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The Thymus-Adrenal Connection: Thymosin Has Corticotropin-Releasing Activity in Primates

1983; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 222; Issue: 4630 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.6318312

1095-9203

David Healy, Gary D. Hodgen, Heinrich M. Schulte, George P. Chrousos, D. Lynn Loriaux, Nicholas R. Hall, Allan L. Goldstein,

thermodynamics and calorimetric analyses

Endotoxin-free thymosin fraction 5 elevated corticotropin, beta-endorphin, and cortisol in a dose- and time-dependent fashion when administered intravenously to prepubertal cynomolgus monkeys. Two synthetic component peptides of thymosin fraction 5 had no acute effects on pituitary function, suggesting that some other peptides in thymosin fraction 5 were responsible for its corticotropin-releasing activity. In agreement with these observations, total thymectomy of juvenile macaques was associated with decreases in plasma cortisol, corticotropin, and beta-endorphin. These findings indicate that the prepubertal primate thymus contains corticotropin-releasing activity that may contribute to a physiological immunoregulatory circuit between the developing immunological and pituitary-adrenal systems.