Radioimmunoassay of β-MSH in Human Plasma and Tissues

Kaoru Abe; Wendell E. Nicholson; Grant W. Liddle; Donald P. Island; David N. Orth

doi:10.1172/JCI105653

Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee

Received for publication 13 March 1967 and in revised form 12 June 1967.

These studies were supported in part by the following grants-in-aid from the National Institutes of Health, U. S. Public Health Service: 5-K6-AM-3782, 8-MO1-FR-95, T1-AM-5092, and RO1-AM-05318.

Address requests for reprints to Dr. Grant W. Liddle, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn. 37203.

Find articles by Abe, K. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee

Received for publication 13 March 1967 and in revised form 12 June 1967.

These studies were supported in part by the following grants-in-aid from the National Institutes of Health, U. S. Public Health Service: 5-K6-AM-3782, 8-MO1-FR-95, T1-AM-5092, and RO1-AM-05318.

Address requests for reprints to Dr. Grant W. Liddle, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn. 37203.

Find articles by Nicholson, W. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee

Received for publication 13 March 1967 and in revised form 12 June 1967.

These studies were supported in part by the following grants-in-aid from the National Institutes of Health, U. S. Public Health Service: 5-K6-AM-3782, 8-MO1-FR-95, T1-AM-5092, and RO1-AM-05318.

Address requests for reprints to Dr. Grant W. Liddle, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn. 37203.

Find articles by Liddle, G. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee

Received for publication 13 March 1967 and in revised form 12 June 1967.

These studies were supported in part by the following grants-in-aid from the National Institutes of Health, U. S. Public Health Service: 5-K6-AM-3782, 8-MO1-FR-95, T1-AM-5092, and RO1-AM-05318.

Address requests for reprints to Dr. Grant W. Liddle, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn. 37203.

Find articles by Island, D. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee

Received for publication 13 March 1967 and in revised form 12 June 1967.

These studies were supported in part by the following grants-in-aid from the National Institutes of Health, U. S. Public Health Service: 5-K6-AM-3782, 8-MO1-FR-95, T1-AM-5092, and RO1-AM-05318.

Address requests for reprints to Dr. Grant W. Liddle, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn. 37203.

Find articles by Orth, D. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

Published in Volume 46, Issue 10 on October 1, 1967
J Clin Invest. 1967;46(10):1609–1616. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI105653.
© 1967 The American Society for Clinical Investigation

Published October 1, 1967 - Version history

A radioimmunoassay method for β-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (β-MSH) has been developed and utilized in the identification and quantification of this hormone in human plasma and tissues. The concentration of β-MSH in two human pituitary glands was found to be approximately 350 μg/g. β-MSH was identified in the tumor tissue of all 11 patients with the ectopic ACTH syndrome who were studied; concentrations in individual cases ranged from 3 to 1600 ng/g. In plasma of chronically hyperpigmented patients with Addison's disease, Cushing's disease (after bilateral adrenalectomy), and the ectopic ACTH syndrome, β-MSH concentrations of 0.5-6 ng/ml were found. The degree of clinical hyperpigmentation was well correlated with the quantity of β-MSH in the plasma. β-MSH concentrations in the plasma of normal subjects were less than 0.09 ng/ml. In all of these circumstances, bioassays for MSH were also performed, and it was found that most of the biologic MSH activity of the plasma and tissues could be accounted for by β-MSH.