Neuroendocrinology is the branch ofbiology (specifically ofphysiology) which studies the interaction between thenervous system and theendocrine system; i.e. how thebrain regulates thehormonal activity in the body.[1] The nervous and endocrine systems often act together in a process calledneuroendocrine integration, to regulate thephysiological processes of the human body. Neuroendocrinology arose from the recognition that the brain, especially thehypothalamus, controlssecretion ofpituitary gland hormones, and has subsequently expanded to investigate numerous interconnections of the endocrine and nervous systems.
Theendocrine system consists of numerous glands throughout the body that produce and secretehormones of diverse chemical structure, includingpeptides,steroids, andneuroamines. Collectively, hormones regulate many physiological processes. The neuroendocrine system is the mechanism by which the hypothalamus maintainshomeostasis, regulatingreproduction,metabolism,eating and drinking behaviour,energy utilization,osmolarity andblood pressure.
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Thehypothalamus is commonly known as an integration center of the brain because of its role in integrating inputs from all areas of the brain and producing a specific response. In the neuroendocrine system, the hypothalamus receives electrical signals from different parts of the brain and translates those electrical signals into chemical signals in the form of hormones or releasing factors. These chemicals are then transported to the pituitary gland and from there to the systemic circulation.[2]
The pituitary gland is divided into three lobes: theanterior pituitary, theintermediate pituitary lobe, and theposterior pituitary. The hypothalamus controls the anterior pituitary's hormone secretion by sending releasing factors, calledtropic hormones, down the hypothalamo-hypophysial portal system.[3] For example,thyrotropin-releasing hormone released by the hypothalamus in to the portal system stimulates the secretion ofthyroid-stimulating hormone by the anterior pituitary.[citation needed]
The posterior pituitary is directly innervated by the hypothalamus; the hormonesoxytocin andvasopressin are synthesized by neuroendocrine cells in the hypothalamus and stored at the nerve endings in the posterior pituitary. They are secreted directly intosystemic circulation by the hypothalamic neurons.[3]
Oxytocin andvasopressin (also called anti-diuretic hormone), the twoneurohypophysial hormones of theposterior pituitary gland (the neurohypophysis), are secreted from the nerve endings ofmagnocellular neurosecretory cells into the systemic circulation. The cell bodies of the oxytocin and vasopressin neurons are in theparaventricular nucleus andsupraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus, respectively,[2] and the electrical activity of these neurons is regulated byafferent synaptic inputs from other brain regions.[4]
By contrast, the hormones of theanterior pituitary gland (the adenohypophysis) are secreted from endocrine cells that, in mammals, are not directly innervated, yet the secretion of these hormones (adrenocorticotrophic hormone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone,prolactin, andgrowth hormone) remains under the control of the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus controls the anterior pituitary gland viareleasing factors andrelease-inhibiting factors; these are substances released by hypothalamic neurons into blood vessels at the base of the brain, at themedian eminence.[5] These vessels, the hypothalamo-hypophysial portal vessels, carry the hypothalamic factors to the anterior pituitary, where they bind to specific receptors on the surface of the hormone-producing cells.[3]
For example, the secretion of growth hormone is controlled by two neuroendocrine systems: thegrowth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) neurons and thesomatostatin neurons, which stimulate and inhibitGH secretion, respectively.[6] The GHRH neurons are located in thearcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, whereas the somatostatin cells involved in growth hormone regulation are in theperiventricular nucleus. These two neuronal systems project axons to the median eminence, where they release theirpeptides into portal blood vessels for transport to the anterior pituitary. Growth hormone is secreted in pulses, which arise from alternating episodes of GHRH release and somatostatin release, which may reflect neuronal interactions between the GHRH and somatostatin cells, and negative feedback from growth hormone.[6]
The neuroendocrine systems control reproduction[7] in all its aspects, from bonding to sexual behaviour. They controlspermatogenesis and the ovarian cycle,parturition,lactation, andmaternal behaviour[citation needed]. They control the body's response to stress[8] andinfection.[9] They regulate the body'smetabolism, influencing eating and drinking behaviour, and influence how energy intake is utilised, that is, how fat is metabolised.[10] They influence and regulate mood,[11] body fluid and electrolyte homeostasis,[12] andblood pressure.[13]
The neurons of the neuroendocrine system are large; they are minifactories for producing secretory products; their nerve terminals are large and organised in coherent terminal fields; their output can often be measured easily in the blood; and what these neurons do and what stimuli they respond to are readily open to hypothesis and experiment. Hence, neuroendocrine neurons are good "model systems" for studying general questions, like "how does a neuron regulate the synthesis, packaging, and secretion of its product?" and "how isinformation encoded in electrical activity?"[citation needed]
Walter Lee Gaines noted the activity of the pituitary in the lactation of cows in 1915.[14] He also noted that anaesthesia could block lactation and response to the suckling reflex.[15]
Ernst andBerta Scharrer,[16] ofLMU Munich theAlbert Einstein College of Medicine are credited as co-founders the field of neuroendocrinology with their initial observations and proposals in 1945 concerningneuropeptides.
Geoffrey Harris[17] is considered by many to be the "father" of neuroendocrinology. Harris, the Dr. Lee's Professor of Anatomy atOxford University, is credited with showing that theanterior pituitary gland ofmammals is regulated by hormones secreted by hypothalamicneurons into thehypothalamohypophysialportal circulation. By contrast, the hormones of theposterior pituitary gland are secreted into thesystemic circulation directly from the nerve endings of hypothalamic neurons. This seminal work was done in collaboration withDora Jacobsohn ofLund University.[18]
The first of these factors to be identified arethyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) andgonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). TRH is a smallpeptide that stimulates thesecretion ofthyroid-stimulating hormone; GnRH (also called luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone) stimulates the secretion ofluteinizing hormone andfollicle-stimulating hormone.
Roger Guillemin,[19] a medical student ofFaculté de Médecine of Lyon, andAndrew W. Schally ofTulane University isolated these factors from the hypothalamus of sheep and pigs, and then identified their structures. Guillemin and Schally were awarded theNobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1977 for their contributions to understanding "the peptide hormone production of the brain".[citation needed]
In 1952,Andor Szentivanyi, of theUniversity of South Florida, andGeza Filipp wrote the world's first research paper showing how neural control of immunity takes place through the hypothalamus.[20]
Today, neuroendocrinology embraces a wide range of topics that arose directly or indirectly from the core concept of neuroendocrine neurons. Neuroendocrine neurons control thegonads, whosesteroids, in turn, influence the brain, as docorticosteroids secreted from theadrenal gland under the influence of adrenocorticotrophic hormone. The study of these feedbacks became the province of neuroendocrinologists. The peptides secreted by hypothalamic neuroendocrine neurons into the blood proved to be released also into the brain, and the central actions often appeared to complement the peripheral actions. So understanding these central actions also became the province of neuroendocrinologists, sometimes even when these peptides cropped up in quite different parts of the brain that appeared to serve functions unrelated to endocrine regulation. Neuroendocrine neurons were discovered in theperipheral nervous system, regulating, for instance,digestion. The cells in theadrenal medulla that releaseadrenaline andnoradrenaline proved to have properties between endocrine cells and neurons, and proved to be outstanding model systems for instance for the study of the molecular mechanisms ofexocytosis. And these, too, have become, by extension,neuroendocrine systems.[citation needed]
Neuroendocrine systems have been important to our understanding of many basic principles inneuroscience andphysiology, for instance, our understanding ofstimulus-secretion coupling.[21] The origins and significance of patterning in neuroendocrine secretion are still dominant themes in neuroendocrinology today.
Neuroendocrinology is also used as an integral part of understanding and treatingneurobiological brain disorders. One example is the augmentation of the treatment of mood symptoms with thyroid hormone.[22] Another is the finding of atransthyretin (thyroxine transport) problem in thecerebrospinal fluid of some patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.[23]
Since the original experiments byGeoffrey Harris investigating the communication of the hypothalamus with the pituitary gland, much has been learned about the mechanistic details of this interaction. Various experimental techniques have been employed. Early experiments relied heavily on the electrophysiology techniques used byHodgkin and Huxley. Recent approaches have incorporated various mathematical models to understand previously identified mechanisms and predict systemic response and adaptation under various circumstances.[citation needed]
Electrophysiology experiments were used in the early days of neuroendocrinology to identify the physiological happenings in the hypothalamus and the posterior pituitary especially. In 1950, Geoffrey Harris and Barry Cross outlined the oxytocin pathway by studying oxytocin release in response to electrical stimulation.[24] In 1974, Walters and Hatton investigated the effect of water dehydration by electrically stimulating the supraoptic nucleus—the hypothalamic center responsible for the release of vasopressin.[24] Glenn Hatton dedicated his career to studying the physiology of the Neurohypophyseal system, which involved studying the electrical properties of hypothalamic neurons.[24] Doing so enabled investigation into the behavior of these neurons and the resulting physiological effects. Studying the electrical activity of neuroendocrine cells enabled the eventual distinction between central nervous neurons, neuroendocrine neurons, and endocrine cells.[25]
TheHodgkin–Huxley model translates data about the current of a system at a specific voltage into time-dependent data describing themembrane potential. Experiments using this model typically rely on the same format and assumptions, but vary the differential equations to answer their particular questions. Much has been learned about vasopressin, GnRH, somatotrophs, corticotrophs, and lactotrophic hormones by employing this method.[8]
Theintegrate-and-fire model aims for mathematic simplicity in describing biological systems by focusing on, and only on, the threshold activity of a neuron. By doing so, the model successfully reduces the complexity of a complicated system; however it ignores the actual mechanisms of action and replaces them with functions that define how the output of a system depends on its input.[8] This model has been used to describe the release of hormones to the posterior pituitary gland, specifically oxytocin and vasopressin.[9]
Thefunctional or mean fields model relies on the premise "simpler is better".[8] It strives to reduce the complexity of modelling multi-faceted systems by using a single variable to describe an entire population of cells. The alternative would be to use a different set of variables for each population. When attempting to model a system where multiple populations of cells interact, using several sets quickly becomes overcomplicated. This model has been used to describe several systems, especially involving the reproductive cycle (menstrual cycles, luteinizing hormone, prolactin surges).[9] Functional models also exist to represent cortisol secretion, and growth hormone secretion.[9]
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