(2) receptor (NK(2)R), and the tachykinin NK(3) receptor (NK(3)R) in uteri from rats at different stages of pregnancy and on Day 1 postpartum was investigated by using a semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain re…

Control of Gastric Acid Secretion in Somatostatin Receptor 2 Deficient Mice: Shift from Endocrine/Paracrine to Neurocrine Pathways

2007

The gastrin-enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cell-parietal cell axis is known to play an important role in the regulation of gastric acid secretion. Somatostatin, acting on somatostatin receptor type 2 (SSTR2), interferes with this axis by suppressing the activity of the gastrin cells, ECL cells, and parietal cells. Surprisingly, however, freely fed SSTR2 knockout mice seem to display normal circulating gastrin concentration and unchanged acid output. In the present study, we compared the control of acid secretion in these mutant mice with that in wild-type mice. In SSTR2 knockout mice, the number of gastrin cells was unchanged; whereas the numbers of somatostatin cells were reduced in the antru…

Cortisol suppression and hearing thresholds in tinnitus after low-dose dexamethasone challenge

2012

Abstract Background Tinnitus is a frequent, debilitating hearing disorder associated with severe emotional and psychological suffering. Although a link between stress and tinnitus has been widely recognized, the empirical evidence is scant. Our aims were to test for dysregulation of the stress-related hypothalamus-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis in tinnitus and to examine ear sensitivity variations with cortisol manipulation. Methods Twenty-one tinnitus participants and 21 controls comparable in age, education, and overall health status but without tinnitus underwent basal cortisol assessments on three non-consecutive days and took 0.5 mg of dexamethasone (DEX) at 23:00 on the first day. Corti…

Oncostatin M, leukaemia-inhibitory factor and interleukin 6 trigger different effects on alpha1-proteinase inhibitor synthesis in human lung-derived …

1998

Interleukin 6 (IL-6), oncostatin M (OSM) and leukaemia-inhibitory factor (LIF) share a common signal-transducing subunit in each of their receptors and thus mediate an overlapping spectrum of biological activities. Although all of these cytokines stimulate the production of α1-proteinase inhibitor (α1-PI) in hepatocyte-derived cells, only OSM is able to up-regulate levels of this inhibitor in epithelial cells originating from the lung. In this study we characterized human lung-derived epithelial-like HTB58 cells for their ability to synthesize α1-PI after treatment with IL-6, OSM and LIF. The results demonstrate that the resistance of HTB58 cells to the effects of IL-6 and LIF was not becau…