Abstract

A NOVEL STRESS NEUROHORMONE COPEPTIN: ITS POTENTIAL ROLE IN DIAGNOSIS AND PROGNOSIS OF VARIOUS DISEASES

Dr. Shrabani Mohanty* and Dr. Asha. G

Abstract

The need for faster diagnosis, more accurate prognostic assessment and treatment decisions in various diseases has led to the investigations of new biomarkers. The hope is that this new biomarker will enable early decision making in clinical practice. Arginine vasopressin is one of the main hormone of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Its main stimulus for secretion is hyperosmolarity, and exposure of the body to endogenous stress. Reliable measurement of arginine vasopressin concentration is difficult because it is subject to preanalytical and analytical errors. It is therefore not used in clinical practice. Copeptin, a 39-aminoacid glycopeptide, is a C-terminal part of the precursor preprovasopressin. Activation of arginine vasopressin system stimulates copeptin secretion into the circulation from the posterior pituitary gland in equimolar amounts with arginine vasopressin. Therefore, copeptin directly reflects arginine vasopressin concentration and can be used as surrogate biomarker of arginine vasopressin secretion. Even mild to moderate stress situations contributes to release of copeptin. These reasons have led to a handful of research on copeptin in various diseases. This review summarizes the current achievements in the research of copeptin as a diagnostic and prognostic marker, risk stratification, therapeutic modalities, and also discusses its association in different disease processes.

Keywords: Copeptin, arginine vasopressin, hypothalamic-pituitary axis, endogenous stress, biomarker.