Hyposialorrhea as an early manifestation of Parkinson disease.

We sought to determine whether hyposialorrhea is an early manifestation of Parkinson disease (PD). We measured basal and citric acid stimulated secretion of whole saliva in 20 patients with early stage (Hoehn-Yahr I-II) PD who had motor symptoms for less than 1 year and were on no medication and 11 age matched controls. Compared to controls, PD patients had significant reduction of both basal (0.

Assessment of salivary urea as a less invasive alternative to serum determinations.

Objective: Experimental studies describe how urea is excreted through salivary glands and correlates with serum levels independently of salivary flow rate. This study confirms that salivary urea (SaU) is a reliable biomarker of uraemic state. In order to validate the SaU methodology, the following factors were taken into account: the independence of urea levels from saliva flow rate in healthy subjects and patients with chronic renal failure and the agreement between SaU and serum urea (U) levels in the entire population.

Diagnostic value of salivary cortisol in Cushing's syndrome (CS).

Objective: The diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome (CS) remains a challenge in clinical endocrinology. The aim of this study was to determine the reproducibility and diagnostic value of late-night salivary cortisol (SAF(23)) for CS and its utility along the follow-up of treated patients. In addition, using the same radioimmunoassay reactives, the cut-off values for saliva and serum cortisol, assessed synchronically after the overnight 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test (DST), were defined.

[Predictors of intrahospitalary mortality in the upper gastrointestinal variceal bleeding due to chronic liver disease treated endoscopically].

Unlabelled: Upper gastrointestinal variceal bleeding is one of the most serious complications in patients with chronic liver disease. The aim of this trial is to identify in hospital mortality predictors in this illness.

Material And Methods: 106 hospitalizations due to this disease from October 2001 to April 2006 in cohort design.

Effect of translocator protein (18 kDa)-ligand binding on neurotransmitter-induced salivary secretion in rat submandibular glands.

Background Information: TSPO (translocator protein), previously known as PBR (peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor), is a ubiquitous 18 kDa transmembrane protein that participates in diverse cell functions. High-affinity TSPO ligands are best known for their ability to stimulate cholesterol transport in organs synthesizing steroids and bile salts, although they modulate other physiological functions, including cell proliferation, apoptosis and calcium-dependent transepithelial ion secretion. In present study, we investigated the localization and function of TSPO in salivary glands.

Salivary testosterone: a reliable approach to the diagnosis of male hypogonadism.

Objective: This study was to demonstrate that Sal-T is a reliable biomarker of androgen status in the diagnosis of male hypogonadism.

Design: In order to validate the salivary testosterone assay (Sal-T), its reproducibility, the agreement with serum free testosterone levels (Free-T), the correlation with other circulating androgen markers (bioavailable testosterone, total testosterone) and cut-off values were defined.

Patients And Methods: We studied 52 eugonadic (E) and 20 hypogonadic (Hy) men.

Diagnostic value of salivary cortisol in end stage renal disease.

Objectives: Salivary cortisol has been proposed a surrogate marker for free serum cortisol measurements. The aim of this study was to ascertain the diagnostic value of basal and stimulated salivary cortisol for the detection of adrenal insufficiency (AI) in hypotensive end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Basal salivary cortisol and basal total serum cortisol were studied in order to determine the accuracy of both biomarkers in predicting AI.

Standardization of a simple method to study whole saliva: clinical use in different pathologies.

The present study describes a methodology to assess the salivary flow rate in humans. Whole saliva was obtained from the floor of the mouth with a plastic dental ejector and a vacuum pump. Forty healthy subjects of both sexes and 51 patients with different pathologies (Sjögren Syndrome, Thyroid Dysfunction, Diabetes Mellitus) were included in the study.

Assessment of adrenal function by measurement of salivary steroids in response to corticotrophin in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus.

Objective: Adrenal insufficiency has been reported among critically ill HIV-infected patients. This is the first study that attempts to detect subclinical hypoadrenal states in non-critical HIV patients through salivary steroids in response to intramuscular low-dose ACTH injection.

Patients And Methods: We studied 21 ambulatory adult HIV-infected patients without specific clinical signs or symptoms of adrenal insufficiency.

Quantitative study of salivary secretion in Parkinson's disease.

We examined basal and reflex salivary flow rate and composition in 46 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), both in off and on conditions, compared to 13 age-matched controls without underlying disease or treatment affecting autonomic function. Whole saliva was collected 12 hours after withdrawal of dopaminergic drugs and at the peak of levodopa-induced motor improvement. Twenty-three of the 46 PD patients had received domperidone a week before the study.

Modulation by thyroid hormones of rat parotid amylase secretion stimulated by 5-hydroxytryptamine.

The effects of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) upon amylase secretion by rat parotid glands were studied in three groups of animals: (a) intact control rats (euthyroid rats); (b) hypothyroid rats obtained by surgical thyroidectomy 2 wk before the experiments; and (c) hyperthyroid rats obtained by the administration of sodium l-triiodothyronine for 2 wk before the experiments. Hyperthyroid rats showed significantly higher baseline amylase release than control rats. When the glands were stimulated with 5-HT (30 micro m), amylase release was significantly lower in the hypothyroid group and higher in the hyperthyroid rats than in control group.

Modulation by somatostatin of rat submandibular salivary secretion.

Although somatostatin (somatotrophin release inhibitory factor; SRIF) is a well-known inhibitory peptide, there are only a few reports of it acting as a positive modulator. In this work, the action of somatostatin upon rat submandibular protein secretion was studied. In vivo somatostatin infusion (35 microg/(kg h)) raised protein secretion stimulated by adrenergic and peptidergic agents.

Modulation by somatostatin of rat parotid salivary secretion stimulated by cholinergic, adrenergic and peptidergic agents.

Although it is well known that somatostatin (SRIF) modulates several digestive functions, there are only a few reports about its effect on the salivary glands. Here, the action of SRIF parotid secretion was studied, in vivo and in vitro, in male Wistar rats. In vivo SRIF infusion (35 microg/kg per hr) inhibited the parotid flow rate stimulated by methacholine, substance P and noradrenaline.

Thyrotropin receptor antibodies in parotid saliva.

Parotid saliva was collected with a Carlson-Crittenden device, under citric acid stimulation, in 18 patients with autoimmune thyroid disease. Thyrotropin Receptor Antibodies (TRAb) were measured with a radioreceptor assay in parotid saliva and in serum in the same patients, and a statistical analysis of the data was performed. TRAb levels in parotid saliva were higher than in serum in the 3 pathologies studied (Graves' disease, Hashitoxicosis and Hashimoto's thyroiditis).

[Longitudinal excursion of the sciatic nerve: an experimental study in the adult rat].

Every nerve must have the capacity to adapt to different positions by passive movement relative to the surrounding tissue. This capacity is called longitudinal excursion (LE). The LE of the sciatic nerve has been studied in 40 Wistar rats.

Ethanol and the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor: in vivo and in vitro experiments.

1. The effect of chronic ethanol exposure on rat peripheral benzodiazepine receptors (PBR) was studied. 2.

Effect of testosterone on proteoglycans in the submandibular glands of the rat.

The proteoglycans in the submandibular salivary glands of castrated male Wistar rats were studied before and after the daily administration of testosterone propionate (TP) for one month. Castration decreased the weight of the glands and their uronic acid content. The administration of TP reversed these effects.

Effects of intravenous ethanol on basal bile-pancreatic secretion in nonalcoholic and alcohol-fed rats.

In nonalcoholic (NA) and alcohol-fed rats (AF), intravenous-ethanol-induced percentage changes in bile-pancreatic-secretion (BPS) were evaluated, with and without gastric juice diversion (GJD) and with and without BPS duodenal recirculation (DR). Even with GJD, ethanol elicited a slight increase in BPS. These changes were greater in AF animals even when performed without GJD.

Effects of castration and androgens upon prostatic proteoglycans in rats.

In studies performed on male Wistar rats, castration induced atrophy of the prostate with a marked increase in the uronic acid content. The administration of testosterone propionate to castrated rats produced opposite effects. Fractionation of the glycosaminoglycans on cellulose microcolumns showed that the changes in uronic acid content in the dorsolateral lobes were due to variations in hyaluronic acid, chondroitin-4-sulfate, and dermatan sulfate, but in the ventral lobes, there were changes in all the chromatographic fractions.

Effects of isoproterenol on I131 uptake by the submaxillary glands in mice.

DL-isoproterenol hydrochloride (1 mg/kg body weight/day) was subcutaneously administered to male A2G mice during 15 or 45 days. The sympathetic superior cervical ganglion of each mouse was resected on the right side, two days before beginning the injections. At the end of the injection period, the I131 submaxillary/plasma ratios and I131 thyroid uptake (%) were measured 3 hours after a tracer dose.

Changes in pancreatic exocrine secretion after repeated haloperidol administration.

The effect of repeated administration of haloperidol on the pancreatic secretion was studied in urethane-anesthetized Swiss mice. Haloperidol (2 mg/kg) injected daily i.p.

Changes in human parotid salivary protein and sialic acid levels during pregnancy.

Saliva was collected with a Carlson-Crittenden device, under citric acid stimulation, in 107 pregnant women, 9 puerperal and 7 non-pregnant controls. No significant changes were found in salivary flow rate, pH and amylase levels. The total protein levels were decreased during pregnancy and the puerperium.

Increase of muscarinic cholinergic receptors in the rat submandibular glands after parasympathectomy and repeated administration of haloperidol.

1. The mechanisms of the supersensitivity to cholinergic drugs after chronic haloperidol was studied in normal and parasympathectomized submandibular glands of the rats. 2.

Synthesis and contents of pancreatic exportable enzymes. Effect of oleic acid intraduodenal administration.

The effect of intraduodenal oleic acid administration on protein synthesis and enzymatic levels in rat pancreas was investigated. Sprague-Dawley rats were sacrificed at 20, 40, 60, and 80 min after intraduodenal oleic acid administration. Ten minutes before sacrifice, the rats were injected with 50 microCi 3H-Phenylalanine intraperitoneally.