Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) concentrations in peripheral blood as markers of pituitary tumours.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) are important cytokines. They are secreted by normal pituitary glands and those with all types of adenomas and may be involved in pituitary tissue growth. The peripheral blood concentrations of VEGF, bFGF and sIL-2R in nineteen patients (17-70 years) with pituitary tumours and ten healthy subjects (23-34 years) were studied.

Effect of somatostatin and octreotide on proliferation and vascular endothelial growth factor secretion from murine endothelial cell line (HECa10) culture.

Angiogenesis, development of new blood vessels, is required for normal tissue repair and also for tumor cell proliferation, extracellular matrix invasion, and hematogenous metastases. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an endothelial cell-specific mitogen that has been shown to play a key role in neovascularization. Inhibition of angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo was documented by administration of native neuropeptide somatostatin and its analog octreotide.

Pituitary-adrenocortical responses to the chronic administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in rats.

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a hematopoietic growth factor, but it may play a role in the regulation of the neuroendocrine system activity. Only few data are available about its possible influence on the pituitary gland. We have recently reported an acute stimulatory effect of G-CSF (and of GM-CSF) on adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion in rats in vivo.

Percutaneous ethanol injection in treatment of benign nonfunctional and hyperfunctional thyroid nodules.

In recent years a new method of treatment of thyroid disorders, percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI), has been successfully used as an alternative to surgery for the management of benign nodules. In this study 103 females and 5 males (34.4 +/- 11.

Modelling prognostic power of cardiac tests using rough sets.

Rough sets (Pawlak Z. Rough Sets: Theoretical Aspects of Reasoning about Data, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1991) is a relatively new approach to representing and reasoning with incomplete and uncertain knowledge. This article introduces the basic concepts of rough sets and Boolean reasoning (Brown FM.

Effects of thyrotropin, follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone on sIL-2R in vitro secretion from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

The effect of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) or thyrotropin (0.06, 0.6, 6, and 60 microIU/ml), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (0.

Cytokines serum levels as the markers of thyroid activation in Graves' disease.

In order to examine which cytokine could be used as a marker of the biological effect of thyroid hormones or anti-thyroid antibodies in Graves' disease (GD) patients, we simultaneously evaluated the concentrations of TSH, free thyroid hormones (fT3 and fT4), anti-thyroid antibodies (anti-TPO and anti-TG) and a group of cytokines: interleukin-2 (IL-2), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and their soluble receptors (sIL-2R, sTNFalphaR, sIL-6R) as well as interleukin-10 (IL-10) in eight GD females and nine normal controls. We found that serum sIL-2R concentrations of GD patients had only the tendency to be higher versus controls, but strong positive correlations between fT3 and fT4 and sIL-2R in peripheral blood of GD subjects were revealed. We showed that sIL-2R was the best cytokine marker, showing very good correlation with the endocrine status of GD patients.

Effects of hCG and beta-hCG on IL-2 and sIL-2R secretion from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells: a dose-response study in vitro.

The effects of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) as well as beta-subunit of hCG (B-hCG) in concentrations of: 80,000/25,000; 500; 50; 5 mIU/ml on in vitro release of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) from resting or phytohemagglutinin (PHA) activated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were studied. Both the interleukins were measured in supernatants of human PBMC by quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay method (ELISA). We found that hCG in the dilutions of 80,000 mIU/ml (P < 0.

Effects of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and beta-hCG on oncostatin M release from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro.

The effects of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) as well as the beta-subunit of hCG (beta-hCG) in concentrations of 80,000/25,000, 500, 50, and 5 mIU/ml on in vitro release of oncostatin M (OSM) from resting or phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) activated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), were studied. The concentration of OSM was measured in supernatants of human PBMC by quantitative sandwich enzyme technique. The hCG in dilutions of 80,000 mIU/ml (p < 0.

Modelling cardiac patient set residuals using rough sets.

Many medical studies deal with the assessment of the prognostic or diagnostic power of some particular test with respect to some particular medical condition. However, even though a test is deemed to be powerful in this respect, the test may not be strictly needed to perform for everyone. If the test is costly or invasive, this issue is of particular interest.

Effect of luteinizing hormone alpha-subunit on IL-2 and sIL-2R in vitro secretions from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

The effect of luteinizing hormone alpha-subunit (LH alpha-SU) in concentrations of 50.0, 5.0, 0.

Effect of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor and granulocyte colony stimulating factor on prolactin and adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion in rats: dose- and time-response in vivo studies.

The in vivo effect of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) on the plasma levels of prolactin (PRL) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in rats were studied. The administration of 10 micrograms/kg G-CSF at 45 min (p < 0.05) and 90 min (p < 0.

Somatostatin (SRIF) stimulates the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6) from human peripheral blood monocytes (PBM) in vitro.

Recent evidence has revealed that various neuropeptides appear to have distinct roles as immunomodulators. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of hypothalamic neuropeptides (thyreoliberin [TRH], somatostatin [SRIF], and gonadoliberin [LH-RH]) on the secretion of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) from lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activated human peripheral blood monocytes (PM) cultured in vitro. LPS in concentration 1.

Effect of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor and granulocyte colony stimulating factor on melatonin secretion in rats in vivo and in vitro studies.

The study was performed in order to clarify whether granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) affect melatonin production and release. We have found that both factors (GM-CSF at doses of 10.0 and 100.

Increased interleukin-2 levels during standard TRH test in man.

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a pluripotential cytokine that, besides its role in the regulation of immunocompetent cells function, also stimulates hormone secretion. On the other hand, several factors, including cytokines (interleukin-1, IL-1; interleukin-6, IL-6) and pituitary hormones (thyrotropin, TSH; prolactin, PRL), exert stimulatory effects on T-cell connected IL-2 production. In order to evaluate the role of both pituitary hormones in the activation of the immune system, the following two standard diagnostic tests were performed: TRH test (0.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis and the immune system.

The paper reviews data on bidirectional circuits between the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis and the immune system. The effects of thyroliberin (TRH), thyrotropin (TSH) and of thyroid hormones (thyroxine and triiodothyronine) on the immune system, as well as the effects of mono- and lymphokines on the HPT axis are discussed.

Pharmacokinetics of morphine sulfate in patients with burns.

Morphine sulfate (MS) pharmacokinetics was evaluated in seven patients with a mean body surface area burn of 21.5% to ascertain a rational basis for the management of pain in patients with burns. Treatments included a MS constant rate infusion followed by an oral MS solution (MS-OS) (5 to 15 mg administered every 3 hours) and then a 30 mg MS-controlled release tablet (MS-CR) every 8 hours.

Stimulatory effect of angiotensin II on the proliferation of mouse spleen lymphocytes in vitro is mediated via both types of angiotensin II receptors.

The influence of different concentrations of angiotensin II (ANG II) and two specific nonpeptide ANG II receptor antagonists losartan (AT1 receptor blocker) and PD 123319 (AT2 receptor blocker) on the spontaneous proliferation of mouse spleen lymphocytes has been estimated in vitro by the [3H]thymidine uptake assay. It was found that ANG II (10(-6)-10(-12)M) significantly enhanced the [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA of mouse splenocytes with the maximal effect at 10(-10)M. This stimulatory effect of ANG II on the proliferation of mouse spleen lymphocytes was completely blocked when ANG II receptor antagonists losartan (10(-8)M) or PD 123319 (10(-8)M) were added together with ANG II (10(-10)M).

The evidence of thyroliberin/triiodothyronine control of TSH secretory response from human peripheral blood monocytes cultured in vitro.

Immune system function has been shown to be under the influence of various neuromodulators and endocrine system peptides. This in vitro study describes the stimulatory effect of thyrotropin releasing hormone (thyroliberin, TRH) on thyrotropin (TSH) release from cultured human peripheral blood monocytes. The stimulatory effect of TRH on TSH release from monocytes is totally blocked by triiodothyronine (T3) administrations.

Analgesic efficacy and potency of two oral controlled-release morphine preparations.

MS Contin tablets and Oramorph SR tablets are two forms of oral controlled-release morphine sulfate available for the alleviation of pain. Our objective was to compare their analgesic effects in a relative potency assay. In this study, 151 patients undergoing caesarean section or abdominal hysterectomy and reporting moderate or severe postoperative pain received a 30 or 90 mg dose of either drug in a balanced, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, single-dose experimental design.

[Drug resistance of Helicobacter pylori strains isolated from patients with inflammation of stomach mucous membrane and peptic ulcer of stomach and duodenum].

Twelve strains of H. pylori were tested. They were isolated from biosamples from 23 patients with stomach inflammation (16 persons) and stomach (3) and duodenum peptic ulcer.