Hormones

August 10, 2012 by Dr. Tangen Leave a Comment

Dragons are just gecko's on steroids

JUST IN: Dragons are just geckos on magic steroids.

Anonymous research sources have now confirmed that mythical creatures are actually small animals who have consumed large doses of illegal substances.

There is a lot of misinformation about hormones. And clearly I’m doing my part to add to the problem. But maybe together we can solve the mystery.

Here’s what is included in this lesson:

what are hormones
how do they impact behavior
how do they help in normal life
what is “runner’s high”

Read chapter 3 of Kalat’s Biological Psychology

Here are the resources you need:

CLUSTER

SLIDES

TERMS

[dropdown_box expand_text=” Terms To Know” show_more=”More” show_less=”Less” start=”hide”]

adrenaline
affinity
anabolic steroids
androgen
antagonist
CatSper2 channel
dependency
depot binding
endocanabanoids
endorphin rush
endorphins
estrogen
FSH
GnRH
gonads
gradient of progesterone
HCG
Heroin
hypothalamus
inhilation
Intracerebroventricular
Intramuscluar
Intraperitoneal
Intrarectal
Intravenous (IV)
LH
lipid solubility
menopause
menstrual cycle
morning after pill
negative-feedback loop
oral administration
oral contraceptives
perimenopausal depression
peritoneal cavity
pharmacokinetics
pharmacology principles
pituitary
postmenopausal depression
postpartum depression
progesterone
repeated administration
response elements
RU-486
Runner’s High
sensitization
sex hormones
sperm
steroids
subcutaneous injection
sublingual administration
synthetic sex steroids
target cells
testosterone
therapeutic index
tolerance
topical admin
trance
β-endorphin

[/dropdown_box]

NOTES

[dropdown_box expand_text=” For You” show_more=”Notes” show_less=”Less” start=”hide”]

Hormones
- Inexact definition
- Secreted from glands
- Endorphins
  - Steroids
  - Endo – for endogenous (body)
  - Orphin – for morphine (morphine-like)
- Produced by
  - Pituitary & hypothalamus
  - Excreted during activities
  - Not clear which activities or when
- Released during?
  - Exercise or excitement
  - Pain or passion
  - Spicy food
- Difficult to research
  - Can’t measure brain levels
  - Only measure plasma levels
- Endorphins
  - β-endorphin
    - Released by pituitary
    - Blood carries it to spinal cord and brain
    - Can’t enter brain
  - In brain
    - Inappropriate dopamine release
    - Inhibit GABA
    - Activate dopamine
    - Creates dependency
- Activity or Chemical?
  - Effects resemble opiates
  - Produce analgesia
  - Feeling of well-being
- No special receptors
- Probably caused by:
  - Simultaneous release of
  - Epinephrine, serotonin & dopamine
  - Endocanabanoids
    - same receptor impacted by marijuana
- Experiences
  - Endorphin rush
  - Feelings of exhilaration
  - When in stress, pain, danger
  - Prevent nerve cells in spinal cord from sending pain signals
  - Feel power and control to persist in current activity even if injured
- Runner’s High
  - Long, continuous workouts
  - Pass threshold activates endorphins
  - Difficult breathing
  - Muscles lose glucose
  - Trance = overtaxing info processing power
  - Distorted perceptions
    - pure happiness, elation, unity with self, peacefulness, timelessness, inner harmony, boundless energy
  - Altered state of consciousness
  - From completing a challenge
  - Not amount of exertion
- Might explain
  - Float tank
  - Acupuncture
Sex Hormones
- What are they = steroids
  - Made by gonads
    - (ovaries or testes)
  - Made by the adrenal glands
  - Synthetic sex steroids = anabolic steroids
- Three Types
  - Testosterone (androgen)
  - Estradiol (estrogen)
  - Progesterone (progestagen)
- All are present in each sex; different levels
- Composition
  - Hydrophobic molecules
  - Transported in blood bound
  - Bound to serum globulin
  - Bind to receptor proteins located in target cell’s cytoplasm and/or nucleus
- “Target” cells = change their gene expression in response to the hormone
  - Forms hormone-receptor complex in cytoplasm
  - Enters nucleus of target cell
  - Binds to sequences of DNA
  - Called response elements
- How they work
  - Estrogen
    - Hypothalamus secretes GnRH
    - (gonadotropin releasing hormone)
    - High levels of estrogen
    - suppress GnRH release
    - negative-feedback loop
  - Progesterone
    - Hypothalamus secretes GnRH
    - High levels of progesterone
    - suppress GnRH release
    - negative-feedback loop
- How impact menstrual cycle
  - Fertilization
  - Cells around ovum secrete progesterone
  - Creates gradient of progesterone
  - Sperm swim by chemotaxis
    - follow “scent”
  - Progesterone
    - Opens CatSper2 channel
    - anterior of the sperm tail
    - Influx of calcium ions
    - Makes flagellum beat rapidly
- Maintaining pregnancy
  - Blastocyst implanted in uterus
  - Inner portion: embryo, fetus…
  - Outer portion: placenta, cord…
  - Secretes the gycoprotein HCG
    - (human chorionic goanadotropin)
  - HCG
    - Basic structure of FSH & LH
    - Behaves like FSH & LH
    - Not inhibited by high levels of progesterone
    - Prevents deterioration of corpus luteum
    - Allows pregnancy to continue
    - Only released by implanted trophoblast
    - Used as pregnancy test
- During pregnancy
  - placenta is major source of progesterone
  - maintains pregnancy
- Birth control
  - Oral contraceptives: the “pill”
  - Synthetic estrogen or progesterone or both
  - Inhibit GnRH secretion
  - Prevent release of LH
  - No ovulation, no egg to fertilize
  - But get increased blood clotting
- RU-486
  - Mifepristone
  - Morning after pill
  - Synthetic of progesterone-like steroid
  - Antagonist = blocks progesterone
  - Binds tightly to progesterone receptors
  - Turns off the genes that turn on progesterone
- Menopause
  - 42 – 55 years old
  - Follicles less responsive to FSH and LH
  - Secrete less estrogen
  - Ovulation & menstruation
    - become irregular
    - finally stop
  - Estrogen drops to1-tenth or less
  - Hypothalamus stimulates pituitary
    - levels of FSH & LH rise
    - cause unpleasant symptoms
- Estrogen & depression
  - General Depression common in women
  - Postpartum depression
  - Perimenopausal depression
  - Postmenopausal depression
- Men
  - Testosterone
    - Androgen (male sex hormone)
    - Made in testes (by Leydig cells)
    - Production increases sharply at puberty
    - Secondary sexual characteristics
    - Hypothalamus secretes GnRH
      - (gonadotropin releasing hormone)
  - High levels of testosterone
    - suppress GnRH release
    - negative-feedback loop
  - Men also need estrogen
    - Stops from being extra tall
    - Lowers risk of osteoporosis
  - Effects on behavior
    - Synthetic androgen is an anabolic steroid
    - Weight lifters…athletes
    - Decrease in libido, testes size, sperm count
    - One theory: testosterone after loss game
      - Drops in those who don’t care about loss
      - Rises in those highly competitive
        
        “Hight-T Men”
        
        Like a testosterone addiction
    - Not just sports
      - Also in mate competition
      - Yell at their dogs
- High-T men
  - Less emotionally connected
  - High sexual drive
  - Violent
  - Low-T men
  - Good at relationships
  - Good at child raising
- Maybe not male-female brains
  - High-low testosterone & estrogen brains
Intro To Drugs
- Chemicals
  - Not needed for normal cell functioning
  - Significantly alters synapses
  - Can be fatal in large doses
- Sites of Action
  - Where drug molecules interact with cell molecules in or on cell body
  - Affects biochemical processes
- Pharmacokinetics
  - How drugs are distributed in body and absorbed in cell
  - Metabolized and excreted
- Administration
  - Intravenous (IV) injection
    - directly into a vein
    - fastest route
  - Intraperitoneal (IP) injection
    - Cancer chemotherapy
    - Into body cavity
      - peritoneal cavity
      - space that surrounds stomach, intestines, liver, etc.
  - Intramuscluar (IM)
    - into a muscle
  - Subcutaneous (SC) injection
    - into the space beneath the skin
  - Oral administration
    - Swallowed
    - Most common
  - Sublingual admin
    - Putting under tongue
  - Intrarectal
    - Into rectum
  - Inhalation
    - Breathing in
    - Into lungs
  - Topical admin
    - On skin or mucous membrane
  - Intracerebroventricular (ICV)
    - Into a cerebral ventricles
    - For widespread distribution in the brain
- How long to brain
  - 1. Lipid solubility
    - Lipid-soluble molecules can pass thru BBB
    - Water-soluble molecules blocked
  - 2. Depot binding
    - Binding a drug with body tissues or blood proteins
    - Can delay or prolong the effects of a drug
- Pharmacology Principles
  - Inactivation and Excretion
  - Drugs do not remain in body indefinitely
  - Most deactivated by enzymes
  - Excreted by kidneys
- Dose-response curve
  - Increasing dose causes increasing effects
    - until maximum effect is reached
  - Therapeutic Index
  - Ratio of desired to toxic effects
  - Dose where desired effect is 50%
  - Dose where 50% die (toxic)
- Why effects vary
  - Repeated Administration
  - Different sites of action
  - Affinity
    - Higher affinity, lower dose needed
    - Readiness to bind
  - Drugs in CNS bind to receptors, transport molecules or enzymes
  - Tolerance
    - More you take, less effect
    - If taken regularly, withdrawal symptoms when stop taking it
    - Causes tolerance mechanism
    - Heroin
  - Sensitization
    - Less common than tolerance
    - More you take it, stronger effect
    - Cocaine
      - repeated use causes movement disorders
      - euphoric effects s
      - how tolerance

[/dropdown_box]

Hormones

JUST IN: Dragons are just geckos on magic steroids.

CLUSTER

SLIDES

TERMS

NOTES

QUIZ

VIDEO

DISCUSSION ITEM

JUST IN: Dragons are just geckos on magic steroids.

CLUSTER

SLIDES

TERMS

NOTES

QUIZ

VIDEO

DISCUSSION ITEM

Leave a Reply Cancel reply