(PrRP)PROLACTIN-RELEASING PEPTIDE

    The present study examined in rats how prolactin-releasing peptide (PrRP), a new hypothalamic hormone, infused centrally during the dark period affects sleep and plasma levels of prolactin (PRL). At a dose of 0.1 nmol, PrRP increased only rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, whereas with 1.0 nmol both non-REM sleep and REM sleep were enhanced. However, 10.0 nmol of PrRP increased only non-REM sleep with a febrile response. The levels of plasma PRL were elevated during the infusion of PrRP with 0.1 and 1.0 nmol. Consequently, the increased release of PRL correlated with significant increases in REM sleep, but not in non-REM sleep.
    As peripheral administration of CCK activates most of the PrRP neurons in the medulla oblongata. At present, the precise mechanisms by which PrRP reduces food intake remain to be clarified. PrRP may convey satiety signals to the hypothalamus. PrRP neurons express leptin receptors.

NPFF (NEUROPEPTIDE FF)

    NPFF mediates the pain response by interaction with the NPFFR2. NPFF and its related RF-amide peptides in their interactions with NPFFR2 can also increase the neuronal activity of various areas of the hypothalamus to modulate the HPA axis, the autonomic nervous system, food intake, and energy homeostasis.
    The underlying cellular mechanisms of these actions can now be explored because of the recent development of genomic and pharmacological tools. NPFFR2 signaling in part of the stress-modulation pathway induces depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors. NPFFR2 also regulates the energy homeostasis cascade to increase brown adipose tissue-mediated thermogenesis. This leads to benefiting body health and reduces the obese phenotypes.
    NPFFR2 signaling might be a potential therapeutic target of stress- and obese-related disorders. Specific NPFF receptor agonists and antagonists have not been identified. Once this has occurred, it will lead to a better understanding of the function and signaling of the RF-amide peptides on specific receptors.

KISSPEPTIN

The key to puberty in the molecule kisspeptin

Adolescent age is gradually decreasing, and the reason for this is not yet known. Families are worried. Beginning of physical development and sexual impulses far before mental maturation worries societies. The genetic button that fires puberty is finally found.
A molecule called "kisspeptin" (kisspeptin) that stimulates and activates reproductive hormones from hibernation during childhood. When it is taken under control, the onset of puberty can be delayed. Or, by increasing the rate of kisspeptin, sexual motives can be activated.

The process that has become the nightmare of all of us in transition from childhood to youth: Adolescence. And another nightmare is that the adolescent age is brought forward. It is never known when to start. It can start at the age of 8 in girls or 13-14. Even if boys start a few years after girls, theirs are in a wide range of time. Moreover, they are all in my tongue, which is defined as "normal". Hormones start to work, affecting the whole body. Everything is under the control of hormones, from how long the neck will grow, whether the bones will be strong, the risk of getting breast or prostate cancer after 20-30 years, or even your mental health.

It was not known what had sparked puberty until recent years. It was not clear why some children started so early and others late. The prevalent blood was that puberty started in the brain first. Bodily signs followed. The hypothalamus in the brain was suddenly beginning to secrete the gonadotropin hormone known as GnRH, which leads the chemical process of puberty. The question that could not be answered was: What is the element that triggers GnRH secretion?

The answer finally came after many years of research. The world of science has announced that there is a genetic button that fires adolescence.

It is a molecule called "kisspeptin" (kisspeptin) that activates the reproductive hormones that hibernate during childhood.

This molecule can be taken under control and the onset of puberty can be delayed. Or vice versa, by increasing the rate of kisspept, sexual motives can be activated. Both are of great importance for the scientific world.

The present invention is expected to make a major contribution to the treatment of irregular puberty.

In experiments on mice, it was found that reproductive hormones act when kisspeptin is given to young animals. According to research published in the New England medical journal, the gene called GPR54 controls a protein related to hormone secretion during puberty.

SAUDI DISCOVERED IN THE FAMILY

The research was initiated upon the application of a Saudi Arabian family who had problems in transitioning to Massachusetts Hospital in the USA. Experts looking at the blood samples taken from each of the family members found that this gene mutated in the samples they received from family members who could not go into puberty, and the gene was normal in other individuals.

On the other hand, British biotechnology firm Paradigm Therapeutics contacted American doctors and reported that they deleted the GPR54 gene in a guinea pig.

American and British experts believe that the protein that this gene controls helps secretion hormones that promote physical development during puberty. The world of science now believes that by doing the same practice on humans, children who are unable to undergo adolescence normally can be treated.

ONE OF 10 THOUSAND CHILDREN IS PROBLEM

Another problem that is increasingly serious in communities is the early adolescence of many children. According to the news in the journal New Scientist, the period of puberty has been getting earlier in the last 250 years. In 18th century Europe, girls saw menstruation for the first time at the age of 17, and a hundred years later, menstrual age decreased to 14. Today, the average age of first menstruation is 13.

"The adolescence limit is rapidly going down," says the researchers. There is no concrete data on the cause yet. However, there are different opinions. For example, one of the heads of the team that made the invention, Dr. "Now we have evidence that the key points that start puberty are the GPR54 gene and the kisspeptin protein molecule that fires it," says Tony Plant. "Early puberty is a very important field of research. Maybe new hormones maybe nutrition is effective," says Professor Ilpo Huhtaniemi at Imperial College London.

The world of science is working to develop a pill that controls puberty.

THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BEGINS AT THE SAME AGE

From a molecular biological perspective, the adolescent puzzle seemed to be solved by the discovery of the GPR54 gene, which produces the KiSS-1 protein and a nerve cell receptor.

A complex signal chain initiates the adolescence process. GnRH (gonadotropin releasing hormone / gonadotropin-releasing hormone) triggers pituitary stimulant secretion. This substance, on the other hand, stimulates rats and ovaries to produce sexual hormones.

Unfortunately, this information is not enough to explain the beginning of puberty. How the Kisspeptin molecule is exposed is still a mystery. Y

OREXIN

Your Miraculous Secretion in Your Brain

In recent years, we have heard of an interesting disease that has been seen all over the world: anorexia nervosa. This disease occurs in people who hate obesity. The person first tries to lose weight by dieting, but as a result of excessive diet therapy, it reaches an irreversible point. In this case, the slimming cannot be stopped and the person can no longer eat or eat, or vomit, removing all the food back.

Orexin is a substance of nature (neuropeptide) that was discovered in 1998 and secreted in the brain. This protein is responsible for adjusting conditions such as wakefulness, appetite and arousal. In the side hypothalamus of the human brain, there are tens of thousands of neurons that secrete orex. Orexins were discovered as appetite-boosting substances, but later on, alertness, regulating the body's energy use and additional functions of the internal organs were also identified.

Orexins perform very important tasks for the development and maturation of brown adipose tissue, which is more effective in infants. Fats in brown adipose tissue are converted to heat directly without ATP production. In this way, body temperature is increased. This task of brown adipose tissue is to protect the body against diseases in cold weather. In mouse experiments, it was found that the body temperature dropped and the mice were not able to consume fat in animals without anorex in their bodies. Therefore, it is possible to say that orexins are tasked with accelerating energy expenditure, increasing body temperature, protecting the body against diseases associated with cold and preventing obesity.

Orexins are responsible for adjusting metabolic events and speed in the body. It is also responsible for the regulation of the circadian rhythm, which is a daily sleep-wake cycle. These tasks are not to cause sleep, but to increase alertness. The orexins cause increased secretions of dopamine, norepinephrine, histamine and acetyl choline, which are hormones involved in the proper functioning of the sleep-wake cycle in the brain. All of these hormones are substances that increase alertness.

With the destruction of neurons responsible for producing orexins, a very important disease occurs. This disease is called "narcolepsy". Narcolepsy is actually a serious sleep disorder. The patient suffers from sudden, inconsistent and excessive sleepiness during the day, irregular night sleep, sleep paralysis, various hallucinations, and a temporary muscle paralysis called cataplexy. Such a patient suddenly falls into REM sleep while talking, driving and watching television. Muscle paralysis, which comes with REM sleep, piles the person where it is as if he fainted. Sometimes it remains immobile for a while, even if it wakes up. This ailment, which usually starts in the twenties, can be caused by organic causes such as brain inflammation or urs, or from hidden hostile impulses.

Narcolepsy is a disease that disconnects a person from life, makes him unable to fulfill his daily routines and has no cure for now. Only treatments that facilitate the lives of patients can be applied. One of its most obvious symptoms is the excessive tendency to sleep during the day, even if you get enough sleep at night. People with narcolepsy pile up and fall asleep at their most unexpected places and times, often without being noticed by themselves. Sleep attacks during the day are seen as the need for sleep becomes unbearable, sometimes by noticing and sometimes not arriving. So much so that narcoleptic people need to take precautions for themselves while doing their daily work, because frequent uncontrolled drops cause injuries.

Cataplexy is a condition in which the muscles lose their function, speech becomes incomprehensible, and the body in the form of a seizure that collapses the body as a result of the weakness of the neck or knees. This seizure can occur with emotional reactions such as excessive laughter, anger or fear. The duration of the cataplexy can be extended from a few seconds to several minutes. One does not lose consciousness throughout the seizure, only body functions are paralyzed. So much so that most of the time, those who have had this attack in public places, seem to be drunk, drug-takers. They can hear and see, but they cannot answer.

Sleep paralysis is the condition of not being able to speak or move temporarily while awakening. Although this is a frightening situation, it is not dangerous. Hypnogogical hallucinations, on the other hand, are dreamy and dreamy, seen during sleep diving and awakening. Although daytime sleepiness, sleep paralysis, hypnogogic hallucinations, and disorders that can be observed especially in people who have not slept sufficiently, cataplexy is a condition specific to narcoleptic patients only.

Orexins are responsible for increasing the amount of nutrition. These duties are not about meeting the daily food need of the person. Orexin has an effect on increasing appetite even if the person does not need nutrition. For this, it suppresses the satiety center and allows the person to continue eating despite being satiated.

NOCICEPTIN

    Wondering why you don't want to stop when you eat something very tasty?
    Continuing to eat sometimes continues regardless of starvation. Think about how you put the dessert on top of it when you were overly full after a solid dinner. Well, if she had a lettuce salad rather than dessert at the time of extreme satiety, would you want to eat again? Probably not so why do we have a weakness in high-calorie foods?

    In recent studies, a cellular communication network with the emotional processing region (amygdala) of the brain was discovered. When you consume enough or even more to meet your energy needs, what motivates you to continue eating is actually

    It has been suggested that "nociceptin", a small protein that works as a signal molecule in your nervous system. And it has been found that this molecule called nociceptin stimulates the consumption of foods that we define as high and delicious calorie content. But why does nociceptin stimulate the consumption of these high-calorie foods?

    The reason why we prefer foods that are dense in calories to low-calorie foods has been explained based on evolution. We can think of this as a precaution that our body takes with the development of a possible famine. The logic of this mechanism is "consume and survive the high energy food you have found" since it was difficult to reach food in ancient times. Our insatiability for high-energy foods seems to be a legacy from evolution. Since there is no shortage in the life of modern man, the mechanism of nociceptin is limited to enjoying eating. In other words, when you overestimate eating delicious things and cannot stop, you can easily put the blame on nociceptin. In fact, this protective mechanism that our brain has developed for our survival can bring life to the point of shifting rather than saving the lives of today's people. This instinct increases our dependence on high-energy foods, and modern man's obesity, diabetes, etc. it does not seem to make a positive contribution to the fight against diseases. Studies are underway to block the mechanism of nociceptin. And these studies examine the therapeutic aspect of blocking the nocicepin in the areas of obesity and binge eating syndrome, as well as depression, substance abuse and pain.

The Mystery of Morphine

    Morphine is a drug usually used in anesthesia. It is obtained from opium and acts as a painkiller to the central nervous system.The most therapeutically important effect of morphine on CNS is analgesia. Although the patient does not always prevent the perception of pain, morphine decreases the pain-related reaction and increases the person's endurance capacity, and even if he hears the pain, he feels comfortable and peaceful. Morphine can euphoria by reducing or eliminating anxiety, anxiety, and mental tension of the patient. Morphine sedates in man. It has no anticonvulsant effect; on the contrary, it increases the sensitivity against convulsive drugs. The most important side effect of morphine; respiratory depression; reduces both speed and depth of breathing.
    The origin of morphine dates back to the time when Paracelsus, a scientist and alchemist, said that laudanum (opium tincture) should be used as a pain reliever. Of course he recommended that it should be used sparingly. The popularity of laudanum increased in 1757 with the interest of the East India Company in opium trade. In 1806, German scientist Friedrich Sertürner identified an alkaloid extracted from the poppy plant as morphine. After 13 years, morphine was introduced as a medicine for the treatment of alcohol and opium addiction. However, it has been noticed that in the following years it creates addiction in morphine. Morphine was widely used during the American Civil War.
    Morphine is obtained from opium obtained from the milk of poppy plant by various chemical methods. Obtaining morphine in solution from opium requires evaporation and re-dissolving with calcium chloride solution. After separation of a solution, the liquid portion is evaporated several times and the remaining morphine and codeine crystals are collected. These are recrystallized after being dissolved with the help of ammonia. Thus, morphine is separated from the codeine remaining in the solution.

Endorphin: More Than a Happiness Hormone

    Are you among those who immediately apply to pain relievers when you have pain or are you waiting for your body to reduce this pain? In addition to the effects of painkillers, such as reducing our pain, we cannot ignore the damage caused to our body. How about activating our body's own pain reliever instead of medications? Here is its name: Endorphin!

    First, let's travel to the most basic center where the hormone endorphin is secreted. This center is the anterior region of the pituitary gland. The production and secretion of the endorphine takes place here. Endorphins are our body's own special pain relievers. It is also a neurotransmitter. They are chemicals that transmit signals from one neuron to another. They play an important role in the functioning of the central nervous system. They can increase or decrease the signaling of nearby neurons.

Endorphine Synthesized When Stress, Fear, and Pain

    Endorphins are produced in response to certain stimuli, especially stress, fear or pain. They originate from various parts of our body (pituitary gland, spinal cord, other parts of the brain and nervous system). It interacts mainly with receptors in cells located in the area responsible for blocking pain and controlling emotion.

    Until recently, we could not examine the endorphins in detail. We were trying to learn something by monitoring the endorphin levels in the brains of humans and rats. It was not possible to measure these levels in the human brain without harming the subjects. However, new imaging methods provided great convenience to researchers. It allows them to study the flow of endorphins due to their interaction with neurons.

    There are at least 20 different types of endorphins, and one type of beta-endorphine is stronger than a strong painkiller like morphine. It has been shown to play a role from alcoholism to diabetes and brain aging.

Endorphins and Emotions

    Endorphins block pain, but they are also responsible for our feelings of pleasure. When we experience something good enough, such as food, gender, and even friendship, these feelings of pleasure come to the surface. The beautiful emotions we experience enable us to go behind their triggers. This is the mechanism behind habits and addictions.

    The majority of your emotions and memories are processed by your brain's limbic system. The hypothalamus; It is the region that performs various functions such as breathing, sexual satisfaction, hunger and emotional response. The limbic system is also rich in opioid (chemicals that act as painkillers in the body) receptors. When the endorphins reach the opioid receptors of the limbic system and everything works normally, you will experience a sense of pleasure and satisfaction.

Endorphins Has Role in Mental Disorders

    Interestingly, endorphins may be responsible for some mental diseases, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder. For example; when a person washes his hands, he reaches a point where he decides that his task is completed satisfactorily. Normally, this process ends. It can be effective in signaling endorphins that “you will be satisfied when their hands are clean”. If the hormone endorphine is not produced enough, you may not understand when to stop washing your hands. Processing can continue until this signal is received.

    Endorphins can be responsible for situations where anger or anxiety increases. If endorphins override your work, or if the hypothalamus reads the tip of the endorphins incorrectly, some problems occur. With the slightest anxiety or anxiety, you could be filled with “war or run” hormones.

    Endorphins affect us like codeine or morphine, but they are not addictive. Because when they bind to opioid receptors, they are broken down almost immediately by enzymes. Thus, it is allowed to be recycled and reused.

What Are Endorphine Triggers?

    Many things can trigger the release of endorphine. While many triggers are known to exist, primary triggers are stress and pain. When the hypothalamus detects pain, it makes several orders; One of them is, “Stop saying that you have pain!” d.

    The hypothalamus is also the command and control center of your hormonal system. He decides when to eat and when to start our puberty. It adjusts what the endorphine dose should be in many other functions. When the hypothalamus wants to adjust, hormones are released to other parts of the body.

    Endorphins are produced all over your body and are demanded by the hypothalamus. So what are they that trigger their release other than stress and pain in this situation? Let's list:

- To exercise
- Meditation or controlled breathing exercises
- Birth
- Alcohol use
- Hot pepper consumption
- Acupuncture and massage therapy
- Ultraviolet light

    Endorphine actually protects us against pain and stress feelings that enable us to survive the evolutionary process. The uncontrolled increase in pain and stress and the level that cannot be tolerated are not good for our health. The secretion and happiness of endorphins is an evolutionary protection mechanism. It seems that we will learn more about the functions of the hormone endorphin. I'm sure he's taking a glimpse at us that laughs at us and implies that he has many tasks waiting to emerge.