Category: Hormones
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𧏠What Is Beta-Glucuronidase?
Beta-glucuronidase (βG) is a lysosomal enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of glucuronidesâmeaning it breaks apart compounds that have been conjugated with glucuronic acid during Phase II liver detoxification. It is the undoer of the covenantâthe enzyme that breaks the seal. Sources of Beta-Glucuronidase Source Type Examples Notes Human cells Colonocytes, liver cells Endogenous production for…
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Chalone Rangers: The Tissue-Specific Mitotic Inhibitors You Never Knew You Needed
Chalones are the unsung heroes of cellular crowd control. These tissue-specific, water-soluble substances are like the bouncers of your body, standing at the gates of mitosis with their arms crossed, saying, âNot tonight, buddy.â Theyâre the biochemical equivalent of that one friend who knows when to call it a night before things get out of…
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Autacoids Unleashed: The Self-Made, Self-Destructive Hormones You Didnât Know You Needed
What Are Autacoids? Autacoids (or autocoids) are the bodyâs DIY hormonesâlocally produced, short-lived biochemical messengers that scream, âI got this!â before promptly fading into oblivion. The term comes from the Greek autos (self) and acos (relief or drug), which is ironic because theyâre basically the overachieving interns of the body: they do all the work locally, get no credit,…
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Snake Venom: The Hormone Hijacker đ
Imagine a villainous mastermind that can infiltrate your body’s hormonal headquarters, manipulating the delicate balance of estrogen and other hormones. Welcome to the world of snake venom, where the stakes are high and the effects are unpredictable. Estrogen’s Uninvited Guest: When Snake Venom Crashes the Hormone Hoedown Prepare for the most bizarre gatecrasher at the…
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Relaxin
We’re about to dive into the wild world of Relaxin, the protein hormone that’s been turning heads since 1926 when Frederick Hisaw first stumbled upon it. This isn’t your average hormone – it’s a multitasking marvel that’s about to blow your mind! Researchers say this tiny protein, barely 6000 Da in size, is strutting around…
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The term “hormesis” derives from Greek hĂłrmÄsis for “rapid motion, eagerness”, itself from ancient Greek hormĂĄein to excite. The same Greek root provides the word hormone.
Hormesis is a two-phased dose-response relationship to an environmental agent whereby low-dose amounts have a beneficial effect and high-dose amounts are either inhibitory to function or toxic. Within the hormetic zone, the biological response to low-dose amounts of some stressors is generally favorable. An example is the breathing of oxygen, which is required in low amounts (in air) via respiration in living animals, but can…
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Oxytocin: The Molecular Maestro of Love and Labor
Buckle up, hormone enthusiasts! We’re about to take a wild ride into the world of oxytocin, the “love hormone” that’s been playing Cupid in our bodies since the dawn of mammalian evolution. This tiny peptide packs a punch that would make even Hercules jealous! Picture this: a molecule barely 1007 Da in size, strutting around…
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Eraso Y. Biotypology, endocrinology, and sterilization: the practice of eugenics in the treatment of Argentinian women during the 1930s. Bull Hist Med. 2007 Winter;81(4):793-822. doi: 10.1353/bhm.2007.0130. PMID: 18084107; PMCID: PMC2629848.
SUMMARYThis article looks at medical approaches to womenâs fertility in Argentina in the 1930s and explores the ways in which eugenics encouraged the reproduction of the fit and attempted to avoid the reproduction of the unfit. The analysis concentrates on three main aspects: biotypology (the scientific classification of bodies), endocrine therapy, and sterilization. The article…
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the hormone hustle
We’re about to embark on a time-traveling, mind-bending journey through the evolution of normalization, biopolitics, and the wild world of hormones. From Foucault’s philosophical bombshells to Nicola Pende’s hormone-fueled science experiments, this is a story that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about “normal.” Act I: The Birth of Biopower (18th Century) Picture…
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Beccalossi C. Sexology, sexual development, and hormone treatments in Southern Europe and Latin America, c.1920-40. Hist Human Sci. 2023 Dec;36(5):94-121. doi: 10.1177/09526951231213028. Epub 2023 Dec 6. PMID: 38077463; PMCID: PMC10700059.
AbstractDisplacing the physiological model that had held sway in 19th-century medical thinking, early 20th-century medical scientists working on hormones promoted a new understanding of the body, psychological reactions, and the sexual instinct, arguing that each were fundamentally malleable. Hormones came to be understood as the chemical messengers that regulated an individual’s growth and sexual development,…
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Beccalossi C. Italian sexology, Nicola Pende’s biotypology and hormone treatments in the 1920s. Hist Med Sante. 2017 Winter;12:73-97. doi: 10.4000/hms.1173. Epub 2018 May 28. PMID: 31501760; PMCID: PMC6733708.
AbstractThis article analyses a selection of Nicola Pendeâs studies from the 1920s on âendocrinological abnormalitiesâ associated with impotence, a lack of virility in men, a lack of femininity in women, and homosexuality. By analysing endocrinological sexual theories and treatments, it aims to illustrate the ways in which hormone research pioneered an innovative approach to the…
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BECCALOSSI C. Optimizing and normalizing the population through hormone therapies in Italian science, c.1926â1950. The British Journal for the History of Science. 2020;53(1):67-88. doi:10.1017/S0007087419000906
Abstract This essay explores how hormone treatments were used to optimize and normalize individuals under Italian Fascism. It does so by taking the activities of the Biotypological Orthogenetic Institute â an Italian eugenics and endocrinological centre founded by Nicola Pende in 1926 â as the prime example of a version of eugenics, biotypology, which was…
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Buggy Love Potion: The Science of Insect Sex Hormones
Listen up, you sexy six-legged sirens and alluring arthropods! đđ Get ready to have your mind blown and your exoskeleton rocked. Insect sex hormones: They’re real, they’re spectacular, and they’re changing the game of love in the miniature world! From ecdysone’s double life to gonadotropins’ matchmaking skills, these hormones are the unsung heroes of insect…
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Sex-determining region Y protein (SRY), or testis-determining factor (TDF)
Sex-determining region Y protein (SRY), or testis-determining factor (TDF), is a DNA-binding protein (also known as gene-regulatory protein/transcription factor) encoded by the SRY gene that is responsible for the initiation of male sex determination in therian mammals (placental mammals and marsupials). SRY is an intronless sex-determining gene on the Y chromosome. Mutations in this gene lead to a range of disorders of sex development with varying effects on an individual’s phenotype and genotype. SRY is a member of the SOX (SRY-like box)…
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Steroidogenic factor 1Â (SF-1)Â protein and a few related things
The steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1) protein is a transcription factor involved in sex determination by controlling the activity of genes related to the reproductive glands or gonads and adrenal glands. This protein is encoded by the NR5A1 gene, a member of the nuclear receptor subfamily, located on the long arm of chromosome 9 at position 33.3. It was originally identified as a regulator of genes encoding cytochrome P450 steroid hydroxylases, however, further roles…
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Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) aka abrineurin
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), or abrineurin, is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the BDNF gene. BDNF is a member of the neurotrophin family of growth factors, which are related to the canonical nerve growth factor (NGF), a family which also includes NT-3 and NT-4/NT-5. Neurotrophic factors are found in the brain and the periphery. BDNF was first isolated from a pig brain in 1982 by Yves-Alain Barde and Hans Thoenen. BDNF…