Cited by 98Adrenal Hormones and DisordersStress Responses and CortisolBirth, Development, and Health

Corticotropin-releasing hormone directly stimulates cortisol and the cortisol biosynthetic pathway in human fetal adrenal cells

Sirianni, Rosa, Rehman, Khurram S., Carr, Bruce R., Parker, C. Richard, Rainey, William E.·2005·The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

Abstract

Near term the human fetal adrenals (HFAs) initiate production of cortisol, which promotes organ maturation and acts to increase placental CRH biosynthesis. The objective of the present study was to determine whether CRH directly stimulates both cortisol production and expression of the steroidogenic enzymes in HFA-definitive zone cells. CRH stimulated the production of cortisol in a time- and dose-dependent manner, with an effective concentration of as low as 0.01 nm. In real-time RT-PCR experiments, CRH treatment increased the mRNA levels of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein and each of the enzymes needed to produce cortisol. CRH induced 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type II (HSD3B2) by 34-fold, 21-hydroxylase (CYP21) by 55-fold, and 11beta-hydroxylase by 41-fold. Induction of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, cholesterol side chain cleavage (CYP11A), and 17alpha-hydroxylase (CYP17) mRNA by CRH was 6-, 4-, and 6-fold, respectively. We also demonstrated that submaximal concentrations of CRH (30 pm) and ACTH (30 pm) that are seen in fetal circulation were additive on cortisol biosynthesis and 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type II mRNA induction. We suggest that CRH may play an important role in the late gestational rise in cortisol secretion from the HFAs, which may serve to augment placental CRH production and therefore participate in the endocrine cascade that is involved in fetal organ maturation and potentially in the timing of human parturition.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1210/jc.2004-0865

Cites

35 of 35 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Sirianni, R., Rehman, K. S., Carr, B. R., Parker, C. R., & Rainey, W. E.
Affiliations
  • The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
  • University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
Corresponding author
Rainey, William E.
Venue
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Published
2005-01
Volume
90
Issue
1
Pages
279-285
ISSN
  • 0021-972X (ISSN-L)
  • 1945-7197
OpenAlex
W2100923213
Cited by
98
References
35
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 3
FWCI
3.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Archive of Doctoral Theses and Digital Collections (University of Calabria) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (HD-11149)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (DK 43140)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (T32 HD07190, T32HD007190, HD-11149)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
Keywords
corticotropin-releasing factor, cortisol production, fetal adrenal cortex, steroidogenic enzymes, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, 21-hydroxylase, 11β-hydroxylase, cholesterol side-chain cleavage, 17α-hydroxylase, ACTH, parturition timing
MeSH terms
Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein, Adrenal Glands, Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Cells, Cultured, Cholesterol Side-Chain Cleavage Enzyme, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Fetus, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Phosphoproteins, Steroid 17-alpha-Hydroxylase, Time Factors, 3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review