Further evaluation of IGF-I responsiveness to ACTH in children affected with IGHD.

In our previous studies we had demonstrated that, in children affected with isolated GH deficiency (IGHD), a short-term recombinant growth hormone (rGH) therapy increases the 11-deoxycortisol (S) secretion and induces an IGF-I responsiveness to the ACTH challenge. The aim of the present study was to further investigate the mechanisms by which IGF-I is secreted after ACTH challenge in children affected with IGHD by correlating IGF-I versus cortisol (F) time courses after ACTH administration. Ten children affected with IGHD were subjected to rGH therapy (4 IU/day subcutaneously) for 10 days.

A comparison of computerized tomography-guided stereotactic and ultrasound-guided techniques for brain biopsy.

Forty-one patients with brain lesions underwent brain biopsy using either a computerized tomography (CT)-guided stereotactic approach or an ultrasound-guided technique. The cases were selected according to location and size of the mass lesion. Lesions 15 mm or less in diameter and those in the posterior fossa were biopsied by a CT-guided stereotactic technique (18 patients).

Further morphological and biochemical observations on early low dose streptozocin diabetes in mice.

Conflicting published data regarding the role of macrophages and other cell types during the early stages of diabetes mellitus led us to further study this problem. To this end we diabetized mice, using low doses of streptozocin (STZ), 40 mg/kg body wt/day/5 days, and processed their pancreatic tissue for immunocytochemistry and ultrastructural observations; immunohistochemistry was performed on days 5 and 18 after the first STZ injection, and islets were observed ultrastructurally on days 5, 9, 10, and 18. Animals were tested for fasting serum glucose, and isolated islets were assayed for insulin secretion capacity.

Pulmonary embolism in neurosurgical patients.

We report the outcome of a retrospective study on the frequency of pulmonary embolism during the hospital stay in a series of 7,250 neurosurgical patients. Of 4,500 patients who underwent surgery 25 (0.55%) developed pulmonary embolism at some point after the operation while 5 of the 2,750 patients not operated on (0.

Medium-term cyclosporin renal dysfunction and its reversibility in rats.

Renal dynamics and morphology were investigated by metabolic, renal micropuncture (RM), and electron microscopy (EM) studies in 50 female rats treated with cyclosporin A (CsA, 40 mg.kg body wt-1.48 h-1) for either 10, 20, or 30 days (groups CsA 10, CsA 20, and CsA 30, respectively); control rats received olive oil (group N).

Islet B cell neoproliferation in early low dose streptozocin induced diabetes in mice: a ducto-endocrine proliferation?

Several authors have documented cases of newly forming B cells from ductules of diabetic animals in their studies but few have enlarged on this phenomenon. We, therefore, diabetized 15 mice, with low dose injections of streptozocin (STZ) for 5 days, and observed their pancreatic islets 6 (group 1) and 14 (group 2) days after the last STZ injection in order to further the argument. We found that: i) mice without infiltration of their islets did not present any newly formed B cells; ii) mice belonging to group one, showing a mild or scarce lymphomonocytic infiltration, had a few (one or two) newly formed B cells; iii) mice belonging to group two, showing a massive islet infiltration, had two to three neoformed B cells; iv) we observed in one animal intact newly formed islets of Langerhans with a clearly observable ductule within each of them, as in a case of nesidioblastosis.

Early macrophage infiltration in mice treated with low-dose streptozocin decreases islet superoxide dismutase levels: prevention by silica pretreatment.

It has been hypothesized that streptozocin (STZ) given in low doses for 5 consecutive days produces diabetes by induction of peroxidation phenomena similar to those induced by free radicals. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that macrophages are among the first to invade the pancreatic parenchyma and destroy islet B cells supposedly by the release of interleukin-1 that induces free radical formation. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is a free radical scavenger present in cells, and islet B cells are known to have extremely low levels of this enzyme.

Hemorrhagic pituitary adenomas: clinicopathological features and surgical treatment.

Forty-five (9.9%) of 453 pituitary adenomas operated on between January 1973 and November 1988 demonstrated hemorrhagic changes at surgery: 24 had a blood collection, 12 had a blood collection associated with hemorrhagic necrosis, and 9 had hemorrhagic necrosis. Thirteen patients (28.

Amphotericin B-induced depression in the phagocytic function of the isolated rat liver and its prevention by nifedipine.

We investigated the effects of the antimycotic agent amphotericin B (AmB) on the phagocytic activity of the isolated perfused rat liver. At a concentration of 5 microM, the drug markedly reduced the clearance of latex beads by the liver as compared to control preparations. Scanning electron microscopy observations showed that latex beads were attached only to Kupffer cells.

Ciclosporin administration during pregnancy induces ultrastructural changes on pancreatic beta-cells of newborn rats.

Ciclosporin (CS) is an immunosuppressive agent used in the prevention of graft rejections and in the management of type 1 diabetes. However, the drug is not without side effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate eventual cytotoxic phenomena in the pancreas of newborn rats whose mothers had been treated with therapeutic doses of CS.

Capillary area in early low-dose streptozocin-treated mice.

It has been reported that vasoconstriction of intra-islet capillaries plays an important role in the initiation of the insulitis seen in the islets of Langerhans of diabetic animals. Nevertheless, only a few studies have concentrated on islet vessels. This led us to perform an experiment with the aim to compare the islet capillary area of normal untreated and multiple low-dose streptozocin (LDS) (40 mg/kg b.

Microsurgical treatment of glossopharyngeal neuralgia: case reports.

Three patients with excruciating glossopharyngeal neuralgia underwent microsurgical operations in the posterior cranial fossa. In each patient, neurovascular compression was found involving the posteroinferior cerebellar artery and involving the 9th and 10th cranial nerves. In two of the patients, the compression was caused by arachnoiditis and in the other by an arterial loop.

Hypopituitarism following a direct bullet injury to the pituitary. A case report.

A 29-year old man was referred for hypogonadism. At 14 years of age he was struck by a gun bullet in the head, receiving a frontomedial open fracture with leakage of cerebral tissue. The bullet could not be extracted at the operation.

Effects of amphotericin B on the excretory function and the colloid clearance capacity of the perfused rat liver.

The effects of amphotericin B (AmB) on the hepatic excretory function and the colloid clearance capacity were investigated in the perfused rat liver. AmB at 5 or 10 microM caused dose-dependent reductions in bile and perfusate flow rates and in biliary bile acid (BA) excretion. BA concentration in bile tended to increase, due to a prominent reduction in bile water induced by the drug.

Treatment of trigeminal neuralgia by thermocoagulation, glycerolization, and percutaneous compression of the gasserian ganglion and/or retrogasserian rootlets: long-term results and therapeutic protocol.

From 1976 to 1986, 681 patients with drug-refractory trigeminal neuralgia (TN)--typical in 641, symptomatic of multiple sclerosis in 23 and of tumor in 10, atypical in 5, and postherpetic in 2--were treated with various percutaneous procedures. Controlled differential thermocoagulation of the gasserian ganglion and/or retrogasserian rootlets was performed in 533 patients; glycerolization of the trigeminal cistern in 32; and compression of the gasserian ganglion by balloon catheter in 159. Results and complications of each procedure are assessed at a mean follow-up of 6.

Multiple low dose streptozocin-treated rats: biochemical and morphological effects of cyclosporin A administration.

Biochemical and morphological modifications occurring in the pancreas of multiple low dose streptozocin treated rats, subjected to a preventive or concomitant immunosuppressive administration of Cyclosporin A (CyA 8mg/Kg b. wt./45 days), were observed.

Intrasellar tuberculoma: case report.

We report a unique case of exclusively intrasellar tuberculoma. The patient was operated on by the transsphenoidal approach, which allowed total removal of the lesion and prevented cerebrospinal fluid contamination. After histological diagnosis, the patient was treated with isoniazid, 300 mg daily for 3 months, as prophylaxis against tuberculous meningitis.

Hyperglycemic effects of hydrochlorothiazide and propranolol. A biochemical and ultrastructural study.

The authors studied the glycemic disturbances provoked by two antihypertensive drugs, propranolol and hydrochlorothiazide, administered alone or in combination to normal and diabetic rats, using biochemical and ultrastructural parameters. It was found that hydrochlorothiazide raised fasting glucose concentration significantly; propranolol alone caused an insignificant rise of glucose, but significantly aggravated the effect of hydrochlorothiazide with an additive interaction. The ultrastructural findings, as well as the urinary C-peptide excretion, confirmed that the glycemic effects should not be thought to be due to a direct action of the drugs used on the endocrine pancreas.

Ultradian (12-hr) significant component in serum prolactin of healthy women and patients with fibrocystic mastopathy.

The 4-hr sampling schedule for a single day demonstrated a prominent circadian rhythm of prolactin (PRL) in clinically healthy women and in mastopathy (FM) patients (with mesor hyperprolactinemia). This chapter reports on differences in time series of serum PRL observed between FM patients and healthy women in the follicular and luteal phases. Thirteen FM patients and six healthy women (controls) were sampled at intervals of 60 min for 24 hr in the two phases of the menstrual cycle.