Corticorelin

Corticorelin is a synthetic peptide that copies corticotropin-releasing hormone, the signal the hypothalamus sends to make the pituitary gland release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). It is used only as a diagnostic agent and is not a treatment. Marketed as Acthrel, corticorelin ovine triflutate is given as an intravenous injection, and the label describes it as a test of pituitary corticotroph responsiveness that helps tell a pituitary source of excess ACTH from an ectopic source in patients with ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome. A rise or absence of rise in blood ACTH and cortisol after the dose guides the interpretation. ChEMBL records it as a protein with a first approval in 1996, and its ATC code, V04CD04, places it among the diagnostic agents.