Ratio of 11-desoxy 17-oxosteroids to creatinine in a population screened for breast cancer.
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During a population-based screening project for breast cancer, almost 15,000 women aged 50 years and over have provided a 12 h (overnight) sample of urine for research purposes. In 3,789 women the excretion of 11-desoxy-17-oxosteroids (DOOS) and creatinine was measured. Results were analysed in terms of urinary concentrations and of a ratio between DOOS and creatinine. Age had an effect on DOOS, creatinine and their ratio. Body weight and body surface area had an effect on creatinine excretion and therefore on the ratio. The following variables did not have an appreciable effect on the above-mentioned ratio: a family history of breast cancer, parity and age at first pregnancy, menopause and oestrogenic drugs, and parenchymal pattern of the breast as observed on the xeromammogram. Breast cancer was found at first screening in 106 out of 14,697 women. In 100 of these cases DOOS and creatinine were measured. Excretion values expressed as the ratio between the two, allowing for body surface area, did not differ materially from those of 100 age-matched controls. These results lead the authors to the conclusion that the determination of androgen metabolite excretion in women over 50 years of age is of no help in selecting a group at high risk of breast cancer. (+info)
Local effect of intranasal beclomethasone dipropionate aerosol in hay fever.
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The effect of a daily dose of 400 mug beclomethasone dipropionate aerosol intranasally has been investigated in a double-blind cross-over trial in 29 patients with hay fever. The effect on the nasal symptoms was so pronounced in 25 patients that further symptomatic treatment was unnecessary. Beclomethasone dipropionate aerosol had, on the other hand, no direct effect on itching in the eyes, which is in accordance with the fact that biochemical investigations did not show any sign of suppression of the adrenal function. It is concluded that beclomethasone dipropionate aerosol intranasally is an effective and apparently harmless way of controlling the nasal symptoms in hay fever. (+info)
The effect of aminosteroid, ORG 6001, on hypothermia induced ventricular fibrillation in the cat.
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1 The effect of the antidysrhythmic aminosteroid, ORG 6001, on hypothermia-induced ventricular fibrillation was investigated in cats anaesthetized with pentobarbitone. 2 ORG 6001 (total dose, 10 mg/kg, by intravenous injection) reduced both the incidence of fibrillation and the temperature at which it occurred. The number of animals that survived to 16 degrees C was increased. 3 This protective effect of ORG 6001 could not be explained by changes in respiratory acidosis, plasma concentrations of sodium and potassium, or by changes in the action potential of excised hypothermic ventricular muscle. The hypothermia-induced elevation of blood lactate was less in cats treated with the aminosteroid. 4 Over a limited temperature range, ORG 6001 prolonged the P wave and QRS duration and shortened the QTc interval. ST segment elevation was slightly reduced in the drug-treated group. J deflections were observed but were not correlated with the development of fibrillation. 5 The onset of fibrillation was not considered to be due to temperature differences between the myocardium and arterial blood or between localized areas of the left ventricular wall. (+info)
Glucagon-initiated human growth hormone release: a comparative study.
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Human growth hormone (HGH) responses in 20 healthy adults to subcutaneous glucagon, arginine infusion and tolbutamide and insulin hypoglycemia were compared. HGH rose in all four tests. HGH response to glucagon was also studied in 49 patients with suspected pituitary insufficiency, of whom 25 also later received an arginine infusion; an abnormal response to glucagon was the most frequent functional abnormality and often HGH was the only anterior pituitary hormone of which a deficiency was detectable. In seven subjects (two healthy controls and five patients with suspected hypopituitarism) there was a subnormal HGH response to arginine but a normal response to glucagon. It is concluded that glucagon is a simple and effective stimulus to HGH release, equal or superior to arginine, tolbutamide and insulin, and is an important test of anterior pituitary function. (+info)
Androsterone-etiocholanolone ratios in male homosexuals.
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Analyses of 24-hour specimens of urine from healthy adult males for androsterone and etiocholanolone produced values which, when calculated as discriminant scores, discriminated between heterosexual and exclusively homosexual individuals. This confirms a previous study.No significant differences were found between heterosexuals and homosexuals in parental ages, secondary sex characteristics, genitalia, anthropometry, 17-ketosteroids, and 17-ketogenic steroids.A significant difference was found between the heterosexual group and homosexual group in the number of homosexual relatives in the immediate and extended families. (+info)
Nyctohemeral growth hormone levels in children with growth retardation and inflammatory bowel disease.
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Short stature is a common complication of inflammatory bowel disease. Recently McCaffery, Nasr, Lawrence, and Kirsner (1970) concluded, from blood growth hormone (GH) levels obtained during insulin-hypoglycaemic provocation, that GH deficiency contributed to the retardation in growth observed in subjects with inflammatory bowel disease. Although it was not possible to eliminate the possibility of partial hypopituitarism, this study does not confirm the existence of GH deficiency in six subjects with short stature complicating inflammatory bowel disease. The nyctohemeral (night and day) serum GH is described, and the insulin and glucose levels in these subjects and normal sleep-related GH rises in all are demonstrated. This finding is not compatible with growth hormone deficiency. In one subject the response to arginine provocation was blunted. Three subjects manifested hyperinsulinism and evidence for ;insulin resistance'. These findings are unexplained but suggest that insulin resistance may contribute to a blunted GH response to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia. Blunted GH response to both arginine and insulin-induced hypoglycaemia may also result from continuous secretion and reduced pituitary storage of growth hormone. This possibility is suggested by the pattern of raised blood GH levels in one of the subjects. (+info)
Measurements of small variations in 'absolute' pitch.
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1. Longitudinal studies on absolute pitch estimates have been observed in one male and two female subjects.2. The female subjects underwent rhythmic variations in their estimates that were related to their menstrual cycles. One female subject, the more intensively studied of the two, also showed variations in her pitch estimates that were related to illness.3. Relevant correlations between the menstrual cycle and known biochemical parameters are mentioned which suggest that the fluctuations in the female estimates are governed by changes in the electrical activity of the auditory nervous system.4. The male subject showed similar fluctuations in his pitch estimates. A rhythm of approximately 20 days was observed.5. A connexion between the fluctuations in the pitch estimates and the sex hormones in both the female and the male subjects is suggested as a possible explanation of the difference between two different types of absolute pitch.6. The hypothesis is extended to show how the adrenal corticosteroids could account for the changes in the pitch estimates that occurred with illness. (+info)
Metabolic clearance rate and blood production rate of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in normal subjects, during pregnancy, and in hyperthyroidism.
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The metabolic clearance rate (MCR) and blood production rate (BP) of testosterone (T) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the conversion of plasma testosterone to plasma dihydrotestosterone, and the renal clearance of androstenedione, testosterone, and dihydrotestosterone have been studied in man. In eight normal men, the MCR(T) (516+/-108 [SD] liters/m(2)/day) was significantly greater than the MCR(DHT) (391+/-71 [SD] liters/m(2)/day). In seven females, the MCR(T) (304+/-53 [SD] liters/m(2)/day) was also greater than the MCR(DHT) (209+/-45 [SD] liters/m(2)/day) and both values were less than their respective values in men (P < 0.001). In men the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone at 2.8+/-0.3% (SD) was greater than that found in females, 1.56+/-0.5% (SD) (P < 0.001). In five pregnant females the MCR(T) (192+/-36 [SD] liters/m(2)/day), the MCR(DHT) (89+/-30 [SD] liters/m(2)/day) and the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (0.72+/-0.15%) (SD) were significantly less than the values found in nonpregnant women. In five females with hyperthyroidism, the MCR for testosterone and dihydrotestosterone were similar to those observed in pregnant females, but the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (2.78+/-1.7%) (SD) was greater, and similar to that found in men. In men the production of dihydrotestosterone was 0.39+/-0.1 (SD) mg/day, 50% being derived from the transformation of plasma testosterone. In women the production of DHT was 0.05+/-0.028 (SD) mg/day, only 10% coming from testosterone. During pregnancy, the production of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone are similar to that in normal women. In three patients with testicular feminization syndrome (an adult with hyperthyroidism and two children) these two MCRs were greatly reduced compared to the normal females, but the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone was in the limits of normal male rangeIn the normal subjects the renal clearance of androstenedione was greater than that of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. Less than 20% of the dihydrotestosterone and less than 10% of the androstenedione in the urine is derived from the plasma dihydrotestosterone and androstenedione. (+info)