Dynorphin-A(1-8) and gamma-melanotropin exist within different myenteric plexus neurons of rat duodenum

A new family of growth and differentiation factors derived from the N-terminal domain of proopiomelanocortin (N-POMC)

There is a large body of in vitro evidence that pituitary function is not only dependent on hormonal signals from the brain but also on paracrine signals produced in the tissue itself. These signals appear to be involved in the control of pituitary hormone secretion as well as in pituitary cell differentiation and development (for review see Denef C. Paracrine mechanisms in the pituitary. In: Imura H, editor. The pituitary gland, 2nd ed. Raven Press, 1994: 351-378; Denef C. Autocrine/paracrine intermediates in hormone action and modulation of cellular responses to hormones. In: Conn M, editor. Handbook of Physiology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998 (in press)). The paracrine factors which have been identified in the pituitary belong to diverse biological molecules such as neuropeptides, acetylcholine, growth factors, cytokines and posttranslationally modified derivatives of pituitary hormone such as cleaved prolactin (PRL) and the gonadotropin alpha-subunit. Recently, we have identified several N-terminal fragments of the polypeptide proopiomelanocortin (POMC) as a novel family of growth and differentiation factors in the rat anterior pituitary.

The current status of opioid research on gastrointestinal motility

Apparently conflicting data on opioid effects on gastrointestinal motility have been reported in the literature. The current status is reviewed and an attempt is made to find a common denominator to discrepant results by suggesting functionally contrasting opioid systems modulating the same physiological functions. Upon superimposition, these contrasting systems might result in opposite opioid effects dependent on the actual functional balance between the systems at the time of drug administration. Inhibitory neuromodulation at multiple sites leading to either inhibition or disinhibition by opioids may serve as a common basis of their contrasting effects. This interpretation, though consistent with most of the currently available data, is still a working hypothesis.