Morphometric study of the testicular interstitial tissue of the monkey Cebus apella during postnatal development.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the developmental changes of the Leydig cells and their precursors during postnatal development in the monkey Cebus apella. Four groups of monkeys were studied: neonatal, infantile, early pubertal and late pubertal. Light microscopy, immunocytochemistry, electron microscopy and stereological studies were performed to determine cytologic and cytochemical characteristics, volume density, absolute volume and cell counts of Leydig cells.

Insulin secretion by pancreas of athymic mice injected with peripheral mononuclear cells from insulin-dependent diabetic patients.

We studied the effect of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) from insulin-dependent diabetic (IDDM) children on the insulin secretion pattern of the pancreas from recipient athymic mice. PBMNC from healthy controls or IDDM patients in different stages of disease were injected into athymic mice. PBMNC from newly diagnosed IDDM children elicited basal nonfasting hyperglycemia and in vitro inhibition of the first and second phases of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in recipient mice.

Possible involvement of microfilaments in the regulation of Sertoli cell aromatase activity.

Recent observations indicate that Sertoli cell aromatase activity decreases when cultures are performed at high density. Increasing cell density modifies cell shape in culture from flat cells with visible anchorage sites and abundant intercellular spaces to cells with higher profiles that form a uniform epithelial sheet with no intercellular spaces. Changes in cell architecture are associated with reorganization of the cytoskeleton components.

Regulation of Sertoli cell aromatase activity by cell density and prolonged stimulation with FSH, EGF, insulin and IGF-I at different moments of pubertal development.

Sertoli cell aromatase activity is high in very young animals and declines throughout pubertal development. Little is known about the regulatory factors which might be involved in the pronounced decline suffered by this enzymatic activity. In this paper we show that estradiol production in Sertoli cells is dependent on cell density in the culture and that chronic stimulation with hormones can decrease estradiol acute response to FSH.

Long term treatment with low dose testosterone in constitutional delay of growth and puberty: effect on bone age maturation and pubertal progression.

We compared the effects of long term low dose treatment with testosterone on pubertal growth and sexual development in boys with constitutional delay of growth and puberty (CDGP). We treated 24 boys with intramuscular monthly injections with low dose testosterone enanthate (33-50 mg) for 20 months, at a chronological age of 14.5 +/- 1.

Bone age at discontinuation of medroxyprogesterone acetate therapy in girls with precocious puberty: effect on final height.

To determine the final height of patients with precocious puberty treated with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA; 150 mg every week) for a period > 1 year (mean +/- SD = 3.24 +/- 1.85 years), data from a group of 26 girls were analyzed.

Steroidogenic and morphogenic characteristics of human peritubular cells in culture.

We have explored the morphogenic and functional characteristics of human peritubular cells originating from seminiferous tubule (ST) fragments isolated from the testes of two prepubertal patients with the androgen insensitivity syndrome. These ST were cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium-Ham's F-12 supplemented with antibiotics, transferrin, hydrocortisone, vitamin E, and 3% fetal bovine serum. A centrifugal growth of elongated fibroblast-like cells peripheral to the ST explants was observed.

Opioid and sympathetic nervous system activity in cluster headache under verapamil or prednisone treatment.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of treatment with prednisone or verapamil on plasma met-enkephalin (ME), neutrophil met-enkephalin containing peptides (NMECP) and free and conjugated plasma catecholamines (CA) in cluster headache (CH) patients. After obtaining a basal sample, patients were randomly selected to be treated with either verapamil (n = 5) or prednisone (n = 5). A second blood sample was obtained 10 days after starting treatment.

The stress-induced reduction in monoamine oxidase (MAO) A activity is reversed by benzodiazepines: role of peripheral benzodiazepine receptors.

1. The effect of benzodiazepine pretreatment on the stress-induced decrease in MAO activity in rat tissues using footshock as stress model was investigated. 2.

Is infancy a quiescent period of testicular development? Histological, morphometric, and functional study of the seminiferous tubules of the cebus monkey from birth to the end of puberty.

The objective of this study was to describe the maturational changes observed in the seminiferous tubules of the monkey Cebus apella, a New World primate species, from birth to the end of puberty. Nineteen animals were subdivided into four groups: neonatal (1-40 days), infantile (4 months to 1 yr), early pubertal (1 yr, 8 months to 2 yr, 9 months), and late pubertal (4-8 yr). Volumetric determinations of different testicular components were made, tubule diameter and length were calculated, and spermatogenic cells, Sertoli cells, and androgen-binding protein secretion were quantified.

N-myc oncogene and urinary catecholamines in children with neuroblastoma.

This paper reports the analysis of N-myc amplification, urinary vanillylmandelic acid (VMA), and norepinephrine (NE) excretion and survival in 22 children with neuroblastoma and 7 with ganglio-neuroblastoma. Five patients had N-myc amplification (from 30 to more than 200 copies), all of whom had advanced-stage disease. The urinary excretion of VMA was normal in all of them, only one showed increased NE excretion.

[DNA identification of human papillomavirus in anogenital condyloma of a male population].

Human Papillomaviruses (HPV) are the cause of benign human anogenital lesions where HPV 6 and HPV 11 are most commonly found. Conversely, HPV 16, 18, 31 and 33 are frequently detected in genital carcinomas and are thus considered as oncogenic types. In order to analyze the prevalence of specific HPV types in an Argentine male population, 43 anogenital lesions from different patients with diagnosis of condyloma acuminata were analyzed.

Familial idiopathic hyperphosphatasia (FIH): response to long-term treatment with pamidronate (APD).

A 5-year-old child suffering from familial idiopathic hyperphosphatasia (FIH) was treated by: (1) intravenous infusion of pamidronate (APD) (3 h) (0.75 mg/kg/day) for 5 days; and (2) oral administration of APD (8 mg/kg/day) for 1 year, in association with calcium (1 g/day) as calcium gluconate. A decrease of both serum calcium and phosphate, and a slight PTH increase were observed immediately after the IV treatment; serum alkaline phosphatase did not change, but a marked and rapid decline in the hydroxyprolinuria was observed: basal 659 +/- 207 during IV treatment 169 +/- 59 (mean +/- SD mg/24 h, P < 0.

Isolation of human Leydig cell mesenchymal precursors from patients with the androgen insensitivity syndrome: testosterone production and response to human chorionic gonadotropin stimulation in culture.

Mature Leydig cells, the main source of testicular testosterone in mammals, arise from immature mesenchymal precursors through an LH-dependent differentiation process. In order to study the steroidogenic potential of these precursors, undifferentiated mesenchymal cells were obtained from the testicular interstitium of two patients with androgen insensitivity syndrome. After double digestion with collagenase and separation of the suspensions in a Percoll density gradient, the cells were cultured in Ham's F12 medium: Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (1:1) supplemented with antibiotics, transferrin, insulin, hydrocortisone, and vitamin E with or without 1 IU of hCG/ml.

Effect of DNA concentration on recombinant plasmid recovery after blunt-end ligation.

We describe conditions for optimal recovery of recombinant plasmids after blunt-end ligation. It was found that one of the most critical parameters of the blunt-end ligation reaction is total DNA concentration (vector plus incoming DNA). This concentration was optimal in the range of 1-5 micrograms/ml of reaction mixture.

Developmental changes in testicular interstitial cell populations, LH receptors and in the response to hCG in the rat.

High doses of hCG were administered to immature rats of different ages and the animals killed 48 h later. Serum testosterone increased 2 to 4-fold over control values 48 h after hCG. In-vitro androgen production showed different patterns according to age.

Hormonal and paracrine regulation of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase in rat Sertoli cells.

The effects of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and testosterone on Sertoli cell gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GTP) activity have been studied in vitro. Addition of FSH to Sertoli cell cultures for 5 days induced stimulation of gamma-GTP activity. No testosterone effect was observed alone or in combination with different doses of FSH.

Repeated (isolation) stress increases tribulin-like activity in the rat.

1. The effect of repeated isolation stress on MAO inhibitory activity (tribulin) in rat tissues as well as on plasma catecholamine levels was investigated. 2.

[Therapeutic use of human leukocyte interferon in dermatologic disorders caused by herpes simplex virus. Multicenter study].

A multi-institutional double blind study was performed in 66 patients in order to evaluate the action of human leukocyte interferon, type alpha (IFN) in lesions produced by herpes simplex virus. Lesions were localized in genital area in 34 cases and in facial area in 32 of them. From the total, 38 patients were treated with 7,000 Ul/gm.

Leukotrienes as common intermediates in the cyclic AMP dependent and independent pathways in adrenal steroidogenesis.

Aldosterone secretion from adrenal glomerulosa cells can be stimulated by angiotensin II (AII), extracellular potassium and adrenocorticotropin (ACTH). Since the mitochondria can recognize factors generated by AII (cyclic-AMP-independent) and ACTH (cyclic AMP dependent), it is reasonable to postulate the existence of a common intermediate in spite of a different signal transduction mechanism. We have evaluated this hypothesis by stimulation of mitochondria from glomerulosa gland with fractions isolated from glomerulosa gland stimulated with AII or from fasciculata gland stimulated with ACTH; the same fractions were tested using mitochondria from fasciculata cells.

The association of Wilms' tumor, male pseudohermaphroditism and diffuse glomerular disease (Drash syndrome): report of eight cases with clinical and morphologic findings and review of the literature.

In 8 children (6 males) at least 2 of 3 disorders were found--male pseudohermaphroditism (MPH), Wilm's tumor, and glomerular disease. MPH was present in the 6 males; they had abdominal cryptorchidism (6/6), ambiguous genitalia (6/6), negative sex chromatin (5/5), and 46XY karyotype (2/2). The gonads examined microscopically in 3 patients were dysgenetic testes.