Was Akhenaten really sick?

The depictions of Akhenaten have long interested medicine and above all endocrinology because of the eunuch gynoid morphology of this pharaoh. These depictions call to mind various diagnostic hypotheses that have been successively considered as endocrinology progresses, with emphasis on the three diseases recently identified (gynecomastia family, Kennedy's disease, and fertile eunuch syndrome), which are compatible with the now proven fertility of Akhenaten.

Transplanted late outgrowth endothelial progenitor cells as cell therapy product for stroke.

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) seem to be a promising option to treat patients with ischemic diseases. Here, we investigated the effects of late outgrowth EPCs, or endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs), a recently defined homogeneous subtype of EPCs, in a rat model of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Either vehicle or 4.

Sevoflurane preconditioning against focal cerebral ischemia: inhibition of apoptosis in the face of transient improvement of neurological outcome.

Background: Preconditioning the brain with volatile anesthetics seems to be a viable option for reducing ischemic cerebral injury. However, it is uncertain whether this preconditioning effect extends over a longer period of time. The purpose of this study was to determine if sevoflurane preconditioning offers durable neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia.

[Hypothermia for intracranial hypertension].

There is a large body of experimental evidence showing benefits of deliberate mild hypothermia (33-35 degrees C) on the injured brain as well as an improvement of neurological outcome after cardiac arrest in humans. However, the clinical evidence of any benefit of hypothermia following stroke, brain trauma and neonatal asphyxia is still lacking. Controversial results have been published in patients with brain trauma or neonatal asphyxia.

Modern Approach to SAH in Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

SAH is still a severe pathology carrying a high risk of death or severe neurological morbidity. New diagnostic, monitoring and therapeutic methods are available for the detection and treatment of vasospasm. This includes transcranial Doppler, CT or MRI perfusion scan, protein S100B dosage, cerebral blood flow monitoring at the bedside.

Prevalence of autoantibodies to thyroperoxidase in patients with various thyroid and autoimmune diseases.

An original radioimmunoassay for quantitation of circulating autoantibodies (aAb) to thyroperoxidase (TPO) proved to be well suited for large scale routine testing. The present study was aimed to assess the prevalence of aAb to TPO in patients with various thyroid and autoimmune disease and, for comparison, in women referred for reproductive disorders and indication of in vitro fertilization. Anti-TPO aAb were measured in sera from 32 healthy subjects and 262 patients thoroughly investigated for thyroid dysfunction.

[Bone density after iatrogenic subclinical long-term thyrotoxicosis. Measurement by dual photon absorptiometry].

Thyrotoxicosis may be held responsible for osteoporosis. The question is whether a very slight subclinical hyperthyroidism, as is desirable in the post-operative treatment of differentiated thyroid carcinoma, can in the long run be detrimental to bone tissue. In a series of 37 patients, aged 50.

Lasting remissions in patients treated for Graves' hyperthyroidism with propranolol alone: a pattern of spontaneous evolution of the disease.

Twenty-six patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism treated only with propranolol for 1-21 months have been followed up to 5 years. The patients were evaluated before treatment, at 15, 30, and 90 days during treatment, and then at 90-day intervals during propranolol treatment by clinical examination and measurement of serum free T3, free T4, rT3, TSH, and sex hormone-binding globulin concentrations and serum anti-thyroglobulin, antithyroid microsomal, antithyroid peroxidase, and thyroid-stimulating autoantibodies. Eighteen patients who had no biochemical improvement during propranolol therapy or relapsed after initial improvement were treated conventionally.

Yq deletion and failure of spermatogenesis.

The spermatogenesis of a sterile male carrying a Y long arm deletion was analyzed by meiotic techniques and by light and electron microscopy on testicular biopsies. R-, Q- and C- banding techniques have shown that the Y long arm deletion included the entire heterochromatin and a part of the euchromatic region, with breakpoint between q11.21 and q11.

[Hypophyseal-Leydig function in the diabetic].

Experimental diabetes in animals induces marked alterations of gonadal androgenic functions: reduction in testis weight, morphological alterations of Leydig cells, decrease of plasma testosterone levels and reduction of the ability of the Leydig cells to secrete testosterone in vitro. hCG treatment restores the testicular endocrine function; in addition several morphological and functional changes are observed in the hypothalamic-hypophyseal-gonadal axis which are probably responsible for the testicular lesions found in untreated experimental diabetes mellitus. In diabetic men, the hypothalamic-hypophyseal-gonadal axis seems to be normal (with exception of individual cases); Mean plasma levels of testosterone, LH, FSH and the responses of the gonadal axis to hCG and LHRH are normal.

[Adrenal tumors of fortuitous discovery. 13 cases].

An adrenal mass without any clinical or biological symptom was accidentally discovered in thirteen patients. All patients underwent surgical exploration. After surgery, pathological studies showed lesions of corticosuprarenaloma (5 considered benign, 1 malignant and 1 uncertain) myelolipoma (2 cases), adrenal cyst, ganglioneuroma, haemangioma and lymphangioma (1 case each).

Increased monoester lipase activity in red blood cells during hyperthyroidism.

Human red blood cells (RBC) contain a monoester lipase (MEL) activity which is tightly associated with the cell membrane and has its active site externally oriented, as inferred from the ability of the intact cell to hydrolyse an exogenously added lipid substrate. Membrane-bound MEL activity was measured by a radiochemical assay in intact RBC from 29 untreated hyperthyroid patients. The mean (+/- S.

Effect of 41-CRF antiserum on the secretion of ACTH, B-endorphin and alpha-MSH in the rat.

In order to elucidate the physiological role of the 41 amino-acid residue corticotropin-releasing factor (41-CRF) on the secretion of ACTH, B-Endorphin and alpha-MSH, plasma levels of these peptides were measured by radioimmunoassay in intact and adrenalectomized rats, two hours after the injection of either 41-CRF antiserum (CRF-AS) or normal rabbit serum for controls. The administration of CRF-AS strikingly lowered the plasma ACTH levels in both intact and adrenalectomized rats. A statistically significant reduction of plasma levels of B-Endorphin was also observed in the same rats.

[Effect of passive immunization with an antiCRF antiserum on the secretion of ACTH in rats].

A peptide with 41-residue having CRF activity both in vivo and in vitro has recently been isolated from ovine hypothalami (41-CRF). Passive immunization of Sprague-Dawley Rats with an antiserum against this peptide is followed by a significant decrease in plasma ACTH and cortisosterone levels under basal conditions as well as after ether-stress and adrenalectomy. These data demonstrate that 41-CRF plays a major role in the physiological regulation of ACTH secretion.

[Determination of plasma catecholamine. Effects of glucagon administration].

Basal plasma dopamine (DA), Norépinephrine (NE) and Epinephrine (E) were determined in controls (n = 15) essential hypertension (n = 19) and Pheochromocytoma (n = 9). Plasma NE was significantly higher in essential hypertension than in control and in 5 cases, plasma NE or E was 3 SD above mean control values. In 8/9 pheochromocytomas DA, E or NE were significantly elevated.