Growth hormone responses to the stimulation of hypothalamic glucoreceptors in diabetic retinopathy. Effects of catecholamine precursors and dopamine antagonists.

The effects of the stimulation of glucoreceptors located at the level of the lateral hypothalamic nuclei and sensitive to intracellular glucose deprivation on growth (GH) release are well documented in the monkey. In this study the effect of a reproducible hypoglycemic stimulatory procedure was controlled by continuously monitoring blood glucose (BG) levels in normal subjects and in a series of 120 diabetic patients. In contrast to control subjects, GH responses to similar hypoglycemic nadirs were not reproducible in diabetics (with or without diabetic retinopathy).

The liver and primary type IV hyperlipoproteinaemia: a pathological study.

We studied the histological structure of the livers of 36 patients presenting type IV primary hyperlipoproteinaemia. Electron microscopy revealed dilation of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and rough endoplasmic reticulum as well as the presence of giant mitochondria containing para-crystalline inclusions. Steatosis was present in all type IV hyperlipoproteinaemic patients regardless of their weight or nutritional sensitivity (to alcohol or carbohydrate).

Hyperinsulinemia associated with normal C-peptide levels in a woman treated with isoniazide.

The authors report on the observation of a woman treated with isoniazide, who presented clinical symptoms of hypoglycemia during treatment (seating, confusion, anxio-depressive syndrome, lipothymia). After the antitubercular treatment was stopped, a moderate hypoglycemia without clinical manifestations accompanied by a marked hyperinsulinemia and normal C-peptide values was detected during a Conn's test. Serum gel filtration on Sephadex G 50 Fine showed that the measured hyperinsulinemia was effectively due to an insulin excess.

[Metabolism of insulin and immunoreactive insulin-like substances (proinsulin, HWIRI) in vivo in man].

Immunoreactive insulin (IRI) and its three constituents as determined by gel filtration: high molecular weight substances with insulin immunoreactivity (HWIRI), proinsulin (PI) and insulin (I), were measured hourly during 28 hours in the portal, hepatic and peripheral venous systems of a patient operated for a nesidioblastoma. The PI levels were constant from one system to the other (7.1 +/- 0.

[Influence of metabolic control on blood viscosity and platelet activity in insulin requiring diabetics].

Blood and plasma viscosities were determined using respectively a Couette type micro-viscometer (LS 30) and an automatic capillary viscometer (FICA). Plasma beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG) levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. These parameters were measured in a group of 11 poorly controlled insulin requiring diabetics before and after blood glucose normalization using an artificial pancreas (Biostator GCIIS).

[Changes of beta-thromboglobulin levels in diabetic patients controlled with the artificial pancreas].

beta-Thromboglobulin (beta-TG), which is a specific platelet protein, is considered to be a fair indication of in vivo platelet activation. Our investigation was aimed at testing the influence of the glucose balance on platelet behaviour by measuring beta-TG levels in insulin-dependent diabetic patients subjected to blood feed-back control via an artificial pancreas over a 24 or 48 hour period. In 19 patients who underwent feed-back control over a 24 hour period, no significant change in beta-TG level was observed on average, compared with the measurements carried out before blood glucose control.

Comparative study of four HDL-cholesterol assay methods.

Four methods for HDL-cholesterol assay are compared using the plasma of 119 subjects. Results for the entire population and for subgroups defined by triglyceridemia and cholesterolemia levels are determined. The methods used are: ultracentrifugation, electrophoresis, dextran sulfate precipitation, and concanavalin A precipitation.

Pyometra.

Pyometra is a potentially lethal disease. Eighteen cases, all but one in postmenopausal women, were diagnosed at the Ottawa General and Ottawa Civic hospitals between 1974 and 1978 inclusive. A review of this series and of the literature demonstrates that a large proportion of cases (72% in this series) are associated with or follow radiotherapy for a malignant disease of the uterus and that anaerobic bacteria are frequently isolated from the uterine cavity (in 56% of the patients in this series).

Correlations between the apoprotein C composition of very-low-density lipoproteins and triglyceridemia in subjects with type IV hyperlipoproteinemia.

The protein composition of apoprotein C regarding peptides CII, CIII1, and CIII2 has been studied in VLDLs in 59 normal or hypertriglyceridemic subjects. The percentages of the peptides found in each subject were correlated with serum triacylglycerol levels. There are very good correlations between the proportion of VLDL apo CII and triglyceridemia (r = -0.

Biological variations in hyperlipidemic children and adolescents treated with fenofibrate.

Beside their pharmacological action drugs may have unexpected side effects which must be known and taken into account in the interpretation of laboratory tests. In this work, we followed 17 hyperlipidemic subjects, aged 4-19 years, treated with fenofibrate only. We performed several plasma tests before and during treatment.

Venous plethysmography: measuring techniques and normal values.

A fixed procedure of strain gauge plethysmography in a control population aged between 20-30 years allows normal values for venous parameters (venous distensibility, emptying, and resistance) and capillary filtration coefficient, to be determined. High speed recording reveals two phases in venous emptying, one passive, purely elastic, and a second active phase, resulting from venous constriction.

Postradiation ureteral obstruction: a reappraisal.

Thirty-four patients who received radiation therapy for carcinoma of the cervix developed hydronephrosis. Twelve of 34 (35%) had no evidence of pelvic malignancy, and the obstruction was caused by periureteral fibrosis. The incidence of obstructive uropathy due to periureteral fibrosis not associated with recurrent tumor increased when the obstructing lesion was unilateral, the clinical staging of the cervical carcinoma prior to therapy was Stage IB or Stage II rather than Stage III or Stage IV, and the obstructing lesion appeared 2 or more years after the completion of radiation therapy.

[Influence of fenofibrate on blood platelet functions (author's transl)].

A study of blood lipids and platelet functions was conducted in north-eastern (Moselle) and southeastern (Var) France, among populations with widely different dietary habits and coronary disease mortality rates. Striking variations were found between the two populations with regard to platelet coagulation activity and response to various aggregation agents. On the other hand, plasma cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels were identical.

[One year fenofibrate treatment of type II primary hyperlipidaemia. Effects on lipoproteins and biological tolerance (author's transl)].

The study involved 18 patients aged from 17 to 71 years with idiopathic type IIa hypercholesterolaemia and 10 patients aged from 34 to 67 years with type IIb mixed hyperlipidaemia (HLP). During a first period of at least 3 months, the patients were established on a diet adapted to each type of HLP. Fenofibrate in daily doses of 5 mg/kg bodyweight was then added to the dietetic regimen.

Gastric retention and gastric ileus in diabetes mellitus.

Report of 2 cases of paralytic ileus of the stomach (gastric atony) and of 14 cases of gastric retention, diagnosed from the radiographs obtained from a group of 1500 diabetic patients within seven years. These disorders occur in diabetes mellitus present for many years and associated with peripheral neuropathy. The above findings often present diagnostic and therapeutic problems.

Determination of the K2 lipid clearance coefficient by centrifugation. A comparison with the Gordis test and spectrophotometric measurement.

The K2 lipid clearance coefficient was calculated for the intravenous fat tolerance test (iv FTT), after estimating triglycerides by spectrophotometry, the Gordis technique or by preparative ultracentrifugation. The best correlation between the K2 values (r = 0.95, p < 0.