Nutritional status and quality of life in patients with percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) in practice: prospective one-year follow-up.

Sixty patients (age 73 +/- 14 years; 22 women, 38 men) with dysphagia (67% neurological diseases, 33% tumors) were followed up for 1 year after placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG). Before PEG placement and at six appointments thereafter, the patients' nutritional status was measured using bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) and hematological nutritional parameters. A validated questionnaire was used to assess quality of life (the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index, GIQLI).

Comparison of urinary iodine excretion and thyroid volume in students with or without constant iodized salt intake.

We compared the iodine excretion and thyroid volumes in young students with or without continuous use of iodized salt in household. Students from five different Universities in Bavaria were evaluated on a voluntary basis. Exclusion criteria were age above 35 years, known thyroid illness except simple goiter, application of x-ray contrast medium within the last 6 months or other known exposure to high doses of iodine.

Stimulation of thyroid cell proliferation by epidermal growth factor is different from cell growth induced by thyrotropin or insulin-like growth factor I.

Isolated intact porcine thyroid follicles free of contaminating single cells were embedded in "Matrigel", which is a gel-forming basement membrane preparation containing mainly collagen type IV, laminin, heparan sulfate proteoglycans and entactin. Follicles were treated with different growth factors: thyrotropin (TSH), insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), epidermal growth factor (EGF) or transforming growth factor beta. Cell proliferation was quantified by counting cell numbers.

Influence of knowledge on iodine content in foodstuffs and prophylactic usage of iodized salt on urinary iodine excretion and thyroid volume of adults in southern Germany.

Thyroid volume, urinary iodine excretion as well as personal nutritional knowledge and individual iodine prophylaxis were determined during a health education program on iodine deficiency and prophylaxis in 1992. Participants were 472 male and 568 female (mean age 27.7 years) students and employees of five universities in the southern part of Germany.

Insulin-like growth factor I messenger ribonucleic acid expression in porcine thyroid follicles is regulated by thyrotropin and iodine.

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) has been shown to be released from thyrocytes in vitro. We investigated IGF-I mRNA expression during treatment with thyrotropin (TSH), forskolin and potassium iodide (KI) in intact porcine thyroid follicles ex vivo. Porcine thyroid follicles were prepared by collagenase digestion and cultured in the presence of TSH, forskolin or KI.

Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) binds to intact porcine thyroid follicles, decreases iodide uptake but has no effect on cAMP formation or proliferation.

Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) is known to be involved in autoimmune thyroiditis. Since the results of different in vitro-studies on the effect of IL-1 on thyrocytes are controversial, our aim was to investigate the existence of specific binding sites for IL-1 beta and its influence on specific functions and growth of isolated porcine thyroid follicles ex vivo with a preserved iodide metabolism. For binding studies isolated thyroid follicles were incubated with 125I-IL-1 beta (213.

Release of an endothelial cell growth factor from cultured porcine thyroid follicles.

It has been proposed from in vivo studies that thyroid angiogenesis during thyroid enlargement may be due to paracrine mitogenic factors released by epithelial thyroid cells. To study this paracrine growth regulating communication between thyroid cells and endothelial cells in vitro, culture medium from isolated porcine thyroid follicles was investigated for a growth promoting effect on porcine aortal endothelial cells. Serum-free conditioned medium (CM) from thyroid follicles in suspension culture contains a dose-related mitogenic activity which stimulates endothelial cell growth up to 197%.