Fasting and post-methionine homocysteine levels in Alzheimers disease and vascular dementia.

The aim of the study is to compare the basal homocysteine levels in patients with impairment of cognitive status, and in controls, to evaluate if the methionine loading test is able to identify any differences between patients with Alzheimers disease and patients with vascular dementia. We enrolled 56 subjects, 20 with Alzheimers disease, 18 with vascular dementia, and 18 normal controls. The data shown that plasma homocysteine levels both basal and post-methionine load were significantly higher in the two groups of demented patients than in the control group.

Metformin treatment does not affect total leptin levels and free leptin index in obese patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Leptin, particularly in its free form, is deeply involved in the regulation of energy balance. Insulin was suggested to influence plasmatic leptin levels and soluble leptin receptor in humans. However, this study indicates that metformin treatment, although improving insulin levels, does not exert a significant effect on either total leptin level or free leptin index in obese women with hyperinsulinemia and PCOS.

Free and total leptin serum levels and soluble leptin receptors levels in two models of genetic obesity: the Prader-Willi and the Down syndromes.

Alterations in energy balance and feeding behavior and the subsequent high frequency of obesity are hallmarks of 2 chromosomal diseases: the Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and the Down syndrome (DS). Leptin, an important regulator of food intake and energy homeostasis, circulates in 2 forms: a free, therefore active, fraction and a fraction bound to the soluble leptin receptor, whose bioavailability consequently participates in the regulation of leptin action. To investigate the possible role of the free-bound leptin balance in the pathogenesis of obesity in PWS and DS, we enrolled 7 obese women with DS, 5 obese women with PWS, 7 obese women, and 7 normal-weight healthy control women.

Plasma levels of neuropeptides in Alzheimer's disease.

Background: In the central nervous system, several neuropeptides are believed to be involved in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Indeed, previous studies have documented that glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) possesses neurotropic properties and can reduce amyloid-beta peptide levels in the brain in vivo. Moreover, the concentrations of neuropeptide Y (NPY) seem to be altered in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with AD and in subjects with major depression.

Use of naltrexone in postmenopausal women with exaggerated insulin secretion: a pilot study.

Objective: To determine the effect of naltrexone (an opiate receptor blocker) on insulin metabolism in postmenopausal women with different insulinemic patterns.

Design: Randomized placebo-controlled study.

Setting: Academic research environment.

Metabolic and endocrine consequences of acute suppression of FFAs by acipimox in polycystic ovary syndrome.

To evaluate the effects of acute lowering of FFAs on glucose-induced insulin secretion and GH response to GHRH in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), 27 PCOS subjects (11 lean and 16 obese) and 17 body mass index-matched controls (8 lean and 9 obese) were investigated. Patients underwent an oral glucose tolerance test and a GHRH test before and after administration of the antilipolytic drug acipimox (250 mg orally 3 h and 1 h before the starting of the tests). Blood samples were collected for 2 h after GHRH bolus and for 4 h after the oral glucose tolerance test.

Neuroendocrine features of pubertal development in females with mental retardation.

In order to evaluate the hypothalamic-pituitary effects of mental retardation during pubertal development, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) responses to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) administration were evaluated at various pubertal stages in a female population with mental retardation (MR) compared to a healthy control group of adolescents. Fifty-six girls aged 8-16 years with MR and 146 normal females of the same age participated in the study. The analyzed subjects were divided into different pubertal stages, ranging from P2 to P5, in line with their degree of sexual maturation.

Postmenarchal Down's syndrome: a theoretical model of growth hormone action on ovarian function.

Much evidence indicates that blunted ovarian sensitivity to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and lower growth hormone (GH) plasma concentrations, as often occur in women with Down's syndrome (DS), may contribute to the gonadal disfunction frequently present in such subjects. In this review, we analyze the more recent advances in this field, and then discuss from a clinical point of view the potential role of GH on ovarian function, since DS patients may also constitute a theoretical model for investigating this particular aspect of reproductive physiology.

Leptin levels in menopause: effect of estrogen replacement therapy.

To evaluate the effect of menopause and estrogen replacement therapy on leptin levels, 17 white postmenopausal women were recruited for the study. After an overnight fasting, blood samples were collected for LH, FSH, estradiol, testosterone, androstenedione, DHEA sulfate, insulin and leptin assays. Body mass index (BMI) and the waist-to-hip ratio were also evaluated.

Allopregnanolone and dehydroepiandrosterone response to corticotropin-releasing factor in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

Objective: Neurosteroids have been suggested to be involved in the regulation of cognitive performances. A major neurosteroid gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) agonist is allopregnanolone: the main source of circulating allopregnanolone is the adrenal cortex. Studies indicated that a disturbance of the central regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis occurs in both senile (Alzheimer's disease: AD) and vascular dementia (VD).

Serum leptin concentrations in obese women with Down syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome.

We have evaluated serum leptin concentrations in two forms of genetic obesity. The subjects examined were eight women with Down syndrome and eight women with Prader-Willi syndrome. All patients were in the reproductive age range and were obese (body mass index > or = 27 kg/m2).

Influence of body mass on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis response to naloxone in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: To evaluate the influence of body mass on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis response to naloxone in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Design: Controlled clinical study.

Setting: Academic research environment.

Growth hormone administration normalizes the ovarian responsiveness to follicle-stimulating-hormone in the early stages of the follicular maturation in women with Down syndrome.

To investigate the sensitivity of ovary to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) during the early follicular phase of the human menstrual cycle in patients with Down Syndrome (DS) six postmenarchal patients with Down Syndrome and twelve normoovulatory women were studied. Randomly, DS patients were submitted in two consecutive cycles to a treatment with GH (0.1 IU/Kg i.

Opioid blockade effect on insulin beta-cells secretory patterns in polycystic ovary syndrome. Oral glucose load versus intravenous glucagon bolus.

In order to evaluate the involvement of endogenous opiates in the insulin disorders of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOs) a total of 25 PCOs women and 11 normo-ovulatory controls were studied by comparing the effect of a chronic opioid blockade on beta-cells responsiveness to oral glucose load and to intravenous glucagon bolus. Each patient, studied on follicular phase, underwent to oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), and, 2 days later, to a glucagon intravenous bolus (1 mg); these tests were then repeated after 6 weeks of naltrexone treatment (50 mg orally). Naltrexone treatment did not modify the insulin secretory patterns of control subjects, whereas the same therapy significantly reduced, in hyperinsulinemic PCOs women, the beta-cell hyperresponsiveness both to oral glucose load and to intravenous glucagon (p < 0.

Further evidence of increased aromatase activity in granulosa luteal cells from polycystic ovary.

This study evaluated the effect of atamestane (a competitive inhibitor of P-450 aromatase) on granulosa luteal cells from polycystic and normal ovaries. Treatment with atamestane (10 micromol/l) determined a strong inhibition of basal aromatase activity in both types of cells; however, its effect was markedly more pronounced in granulosa cells from normal ovary than in granulosa cells from polycystic ovaries (PCO; P < 0.01).

Ovarian sensitivity to follicle stimulating hormone is blunted in normo-ovulatory women with Down's syndrome.

Ovarian sensitivity to follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) during the early follicular phase of the human menstrual cycle was studied in six post-menarchal patients with Down's syndrome and 12 normo-ovulatory women. Pure FSH (75 IU) was given i.v.

Bilateral non-communicating paraurethral meatus in Prader-Willi syndrome.

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex multisystemic congenital disorder due to an interstitial deletion of chromosome 15q11-13 or to maternal uniparental disomy. Molecular genetic testing is complex, and often requires DNA from both parents, which is not always available. An accurate medical history and presenting clinical signs are frequently the only tools for the clinical diagnosis of this syndrome, therefore it is important to have complete and accurate criteria.

Basal body temperature curves and endocrine pattern of menstrual cycles in Down syndrome.

We examined the basal body temperature curves and the endocrine pattern of 20 cycles from women with Down syndrome with regular menstrual cycles. Data were compared with those obtained from an age-matched population of healthy women with regular menses. Growth hormone deficiency was excluded for women with Down syndrome by pharmacological tests.

Mitomycin C and 5-fluorouracil salvage chemotherapy in platinum-resistant ovarian carcinoma.

Twenty-four patients with progressing or recurrent ovarian carcinoma, all pretreated with cisplatin, were evaluated for response and toxicity to mitomycin C (MMC) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) chemotherapy. Eligible patients had histologically proven intra-abdominal disease (67% clinically measurable; 33% nonmeasurable), and 67% of them had progressed on prior platinum-based chemotherapy. WHO response criteria were adopted in patients with measurable disease while those with nonmeasurable lesions were considered as responding in case of nonevident disease and CA-125 values less than 35 U/dl for at least 6 months.

Analysis of 138 consecutive ovarian cancer patients: incidence and characteristics of familial cases.

Eight families with two or more first-degree relatives affected with ovarian carcinoma were identified among a series of 138 consecutive ovarian cancer patients. History of breast cancer was reported in six of the eight families. Five of 19 patients with familial cancer developed ovarian cancer as a second primary tumor following breast carcinoma, whereas only 6/130 sporadic cases had a previous history of breast cancer.

Transvaginal ultrasound evaluation of myometrial invasion in endometrial carcinoma.

In 20 cases of histologically proved endometrial cancer the depth of myometrial invasion was ascertained by means of transvaginal ultrasound, using a high-frequency endocavitary probe. The sonographic findings were confirmed by histologic examination in 18 of the 20 patients evaluated (90.0%).