Specificity Spillover at the Hormone Receptor — Exploring Its Role in Human Disease

IN some disease states, one or more manifestations of hormonal excess may be caused by the interaction of one hormone with the receptor for a different hormone. When one receptor is activated by a signal designed for another, the event is termed a "specificity spillover."1 , 2 Such a spillover, or cross reaction, is not random, but occurs between two hormones with a similar structure. The effects observed are determined not by the hormone that is present, but by the receptor that is activated. A given hormone has a primary affinity for its own receptor, but it may also retain an affinity . . .