Point mutations detected in the androgen receptor gene of three men with partial androgen insensitivity syndrome.

Objective: Determine the sequence of the androgen receptor gene in men with impaired responsiveness to androgens in order to identify the molecular basis of their under-virilization.

Design: Blood samples were used as the source of genomic DNA. Portions of the androgen receptor gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and sequenced.

Circulating CA-195 in hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic hepatic carcinoma.

This study was conducted to determine the role of a relatively new tumor marker, CA-195, in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic hepatic carcinoma, and in distinguishing between these two conditions. CA-195 levels were measured using a commercially available immunoradiometric assay (Tandem-R CA-195) in 30 black inpatients with hepatocellular carcinoma, 15 metastatic carcinoma, 10 with amoebic liver abscess, 10 with cirrhosis and 10 normal individuals at King Edward VIII Hospital, Durban. A cutt-off value of 10 u/ml was used.

Pituitary function tests in black patients with pseudocyesis.

Pituitary function was evaluated in a group of 10 patients with pseudocyesis. One patient was postmenopausal; the remainder demonstrated normal basal prolactin, luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels and also normal pituitary-adrenal, pituitary-thyroid axes. Oestradiol deficiency was present in 6 patients, while 2 patients demonstrated elevated serum progesterone values, suggestive of a luteal phase.

Enzyme immunoassay of oestrogen and progesterone receptors in uterine and intrauterine tissue during human pregnancy and labour.

Oestrogen and progesterone receptors were studied in the non-pregnant state, in early pregnancy and at term using monoclonal antibody enzyme immunoassays. Receptors for both steroids were found in tissues from non-pregnant patients and patients in early pregnancy. At term oestrogen receptors were undetectable in all tissues studied.

Changes in the binding characteristics of oestrogen and progesterone in uterine and intrauterine tissue with the progression of human pregnancy.

The binding characteristics of oestrogen and progesterone in intrauterine tissue were studied in the non-pregnant state and throughout pregnancy using sucrose density gradient centrifugation and titration analyses. High affinity receptors for these steroids which were present in high concentrations in tissue from non-pregnant patients and patients in early pregnancy, decreased with the advance of pregnancy to undetectable levels at term. Non-saturable binding to progesterone detected in term tissue was identified as albumin and cortisol binding globulin.