Truncated, branched, and/or cyclic analogues of neuropeptide Y: importance of the pancreatic peptide fold in the design of specific Y2 receptor ligands.

Truncated, branched, and/or cyclic neuropeptide Y (NPY) analogues were tested for their ability to bind to the neuroblastoma cells, SK-N-MC (Y1 receptor) and SK-N-BE(2) (Y2 receptor). The design of such analogues was inspired by models of NPY based on the crystal structure of avian pancreatic polypeptide. The minimum length of the backbone was investigated using the following truncated analogues [binding affinity (nM) for Y1 and Y2 receptor subtypes respectively are given in parentheses]: des-AA10-17[D-Ala9]NPY (100, 0.

Pulsatile secretion of gonadotropins and prolactin during the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle: analysis of instantaneous secretion rate and secretory concomitance.

Objective: To characterize the pulsatile secretions of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and prolactin (PRL) during the menstrual cycle and to statistically evaluate their secretory concomitance.

Design: Pulsatility study performed during the midfollicular and midluteal phases of a same menstrual cycle, blood samples being collected every 10 minutes for 6 hours.

Setting: Participants investigated in the Division of Endocrinology, University Hospital.

Follicle-stimulating hormone bioactivity in idiopathic normogonadotropic oligoasthenozoospermia: double-blind trial with gonadotropin-releasing hormone.

Objective: To identify, among patients with idiopathic normogonadotropic oligoasthenozoospermia, those with low bioactive follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), possibly because of inadequate gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) pulsatility, whose bioactive FSH and sperm could be improved by GnRH treatment.

Design: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with intranasal (IN) GnRH, followed by open GnRH treatment.

Setting: Outpatient endocrinology clinic.

[Prosthetic cement: a vital risk?].

This study analyses the causes of early death among 17/702 patients which received a hip endoprosthese following a fracture of the femoral neck. Among other patients we conducted 25 endoesophageal cardiac ultrasonographies during elective total hip replacement. There is only a bad correlation between the occurrence of embolies and using of cement.

[Is implantation of a unipolar femoral endoprosthesis obsolete?].

The authors are presenting a retrospective study of the long-term results of 702 femoral cephalic endoprostheses (451 unipolar and 251 bipolar prostheses). The mean age of the patients at operation was 80.1, in the majority of the cases the indication was a fracture of the femoral neck.

Tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons and lactotropes in young and old female rats.

Aging in female rats is accompanied by several endocrine dysfunctions, such as reproductive decline associated with characteristic hyperprolactinemia, lactotrope hyperplasia, and functional impairment of hypothalamic tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic (TIDA) neurons. The aim of this morphometrical, immunocytochemical, and densitometrical study was to gain a better anatomical knowledge of TIDA neurons and axons as well as of lactotropes in old female rats with (A) or without (NA) pituitary adenomas, compared with young animals. At the hypothalamic level, we found that tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-labeled neurons in the arcuate nucleus were comparable in young and old NA yet their size and TH-content were increased in A animals.

Aspirin as a risk factor for hemorrhage in patients with head injuries.

The role of aspirin as a risk factor in the occurrence of intracranial bleeding following head injury was investigated. Chronic subdural hematoma appears to be a suitable model for the evaluation of risk factors in the development of hemorrhage. The most common risk factors found in our study were, apart from age, chronic alcohol abuse (28%), consumption of cumarin-derivates (21%), aspirin (13%), and heparin (5%).

[Traumatic aortic rupture--an emergency indication?].

On the basis of a retrospective analysis that included 22 patients with traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta, the appropriate time for surgical intervention will be evaluated. The patients were divided into two groups according to their clinical status at the time of surgery. Seven patients with unstable vital systems underwent immediate surgery; 5 out of 7 died intraoperatively.

CV 205-502 treatment of macroprolactinomas.

CV 205-502, a benzoquinoline, is a new nonergot dopamine agonist compound which has been shown to be effective in lowering PRL levels in normal volunteers and in hyperprolactinemic women. Seven patients (4 men and 3 women) presenting with hyperprolactinemia due to macroprolactinoma were treated with CV 205-502 given as a single daily dose at bedtime for up to 12 months. Six patients presented with impaired gonadal function and 2 with galactorrhea.

Functional and morphological changes in the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis of aged female rats.

Age-related functional and morphological alterations in the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis were investigated in old recurrently pseudopregnant (RPP) female rats, and these alterations were compared with those in young diestrous rats. LHRH in the median eminence (ME) and mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) as well as plasma FSH, LH, and progesterone were measured by RIA. LHRH in the lateral ME (LME) and pituitary FSH and LH were evaluated by morphometry and densitometrical immunocytochemistry.

[Traumatic ruptures of the thoracic aorta].

The authors present a group of 22 patients admitted for traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta between 1969 and 1989. Most of them were polytraumatized patients (mean ISS 45). The majority of the injured patients possibly died before arriving at hospital.

[Treatment of resistant depression with the citalopram-lithium combination. Methodology of a double-blind multicenter study and preliminary results].

Unlabelled: Citalopram, a new bicyclic antidepressant, is the most selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. In a number of double-blind controlled studies, citalopram was compared to placebo and to known tricyclic antidepressants. These studies have shown their efficacy and good safety.

Age-related alterations in prolactin binding sites in the female rat.

Aging is associated with various neuroendocrine alterations, including in the rat a hypersecretion of PRL with maintained ovulations (repetitive pseudo-pregnancy) and a reduced activity of the hypothalamic dopaminergic neurons with loss of the neuron responsiveness to PRL, suggestive of age-related alterations in PRL receptors. In this study we have investigated PRL binding sites in the hypothalamus as well as in the mammary glands, the ovaries and the liver of young and old nulliparous female rats. The old rats (26-28 months) displayed spontaneous repetitive pseudopregnancies and they were compared with young (4-6 months) pseudopregnant rats; the binding studies were performed by saturation analysis using 125I-oPRL as ligand and particulate membrane preparations.

[Cephalic prosthesis for fractures of the femoral neck (702 cases). Comparative results of simple and intermediate cephalic prostheses].

The authors are presenting a retrospective study of the long time results of 702 femoral cephalic endoprostheses, 451 unipolar and 251 bipolar. The mean age of the patients at the moment of intervention was 80 years, the operation was done in the majority of the cases for a fracture of the femoral neck. The average follow-up was 33 months for the unipolar, and 24 months for the bipolar prostheses.

Decision-making aspects in the timing of surgical intervention in aortic rupture.

Twenty-one consecutive patients with traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta were treated at the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland. The patients were divided into two groups according to their clinical status at the time of surgery. Six patients with unstable vital functions underwent immediate surgery (group 1), while 15 patients were operated upon semi-urgently because of delayed diagnosis or electively (group 2).

Morphofunctional study of the effects of fetal exposure to cyproterone acetate on the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis of adult rats.

Fetal exposure to cyproterone acetate (CPA), while allowing, normal sexual morphogenesis, has previously been shown to lead to functional endocrine abnormalities in adult rats of both sexes. Because of this, we examined morphologically and morphometrically the hypothalamic nuclei involved in sexual dimorphism as well as the pituitary lactotropes of rats exposed in utero from day 15 to 20 of gestation to CPA. Male and female offspring was studied at the age of 70-80 days.

Age-related loss of the responsiveness of the tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons to prolactin in the female rat.

In the old female rat the previous findings of a sustained reduction of the secretory activity of the hypothalamic tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic (TIDA) neurons associated with a persistent hyperprolactinemia as well as the observation of a failure of the prolactin (PRL) short-loop feedback mechanism have been suggestive of an age-related loss of the responsiveness of the TIDA neurons to the stimulatory action of PRL. Yet the existence of significant impairments in the capacity of the neurons to respond to PRL could not be demonstrated in an earlier study using multiparous old rats in constant estrus compared to young nulliparous estrous rats. In the present study we have readdressed the issue using nulliparous old rats (24-26 months) compared to virgin young rats (4-5 months); two sets of old rats were studied which displayed distinct senile reproductive states, namely persistent diestrus or repetitive pseudopregnancy, and they were compared to young rats in diestrus or in repetitive pseudopregnancy, respectively.

The age at onset of diabetes influences functional and structural changes in the pituitary-thyroid axis of streptozocin-diabetic male rats.

Severe structural changes leading to marked alterations in secretory activity are known to occur in the pituitary-thyroid axis 1 month after induction of postpuberal streptozocin (SZ)-diabetes. However, SZ-diabetic rats of different age groups have not been compared, nor has the maturity of the pituitary and thyroid glands at the onset of diabetes been correlated with the type and evolution of functional and structural changes. We thus induced diabetes in 1-month (prepuberal of 3-month (postpuberal) old male rats and compared diabetic with control groups 4 and 8 months after SZ or saline injection.

Functional and morphological aspects of impaired TRH release by mediobasal hypothalamus of STZ-induced diabetic rats.

Streptozocin-induced diabetes (STZ-D) in rats is associated with marked hypothyroidism characterized by functional impairment and structural lesions of the pituitary-thyroid axis. Degenerative axonal lesions, which can be prevented by insulin administration, have been reported in the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) of STZ-D rats. However, direct evidence connecting anatomic MBH lesions with functional impairment is still missing.

Mass and in situ molar activity of tyrosine hydroxylase in the median eminence. Effect of thyroidectomy and thyroid hormone replacement.

The effects of thyroidectomy and thyroid hormone replacement on the mass and in situ molar activity of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the median eminence (ME) and superior cervical ganglia (SCG) of male rats were investigated. The tissue specificity of these effects were evaluated by comparing the ME with the superior cervical ganglion (SCG). All animals were thyroparathyroidectomized (Tx) or sham Tx.

[Complications of thromboembolic prophylaxis with heparin-dihydroergotamine].

In a prospective study the complications of Heparin-Dihydroergotamine (HDHE) [2,500 units Heparin + 0.5 mg DHE] s c. twice daily as thromboembolic prophylaxis have been studied in patients undergoing a lumbar disc operation.

Functional and morphological changes in mediobasal hypothalamus of streptozocin-induced diabetic rats. In vitro study of LHRH release.

To investigate the role of the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) in diabetic gonadal axis disorders, the MBHs of adult male streptozocin-induced diabetic (STZ-D) rats were examined after incubation in basal conditions or in K+-enriched medium and compared with those of controls. Diabetes lasted 1 mo. Both luteinizing-hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) release and MBH morphology were studied.