[Neuroaminergic control of anterior pituitary secretions (author's transl)]

Abstract

The demonstration and identification of monoamines and of aminergic tracts in the central nervous system has permitted a study of their role in the control of the liberation of hypothalamic releasing hormones. Knowledge of the role of these hypothalamic neurohormones in the release of pituitary hormones is at present under study. The role of monoamines in the control of pituitary hormone functions depends narrowly on pharmacological methods intervening either in the synthesis of neuroamines or in their action on a specific receptor. The authors consider successively the implication of monoamines in the control of liberation of ACTH, GH, TSH, prolactin and gonadotropic hormones. The role of aminergic mechanisms in the physiology of pituitary releasing hormones forms an integral part of homeostasis. Knowledge of these mechanisms leads to a clinical study of their role in disorders of hypothalamo-pituitary function.