Does the negative correlation found in breast cancer patients between plasma melatonin and insulin-like growth factor-I concentrations imply the existence of an additional mechanism of oncostatic melatonin influence involved in defense?

Background: Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is probably involved in promoting both normal and neoplastic cell growth, neoplastic transformation processes, angiogenesis, and neoplasma progression. On the other hand, one possible mechanism of the oncostatic action of melatonin is its influence on the action and/or release of the growth factors that stimulate neoplastic cell growth. Quantitative changes in melatonin and IGF-I, as well as an imbalance between melatonin and IGF-I, may affect the growth of breast cancer cells and exacerbate the disease.

[Long-term controlled release of drugs].

The surveys of long-term controlled drugs supply systems have become recently one of more important branches of pharmacy. Many systems were elaborated. The systems differ from each other by the mechanism and time of drug release and the way of administering it.

[Hyperprolactinemia--unappreciated clinical problem].

In the study, in concise way, actual knowledge concerning hyperprolactinemia was presented. Its causes, clinical symptoms, diagnostic proceeding, methods of treatment and prognosis were discussed.

[Do enkephalins and other endogenous opioids participate in regulation of cancer growth?].

Attempts are interesting exploratory trend to define precisely relations between endogenous opioid system and neoplastic process development. Mechanism in which enkephalins and other endogenous opioides could influence on cancer growth is not clear. Several hypothesis were put and presented in the paper.

[Evaluation of selected parameters of collagen metabolism in patients with myopia].

Introduction: Myopia is a common condition of vision deprivation characterized by the excessive lengthening of the eye axis. There are hypotheses that the elongation of the eye is connected with the connective tissue disorder in which the scleral collagens are inappropriately remodelled. The most common type of collagen and the first to be discovered is type I and it is the dominating one in cornea and sclera.