Body fat mass, leptin and puberty.

Leptin, the ob gene product, provides a molecular basis for the lipostatic theory of the regulation of energy balance. Leptin circulates as a monomeric 16 kDa protein in rodent and human plasma and is also bound to leptin binding proteins that may form large high molecular weight complexes. Initial models of leptin action included leptin-deficient ob/ob mice and leptin-insensitive db/db mice.

Prediction of height velocity of prepubertal children with growth hormone deficiency in the first year of treatment with recombinant human growth hormone.

Aim: Several methods have been developed to predict the outcome of growth hormone (GH) therapy in children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD).

Methods: Over 50 factors for each of 92 prepubertal patients with GHD (26 patients with total and 45 patients with partial GHD, 21 patients with neurosecretory dysfunction) were collected and included in multiple regression analyses and other nonlinear models to predict height velocity (HV) (cm/yr) in the first year of treatment. Afterwards the model was validated by two other cohorts of patients from other universities, which followed the same treatment regime as our clinic.

Diagnosis and management of juvenile hyperthyroidism in Germany: a retrospective multicenter study.

This retrospective multicenter study was designed to survey the management of childhood and adolescent hyperthyroidism in six pediatric endocrinological units in Germany. Fifty-six patients aged between 1.1 and 17.

Serum androgen levels in adolescents with type 1 diabetes: relationship to pubertal stage and metabolic control.

Delayed sexual maturation is still frequently seen in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. A close relationship between insulin and androgen metabolism has been found in a number of studies. Our study was designed to investigate whether or not abnormalities in androgen secretion could play a role in the onset of sexual maturation in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Cortisol and 17-hydroxyprogesterone levels in saliva of healthy neonates: normative data and relation to body mass index, arterial cord blood ph and time of sampling after birth.

The measurement of cortisol and 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) in saliva has become a reliable tool for both the scientist and the clinician for studying adrenal cortical function in the adult and the older child. We have now established in parallel normative data for salivary cortisol and 17-OHP levels in healthy neonates. We have asked whether or not there is a circadian rhythm of cortisol and 17-OHP saliva levels in neonates.

Lipoprotein(a) levels in formerly small-for-gestational-age children.

Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is an independent and inherited risk factor for coronary artery disease. Concentrations of Lp(a) have been widely described in adolescents, but little is known about its concentration in children born small for gestational age (SGA). To assess the influence of intrauterine growth on Lp(a) levels we examined 50 children born SGA and 21 children born adequate for gestational age (AGA).

Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection in children: is the 15N urine test more reliable than the 13C breath test?

Background: The [13C]urea breath test is a convenient method to estimate Helicobacter pylori colonization non-invasively. As an alternative method, the [15N]urea urine test has been established. It is hypothesized that the urine test could be advantageous under some circumstances.

Expression of apoptosis and cell cycle related genes in proliferating and colcemid arrested cells of divergent lineage.

Progression through the cell cycle and redirection of cells towards programmed cell death (apoptosis) are tightly inter-related processes. However the requirement for tissue and cell type specificity suggests that a wide variety of mechanisms are used to achieve the same purpose. To examine this issue, we investigated cell cycle (c-myc, p53, p21/WAF) and apoptosis related (bcl-2, bcl-X(L), bax-alpha) gene expression in two cell lines of very different origin under proliferating and apoptosis-inducing conditions.

Insulin-like growth factor-I inhibits the progression of human U-2 OS osteosarcoma cells towards programmed cell death through interaction with the IGF-I receptor.

Insulin-like growth factor-I exerts potent mitogenic effects through the type I IGF receptor, a member of the insulin receptor family, and exhibits at the same time some insulin-like metabolic activities. We have questioned whether IGF-I presents moreover a modulatory effect upon programmed cell death (PCD)(apoptosis) in serum-deprived human osteosarcoma U-2 OS cells, a cell line synthesizing IGF-II and exhibiting an increased DNA synthesis following treatment with IGF-I. U-2 OS cells were cultured in a medium containing 0.

Effects of pregnancy and exercise on concentrations of the metabolic markers tumor necrosis factor alpha and leptin.

Objective: Pregnancy and exercise have opposite effects on fat mass and insulin resistance. We therefore designed this study to test the hypotheses that exercise during pregnancy alters the pregnancy- associated increases in the levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha and leptin and that the changes in tumor necrosis factor alpha and leptin concentrations during pregnancy continue to reflect changes in fat mass.

Study Design: The levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha and leptin were measured longitudinally in a control group of physically active women, a group of women who performed endurance exercises >/=4 times a week throughout pregnancy, and a group of women who initially performed endurance exercises but then stopped exercising during midpregnancy.

Leptin, the ob gene product, in female health and disease.

Leptin is a recently discovered hormone which is involved in the regulation of body weight. It provides a molecular basis for the lipostatic theory of the regulation of energy balance. White adipose tissue is the main site of leptin synthesis and there is some evidence of ob gene expression in brown fat.

Leukocytopenia, thrombocytopenia and fever related to piperacillin/tazobactam treatment--a retrospective analysis in 38 children with cystic fibrosis.

Bone marrow suppression is an important adverse reaction to most betalactam antibiotics. Recently it was suggested that piperacillin/tazobactam (PT) also may cause bone marrow toxicity. We retrospectively analyzed 100 i.

Arginine infusion and/or acute changes of growth hormone levels do not acutely alter leptin serum levels.

Unlabelled: Leptin, the ob gene product, is produced by differentiated adipocytes. It functions as an afferent signal to the central nervous system indicating satiety and fat mass status. It acts upon the hypothalamic-pituitary axis.

Epidermal cyst of the clitoris: a rare cause of clitorimegaly.

Epidermal cysts are slowly growing, intradermal or subcutaneous tumors with a wall composed of true epidermis. They occur most commonly on the face, scalp, neck, and trunk. We report the unusual case of a 16-year-old girl with an epidermal cyst of the clitoris.

A role for leptin in sexual maturation and puberty?

Leptin, the ob gene product, is involved in the regulation of body weight in rodents, primates and humans. It provides a molecular basis for the lipostatic theory of the regulation of energy balance. White adipose tissue and placenta are the main sites of leptin synthesis.

Leptin and leptin receptor expression in a lipoblastoma in an 8-year-old girl.

Leptin is a hormone that is produced by adipocytes. Leptin acts on specific receptors in the hypothalamus. RNA was isolated from a lipoblastoma of an 8-year-old girl and the expression of leptin and leptin receptor mRNA was analyzed by RT-PCR.

Correlation of type I insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-I-R) and insulin receptor-related receptor (IRR) messenger RNA levels in tumor cell lines from pediatric tumors of neuronal origin.

The insulin receptor-related receptor (IRR) is a member of the insulin receptor family. So far no ligand has yet been discovered for this receptor type (orphan receptor). IRR, insulin receptor (IR), and insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGF-I-R) are all tyrosine kinases.

Leptin concentrations in maternal serum and amniotic fluid during the second trimenon: differential relation to fetal gender and maternal morphometry.

Leptin, a hormone produced by adipocytes, provides information on the availability of fat stores to the hypothalamus and acts as an afferent satiety signal regulating appetite and energy expenditure in both rodents and humans [Zhang Y, Proenca R, Maffei M, Barone M, Leopold L, Friedman JM. Positional cloning of the mouse obese gene and its human homologue. Nature 1994;372:425-432; Sinha MK.

Leptin serum concentrations in healthy neonates within the first week of life: relation to insulin and growth hormone levels, skinfold thickness, body mass index and weight.

Background And Aims: Leptin, the ob gene product, plays a key role in the regulation of body fat mass and weight in adult life. The mechanisms by which maternal and fetal/neonatal weight are regulated during human pregnancy and in early postnatal life are poorly understood. High leptin levels are observed in women during gestation and in cord blood at term.

Serum leptin levels in patients with progressive central precocious puberty.

Leptin is a metabolic signal that may be involved in signaling adequacy of energy metabolism for the onset of reproductive function. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between leptin serum levels and pubertal development in girls with progressive central precocious puberty (CPP). We investigated longitudinally 14 girls with CPP before and during treatment with depot leuprorelin acetate.