Endocrinology: People and Ideas PDF
Preview Endocrinology: People and Ideas
Endocrinology PEOPLE AND IDEAS CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION COMMITTEE A. P. FISHMAN, Chairman L. L. LANGLEY P. A. CHEVALIER S. OCHS J. S. COWAN A. B. OTIS M. FRANK (EX OFFICIO) M. C. SHELESNYAK D. L. GILBERT H. V. SPARKS, JR. P. C. JOHNSON (EX OFFICIO) N.C. STAUB R. J. C. JOY J. B. WEST R. H. KELLOGG PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE P. c. JOHNSON, Chairman J. S. COOK W. F. GANONG L. R. JOHNSON J. MCE. MARSHALL B. B. RAUNER, Publications Manager and Executive Editor L. s. CHAMBERS, Production Manager, Books A. P. BARRETT, s. P. MANN, Editorial Staff Endocrinology PEOPLE AND IDEAS Edited by S. M. McCann Springer New York ISBN 978-1-4614-7436-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-7436-4 ©Copyright 1988, American Physiological Society Originally published by American Physiological Society in 1988 Softcover reprint of the hardcover lst edition 1988 Library ofCongress Catalog Card Number: 87-18855 International Standard Book Number: 0-19-520718-1 Preface T HIS book grew out of suggestions from the Publications Com mittee of the American Physiological Society, which has planned a series covering the development of ideas about a number of areas of physiology. This was prompted by the great success of Circulation of the Blood: Men and Ideas, edited by A. P. Fishman and D. W. Richards, which was originally published in 1964 and then reissued by the Society in 1982. Three companion books are being completed in conjunction with the centennial year of the American Physiolog ical Society: this volume on endocrinology, one on the kidney, and one on membrane transport. It was our purpose not to provide a complete bibliography or a complete listing of all the progress made in a given area but to show PREFACE the principal ideas and how they developed. Consequently, limita- tions were placed on the number of references and on the length of each chapter. This book covers most of the areas of endocrinology; it is not completely comprehensive but discusses the main pathways of development and highlights the prominent investigators. We hope that the book as a whole will give an excellent picture of the evolution of this exciting area of physiology and the people involved in its growth. Most of the endocrine organs were discovered in antiquity by such early workers as Aristotle and Galen. The last endocrine gland to be discovered was the parathyroid in 1891 by Gley. In ancient times Aristotle wrote of the effects of castration on the behavior of the hog; he also noticed that the ovaries of sea urchins waxed and waned with the lunar cycle. Galen, the Greek physician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, around the time of Christ, developed the concept that the pituitary gland was a secretor of animal spirits through the sphenoid and into the nose. These primitive concepts of endocrine function persisted even until the sixteenth century, when Descartes claimed that the pineal gland was the seat of the soul. The first evidence for an endocrine function was provided by Berthold, who transplanted testes into castrated roosters, which resulted in maintenance of comb size, crowing, and other signs of masculine behavior. This fundamental advance was followed by similar experiments in the female by Knauer in 1895 indicating that the growth of the uterus and vagina could be maintained by ovarian I vI transplants. At this same time, Minkowski transplanted the pancreas into depancreatized dogs and showed that diabetes mellitus was ameliorated. The next step was to make extracts of endocrine organs. One of the first to do this was Brown-Sequard, who injected himself with aqueous extracts of bull testes and claimed that they rejuvenated ENDOCRINOLOGY him. Unfortunately, in retrospect these were probably placebo ef fects, but they stimulated others to make aqueous extracts; indeed it was shown in 1891 that thyroid powder would correct the deficien cies of myxedema, adult hypothyroidism. Endocrinology has always been intimately linked with clinical medicine. During the nineteenth century most of the clinical entities were discovered. For example, Addison described Addison's disease as a deficiency of the adrenal cortex in 1855. In 1895 Marie de scribed acromegaly, the first example of hyperfunction of an endo crine gland, which was shown to be due to eosinophilic adenomas of the anterior pituitary gland. Oliver and Sharpey-Schiifer made aqueous extracts of the adrenal gland in 1895 and found that they had pressor activity, thus discovering epinephrine. In that same year they made extracts of the pituitary gland and showed that they also had pressor activity; the oxytocic activity was revealed shortly there after. The next breakthrough of practical significance was the prepara tion by Collip of insulin in a form suitable for injection into patients after the discovery of the hormone by Banting and Best. This intro duced insulin treatment for diabetes mellitus, one of the commonest endocrine diseases. Parathyroid hormone, one of the last of the nonsteroid hormones to be extracted, was prepared in 1925 by Collip. Aqueous extraction proved adequate for the extraction of the hormones that were small organic compounds, such as epinephrine and thyroid hormone, and for various peptide and protein hormones; however, it was not adequate for the lipid-soluble steroid hormones. Allen and Doisy were the first to make lipid extracts of ovaries that contained estrogen. This was followed quickly by the preparation of similar extracts from testes and finally in the 1930s from the adrenal cortex. The next step was to isolate these new compounds, determine their structure, and synthesize them. This was fairly easy for rela tively simple compounds, such as epinephrine and thyroxine, and the saga of the attempts to synthesize thyroxine is described in this volume. Further developments in organic chemistry allowed the elucida tion of structure of the steroid hormones during the 1930s. Even here a new technique, paper chromatography, was necessary to separate aldosterone from the other adrenal steroids in the 1950s. Advances in peptide chemistry finally allowed the structural elu cidation of the first two brain peptides, oxytocin and vasopressin, by [ VI ] DuV igneaud in the 1950s. Elucidation of the structure of the larger anterior pituitary hormones such as adrenocorticotropin, growth hormone, and prolactin continued until the early 1970s. The hypo thalamic peptides were discovered in the 1950s and 1960s, and their structures were determined between 1969 and 1983. The elucida tion of their structures was hindered by the fact that there were very PREFACE small stores of these peptides in the hypothalamus, necessitating fractionation of millions of glands to obtain enough material for analysis. Dramatic progress in peptide chemistry in the intervening years has greatly reduced the quantity of peptide required for elucidation of structure. Thus the structure of many gastrointestinal peptide hormones has been determined, particularly by Mutt's group in Stockholm. Finally, developments in molecular genetics made possible the elucidation of the structure of some larger peptides, the first of which was the pro-opiomelanocortin molecule. These techniques have now been used to determine the structure of more complex hormones, such as gonadotropins and inhibin, the gonadal inhibitor. After the discovery of a new hormone, physiologists have worked out the control systems involved and studied the actions of the hormone on its target tissues. Pharmacologists have been involved in the production and testing of analogues with inhibitory or agonistic action. An area of investigation that has grown rapidly in the last few years is the mechanism of action of hormones. In every case this involves interaction with a receptor. The receptors are usually on the cell surface; however, the receptors for thyroid hormones and steroid hormones are in the cytosol and carry the hormone to the nucleus, where it interacts with DNA to evoke messenger RNA synthesis. The other hormones act on the receptors, which results in second-messenger effects, such as the activation of adenylate cyclase. The complexity of the action of hormones has been revealed in recent studies showing that often this also involves cyclic GMP, the phosphatidyl inositol cycle, arachidonic acid metabolites, and extra cellular and intracellular calcium. It is obvious from this brief introduction that the development of endocrinology has involved an intertwining of information obtained through clinical medicine with physiology, biochemistry, and ge netics to discover a host of hormones, unravel their structure, and determine their function and mechanism of action. The number of hormones is still increasing; because of the extraordinarily rapid elucidation of the structure and function of atrial natriuretic peptide, we include a chapter to show the contrast between its development and that of hormones discovered earlier. Atrial natriuretic peptide went from discovery to synthesis and study of its mechanism of action within four years. This book begins with a discussion of vasopressin and then exam ines the development of concepts in the control of pituitary hor- (VII j mones and their target glands. It also considers the neural lobe of the pituitary gland and the pineal gland, which are completely under neural control. It continues with various pituitary hormones under neural control, such as the gonadotropins and prolactin. Discussion then shifts to the pituitary target glands, such as the adrenal gland, thyroid, and ovary. The book then moves to consideration of periph ENDOCRINOLOGY eral hormones, such as parathyroid hormone and calcitonin, and the pancreatic hormones. This is followed by a description of the mech anism of action of hormones, a very active field, and includes a brief discussion of hormone receptors. The next chapter reviews receptors and the receptor concept in depth. Finally, the newly discovered atrial natriuretic peptide is considered and a brief description of the development of concepts in comparative endocrinology is provided. S.M. McCANN [ VIII ] Table of Contents Vasopressin and Regulation of Water I Homeostasis and Cardiovascular Function 1 LEONARD SHARE II Anterior Pituitary Neural Control Concepts 23 CHARLES H. SAWYER III Saga of the Discovery of Hypothalamic Releasing and Inhibiting Hormones 41 S.M. McCANN Gonadotropins 63 IV ROY 0. CREEP v Pituitary-Adrenal System 87 DON H. NELSON VI Prolactin 117 JOSEPH MEITES Defining Thyroid Hormone: Its Nature VII and Control 149 CLARK T. SAWIN Endocrine Function of the Ovary 201 VIII KENNETH J. RYAN Pineal Gland 215 IX RUSSEL J. REITER AND MARY K. VAUGHAN [ ix ]
The list of books you might like
