Hormonal strategies for fertility preservation in patients receiving cyclophosphamide to treat glomerulonephritis: a nonrandomized trial and review of the literature.

Background: Prepubertal patients receiving chemotherapy are relatively resistant to cyclophosphamide-induced germinal cell alterations. We studied the possible protective effect of testosterone and triptorelin to inhibit gonadal activity in men and women receiving cyclophosphamide, respectively.

Study Design: Nonrandomized trial.

Biliopancreatic diversion: long-term effects on gonadal function in severely obese men.

Background: This study investigated hormonal parameters of gonadal function in severely obese men before and 1 year after undergoing biliopancreatic diversion (BPD).

Methods: This observational 1-year postoperative study conducted at medical and surgical clinics at an academic medical center in Italy followed 20 severely obese men age 21 to 63 years, with a mean (+/- standard deviation) body mass index (BMI) of 47.3 +/- 13.

Impact of age on long-term complications after biliopancreatic diversion.

Background: The aim of the study is to evaluate the importance of age on the mid- and long-term results and complications after biliopancreatic diversion (BPD).

Methods: Our study comprises 132 morbidly obese patients who underwent Scopinaro BPD from February 1995 to April 2001, with follow-up from 24 to 96 months. The patients, 53 males (40%) and 79 females (60%), with mean preoperative BMI 50.

Growth hormone secretion in polytransfused prepubertal patients with homozygous beta-thalassemia. Effect of long-term recombinant GH (recGH) therapy.

Growth was monitored in 133 male and 150 female North Sardinian prepubertal patients with homozygous beta-thalassemia in order to ascertain the incidence of GH deficiency (GHD) and the effects of long-term recombinant GH (recGH) treatment on growth velocity and bone maturation. A significant reduction in growth velocity and a fall in IGF-I levels was observed in 19 male and 16 female patients (12.3%).

Evaluation of serum leptin levels and thyroid function in morbidly obese patients treated with bariatric surgery.

Biliopancreatic diversion (BPD), a gastrectomy with a long ROUX en Y reconstruction, reduces intestinal absorption by delaying the mixing of food and biliopancreatic juices, and induces persistent weight loss in obese patients unresponsive to medical treatments. The levels of leptin (a plasma protein synthesised in human adipose tissue) are increased in obese subjects and significantly decrease after a major weight loss. A possible role of thyroid hormones in regulating adipose tissue metabolism in humans has been proposed, but it is not universally accepted and the relationship between thyroid function and leptin levels has not yet been clearly defined.

Effects of 12 months rec-GH therapy on bone and collagen turnover and bone mineral density in GH deficient children with thalassaemia major.

Children suffering from thalassaemia major are reported to have growth delay and bone alterations even when well transfused and chelated. In the present study we evaluated bone and collagen turnover (bone Gla-protein, BGP; carboxyterminal telopeptide of type I collagen, ICTP; aminoterminal propeptide of type III procollagen, PIIINP, respectively) and bone mineral density (BMD) in 5 pre-pubertal GH deficient thalassaemic children before and during rec-GH treatment (0.6 IU/kg/week).

Use of testosterone to prevent cyclophosphamide-induced azoospermia.

Background: Prepubertal patients receiving chemotherapy are relatively resistant to cyclophosphamide-induced germinal cell alterations.

Objective: To study the possible protective effect of testosterone used to inhibit germinal cell activity in men who are receiving cyclophosphamide.

Design: Randomized, clinical trial.

Parathyroid function and bone metabolism in children with beta thalassaemia major: effects of sex steroid treatment.

Objective: Data on parathyroid function in patients with homozygous beta-thalassaemia are discordant. Moreover, there is no report on the effects of sexual steroid treatment on bone metabolism in these patients.

Methods: Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin (CT) and osteocalcin (GLA protein) levels were measured in 121 patients.

Chronic treatment with parlodel LAR of patients with prolactin-secreting tumours. Different responsiveness of micro- and macroprolactinomas.

Unlabelled: Forty-one patients with prolactinoma (25 micro-, 16 macroprolactinomas) were treated with a long-acting injectable preparation of bromocriptine (Parlodel LAR, Sandoz), 25-100 mg (mostly 50 mg) in every 4-8 weeks for as long as 43 months (median 19 months). The first injection caused a prompt fall of plasma PRL which reached its nadir value after 3 days. Thereafter, hormone levels remained well below initial values for 4 weeks or longer, though with the tendency, more pronounced in microprolactinoma patients, to rise again toward baseline.

Comparison between a slow-release oral preparation of bromocriptine and regular bromocriptine in patients with hyperprolactinemia: a double blind, double dummy study.

The efficacy and tolerability of a slow-release preparation of bromocriptine (Parlodel SRO) were compared to those of conventional bromocriptine (Parlodel R) in a double blind, double dummy study of 12 hyperprolactinemic women (plasma PRL 81.3 +/- 4.73, ng/ml mean +/- SEM).

Correlates of atrial natriuretic factor in chronic renal failure.

Plasma atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), blood pressure, age, plasma renin activity and creatinine were measured in 50 normal volunteers, 141 essential hypertensives, 35 patients with chronic renal failure who had never been dialysed and 27 patients with end-stage renal failure on constant haemodialysis. Plasma ANF was correlated positively with age in the normal group (r = 0.52, P less than 0.

Evaluation of anterior pituitary function in hypertensive patients following inhibition of angiotensin II generation.

The Authors investigated anterior pituitary function in hypertensive patients in basal conditions and following a 15-day course of treatment with captopril, a drug which blocks the generation of Angiotensin II (Angio II). No differences were observed for any of the pituitary hormones except ACTH, whose response to hypoglycemia was significantly blunted by the pharmacological treatment. A possible role of Angio.

Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition reduces ACTH release due to hypoglycaemia.

To investigate the role of Angiotensin II in the release of ACTH, the response of adrenocorticotrophic hormone to hypoglycaemia was studied before and during treatment with an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, enalapril, in 15 male patients with essential hypertension. Plasma levels of ACTH were measured before and 60, 90 and 120 min after an i.v.

Blunted adrenocorticotrophic hormone release during captopril treatment.

High tissue levels of angiotensin II have been reported in the median eminence suggesting a possible role in the regulation of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) secretion. To verify this hypothesis in man, the pituitary-adrenal axis response to hypoglycaemia was studied before and during captopril treatment in eight male essential hypertensive patients (stage I WHO; aged 35-52 years). Plasma levels of ACTH, cortisol and glucose were measured before and 60, 90 and 120 min after an intravenous bolus of normal saline as placebo an, 3 days later, after an intravenous bolus of rapidly acting insulin (0.

Effect of clonidine on stress-induced cortisol release in man during surgery.

The effect of clonidine on stress-induced cortisol secretion was studied in 10 patients undergoing general anesthesia for surgery; six other patients served as a control group and none of them was given clonidine. Central and peripheral alpha 2 stimulation by clonidine (average dose:0.45 mg over 60 minutes) was able to completely suppress cortisol release during surgery.

Failure of nomifensine to reduce serum prolactin levels in patients with hepatic encephalopathy.

In order to investigate whether the variations in prolactin (PRL) secretion found in patients with liver cirrhosis are related to the derangement of neurotransmitter metabolism, serum PRL levels were measured in 8 patients with hepatic encephalopathy (a condition where neurotransmission is severely deranged), in 10 patients with liver cirrhosis but without encephalopathy and in 10 control subjects under control conditions and in response to nomifensine, levodopa and synthetic TRH administration. Inhibition of endogenous catecholamine reuptake by nomifensine was able to significantly reduce PRL levels in normal subjects and in patients with liver cirrhosis, whereas only one out of 8 patients with hepatic encephalopathy showed a reduction in PRL levels. On the contrary, levodopa administration was able to reduce PRL secretion in all the subjects studied.

Endocrine functioning in multitransfused prepubertal patients with homozygous beta-thalassemia.

Endocrine function was evaluated in 20 prepubertal patients with homozygous beta-thalassemia treated with frequent transfusions and long term iron chelation therapy. FSH, LH, PRL, and TSH secretion were evaluated by LRH and TRH testing and L-dopa and ACTH were used to assess GH and adrenocortical reserve. No statistically significant differences were found between FSH, LH, PRL, GH, and cortisol secretion in the patients and in normal subjects.

Suppression of electroacupuncture(EA)-induced beta-endorphin and ACTH release by hydrocortisone in man. Absence of effects on EA-induced anaesthesia.

Auricular electroacupuncture (EA) increased plasma ACTH and beta-endorphin levels significantly in 10 patients receiving EA as an analgesic aid during surgery. Pre-treatment with iv hydrocortisone (200 mg) completely suppressed both ACTH and beta-endorphin release in response to EA without significantly affecting EA anaesthesia in 6 other patients and in a patient with Addison's disease.

Acute effect of atenolol on serum thyroid hormones in hyperthyroid patients.

The effect of atenolol on serum thyroid hormones levels is controversial. To get more information on this problem we studied the effect of propranolol and atenolol on plasma thyroid hormone concentrations in 20 thyrotoxic patients. Propranolol but not atenolol caused a significant decrease in T3 levels whereas no significant changes wee observed in T4 levels after both propranolol and atenolol administration.

Muscarinic receptor blockade by pirenzepine: effect on prolactin secretion in man.

The effect of pirenzepine, a muscarinic receptor blocker which does not cross the blood brain barrier, on basal and TRH-stimulated prolactin (PRL) secretion in normal subjects was studied. Administration of 75 mg oral pirenzepine had no effects on prolactin levels in male subjects whereas it significantly reduced prolactin in females. No effect on TRH induced prolactin secretion was observed.

Effect of long-term treatment with sodium valproate on gonadotrophin and prolactin secretion in paediatric patients.

1 Luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and prolactin levels were measured in twenty paediatric patients receiving sodium valproate (30 mg/kg body weight daily) and in ten control subjects under control conditions and following LRH-TRH administration. In addition, baseline GH levels were measured in the two groups. 2 No significant differences were observed between the basal and stimulated hormone levels in the two groups.

Pituitary responsiveness to gonadotrophin-releasing and thyrotrophin-releasing hormones in children receiving phenobarbitone.

The effect of long-term treatment with phenobarbitone on pituitary responsiveness to gonadotrophin-releasing hormone and thyrotrophin-releasing hormone was studied in 20 boys being treated with the drug to prevent febrile convulsions. Baseline concentrations of luteinising and follicle-stimulating hormones were reduced as well as the responses of these hormones to stimulation with gonadotrophin-releasing hormone. Baseline prolactin concentrations were raised in comparison with those in normal children.

Prolactin secretion in man following acute and long-term cimetidine administration.

In 20 patients with duodenal ulcer we measured serum prolactin levels following acute and long-term cimetidine administration. In addition, in 20 healthy volunteers we studied the effect of pre-treatment with bromocriptine, meterogline, nomifensine and cryroheptadine on cimetidine-induced prolactin release. Intravenous cimetidine stimulated prolactin secretion in patients and in normal subjects.

Inhibition of prolactin secretion by nomifensine in man.

Serum prolactin, TSH and GH levels were measured in thirty healthy volunteers in fasting conditions and following oral administration of 200 mg nomifensine. In addition, the effect of the drug on serum prolactin and TSH response to synthetic TRH was studied in twenty normal subjects. Inhibition of endogenous catecholamine reuptake by nomifensine significantly inhibited prolactin release whereas it had no effect on TSH and GH levels.