Esposti D, Lissoni P, Tancini G, Barni S, Crispino S, Paolorossi F, Rovelli F, Ferri L, Cattaneo G, Esposti G
Institute of Human Physiology II, Faculty of Medicine, University of Milan, Italy.
Cancer. 1988 Aug 1;62(3):494-9. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19880801)62:3<494::aid-cncr2820620309>3.0.co;2-p.
Recent studies showed that both the pineal gland and the endogenous opioid system are involved in the modulation of the immune system and in the regulation of tumor growth. Moreover, a relationship between pineal and opioid system has been demonstrated. In order get an overall view of the psychoneuroendocrine interactions in cancer patients, the levels of melatonin, the most important pineal hormone, and of beta-endorphin have been measured on blood samples collected during the morning. The study was carried out on 54 patients, 42 healthy subjects, and in 34 patients having illnesses other than cancer. Breast cancer, lung carcinoma, and colorectum cancer were the three neoplasms detected in the patients investigated. Growth hormone (GH), somatomedin-C and prolactin (PRL) levels were also determined. beta-endorphin levels were found to be substantially within the normal range in patients with cancer, whereas those of melatonin were raised in several cases. The beta-endorphin/melatonin ratio was higher than 2 in normal subjects, in non-neoplastic patients and in most cancer patients without metastases, whereas this ratio was lower than 2 in almost all patients in a metastatic stage of the disease. Neither melatonin levels nor those of beta-endorphin appeared to be significantly correlated with GH, somatomedin-C, and PRL concentrations. The low beta-endorphin/melatonin ratio observed in metastatic patients suggests the presence of an unbalanced relation between the pineal and the opioid system in those subjects. Therefore, an anomalous relationship between pineal function and opioid activity might play a role in the clinical course of neoplastic disease.
近期研究表明，松果体和内源性阿片系统均参与免疫系统的调节以及肿瘤生长的调控。此外，松果体与阿片系统之间的关系也已得到证实。为全面了解癌症患者的心理神经内分泌相互作用，我们检测了早晨采集的血样中褪黑素（最重要的松果体激素）和β-内啡肽的水平。该研究对54例患者、42名健康受试者以及34例患有非癌症疾病的患者进行。所调查的患者中检测出三种肿瘤，分别为乳腺癌、肺癌和结直肠癌。同时还测定了生长激素（GH）、生长调节素-C和催乳素（PRL）的水平。结果发现，癌症患者的β-内啡肽水平基本在正常范围内，而褪黑素水平在一些病例中有所升高。正常受试者、非肿瘤患者以及大多数无转移的癌症患者的β-内啡肽/褪黑素比值高于2，而在几乎所有处于疾病转移阶段的患者中，该比值低于2。褪黑素水平和β-内啡肽水平似乎均与GH、生长调节素-C和PRL浓度无显著相关性。转移患者中观察到的低β-内啡肽/褪黑素比值表明，这些受试者的松果体和阿片系统之间存在失衡关系。因此，松果体功能与阿片活性之间的异常关系可能在肿瘤疾病的临床进程中起作用。
