Expression of leptin and leptin receptor during the development of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.

Leptin is involved in the regulation of food intake and is mainly secreted by adipocytes. Major secretagogues are cytokines such as TNF-alpha or IL-1. Leptin in turn upregulates inflammatory immune responses.

Methylation status of the retinoblastoma gene (RB1) in osteosarcoma: no evidence for hypermethylation.

Alterations of the retinoblastoma (RB1) tumor suppressor gene are not only associated with retinoblastoma but also with several other malignancies including osteosarcoma. Besides direct sequence alterations, hypermethylation of a CpG island in the promoter region can cause inactivation of the RB1 gene as it has been shown in retinoblastomas. We examined the methylation status of the RB1 gene in 25 osteosarcoma specimens by using the methylation-sensitive restriction enzymes SacII and SmaI.

Mineralocorticoid receptor-mediated inhibition of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in aged humans.

In aged humans, diminished mineralocorticoid receptor (MR)-mediated feedback in the brain could contribute to impaired feedback regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, but no study specifically compared young and old individuals with regard to MR function. We examined 10 healthy young (mean age +/- SD [standard deviation] 26.1 +/- 2.

The mineralocorticoid receptor agonist, fludrocortisone, inhibits pituitary-adrenal activity in humans after pre-treatment with metyrapone.

Whereas animal studies have shown a clear inhibitory effect of hippocampal mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, investigations in humans revealed equivocal results. To further clarify the influence of MR in HPA activity we studied 10 healthy men during the circadian nadir of HPA activity (14:00 to 21:00) after pre-treatment with 3 g metyrapone to minimize the impact of basal endogenous cortisol secretion. On three separate occasions, in a placebo-controlled design, subjects received in a randomized order either 0.

Delta sleep response to metyrapone in post-traumatic stress disorder.

Metyrapone blocks cortisol synthesis, which results in the stimulation of hypothalamic cortiocotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and a reduction in delta sleep. We examined the effect of metyrapone administration on endocrine and sleep measures in male subjects with and without chronic PTSD. We hypothesized that metyrapone would result in a decrease in delta sleep and that the magnitude of this decrease would be correlated with the endocrine response.

Expression of functional prolactin and its receptor in human colorectal cancer.

Background And Aims: Ectopic production of prolactin has been reported for several tumors, and elevated prolactin plasma levels have been detected in colorectal cancer patients. However, the role of prolactin in colorectal cancer remains unclear. We therefore compared expression patterns of prolactin and its receptor in normal and neoplastic colonic mucosa of the same patient with noncancer controls and determined mitogenic effects in vitro.

Mineralocorticoid receptor function in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Objective: The study examined whether enhanced limbic mineralocorticoid receptor activity resulting in negative glucocorticoid feedback could contribute to the diminished basal and stress-induced cortisol output reported in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Method: The effects of acute antimineralocorticoid (spironolactone) versus placebo pretreatment on levels of plasma cortisol at baseline and after stimulations with corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and on adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) level were measured in 12 PTSD patients and 12 healthy comparison subjects.

Results: Spironolactone significantly elevated basal cortisol and ACTH concentrations as well as cortisol secretion after CRH stimulation, but no differential effect between PTSD patients and comparison subjects was detected.

Atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of schizophrenic patients.

Atypical antipsychotics show a broader spectrum of efficacy and fewer adverse effects than older/typical neuroleptics. Therefore, they are used as the first-choice treatment for patients suffering from schizophrenia. Concerning the acute effects, no differences among the group of new antipsychotics have been demonstrated so far.

Prolactin but not ACTH increases during sodium lactate-induced panic attacks.

Paradoxically, the pituitary-adrenal axis is not activated during sodium lactate-induced panic. We measured the response of another stress-sensitive hormone, prolactin, to standard lactate and placebo infusion in a double-blind randomised design in eight patients with panic disorder and eight matched normal controls. Prolactin release was significantly elevated (P < 0.

Expression and distribution of the prolactin receptor in normal rat liver and in experimental liver cirrhosis.

Recent results have suggested a role for prolactin (PRL) as a regeneration factor in the liver. In order to investigate the involvement of prolactin in the pathogenesis of liver cirrhosis, we studied the expression of the prolactin receptor (PRLR) and PRL during the development of cirrhosis in an animal model. 30 male rats were exposed to CCl4 by inhalation.

The neu-oncogene product in serum and tissue of patients with breast carcinoma.

Background: A soluble 105 kD neu-related protein is detectable in conditioned medium from breast cancer cells expressing the neu-oncogene product and in serum of nude mice bearing tumors that overexpress neu-oncogene.

Patients And Methods: In 100 patients with primary (n = 33) relapse-free (n = 6) and metastatic (n = 61) breast carcinoma the serum levels of the soluble neu-related protein were investigated by ELISA techniques. Median age was 57 years, range 26-89 years.

Prevention of CMV-induced myelosuppression by anti-CMV antibodies: an in vitro model.

Pathogenesis of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-induced myelosuppression is not clearly understood and could be related to a direct toxic effect on the marrow progenitors and/or an alteration of the marrow environment. Myeloid progenitors (granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units, CFU-GM) were not affected by incubation with increasing titers of CMV (10-10(5) plaque-forming units [pfu]/ml) during 2-6 h. By contrast, using the blast colony-forming cell (Bl-CFC) assay, we confirmed that CMV induced myelosuppression through an alteration of the marrow-derived stromal layer.

Intrarenal distribution of ampicillin in the healthy and the infected rat kidney: a comparison of methods.

The ampicillin concentration in the cortex of the normal and the infected rat kidney was determined by means of three different methods: tissue homogenate analysis, renal lymph analysis, and autoradiography. Both tissue homogenate analysis and autoradiography revealed that the cortical ampicillin concentration was about five times as high as the serum concentration. Renal lymph analysis disclosed that the ampicillin concentration in this fluid amounted to about 93% of the serum concentration.

Physiological characterization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants supersensitive to G1 arrest by a factor and alpha factor pheromones.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae MATa cells carrying mutations in either sst1 or sst2 are supersensitive to the G1 arrest induced by alpha factor pheromone. When sst1 mutants were mixed with normal SST+ cells, the entire population recovered together from alpha factor arrest, suggesting that SST+ cells helped sst1 mutants to recover. Complementation tests and linkage analysis showed that sst1 and bar1, a mutation which eliminates the ability of MATa cells to act as a "barrier" to the diffusion of alpha factor, were lesions in the same genes.

Isolation and genetic analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants supersensitive to G1 arrest by a factor and alpha factor pheromones.

Eight independently isolated mutants which are supersensitive (Sst-) to the G1 arrest induced by the tridecapeptide pheromone alpha factor were identified by screening mutagenized Saccharomyces cerevisiae MATa cells on solid medium for increased growth inhibition by alpha factor. These mutants carried lesions in two complementation groups, sst1 and sst2. Mutations at the sst1 locus were mating type specific: MATa sst1 cells were supersensitive to alpha factor, but MAT alpha sst1 cells were not supersensitive to a factor.

[Comparative radiological and morphological study of the human pancreas. III. Morphometric investigation of the major pancreatic duct (author's transl)].

A ductographical and histological study was carried out in 70 human pancreata postmortem. The diameter, the thickness and the length of the major pancreatic duct were measured. The obtained data were evaluated statistically.