Increase of nocturnal melatonin levels in hemodialyzed patients after parathyroidectomy: a pilot study.

In hemodialyzed patients hormonal disturbances are known to occur. However, melatonin levels have not been completely studied. The aim of the study was to find whether changes in calcaemia affect melatonin secretion.

Lack of melatonin response to acute administration of nifedipine and diltiazem in healthy men.

Calcium antagonists have been shown to influence some endocrinological processes in mammals. The use of calcium channel blockers in clinical practice is well documented. The current study monitored nocturnal melatonin, prolactin, and cortisol levels in 19 healthy volunteers before and after administration of calcium channel blockers.

Albumin microsphere as a drug delivery system for dexamethasone: pharmacokinetics in sheep, residue amount in cows and distribution in rats.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential use of albumin microspheres as a drug delivery system to provide sustained release of dexamethasone in vivo. Pharmacokinetic studies were carried out in sheep and tissue distribution in rats given dexamethasone in two injectable forms--water suspension of dexamethasone associated with albumin microspheres and water-ethanol solution of dexamethasone. When dexamethasone was associated with albumin microspheres the amount of free dexamethasone, available for absorption did not reach the high values typical of the pattern of release of dexamethasone from water-ethanol solution.

hCG stimulation test for diagnosis of androgen deficiency.

A diagnostic-stimulation test with hCG (Pregnyl, Organon) was developed for demonstration of latent testicular deficit. The test was worked out on clinically healthy men and was used to diagnose cases of anorchidism and cryptorchidism. This stimulation test may be applied in clinical andrology as a noninvasive and highly sensitive method.

In vitro effects of substance P and arginine-vasopressin on testosterone production in Leydig cells of short and long photoperiodic hamsters.

The aim of the present study was to determine the interaction between substance P (SP) and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) on basal and LH-stimulated testosterone production by Leydig cells isolated from hamsters kept under long or short days (LD-hamsters, SD-hamsters, respectively). SP inhibited the testosterone production of Leydig cells, its effect being more pronounced in the case of LH-stimulated steroidogenesis in LD-hamsters. Similarly, the addition of AVP to the culture medium resulted in a diminution of basal, as well as LH-stimulated testosterone secretions.

Selective effect of methoxyindoles on the lymphocyte proliferation and melatonin binding to activated human lymphoid cells.

Three pineal methoxyindoles (melatonin (Mel), 5-methoxytryptamine (5-MTA) and 5-methoxytryptophol (5-MTO)) were studied for their ability to influence the proliferative response of human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and tonsillar lymphocytes (TL) following activation with concanavalin A (ConA) in vitro. The ConA-stimulated DNA synthesis was affected in a different dose-dependent mode by the methoxyindoles tested. Melatonin and 5-MTO inhibited and 5-MTA increased the ConA-induced [3H]thymidine incorporation in PBL and TL.

Substance P modulating effect on the binding capacity of hamster Leydig cell LH receptors.

The influence of Substance P was studied on the binding characteristics of LH receptors in purified Leydig cells collected from golden hamsters kept under natural long or short days. Substance P exerted a differential effect on the binding capacity of LH receptors. A significant increase in Bmax was estimated in Leydig cells obtained from young hamsters living under long days.

Congenital anorchism: diagnostic and therapeutic aspects.

Eight patients with congenital anorchism were examined and treated. Plasma LH, FSH, and testosterone concentrations and the saliva testosterone level were measured by RIA in 3 patients. The results showed a 2.

Peroxidase activities in bull spermatozoa.

The present study was carried out to determine the localization of peroxidase activity in bull spermatozoa. 3,3'-Diaminobenzidine (DAB) was used as a substrate for revealing peroxidase activity, and light and electron microscopic analysis of the results obtained was performed. Peroxidase activity was detected in the mitochondria of the middle piece and the outer acrosomal membrane.

Assessment of circulating agglutinating anti-sperm antibodies in buffalo cows with unexplained infertility and an attempt to identify buffalo sperm isoantigens.

The presence of circulating agglutinating anti-sperm antibodies as cause for unexplained infertility of artificially inseminated buffalo cows was assessed. An attempt to identify buffalo sperm isoantigens was also made. The following methods were applied for that purpose: the tray agglutination test (TAT), SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and immunoblotting.

Porcine granulosa cell conditioned media as autocrine regulator of progesterone secretion.

The ability of porcine granulosa cells to release a progesterone inhibiting substance(s) was examined in vitro. Granulosa cells (SGCs, MGCs and LGCs) were harvested from small, medium or large antral follicles respectively. The effect of granulosa cell conditioned media obtained from small follicles (SGCCM) was studied in the culture of LGCs by estimation of progesterone secretion; the conditioned media evoked the inhibition of progesterone secretion by the LGCs.

Circadian patterns of melatonin, corticosterone, and progesterone in male rats subjected to chronic stress: effect of constant illumination.

Plasma and pineal melatonin and plasma corticosterone and progesterone concentrations have been shown to be altered by several types of stressors. This study was designed to define the circadian patterns of the hormones mentioned above in rats subjected to chronic stress and to investigate the influence of constant illumination. The results revealed that melatonin and corticosterone circadian patterns deteriorated and their plasma concentrations were significantly elevated.

Substance P-induced inhibition of Leydig cell steroidogenesis in primary culture.

The effect of substance P (SP) on hamster Leydig cell steroidogenesis in primary culture was investigated. Purified Leydig cells were cultured with or without SP for 24 h. The levels of testosterone and progesterone in the culture media were 174 +/- 20 pg ml-1 and 105 +/- 12 pg ml-1, respectively.

Melatonin and adrenal cortex steroid production: in vivo and in vitro studies.

The present study was designed to clarify the interaction between the pineal melatonin and adrenal cortex steroid production. Experiments with male rats under chronic stress conditions (sleep deprivation) revealed that melatonin circadian pattern was fully destroyed and daytime plasma concentration were significantly elevated. Constant illumination (2500 lux) during the nighttime was not able to suppress melatonin production in the stressed animals.

Substance P: immunocytochemical localization and biological role in hamster gonads during ontogenesis.

The cellular localization of substance P immunoreactivity was demonstrated at light microscopy level in hamster gonads during foetal and postnatal development. Selective immunostaining was observed in both the foetal and the adult generation of Leydig cells, but only in the luteal and interstitial cells of the adult ovary. To date there have been few studies dealing with the potential role of substance P in the control of gonadal functions.

Influence of acute stress on the pineal activity during day- and nighttime.

Ovariectomized, steroid implanted female ewes were used as a model for studying the effect of acute isolation and confinement stress on the pineal activity during day and nighttime under artificial luteal phase conditions. Male and female intact buffaloes were employed as well, with the aim to establish the influence of another perturbation (venous catheter insertion) on the melatonin levels during daytime. Stress appeared to influence pineal melatonin secretion in controversial manner, namely, decreasing further the low indole levels during the day, while elevating the peripheral concentrations at night, though the initial response to stress during daytime was a transient elevation in melatonin levels.

Effect of melatonin on steroid production by rat adrenals under in vitro superfusion conditions.

In vitro superfusion of adrenals from male and female Wistar rats resulted in a gradual decline of the corticosterone content in the samples collected for a period of 80 minutes. ACTH administration either in the beginning or in the end of the perfusion period led to a marked increase in the level of this steroid. Contrary to this, progesterone content in the collected perfusates was constant throughout the experiments and was not influenced by ACTH.

Early pituitary follicle stimulating hormone response to gonadotrophin releasing hormone in ewes.

The object of our experiments was to characterize the response of plasma follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) within minutes of an i.v. injection of high or low doses of gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH), especially in relation to contemporary changes in luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations.

Effect of betamethasone treatment on luteal lifespan and the LH response to GnRH in dairy cows.

Betamethasone (a synthetic glucocorticoid, 15 mg) was administered i.m. twice daily for 10 days to 4 regularly cycling dairy cows, beginning on Day 10 of the oestrous cycle.

Possible synthesis of steroid-protein for immunization with a fixed narrow range of the hapten-protein ratio.

A comparison of two methods for synthesis of a steroid-protein conjugate (progesterone-11 alpha-hemisuccinate-BSA) has been made. Under the conditions of the method described, using tetrahydrofurane as a medium for the coupling reaction, stable intermediate products were obtained. The resulting conjugate had a narrow range of the hapten-protein ratio (18-20 steroid molecules per molecule of BSA), very good solubility in water and almost no unreacted BSA in the sample.

The effect of the purity of the iodinated tracer on the specificity of a homologous assay of ovine follicle stimulating hormone.

Six different chromatographic procedures were employed to separate the intact labelled ovine follicle stimulating hormone after iodination of a highly purified preparation. The immunoreactivity of the fractions was tested in the conditions of a double-antibody radioimmunoassay. A single point crossreaction was introduced to calculate the interference of luteinizing hormone in the assay.

Early pituitary LH response to injections of GnRH in ewes.

In the deep anoestrous period (June), five intact ewes and five ovariectomized ewes received 50 ug synthetic gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH). In the mid-breeding season (October), the GnRH administrations were repeated in five intact and four ovariectomized ewes; the former were in the luteal phase of the cycle. Blood samples were collected every 30 sec for 15 min, then at 15-min intervals.

Changes in plasma oestradiol-17beta, progesterone, testosterone, LH and fertility after treatment with I.C.I. 80, 996.

Fifty heifers were twice injected with I.C.I.

Plasma concentration of androstenedione during the bovine oestrous cycle.

A radioimmunoassay with Sephadex chromatography for androstenedione is described. Concentrations of androstenedione in bovine peripheral blood during the oestrous cycle ranged from 80 to 100 pg/ml. There was considerable variation and no pattern suggestive of physiological significance emerged, unlike those of oestradiol and testosterone.