{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T18:48:54Z","timestamp":1777920534608,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"S. Karger AG","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2008,4,7]],"date-time":"2008-04-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1207526400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/karger.com\/pages\/terms-and-conditions"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2008,4,7]],"date-time":"2008-04-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1207526400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/karger.com\/pages\/terms-and-conditions"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Neuroendocrinology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Suicidal behavior has been associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal overactivity in humans, as measured by increased corticosteroid secretion. To investigate whether this overactivity is reflected at the pituitary level, we have studied the localization of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA, and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mRNA, in human anterior pituitaries, and quantified these messages relative to controls. Pituitaries from 7 suicide victims and 11 cardiac deaths were sectioned into 10-\u00b5m slides, stained with thionin and processed for in situ hybridization using a riboprobe complementary to human POMC mRNA. To correct for possible postmortem cell loss, hybridization with P1B15, a cDNA complementary to rat cyclophillin mRNA, was used in adjacent sections. POMC mRNA containing cells were found to be localized in clusters and were highly associated with corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) receptors. In contrast, GR mRNA containing cells were distributed through the pituitary, although areas of increased density were associated with POMC mRNA cells. Quantification with a computerized image analysis system revealed a 25% increase in POMC message in suicide victims. Analysis of the corticotrophic cell clumps showed that the suicide victims had higher POMC mRNA density per cell (p = 0.04) and larger corticotrophic cell size (p = 0.04) than the cardiac death victims. No differences in GR mRNA were detected between the two groups, although GR and POMC mRNA levels were highly and significantly correlated (r = 0.8, p &lt; 0.001). There were no differences in P1B15 message between the two groups. We conclude that in situ hybridization is a useful tool to study gene regulation in human neuroendocrine tissue and that suicide victims show evidence of chronic hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1159\/000126266","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2008,4,7]],"date-time":"2008-04-07T07:33:24Z","timestamp":1207553604000},"page":"491-501","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":62,"title":["Localization and Quantification of Pro-Opiomelanocortin mRNA and Glucocorticoid Receptor mRNA in Pituitaries of Suicide Victims"],"prefix":"10.1159","author":[{"given":"Juan F.","family":"L\u00f3pez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mikl\u00f3s","family":"Palkovits","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mihaly","family":"Arat\u00f3","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alfred","family":"Mansour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Huda","family":"Akil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stanley J.","family":"Watson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"127","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2008,4,7]]},"container-title":["Neuroendocrinology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.karger.com\/Article\/Pdf\/126266","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/karger.com\/article-pdf\/doi\/10.1159\/000126266","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T19:33:19Z","timestamp":1777663999000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/karger.com\/article\/doi\/10.1159\/000126266"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2008,4,7]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1159\/000126266","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["0028-3835","1423-0194"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0028-3835","type":"print"},{"value":"1423-0194","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2008,4,7]]}}}