Cardiovascular Neuroendocrinology

The cardiovascular system and the neuroendocrine system are integrated at multiple levels. This integration is key to normal physiological function. Further, it adapts to accommodate changes related to aging, the organism’s reproductive state, or physiological challenges. This type of adaptability, or plasticity, also can contribute to pathophysiology when these systems are stressed. This volume discusses how neuroendocrine systems influence cardiovascular function in health and disease. The first section provides detailed background information on neuronal and neuroendocrine control of cardiovascular function. This is followed by chapters highlighting the cardiovascular role of neuroendocrine hormones in regulating physiological states, such as pregnancy, and the effects of biological sex on vascular function. The influence of exercise, stress, psychology, and aging on cardiovascular function and dysfunction, and the possibility of therapeutically targeting the neuroendocrine axis for the treatment of cardiovascular disease are discussed in the final section of the book. This book is of relevance for students, trainees and established researchers alike who are seeking for an overview on the neuroendocrine control of cardiovascular function and disease. This is the fourteenth volume in the International Neuroendocrine Federation (INF) Masterclass in Neuroendocrinology series, which aims to illustrate the highest standards and encourage the use of the latest technologies in basic and clinical research and hopes to provide inspiration for further exploration into the exciting field of neuroendocrinology.

Over the past few decades, cardiovascular disease and diabetes have emerged as major public health problems, both as distinct clinical entities and as comorbid conditions. As a result, the fields of vascular biology and endocrinology are working more closely now than ever before. With chapters by renowned experts, Cardiovascular Endocrinology: Shared Pathways and Clinical Crossroads emphasizes the considerable physiological interrelationships and clinical correlations between the specialties of cardiovascular medicine and endocrinology. Offering a wealth of information, Cardiovascular Endocrinology: Shared Pathways and Clinical Crossroads provides a range of insights, including a novel view of the hormonal regulation of the vascular system and the disruption of the nitric oxide signaling system. It also addresses the role of fatty acids and cytokines in the development of this problem. Importantly, this unique title also provides a state-of-the-art update on the importance of other hormones such as thyroid hormone and steroids, as well as the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease and controversies surrounding the use of hormone replacement therapy. In all, Cardiovascular Endocrinology: Shared Pathways and Clinical Crossroads is a first-of-its-kind title that discusses and summarizes important clinical topics in cardiology and endocrinology. It offers clinicians and researchers an important resource for navigating the increasingly interrelated pathways of cardiovascular and endocrinologic disorders. The authors discuss a range of important issues from epidemiology to bench research to translation of this research to clinical practice.

Cardiovascular Endocrinology and Metabolism: Theory and Practice of Cardiometabolic Medicine discusses the close intersection between metabolic disorders and cardiovascular disease, covering the basic science and pathophysiology of disease and the latest research in pharmacological approaches and translational therapeutic options. This book is a valuable resource for the vascular and endocrinology clinical and research communities in need of knowledge and potential outcomes. The global increase in the prevalence of cardiometabolic disorders, and the introduction of therapeutic options for treating metabolic disease that also lower cardiovascular risk, is bringing endocrinologists and cardiologists together in a shared clinical experience. Discusses the intersection between metabolic disorders and cardiovascular diseases Provides a comprehensive understanding of the relevant pathophysiology of diseases as a basis for the evidence-based management of cardiometabolic disorders Offers a comprehensive reference, ranging from basic science and pathophysiology to clinical diagnostics and management

Endocrinology of Cardiovascular Function is a fitting inauguration to the Endocrine Update Series. The aim of these publications is to provide the clinician with cutting edge, yet succinct, access to the latest advances in endocrinology. Historically, our understanding of hormonal disturbances was restricted to the classical secretory glands and their targets. As Endocrinology of Cardiovascular Function so aptly indicates, endocrinology is no longer constrained by our early physiologic understanding of glandular disorder. Endocrinology of Cardiovascular Function has set the standard of excellence for the future volumes in this series. Shlomo Melmed, M.D. Series Editor, Endocrine Update Growth factors such as IGF-1 play important roles in cardiovascular cell hypertrophy and the response to acute vascular injury. From another perspective, traditional endocrine hormones, such as estrogen, have been found to participate in preventing the development of atherosclerosis in women, acting through novel mechanisms on target vascular cells. Other `endocrine' hormones, such as PTHRP and adrenomedullin, also modulate cardiovascular and renovascular dynamic states, suggesting new roles for these peptides as vasodilators. This multi-authored text is dedicated to highlighting emerging and important new information regarding the endocrinology of the cardiovascular system. Ellis R. Levin, M.D.

Endocrinology of the Heart in Health and Disease: Integrated, Cellular, and Molecular Endocrinology of the Heart covers the traditional concepts of cardio-endocrinology, the role of the various hormone systems, both in health and disease, therapeutic implications, and other recent advances in the various fields represented. The book explores how cardiac hormones are changed in various cardiac pathologies and the recent success that has been uncovered in their therapeutic use. Additional focus is placed on how the heart responds both physiologically and pathophysiologically to a plethora of circulating hormones, reinforcing the importance of the heart as a target of numerous endocrine systems, such as the brain, renal, and adipose. Significant advances have come from basic, clinical, and translational research from a multiplicity of investigators with diverse backgrounds. The book features over 200 photomicrographs, diagrams of molecular relationships, and tables that complement and support the text. It is aimed at a wide audience, including graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in a wide array of biomedical departments and PhD programs (e.g. Pathology, Physiology, Genetics, Pharmacology, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology) related to the endocrine and cardiovascular sciences curricula, as well as medical residents in pathology, laboratory medicine, internal medicine, and cardiology. Develops the concept of the heart as both an endocrine organ and an endocrine target, exploring the endocrine function of the heart in both health and disease Explains how the levels of several cardiac hormones are changed in various cardiac pathologies and how some hormones can be used therapeutically Offers a single resource on cardio-endocrine disease which collates and curates the wide range of advances being made in the areas of molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, and pathology

Most endocrine diseases, if not treated or controlled, have cardiovascular manifestations. Both GH deficiency and GH excess impair cardiovascular functions, e.g. in patients with acromegaly, who have a shortened life expectancy and increased mortality mostly due to cardiovascular complications in uncontrolled disease. Moreover, Cushing’s syndrome and diabetes are well known for metabolic and cardiovascular manifestations, as well as hypo- and hyperthyroidism. Both adipose tissue and the heart have been increasingly recognized as organs with partially endocrine functions, which produce adipokines and brain natriuretic peptide, respectively, and influence a number of cardiovascular parameters. Primary aldosteronism as a cause for secondary hypertension is still a great challenge to detect and diagnose properly; however, new important discoveries have been made regarding the genetics of this probably underestimated cause of hypertension. Written by distinguished researchers in their respective fields, this book will give both researchers and clinicians an excellent update on all these topics, as well as provide insight into the use of hormones as treatment tools in more controversial areas.

The most prominent function of the central nervous system is the control of motor functions by rapidly transmitted impulses through efferent cranial and spinal peripheral nerves. Besides electrically transmitted neural impulses, humoral mechanisms with more sustained actions are exercised by the brain and spinal cord to regulate body homeostasis. Thus, the brain may be regarded as an "endocrine gland" discharging neurohormones (peptides) either into the general circulation (neurohypophyseal hormones) or into the hypothalamo-adenohypophyseal portal circulation (releasing and inhibiting hormones). The brain, therefore, which is protected by the blood-brain barrier from disturbing and potentially noxious exogenous and endogenous agents circulating in the blood, has to have certain neurohemal regions beyond this barrier, such as the neural lobe and the median eminence (infundibulum), where neurohor mones have free access to the blood stream. To regulate somatic and autonomic functions in the best possible way, the central nervous system is highly dependent on feedback signals conveyed through somatic and visceral afferent nerves as well as on peripheral humoral signals such as peripheral hormones and other circulating substances that are under homeostatic regulation, e. g. , peptides, arnines, electrolytes, and other biologically active agents. In this chapter, the role of the blood-brain barrier in the regulation of these sub stances will be discussed with special emphasis on the access through the blood-brain barrier to cardiovascular centers. 2 The Blood-Brain Barrier 2.

Starting with the morphology of the myoendocrine cell and the biochemistry and physiology of cardiac hor mones, the book describes pathophysiological findings and discuss their clinical relevance in congestive heart failure, arterial hypertension, renal insufficiency, and cirrhosis of the liver. Furthermore, evidence is presented for the role of the heart as a target organ for various endocrine factors such as thyroid hormones, catecholamines, renin-angiotensin, growth hormones and endogenous opioids.