Center for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Departments of Medicine and Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2023 Dec;19(12):708-721. doi: 10.1038/s41574-023-00894-5. Epub 2023 Sep 15.
Traditional textbook physiology has ascribed unitary functions to hormones from the anterior and posterior pituitary gland, mainly in the regulation of effector hormone secretion from endocrine organs. However, the evolutionary biology of pituitary hormones and their receptors provides evidence for a broad range of functions in vertebrate physiology. Over the past decade, we and others have discovered that thyroid-stimulating hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, prolactin, oxytocin and arginine vasopressin act directly on somatic organs, including bone, adipose tissue and liver. New evidence also indicates that pituitary hormone receptors are expressed in brain regions, nuclei and subnuclei. These studies have prompted us to attribute the pathophysiology of certain human diseases, including osteoporosis, obesity and neurodegeneration, at least in part, to changes in pituitary hormone levels. This new information has identified actionable therapeutic targets for drug discovery.
传统的生理学教科书将来自垂体前叶和后叶的激素的单一功能归因于主要在调节内分泌器官的效应激素分泌方面。然而，垂体激素及其受体的进化生物学为脊椎动物生理学中的广泛功能提供了证据。在过去的十年中，我们和其他人发现，促甲状腺激素、促卵泡激素、促肾上腺皮质激素、催乳素、催产素和精氨酸加压素直接作用于包括骨骼、脂肪组织和肝脏在内的躯体器官。新的证据还表明，垂体激素受体在脑区、核和亚核中表达。这些研究促使我们将某些人类疾病（包括骨质疏松症、肥胖症和神经退行性变）的病理生理学至少部分归因于垂体激素水平的变化。这些新信息确定了药物发现的可行治疗靶点。
