N-acetylcysteine in pig liver transplantation from non-heart-beating donors.

Lipid peroxidation due to oxygen free radicals (OFR) seems to play a major role in loss of liver graft viability after warm ischemia, preservation, and transplantation. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an antioxidant that has a direct effect on OFR, and is also a glutathione precursor, another antioxidant. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of NAC in preventing ischemia-reperfusion damage of liver grafts harvested from non-heart-beating donors.

A novel mechanism for isolated central hypothyroidism: inactivating mutations in the thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptor gene.

Isolated central hypothyroidism, characterized by insufficient TSH secretion resulting in low levels of thyroid hormones, is a rare disorder. We report a boy in whom isolated central hypothyroidism was diagnosed at 9 yr of age. Complete absence of TSH and PRL responses to TRH led us to speculate that he had an inactivating mutation of the TRH receptor gene.

Identification of human growth hormone-releasing hormone receptor splicing variants.

The expression pattern of the receptor for human GHRH (hGHRHr) was investigated in normal human tissues and in pituitary and ovarian tumors by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Three transcriptional variant forms of the hGHRHr were found to be expressed in the normal pituitary and in GH-secreting pituitary tumors. Form a is identical to the previously reported hGHRHr, whereas forms b and c are not described in the literature.