Effects of corticotropin-releasing hormone on proopiomelanocortin derivatives and monocytic HLA-DR expression in patients with septic shock

What Was Tested

Researchers studied ACTH (Corticotropin) and CRH (Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Little is known about interactions between immune and neuro-endocrine systems in patients with septic shock.

The researchers therefore evaluated whether the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and/or proopiomelanocortin (POMC) derivatives [ACTH, β-endorphin (β-END), β-lipotropin (β-LPH), α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) or N-acetyl-β-END (Nac-β-END)] have any influences on monocyte deactivation as a major factor of immunosuppression under septic shock conditions.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the ACTH (Corticotropin) group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on ACTH (Corticotropin), so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the ACTH (Corticotropin) group a baseline to be compared against.

Each person switched between ACTH (Corticotropin) and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.

What Was Measured

The researchers therefore evaluated whether the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and/or proopiomelanocortin (POMC) derivatives [ACTH, β-endorphin (β-END), β-lipotropin (β-LPH), α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) or N-acetyl-β-END (Nac-β-END)] have any influences on monocyte deactivation as a major factor of immunosuppression under septic shock conditions.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone, Gene Expression, HLA-DR Antigens, Hospitals, University, Intensive Care Units and Monocytes.

Author keywords: Alpha melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH), Corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH), Human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR), Proopiomelanocortin (POMC), Septic shock and Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α).

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of ACTH (Corticotropin) and CRH (Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone).

The publication is from 2013 (Peptides), a journal based in United States.

More context: the ACTH (Corticotropin) compound page and the CRH (Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone) compound page, all human trials.