The physiological significance of CRH and urocortins within the anterior pituitary needs to be further investigated but it can be proposed that the presence of CRH and urocortins in the pituitary may explain why POMC mRNA levels are not decreased during hypothalamic-pituitary disconnection (584) and why humans with panhypopituitarism due to agenesis or transsection of the pituitary stalk still have ACTH secretion (592). The gene discussed is CRH; the disease is panhypopituitarism.