Zárate Arturo, Saucedo Renata, Hernández Marcelino
Unidad de Investigación en Endocrinología Hospital de Especialidades del Centro Médico Nacional, Instituto Mexícano del Seguro Social, México.
Ginecol Obstet Mex. 2006 Jul;74(7):383-8.
Geoffrey W. Harris, inspired by Francis H. Marshall, began the experimental studies in order to demonstrate a vascular connection between the hypothalamus and the adenohypophysis, with neuropeptides as messengers. This confirmed his theory that the mechanism consists in that the nerve fibers in the hypothalamus release hormonal substances in the capillaries of the primary plex in the medium eminence, and that these substances are carried by the vessels of the portal circulation to stimulate or inhibit the pars distalis cells of the hypophysis. This theory placed the hypothalamus as the fundamental structure to understand the link between the brain and the hypophysis. Later, it was known the structure of neurohormones, particularly the responsible for producing gonadotrophins. By this way, it was possible to go into the processes involved in reproduction. This was the origin of neuroendocrinology, gestated by investigations made in the reproduction of animals, including man. The purification, sequentiation and synthesis of the hormone that controls the FSH and LH production have allowed to study the physiology and disorders of the neuroendocrine circuit.
杰弗里·W·哈里斯受弗朗西斯·H·马歇尔的启发，开始了实验研究，以证明下丘脑与腺垂体之间存在血管连接，神经肽作为信使。这证实了他的理论，即该机制在于下丘脑的神经纤维在正中隆起初级丛的毛细血管中释放激素物质，这些物质通过门脉循环的血管运输，以刺激或抑制垂体远侧部细胞。这一理论将下丘脑置于理解大脑与垂体之间联系的基本结构的位置。后来，人们了解了神经激素的结构，特别是负责产生促性腺激素的神经激素。通过这种方式，人们得以深入研究生殖过程。这就是神经内分泌学的起源，它由对包括人类在内的动物生殖进行的研究孕育而生。控制促卵泡激素和促黄体生成素产生的激素的纯化、测序和合成，使得人们能够研究神经内分泌回路的生理学和紊乱情况。
