Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is secreted under stress and regulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis; it is also secreted outside the brain where it exerts proinflammatory effects, possibly through mast cell activation. Mast cells are necessary for allergic reactions, but are increasingly implicated in acquired immunity and inflammatory diseases worsened by stress. Acute stress and intradermal CRH induced murine skin mast cell activation and increased vascular permeability that was absent in W/W(v) mast cell deficient mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis through CRH, leading to production of glucocorticoids that down-regulate immune responses. However, acute stress also has proinflammatory effects. We previously showed that restraint stress, as well as CRH and its structurally related urocortin (Ucn), could activate mast cells and trigger mast cell-dependent vascular permeability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF