Catecholaminergic pathways, chromaffin cells, and human disease.

Recent studies demonstrate major effects of adrenal medullary and catecholaminergic pathways on a wide variety of normal physiologic and regulatory events. Alterations in these pathways, involving changes in catecholamines or in proteins and peptides costored and coreleased with catecholamines, may lead to profound changes in autonomic, cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, metabolic, nociceptive, and immune function. These findings have important implications for a variety of human disease states. In addition, molecules associated with catecholaminergic function may provide novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for human disease and suggest specific genetic loci as important and fruitful targets for further genetic and pharmacogenetic studies.