Long-term low-dose calcitriol treatment in predialysis chronic renal failure: can it prevent hyperparathyroid bone disease?

In an uncontrolled open study 13 patients with moderate to preterminal renal failure were treated with low doses (average 0.36 micrograms/day) of calcitriol up to the time of renal transplantation, which was performed before dialysis had been initiated. A transiliac bone biopsy was obtained both at the start and at the end of the treatment period, the latter coinciding with renal transplantation.

[Idiopathic osteoporosis in middle-aged men--a "new" disease?].

Idiopathic osteoporosis is uncommon in middle-aged men. We discuss nine otherwise healthy men aged from 35 to 57 years, eight of whom were shown to be osteoporotic when subjected to detailed investigation because of back pain. None had suffered fractures of the appendicular skeleton as adults.

Concentrations of lead, cadmium and zinc in the tissues of reproductive organs of men.

The concentrations of lead in blood and the concentrations of lead, cadmium and zinc in tissues were determined in various reproductive organs, liver and kidney removed at necropsy from 41 men who had died suddenly. None of the reproductive organs specifically accumulated lead and no significant correlation could be demonstrated between blood and organ concentrations or between concentrations and age, occupation or urban/rural background of the subject. Unlike lead, the tissue concentrations of cadmium increased with increasing age in all of the reproductive organs examined.

Surgically induced uremia in rats. I: Effect on bone strength and metabolism.

During the course of chronic renal failure (CRF) in man, renal osteodystrophy (osteitis fibrosa and/or osteomalacia) gradually develops. The present study aimed to establish a similar type of CRF leading to renal osteodystrophy in rats. During progressive CRF development over 225 days after 5/6 nephrectomy, the following serum variables were measured: creatinine, immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (iPTH), 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3), a25-hydroxyvitamin D3, (25(OH)D3), alkaline phosphatase, albumin, phosphate, urea nitrogen, total calcium, and other blood electrolytes.

Null cell adenomas of the pituitary gland. An immunohistochemical study.

Fourteen null cell adenomas of the pituitary gland were examined immunohistochemically with antisera against three general neuroendocrine markers and 22 hormones. All cases showed positive immunostaining for neuron-specific enolase, ten cases for synaptophysin, and six cases expressed chromogranin immunoreactivity. Hormone immunoreactivity was detected in a few cells in ten of the 14 cases studied and the number of hormones demonstrated in each case was one or two.

Mixed growth hormone- and prolactin cell adenomas of the pituitary gland. An immunoelectron microscopic study.

The morphological features of seven pituitary adenomas producing both growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) are reported. Up to five different cell types within the same tumour were observed by applying single and double immunoelectron microscopical staining methods. Despite the occurrence of some mammosomatotropic cells in three of the seven cases all fit into the group of mixed GH- and PRL cell adenomas.

Effect of nystatin and chlorhexidine digluconate on Candida albicans.

Polyene antibiotics such as nystatin and amphotericin B are among the most widely recommended drugs for use against oral candidiasis. It is also generally accepted that chlorhexidine gluconate is an appropriate adjunct or an alternative to specific antimycotic drugs. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of the combination of nystatin and chlorhexidine digluconate on Candida albicans in vitro.

Distribution of Thyroliberin (TRH)- and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-activated adenylyl cyclase in normal and neoplastic tissue with special reference to the prostate.

Tissue specificity of the Thyroliberin (TRH)- and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-sensitive adenylyl cyclase has been studied using normal or neoplastic organ samples or cells from the pituitary gland, stomach, prostate, myocardium, liver and bone. It appeared that TRH stimulates the adenylyl cyclase in both normal (basal cells), hyperplastic and adenocarcinomatous prostate as well as in the pituitary and stomach. TPA also stimulated the enzyme from the prostate and other organs/cells, but to a greater extent in neoplastic tissue.

Double-staining methods at the ultrastructural level applying colloidal gold conjugates.

Several double gold-labeling methods have been reviewed, and our own results of applying some of these methods have been included. Of the six double-staining methods tested, four gave satisfactory results (indirect double immunogold staining method, two-face protein A-gold staining method, two-face amplified protein A-gold staining method, and formaldehyde blockade protein A-gold staining method). The other two techniques (sequential double protein A-gold staining method and formaldehyde blockade amplified protein A-gold staining method) showed cross-reaction between the first and second staining sequence.

Histomorphometric analysis of normal bone from the iliac crest of Norwegian subjects.

Transiliac bone biopsies were obtained from 72 healthy Norwegians (46 women) aged 21-81 years. Twenty-two men and 40 women were double-labelled with tetracycline. Histomorphometric analysis was done on undecalcified sections by means of point counting and simple measurements in order to establish normal mean values and ranges in a Norwegian population.

Synchronous bilateral primary germ cell tumors in patient receiving estrogen therapy.

The present report concerns the occurrence of bilateral synchronous germ cell tumors in a sixty-eight-year-old man who received estrogen therapy for eleven months. Although there are previous reports on Leydig cell tumors developing in mice and man receiving estrogens, we have not found any connection between germ cell tumors and estrogen medication reported in the literature.

Renal osteodystrophy in predialysis patients without stainable bone aluminum. A cross-sectional bone-histomorphometric study.

Histomorphometry was performed on transiliac bone biopsies, double-labeled with tetracycline, from 60 consecutively admitted patients (20 women) at various stages of chronic renal failure (CRF). Eleven patients (1 woman) had normal bone resorption and formation indices. Bone resorption and osteoid formation increased with progression of renal failure, but abnormal values were seen even at slightly elevated creatinine levels.

Recurrent herpes labialis in a military brass band.

80-90% of the adult population is known to have neutralizing antibodies to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1), of these 18-32% suffer from occasional recurrent herpes labialis (RHL). It is thought that local trigger factors as external traumata, UV-light and chemical stimuli, or systemic factors like fever or common cold, may induce RHL. The aim of the present study was to investigate the frequency of RHL in a military brass band and compare this with the frequency of the disease in a control population of soldiers from the same unit.

Catecholamine-responsive adenylate cyclase activity in human endomyocardial biopsies. Individual sensitivity to isoproterenol stimulation and propranolol inhibition.

In the present study we have examined adenylate cyclase (AC) activity, the stimulation by isoproterenol and inhibition by propranolol, in endomyocardial biopsies from eleven patients with suspected cardiomyopathy. Biopsies were obtained by heart catheterization from the right endomyocardial surface of the interventricular septum. Three biopsies were taken from each patient (mean weight, 2.

Estrogen receptors in stromal and epithelial fractions of the ventral prostate of rats.

The cytosol from rat ventral prostates contains two estrogen-binding components that can be separated in a glycerol gradient: a high-affinity (KD = 4.2 X 10(-10) M), low-capacity (110 fmole/mg DNA) species that runs in the 8S region of the gradient, and a lower-affinity (KD = 2.4 X 10(-9) M), higher-capacity (410 fmole/mg DNA) 4S protein.

In vivo antibacterial effect of tin on the oral microflora.

The antibacterial effect of oral rinses with stannous fluoride and stannous chloride solutions, and of the use of a toothpaste containing stannous fluoride and stannous pyrophosphate was tested by recording the bacterial viable counts on the oral mucous membrane. Stannous chloride had no antibacterial effect, while stannous fluoride drastically reduced the viable counts up to 4 h. Calculations demonstrated that 25% of the tin content in 10 ml rinsing solutions was retained in the mouth, and analyses showed a raised tin level in saliva up to 4 h after rinsing or toothbrushing.

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) activates the adenylyl cyclase of nonsecretory cells in the rat ventral prostate.

Prostatic secretory and basal or stem cells were isolated from rat ventral prostate lobes by collagenase dispersion and density centrifugation in a Percoll gradient. The membrane-bound adenylyl cyclase of secretory cells could be activated in a dose-dependent manner by vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP ED50 10(-7)M) but not thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH). Conversely, only TRH could significantly stimulate the adenylyl cyclase in basal cell membranes (ED50 5 X 10(-7).

Current approaches to research on prostatic function and pathology.

This article describes some of the techniques and approaches currently in use in prostatic research which hopefully will provide new information and perspectives on the etiology of prostatic pathology. These techniques include a variety of methods for visualizing and quantitating protein hormone receptors, protein electrophoresis of prostatic tissue and fluids for protein markers, cell separation of the different cell populations of the prostate so that their interaction can be evaluated, and tests for the influence of low molecular weight peptides on prostatic function. Examples of the type of information which can be derived from each of the approaches are included and discussed.