Central and peripheral distribution of corticotropin-releasing factor.

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is widely distributed in the central nervous system and is associated with nuclei and pathways that control the release of adrenocorticotropin and beta-endorphin from the pituitary, and others that mediate central and peripheral autonomic responses to stress. Major concentrations of CRF immunoreactive neurons have been described in the hypothalamus, parts of the limbic system, several nuclei of the basal forebrain and brain stem, and the cerebral cortex. Recent data on the distribution of CRF immunoreactive perikarya and fibers in the preoptic-septal area, the thalamus, and the spinal cord are reviewed. Outside the nervous system, CRF-like immunoreactivity has been shown to occur in endocrine cells of the pancreas and gastrointestinal system, and in the liver, pituitary, adrenal, lung, placenta, and several endocrine tumors. However, the chemical identity of this "peripheral CRF" has not been determined.