[Recent data on the group of melanotropic and lipotropic pituitary hormones (MSH-LPH) and on the brain morphinomimetic peptides (endorphins)].

It was admitted that human beta-MSH was responsible for the hyper-pigmentation observed in some syndromes associated with ACTH hypersecretion. beta-LPH was a pituitary polypeptide, containing the entire sequence of beta-MSH in its fragment 37-58, and the physiological role of which remained unknown. alpha-MSH and CLIP (Corticotrophin-like Intermediary Peptide) were thought to be specific of certain species possessing a distinct pituitary pars intermedia. Recent data give new insight upon some of these conceptions. beta-MSH seems not to exist in man; it is almost established now that plasma "Immunoreactive beta-MSH" (IR-beta-MSH) is in fact beta- and/or gamma-LPH. In chronic renal failure plasma IR-beta-MSH is elevated because of a decreased plasma disappearance rate, whereas ACTH is normal. Good evidence suggests that both LPH and ACTH are synthesized in the same pituitary cell within a common polypeptidic precursor. Endogenous peptides with morphinomimetic activity (Endorphins) have been isolated from brain and hypophysis; they are all made up of different fractions of beta-LPH-C-terminal fragment 61-91; It is likely that they represent a new class of brain neurotransmitters involved in some functions of the central nervous system, structural similarities suggest that beta-LPH may be the biosynthetic precursor of Endorphins, however such a hypothesis remains to be clearly demonstrated.