Browsing by Author "Kaur, Gurcharan"

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Hormones of hypothalamus and ageing
(Springer, 2018) Kaur, Gurcharan; Parkash, Jyoti
Hypothalamus being the master regulator of the vertebrate endocrine system undergoes many adjustments/alterations which body makes during the course of aging. Moreover, the endocrinological basis of aging in male and female organisms is very complex, with multiple hormones along the hypothalamic-pituitary (HP) axis interacting with each other via different feedback loops to maintain homeodynamic state. Also the sensitivity of the hypothalamus to the external stimuli decreases with age mainly due to its lack of sensitivity towards the feedback system The endocrine system is although severely affected by aging but all the organ systems are not affected at the same time or in the same way. During aging cellular protein synthesis machinery as well as immune functions are diminished and gradually physiological functions decline. There is also an increase in fat mass, a loss of muscle mass and strength, and a decrease in bone mineral density profile that contribute to declining health status with increasing age. The hallmarks of aging such as Genomic instability, Telomere attrition, Epigenetic alterations, Loss of proteostasis, Dysregulated Nutrient Sensing, Mitochondrial dysfunction, Altered intracellular communication, Cellular senescence etc. are well reported in literature. In this chapter we have compiled information and discussed various hormonal changes that occur with age in hypothalamus and pituitary gland and how these two master regulators gradually lose their sensitivity with the increasing age.