Bioavailability of iodine from normal diets rich in dairy products--results of balance studies in women.

During the last decade the iodine supply in Germany has increased significantly, but there is still a high frequency of goitre. Therefore the question of iodine bioavailability has arisen. In a two-period study 12 women were given a mixed diet of ordinary foods with milk and milk products of different batches.

Chlamydia trachomatis antibodies in serum and ejaculate of male patients without acute urethritis.

In a prospective study, the prevalence of specific antibodies against Chlamydia trachomatis in serum and seminal plasma evaluated by a genus specific immunofluorescence test in 101 men without acute urethritis was investigated. The results were compared to the clinical diagnosis, cell culture of urethral swabs, demonstration of DNA particles by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in the ejaculate and signs of genital inflammation by counting peroxidase-positive leukocytes and elastase level in semen. The objective was to evaluate the significance of chlamydial antibodies in genital infection.

The discovery of Chiron's cave, a prehistoric school of medicine for animals and humans.

Chiron the centaur, mythical inventor of medicine for animals and humans, and emblem of numerous veterinary associations worldwide, is possibly an historic personality of the prehomeric period (ca 1300 B.C.) Only 600 to 700 years later did the legend form that centaurs (in antique Greek: "hunters on horseback of the wild bull") were wild creatures, half horse and half man, and associated with uncontrolled libido and its socially destructive forces.

Endocrine pancreatic morphology and function in exocrine insufficiency in rats.

Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency was induced in rats by injection of oleic acid into the pancreatic duct. Six weeks after a single injection of 50 microliters oleic acid, the exocrine tissue was reduced by 98%. The islets of Langerhans remained intact and showed no changes in the relative distribution of beta-, alpha-, D-, and PP-cells.