we hypothesize that the cushing 's disease in the second group of patients may have been caused by increased hypothalamic release of , or pituitary responsiveness to , corticotropin-releasing factor , whereas that in the first group may represent pituitary oversecretion of corticotropin that is relatively independent of corticotropin-releasing factor .
C0020663
hypothalamic
C0010132
corticotropin-releasing factor