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Corticotropin-releasing hormone: from endocrinology to psychobiology
M A Smith1, M A Kling, H J Whitfield
1Biological Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Md.
Hormone Research
|January 1, 1989
Abstract:
Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is a brain neuropeptide which coordinates the endocrine, autonomic and behavioral responses to stress. We review the abnormal response to exogenous CRH in various psychiatric syndromes, including major depression and anorexia nervosa. We also contrast pituitary responses to CRH in patients with depression versus Cushing's disease. We hypothesize that CRH may play a role in the pathogenesis of various psychiatric syndromes which are characterized during their course by the symptom of depression.