Neural Control of the Pituitary Gland

Harris, G. W.

doi:10.1152/physrev.1948.28.2.139

Cited by 682 publications

(188 citation statements)

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“…1) conducted a series of seminal studies in the 1940s that demonstrated that a capillary portal vessel system which connected the hypothalamic region of the central nervous system with the pituitary (see review [46]). He demonstrated this by means of a series of exquisite experiments including the injection of India ink into the capillary network (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of actions of GnRHs mediated by ligand-induced selective signaling

Millar

Pawson

Morgan

et al. 2008

Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology

123

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Geoffrey Wingfield Harris' demonstration of hypothalamic hormones regulating pituitary function led to their structural identification and therapeutic utilization in a wide spectrum of diseases. Amongst these, Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) and its analogs are widely employed in modulating gonadotropin and sex steroid secretion to treat infertility, precocious puberty and many hormone-dependent diseases including endometriosis, uterine fibroids and prostatic cancer. While these effects are all mediated via modulation of the pituitary gonadotrope GnRH receptor and the G q signaling pathway, it has become increasingly apparent that GnRH regulates many extrapituitary cells in the nervous system and periphery. This review focuses on two such examples, namely GnRH analog effects on reproductive behaviors and GnRH analog effects on the inhibition of cancer cell growth. For both effects the relative activities of a range of GnRH analogs is distinctly different from their effects on the pituitary gonadotrope and different signaling pathways are utilized. As there is only a single functional GnRH receptor type in man we have proposed that the GnRH receptor can assume different conformations which have different selectivity for GnRH analogs and intracellular signaling proteins complexes. This ligand-induced selective-signaling recruits certain pathways while by-passing others and has implications in developing more selective GnRH analogs for highly specific therapeutic intervention.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of actions of GnRHs mediated by ligand-induced selective signaling

Millar

Pawson

Morgan

et al. 2008

Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology

123

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) and oxytocin are released in response to stimulation of the central end of the vagus and to stimulation of sensory nerve endings during coitus and suckling (see Harris, 1955). From the work of Pickford and her colleagues (Pickford, 1939(Pickford, , 1947 it appears likely that neurohormonal reflexes of this nature involve a synapse at the supraoptic nuclei at which acetylcholine acts as the chemotransmitter of afferent nerve impulses, the supraoptico-hypophysial tract constituting the efferent pathway for the release of hormones from the neurohypophysis.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Nicotine, Hexamethonium and Ethanol on the Secretion of the Antidiuretic and Oxytocic Hormones of the Rat

Bisset¹,

Walker²

1957

British Journal of Pharmacology and Chemotherapy

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The actions of nicotine, hexamethonium, and ethanol on the hypothalamo-hypophysial system have been investigated in the rat. The antidiuretic action of nicotine was not inhibited by ethanol, nor by doses of hexamethonium which were sufficient to block both its pressor and convulsant actions. Hexamethonium itself had an antidiuretic action the mechanism of which has been investigated. Nicotine caused a release of oxytocin into the blood which was not blocked by ethanol nor significantly reduced by hexamethonium. The results suggest that any synapse which exists at the supraoptic nuclei is dissimilar in its pharmacological properties to synapses at autonomic ganglia.

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“…In our research program mischotomy was an application to human beings of experimental results obtained before 1955 11 : the functional equivalence between anterior lobe ablation and permanent interruption of the portal system carrying the secretory materials from the hypothalamus to the pituitary gland, a variable part of which undergoes ischaemic necrosis. As in our earlier reports 16 > 17 , the results presented here owe their significance to anatomo-histological study.…”

Section: Anatomical and Physiological Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comentários neurocirúrgicos e fisiológicos sobre a secção da haste pituitária em seres humanos (miscotomia)

Beau

Foncin

Nicolaı̈dis

1967

Arq. Neuro-Psiquiatr.

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Four years after the first hypophysectomy in a patient suffering from breast cancer 22 > 25 we started in november 1955 the section of the pituitary stalk 18 for three reasons :(a) Surgical hypophysectomy was often proved to be incomplete when at post mortem one takes care to estimate the significance of the anterior lobe remnants through serial sections of the decalcified sella turcica 16 ; (b) Furthermore if sella turcica, pituitary stalk and hypothalamus are removed together and included in the same block one observes the great regenerative ability of hypophyseal portal vessels towards anterior lobe remnants and of anterior lobe cells themselves. This was described both after hypophysectomy and after pituitary stalk section. On the other hand as hypophysectomy may be dangerous and difficult owing to diffuse bleeding in severely ill patients with multiple metastasis, we use pituitary stalk section when at operation hypophysectomy seems hazardous for local conditions (short optic nerves and/or a bulging tuberculum sellae). If pituitary section is adopted it is therefore imperative to find a way to interrupt permanently any vascular connexion between the hypothalamus and the anterior lobe, in agreement with the experimental work of Harris 11 .(c) Finally, the extent of pituitary tissue necrosis after mischotomy (miskos, stalk; tomé, section) is a significant though variable factor 24 .We shall comment here some aspects of mischotomy under three headings: (1) Surgical technique and clinical results; (2) Anatomical and physiological observations; (3) Studies on normal pituitary tissue removed during the operation and examined by electron microscopy.

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Neural Control of the Pituitary Gland

Cited by 682 publications

References 0 publications

Diversity of actions of GnRHs mediated by ligand-induced selective signaling

Diversity of actions of GnRHs mediated by ligand-induced selective signaling

The Effects of Nicotine, Hexamethonium and Ethanol on the Secretion of the Antidiuretic and Oxytocic Hormones of the Rat

Comentários neurocirúrgicos e fisiológicos sobre a secção da haste pituitária em seres humanos (miscotomia)

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