Syllabus
General endocrinology
Scope and definitions.
Hormones as regulators of biochemical processes.
Hormonal system as an example of regulatory systems using complemetary interactions. The relation of hormonal system to other regulatory systems in living organisms.
Etage regulation, feed-back mechanisms, explanation of endocrine, paracrine and autocrine regulations.
Survey of endocrine glands: hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid gland, adrenal cortex, adrenal medulla, gonads, pineal gland, insular system of pancreas, parathyroid glands, GIT, other organs.
Criteria for hormone classification: according to origin, chemistry and mechanism of action. Mechanisms employing membrane receptors. Mechanisms using intracellular receptors.
Special part
Peptide hormones I: Hormones of anterior pituitary (STH, TSH, ACTH, LH, FSH, prolactin). Hypothalamic factors (liberins, statins).
Peptide hormones II: Hormones of posterior pituitary (oxytocin, vassopresin).
Calcitonin, parathormone and regulation of calcium-phosphate metabolism.
Thyroid hormones.
Steroid hormones: Sex hormones (androgens, estrogens, progestins), corticoids (mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids), derivatives of D-vitamin.
Insular hormones of pancreas (insulin, glucagon, somatostatin). Hormonal regulation of glycemia.
Catecholamines and sympatico-adrenal system.
Other hormones: melatonin and hormonal regulation of biorhythms. Derivatives of arachidonic acid. Hormones of GIT. Other tissue hormones.
Biochemical analytics and clinical biochemistry of hormones.
Methods of hormone determination (immunoassays, other techniques)
The major disorders of hormone regulation (pathophysiology of hormones).
Annotation
Introductory remarks and definitions:
Hormones as regulators of biochemical processes. Classification of hormones. Position and relation of hormonal regulation to other regulatory systems in higher organisms (nervous- and immune system). Principle of complementarity. Molecular mechanisms of hormone action.
Special chapters: hypothalamic and pituitary hormones-thyroid hormones-steroid hormones-hormonal regulation of glucose-hormonal regulation of calcium phosphate metabolism-catecholamines-hormones of gastrointestinal tract-other hormones. Principles of analytics of hormones. Introduction to pathophysiology of hormones.
References:
Langer et al.: Prakticka endokrinologia (in Slovak), Slovak Academic, Press, Bratislava 1993
Starka et al.: Endokrinologie (in Czech), Maxdorf-Jesenius, Praha 1997
Lectures - in Czech -
Devlin TM (Ed.): Biochemistry with clinical correlations, Chapters 20 and 21, Willey-Liss, New York
Each studend will receive a concise text of the lectures (about 50 pages) written by a lecturer and novelized each year, on a diskette.