[Ovarian tissue cryopreservation--an opportunity to preserve fertility in women with cancer].

Chemoterapy is one of the basic modalities of oncological therapy and usually leads to permanent consequences. Infertility is one of the most common consequences resulting from irreversible gonadal damage. The potentially effective method of reproductive function protection in women undergoing chemotherapy is ovarian tissue cryopreservation.

Plasma catecholamines and renin activity in wrestlers following vigorous swimming.

Cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses to exercise in a physically fit and an untrained group of young healthy subjects were compared to study the significance of physical fitness for performance in a discipline for which the athletes were not trained. Ten wrestlers of national rank prepared for an international competition (age 18 years) and 9 untrained healthy males (age 21 years). Exercise consisted of 27-min swimming, freestyle, in water of 29 degrees C, with last 3 min increased to maximal effort.

Relationship between endocrine, immune, and clinical variables in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To assess the frequency of increased plasma prolactin (PRL) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to evaluate its relationship to other hormonal and immune variables.

Methods: Thirty-five patients with SLE with various levels of disease activity were studied. Plasma PRL, cortisol, growth hormone (GH) were determined by radioimmunoassay and interleukin 6 (IL-6) by ELISA: SLE activity was evaluated using the European Consensus Lupus Activity Measurement (ECLAM).

Neuroendocrine response during stress with relation to gender differences.

Neuroendocrine activation belongs to the main characteristics of the stress response. This response is not uniform but depends on the stress stimulus involved and on many other factors including the gender of the individual. In rats, corticosterone and ACTH levels as well as functional activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis are higher in females compared to males under both basal and stress conditions.

Low ambient temperature and neuroendocrine response to hypoglycemia in men.

Nutritional factors, such as an excess or a deficiency of glucose, play an important role in neuroendocrine regulations. Hormonal and metabolic responses to hypoglycemia were examined in healthy non-obese volunteers under conditions of low ambient temperature. Hypoglycemia was induced by intravenous injection of insulin in two randomized trials performed at room temperature and at 4 degrees C.

[Glutamate neurotransmission, stress and hormone secretion].

Glutamate neurotransmission has been investigated in relation to several physiological processes (learning, memory) as well as to neurodegenerative and other disorders. Little attention has been paid to its involvement in neuroendocrine response during stress. Penetration of excitatory amino acids from blood to the brain is limited by the blood-brain barrier.

Central stimulation of hormone release and the proliferative response of lymphocytes in humans.

The central nervous system (CNS) may communicate with the immune system by direct innervation of lymphoid organs and/or by neurotransmitters and changes in neuroendocrine functioning and hormone release. The consequences of selective transient changes in circulating hormones on immune functioning in humans have not yet been studied. To address this problem, the authors evaluated the lymphoproliferative responses to optimal and suboptimal concentrations of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and pokeweek mitogen (PWM) under selective enhancement of circulating growth hormone, prolactin, or norepinephrine.

Studies on the physiological role of ANF in ACTH regulation.

To investigate the impact of changes in the level of the endogenous atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) on pituitary-adrenocortical activity, the secretion of corticotropin (ACTH) and corticosterone was studied under the conditions of enhanced and decreased circulating ANF levels in rats. Volume expansion (intravenous infusion of 5 ml of saline within 2 min) induced significant elevation in ANF levels 5 min after the infusion, whereas ACTH levels remained unchanged during the first 20 min and were elevated only at 40 min, i.e.

[Immunoendocrine interactions and autoimmune diseases].

Communications between the immune and endocrine systems are bidirectional. A number of reports have demonstrated that many hormones have profound effects on the immune system. Cytokines produced by cells of the immune system cause changes in the neuroendocrine function.