[Diseases of the male breast].

Enlargement of the male mammary gland is termed gynaecomastia. Diagnosis and treatment of this andrological disorder usually fall to dermatologists, surgeons and primary care physicians. Gynaecomastia is found in men of different ages with frequency.

Catecholamine release from fractionated chromaffin cells.

Bovine chromaffin cells were separated by density gradient centrifugation into subfractions. After centrifugation on a self-generating Percoll gradient (42.75% isotonic Percoll, 30,000 x g for 22 min at 20 degrees C), the chromaffin cells were found in two clearly distinguishable peaks.

Opossum colonic mucosa contains uroguanylin and guanylin peptides.

Uroguanylin and guanylin are structurally related peptides that activate an intestinal form of membrane guanylate cyclase (GC-C). Guanylin was isolated from the intestine, but uroguanylin was isolated from urine, thus a tissue source for uroguanylin was sought. In these experiments, uroguanylin and guanylin were separated and purified independently from colonic mucosa and urine of opossums.

Milk composition in the North American opossum (Didelphis virginiana).

The composition of milk samples collected from captive opossums (Didelphis virginiana) was determined at various intervals during lactation. The milk solids increased from 9% at week one to a maximum of 34% at 11 weeks post-partum. There were changes in the relative proportions of protein, lipid and carbohydrate at different stages of lactation.

Uroguanylin: cloning of preprouroguanylin cDNA, mRNA expression in the intestine and heart and isolation of uroguanylin and prouroguanylin from plasma.

Uroguanylin is a small peptide isolated from opossum urine that activates membrane guanylate cyclases. We report the isolation by molecular cloning of cDNAs encoding the 109 amino acid preprouroguanylin containing the active uroguanylin peptide at its C-terminus. Preprouroguanylin mRNAs of 1.

Application of pharmacokinetics to computed tomography: injection rates and schemes: mono-, bi-, or multiphasic?

Objective: The objective of the current study was to test whether optimization of dose regimens for detecting focal liver lesions by computed tomography is possible by using the available time-density data of former studies published in the literature and a computer program so that the number of further clinical tests with the exclusive objective of optimizing injection schemes could be reduced.

Methods: Computed tomography enhancement data of the aorta and/or the liver obtained after injecting a conventional ionic and a nonionic contrast agent were used to calculate pharmacokinetic parameters and to simulate the time course of enhancement for a variety of different infusion regimens modifying contrast medium strength, dose, and injection rate. The study consisted of two parts.

Mutation in fibrillin-1 and the Marfanoid-craniosynostosis (Shprintzen-Goldberg) syndrome.

Recent reports have described a distinct and recurrent pattern of systemic malformation that associates craniosynostosis and neurodevelopmental abnormalities with many clinical features of the Marfan syndrome (MFS), an autosomal dominant disorder of the extracellular microfibril caused by defects in the gene encoding fibrillin-1, FBN1 (ref. 8). Additional common findings include other craniofacial anomalies, hypotonia, obstructive apnea, foot deformity, and congenital weakness of the abdominal wall.

Contribution of andrological factors to sterility.

Male fertility disorders contribute to sterility by inhibiting conception. The prevalence in general, is high, nearly 5% of men are subfertile or infertile. Infertility could be diagnosed in some cases by specific investigations, however, a positive prediction of fertility is not possible.

Biochemical characterization of x-ray contrast media.

Rationale And Objectives: Eleven ionic and nonionic contrast media were compared in parallel regarding their effects on various biochemical parameters in vitro. Partition coefficient, protein binding, release of histamine, hemolysis inhibition and complement activation were determined as well as inhibition of various enzymes. Additionally, incompatibilities between contrast media and intravascular drugs that often are coadministered were determined.

Prouroguanylin and proguanylin: purification from colon, structure, and modulation of bioactivity by proteases.

Uroguanylin and guanylin are peptides isolated from urine and intestinal mucosa, which regulate cyclic GMP production in enterocytes by activating an apical membrane, receptor-guanylate cyclase. This study extended our previous findings, which showed that colonic mucosa of opossums contained uroguanylin and guanylin peptides, by purifying prouroguanylin and proguanylin from this tissue. Prouroguanylin and proguanylin coeluted from Sephadex G-75 gelfiltration columns with a similar molecular size between 6 and 12 kDa.

Cardiac and hemodynamic tolerability of iodinated contrast media in the anesthetized rat.

Rationale And Objectives: The study was designed to compare the hemodynamic effects of 11 iodinated contrast media (CM), including ionic (diatrizoate, ioxaglate), nonionic monomeric (iohexol, iopromide, iopamidol, iopentol, ioversol, iomeprol, ZK 139129), and nonionic dimeric (iotrolan, iodixanol) compounds.

Methods: Following left ventricular bolus injection of 1.2 g I/kg body weight in anesthetized rats, cardiohemodynamic parameters were measured.

The significance of computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) for diagnosis in andrology and fertility prognosis.

The estimation of seminal parameters by CASA improves the objectivity, precision and reproducibility of values measured. Novel parameters, such as sperm velocity and characteristics of track direction, become measurable. An important advantage is direct on-line documentation.

Liver contrast enhancement in primates using iopromide liposomes.

Rationale And Objectives: We studied the feasibility of using iodinated liposomes as computed tomography (CT) liver contrast agents in nonhuman primates.

Methods: Iopromide-containing liposomes were investigated as reticuloendothelial (RES) contrast agents for CT scanning of the liver in normal adult baboons. For intravenous (i.

Computer-assisted semen analysis systems: comparison with routine evaluation and prognostic value in male fertility and assisted reproduction.

Semen analysis was performed by employing a computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) system (SM-CMA), in comparison with visual estimation by microscope. There was a significant relationship between the values obtained by both methods, but a large range of differences in individual values was observed. Results of semen analysis in 407 men complaining of reduced fertility were investigated for their relationship to fertility outcome.

The lack of immunogenicity of iotrolan.

Rationale And Objectives: To test whether it would be possible to raise antibodies against iotrolan in rabbits and, if possible, to develop a radioimmunoassay for iotrolan.

Methods: A "half-molecular" analogue of iotrolan was synthesized, which contained a carboxylic group. This moiety was coupled via a link to bovine serum albumin.

Pharmacokinetics of iopromide liposomes in rabbits.

Purpose: The dose-proportionality of pharmacokinetics of an iodinated contrast medium, iopromide, encapsulated into liposomes was investigated.

Methods: Following single intravenous administration of 150 mg iodine/kg (potential diagnostic dose) and a five-fold higher dose in rabbits the pattern of elimination was studied until 7 d and the blood concentrations were monitored up to 72 h after administration. The iodine concentration in the liver was calculated on the basis of the blood concentration and related to the concentration measured in the rabbit liver.

Molecular anatomy of an endodermal gland: investigations on mucus glycoproteins and cell turnover in Brunner's glands of Didelphis virginiana using lectins and PCNA immunoreactivity.

Brunner's glands are located in the submucosa of the proximal duodenum and are unique to mammalian species. The North American opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is generally regarded as a prototype marsupial that closely resembles fossil didelphids which can be placed at the beginning of mammalian evolution. The current investigation provided an opportunity for the analysis of secretory products from these glands in a species thought to be more closely related to earlier evolutionary forms.

[Therapy of rheumatic disease with a hydroxyethylsalicylate gel. Results of 2 clinical studies of effectiveness and bioavailability].

Two clinical studies were carried out to investigate the efficacy and safety as well as the local and systemic availability of a hydroxyethylsalicyclate gel. A double blind, multicenter trial, involving 113 patients with nonarticular rheumatic back pain, revealed statistically significant relief of pain as compared with placebo. Local and systemic tolerance was excellent.

[Do we need the concept of male climacteric?].

The female menopause is considered to be a result of a decrease in the endocrinal metabolic activity of the ovaries. Although the male lacks such a highly visible sign as the cessation of the menstrual flow, the amount of testosterone produced by the aging male does in fact decrease. Recent studies, such as the Massachusetts Male Aging Study show that, between the ages of 40 to 70 years, the mean testosterone level decreases annually by about 1%.

Changes in the microcirculation of the intact rat heart after iodinated and gadolinium-containing contrast media.

Rationale And Objectives: A new model was developed to study microcirculation in the intact heart of the anesthetized rat, and the effects of roentgenography and magnetic resonance imaging contrast media were investigated.

Methods: Roentgenography contrast media (600 mg iodine/kg), gadopentetate (0.25 mmol/kg), or physiological saline were injected intraarterially into anesthetized rats (N = 10) whose chests had been opened in a pressurized container.

[Evidence of Cryptosporidium in children with symptomatic enteritis from the Leipzig administrative area 1987-1992].

From 1987 to 1992 stool samples of 3235 diarrheic children at the age from 1 to 14 years in the Leipzig district were examined for Cryptosporidium spp. In 58 patients (= 1.8%) oocysts have been detected.

Comparison of iopamidol and ioversol in vitro and in animal studies.

In the present series of studies we investigated differences in vitro and in animal experiments between iopamidol (Iopamiron, CAS 60166-93-0) and ioversol (CAS 87771-40-2). The studies included the in vitro investigations partition coefficient, lysozyme inhibition, coagulation time and erythrocyte morphology as well as the in vivo paradigms acute toxicity, neural toxicity, general behavior/locomotor activity and angiography. Iopamidol was superior to ioversol in most of the tests.