Risk factors in obese women, with particular reference to visceral fat component.

Possible associations between increased visceral fat component and serum lipid concentrations, glucose tolerance and insulinaemia (specific radioimmunoassay) were studied as risk factors for cardiovascular disease in 50 adult obese women without known diabetes and 11 lean normal women. Visceral abdominal fat areas were evaluated by computed tomography and "true" insulin concentrations. Diabetes was observed in 6 obese women (12%) and impaired glucose tolerance in 13 (26%).

The effects of spironolactone on testosterone fractions and sex-hormone binding globulin binding capacity in hirsute women.

This study explored the effect of the anti-androgen spironolactone on sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and the distribution of circulating testosterone (T) into various free and bound fractions in seven women with hirsutism assessed before and then monthly for three months on a regimen of spironolactone, 100 mg bid as the sole therapeutic agent. Blood samples were taken at each assessment time for a battery of androgen parameters and serum T fractions studies. None of the women were judged obese based upon body mass index values.

Serum testosterone fractions in women: normal and abnormal clinical states.

The potential usefulness of determining serum testosterone (T) fractions in women, ie, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG)-bound T, albumin-bound T (Alb-T), and free T (FT) fractions, was explored in a variety of clinical situations. Serum T, SHBG, and albumin concentrations were measured by standardized methods and using binding constants of T to SHBG and albumin, we calculated serum T fractions, which agreed remarkably with measured values of SHBG-T and nonbound T. Serum T levels did not change in normal women examined during the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle, but SHBG levels were elevated in the luteal phase, changing the distribution of T, with increased SHBG-T and less T distributed to other fractions.

Treatment of hirsutism in women with flutamide.

Objective: To explore the clinical usefulness of the antiandrogen flutamide in the treatment modality for hirsutism in women.

Design: Nine women with hirsutism were assessed before and then monthly for 3 months on a regimen of flutamide 250 mg three times a day as the sole therapeutic agent. Blood samples were taken at each assessment time for a battery of androgenic parameters.

Monthly cyproterone acetate in the treatment of hirsute women: clinical and laboratory effects.

Cyproterone acetate given as a single intramuscular dose of 300 mg monthly for 6 months resulted in significant reduction of hirsutism without appreciable side effects. This regimen resulted in decreased levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and estradiol in the eight women studied. No significant changes were observed in total serum testosterone (T) levels, however, there was a reduction in sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), resulting in lowered SHBG-bound T, and an increase in non-SHBG-T over this time.

Comparison of the subacute effects of a new glucocorticoid, deflazacort, and prednisone on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis of normal subjects.

The effects of deflazacort (DFL), a new oxazoline derivative of prednisolone, were compared with those of prednisone (Pd) by measuring plasma cortisol (F) levels as an index of the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Twelve normal volunteers received each glucocorticoid for 16 to 24 days in a double-blind cross-over trial with random allocation of subjects to treatment with DFL (24 mg/day) and Pd (20 mg/day) in clinically equivalent doses, with a washout period from 20 to 45 days between administration of the glucocorticoids. The following tests were performed in a randomized sequence: cortisol (F) circadian rhythm, insulin tolerance test (ITT), lysine-vasopressin (LVP) and B1-24 ACTH stimulation.

Salivary cortisol for the evaluation of Cushing's syndrome.

Cortisol concentrations were measured in matched plasma and salivary samples from 8 healthy controls, 8 patients with Cushing's syndrome and 4 patients suspected of having spontaneous hypercortisolism. In healthy subjects, the circadian rhythm in salivary cortisol paralleled that in plasma. Absence of the diurnal rhythm in Cushing's syndrome was seen in saliva as well as in plasma.

Familial idiopathic gonadotropin deficiency: a hypothalamic form of hypogonadism.

To date, familial idiopathic gonadotropin deficiency (FIGD) has not been delineated as either a hypothalamic or a pituitary form of hypogonadism. Leydig cell sensitivity to human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) has also been suggested as subnormal in FIGD. Also, in a few previously reported families the Kallmann syndrome was not clearly ruled out.

Tear calcium levels in normal subjects.

Tear calcium contents were measured in 30 normal subjects divided into six groups of 5 individuals each, age ranging from the second to the seventh decade. No significant difference was found among the age groups. A mean of 4.