Maternal serum free beta-hCG levels in uncomplicated pregnancies at the 10th-15th week of gestation and the development of obstetric complications.

Objective: To determine if free beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) serum levels at the 10th-14th week of gestation were different in groups of women who had experienced pregnancy complications.

Study Design: The obstetric records of women who had uncomplicated pregnancies when they consented to donate blood for biochemical research purposes early in pregnancy were reviewed. Two hundred thirteen of these women had donated blood at the 10th-14th week of gestation.

Effects of high-intensity exercise on leptin and testosterone concentrations in well-trained males.

Objective: A number of investigations have examined the effect of exercise on leptin concentrations, because leptin is associated with obesity, satiety, and reproductive function. High-intensity exercise is known to increase testosterone, an inhibitor of leptin. The objective of the study was to determine whether the leptin responses to a progressive, intermittent exercise protocol were related to serum testosterone concentrations.

Changes in circulating leptin, leptin receptor, and gonadal hormones from infancy until advanced age in humans.

We determined developmental changes in circulating levels of the soluble leptin receptor (sOB-R), leptin, and gonadal hormones in human subjects. In both sexes the rise in leptin with age was associated with a decline in sOB-R, and age-related changes in both parameters preceded the pubertal rise in gonadal hormones. Leptin levels above 10 ng/ml were a strong predictor of sOB-R concentrations, but this predictive value decreased as leptin declined.

Variability of serum estrogens among postmenopausal women treated with the same transdermal estrogen therapy and the effect on androgens and sex hormone binding globulin.

Objective: To examine the variability of serum estrogens in response to transdermal estrogen replacement therapy (ET), and to determine the effects on androgens and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG).

Design: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Setting: Women's hospital.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome and insulin resistance in white and Mexican American women: a comparison of two distinct populations.

Objectives: We sought to determine what differences, if any, existed between white and Mexican American women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and whether the same values for fasting insulin, fasting glucose/insulin ratio, and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) might be applied when screening both ethnic groups for insulin resistance.

Study Design: Eighty-three consecutive women suspected to have PCOS but who demonstrated absence of other endocrine disorders comprised the study population. Nineteen healthy ovulatory women volunteered as controls.