urocortin ii (human) tfa

Urocortin II, a neuropeptide hormone within the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) family—which comprises mammalian CRF, urocortin I, urocortin III, frog sauvagine, and piscine urotensin I—displays 34, 43, and 37-40% sequence homology with rat and human CRF, human urocortin I, and human urocortin III, respectively. This compound enhances rabbit ventricular myocyte shortening and relaxation in both a time- and concentration-dependent manner. In vivo studies reveal that urocortin II lowers arterial blood pressure in both normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats through peripheral CRF2 receptor agonism, inducing dose-dependent tachycardia and hypotension at doses of 3 and 30 pmol kg. Additionally, it mitigates the visceral pain response to colorectal distension at 10 and 20 μg kg in conscious rats and delays gastric emptying in mice.

Human urocortin (hUcn) II is a new member of the corticotropin-releasing-factor (CRF) family. It selectively binds to the CRF2 receptor. Human urocortin II exhibits mild motor-suppressive effects and delayed anxiolytic-like effects,suggesting a time-depen