Corticotropin-releasing factor in humans. I. CRF stimulation in normals and CRF radioimmunoassay.

The biological activity of ovine (o) and human (h) corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in normal volunteers was investigated, using bolus injections with different CRF dosages. There was a significant increase of ACTH, beta-endorphin and cortisol after the injection of all dosages. Repetitive stimulation and continuous infusion of hCRF lead to repetitive release of identical amounts of ACTH or constant elevation of ACTH levels. oCRF and hCRF serum immunoreactivity was measured with specific radioimmunoassays after bolus injection, pulsatile administration and infusion of CRF. The half-time of serum disappearance after acute injection studies was calculated as 9 min for hCRF dand 18 min for oCRF. The 'metabolic clearance' of hCRF calculated using the infusion study was 2.72 ml/min X kg. Endogenous CRF immunoreactivity was detectable in 14 patients during insulin hypoglycemia and in 86 out of 97 pregnant females. Furthermore, CRF could be extracted from human placenta. The chromatographic pattern of extracted placenta CRF, pregnancy serum CRF and CRF standard preparation was identical. Furthermore, CRF immunoreactivity was detectable in some patients with different causes of ACTH hypersecretion.