Electronic Library of Scientific Literature



ENDOCRINE REGULATIONS



Volume 34 / No. 1 / 2000


 


BETA-GLUCURONIDASE ACTIVITY IS ELEVATED IN THE RAT HARDERIAN GLAND AFTER BROMOCRIPTINE BUT DECREASED AFTER CYPROTERONE ACETATE TREATMENT OR CASTRATION. POSTCASTRATIONAL EFFECTS ON THE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF THE GLAND

I. Sabry, Sh. Al-Baghly, M. Alnaqeeb

Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kuwait University (POB 5969), Safat, 13969 Kuwait

Objective. To investigate the effect of castration, bromocriptine and cyproterone acetate treatment on lysosomal hydrolytic enzymes and ultrastructure of the rat Harderian gland.
Methods.
Groups of rats were subjected to the treatment by bromocriptine, cyproterone acetate and castration. Harderian glands were dissected from each experimental animal, cut into small pieces and immediately stored in liquid nitrogen. Only those from castrated animals were fixed in Karnovsky fluid and processed for electron microscopy. The activity of acid phosphatase and beta-glucuronidase were estimated by kits from Sigma (St. Louis, Mo, USA). Semi-thin sections were stained with 1% toluidine blue and ultra-thin sections with uranyl acetate and counter-stained with lead citrate. The examination was performed by Joel JEM-1200 EX II electron microscope.
Results.
The treatment of male rats with the prolactin release inhibitor bromocriptine induced a significant increase in beta-glucuronidase activity. On the contrary, such activity was significantly decreased after treatment with the testosterone receptor antagonist cyproterone acetate as well as after castration. However, these treatments did not alter the activity of lysosomal acid phosphatase.
Castration induced dramatic changes mostly in type A cells such as the appearance of lipid vacuoles with irregular forms and the predomination of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) throughout the cytoplasm. The most dramatic postcastrational change was the degeneration of the mitochondria. These changes in type A cells might be due to the uneven distribution of the testosterone receptors in the rat Harderian gland which are more numerous in type A cells.
Conclusions.
the gland physiology is responsive to alteration in circulating prolactin and testosterone levels.
Key words:
Harderian glands – Rat – Bromocriptine – Cyproterone acetate – Castration – Lysosomal enzymes – Ultrastructure

ENDOCRINE REGULATIONS, Vol. 33, 3 – 12, 2000

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COMPARISON OF ANTAGONISTIC PROPERTIES OF SUBSTANCE P ANALOGS, SPANTIDE I, II AND III ON EVOKED TONGUE JERKS IN RATS

M. Zubrzycka, A. Janecka, W. Z. Traczyk

Department of Physiology and Department of General Chemistry, Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Lindleya 3, 90-131 Lodz, Poland

Objective. To study and evaluate the effects of perfusion through cerebral ventricles with substance P (SP) and its analogs: spantide I, II and III on evoked tongue jerks (ETJ) in male rats.
Methods.
During the perfusion, stimulation of the tooth pulp caused retractive movements of the stretched tongue, the amplitudes of which were recorded. The mean amplitudes of evoked tongue jerks (ETJ) recorded during each 10 min. period of perfusion with McIlwain-Rodnight’s solution and solutions containing peptides were compared.
Results.
Perfusion of cerebral ventricles with SP caused a significant increase in the mean amplitude of evoked tongue jerks. Spantide I caused a complete respiratory arrest in all of the examined animals, so its effect on the trigemino-hypoglossal reflex could not have been tested. Spantide II, in the first two minutes, induced a transient significant decrease in ETJ amplitude, followed by an increase in ETJ in the next 8 min. SP perfused after spantide II caused a further significant increase in ETJ, as compared with control. Perfusion of cerebral ventricles with spantide III caused a significant, dose-dependent decrease in ETJ. SP perfused after spantide III caused a smaller increase in ETJ than it was observed without spantide III.
Conclusions.
Spantide III was found to be a strong antagonist of SP in trigemino-hypoglossal reflex.
Key words:
Trigemino-hypoglossal reflex – Cerebral ventricles – Substance P – Substance P antagonists

ENDOCRINE REGULATIONS, Vol. 33, 13 – 18, 2000

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HUERTHLE CELL NEOPLASMS OF THE THYROID: PREDICTING MALIGNANT POTENTIAL

F. Taneri, E. Tekin, B. Salman, A. Ziya Anadol, E. Ersoy, A. Poyraz, E. Onuk

Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Beoevler, Ankara, Turkey, Department of General Surgery and Pathology

Objective. Assessment of malignancy criteria in Huerthle cell neoplasm.
Methods.
This study intends to review retrospectively the patients who were operated for Huerthle cell neoplasia at Gazi University, Department of General Surgery between January 1986 and October 1999. Pathological specimens from 63 patients (20 males and 43 females) were evaluated, 48 of which revealed Huerthle cell adenoma (HCA) and 15 revealed Huerthle cell carcinoma (HCC). The mean age of the patients with HCA was 40.7±1.59 yr, while that in patients with HCC was 51.3±1.83 yr. Mann-Whitney U-test and chi-square tests were used for statistical analysis.
Results.
Fifty-two of the 63 patients had fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy prior to operation. Among them 49 were reported to have suspected Huerthle cell neoplasia (HCN) and three had suspected HCC. The sensitivity of FNA for HCN was 20 %, specificity was 100 %, positive predictive value was 100 % and negative predictive value was 76 %. For all patients, peroperative frozen section (FS) biopsy was examined. Fifty-nine of the FS specimens revealed HCN and four revealed HCC. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of FS biopsy were 27 %, 79 %, 28.5 % and 77.5 %, respectively.
Conclusion.
Statistically significant correlations were found between the malignancy and size of the tumor (P<0.05) by chi-square test, and also a between the malignancy and age of the patient (P<0.05) by Mann-Whitney U-test. In cases where FS and FNA biopsies cannot adequately define the benign or malignant nature of the tumor, the age of the patient and the diameter of the tumor must be taken into consideration for the appropriate surgical strategy. Particularly for 50 year-old and elderly, the incidence of malignancy is statistically significant irespectively of patient’s sex.
Key words:
Huerthle cell – Fine needle aspiration – Frozen section

ENDOCRINE REGULATIONS, Vol. 33, 19 – 21, 2000

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RADIOIMMUNOASSAY FOR HYPOCRETIN-2

T. Mitsuma, Y. Hirooka, M. Kayama, Y. Mori, Y. Yokoi, M. Izumi, N. Rhue, J. Ping, K. Adachi, R. Ikai, N. Kawai, A. Nakayashiki, T. Nogimori

Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Aichi, Aichi 480-1195, Japan
Department of Internal Medicine, Konanshowa Hospital, Konan, Aichi, Aichi, Japan

Objective. To develop radioimmunoassay for hypocretin-2(Hcrt-2) and search for its presence in certain rat tissues.
Methods.
Anti-Hcrt-2 antiserum has been raised in New Zealand white rabbits immunized with a  conjugate of synthetic Hcrt-2 with bovine serum albumin. Radioiodination of Hcrt-2 was performed by chloramine T method followed by purification of radioiodinated material on Sephadex G-25 column.
Results.
The obtained antibody did not crossreact with hypocretin-1, hypothalamic hormones, pituitary hormones, neuropeptides or gut hormones. The assay was performed with a double antibody system. Hcrt-2 was extracted from the tissues with acid acetone. The dilution curve of acid acetoneextracts of rat hypothalamus in the radioimmunoassay system was parallel to the standard curve. The recovery of tissue Hcrt-2 was about 85 %, and the intra-assay and inter-assay variations were 5.6 % and 8.0 %, respectively. Hcrt-2 was found in the hypothalamus, cerebrum, brain stem and testis.
Conclusions.
These data suggest that this assay system is suitable for the estimation of Hct-2 in the tissues and that Hcrt-2 is mainly found in the hypothalamus.
Key words:
Hypocretin-2 – Radioimmunoassay – Immunohistochemistry – Rat

ENDOCRINE REGULATIONS, Vol. 33, 23 – 27, 2000

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THE 6th MIDDLE EUROPEAN WORKSHOP ON PAEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGY (MEWPE 1999)

Emmersdorf, Austria, November 19-21, 1999

THE USE OF GH AS A PHARMACOLOGICAL AGENT (MINIREVIEW)

J.M. Wit

Department of Paediatrics, Leiden University Medical Center, P.O.Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands

Growth hormone (GH) has been traditionally used as a drug for substitution therapy of GH deficiency, but since the wide availability of biosynthetic GH it has also been used as a pharmacological agent. In this report the presently available data are reviewed.

ENDOCRINE REGULATIONS, Vol. 33, 28 – 32, 2000

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THE 6th MIDDLE EUROPEAN WORKSHOP ON PAEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGY (MEWPE 1999)

Emmersdorf, Austria, November 19-21, 1999

CHILDREN BORN WITH INTRA-UTERINE GROWTH RETARDATION (IUGR) OR SMALL FOR GESTATIONAL AGE (SGA): LONG TERM GROWTH AND METABOLIC CONSEQUENCES

P. Chatelain

Hôpital Debrousse, Endocrinologie Pédiatrique, Université Claude Bernard & INSERM U369, Lyon, France

IntraUterine Growth Retardation (IUGR) refers to insufficient fetal growth diagnosed either by two direct intrauterine growth assessment (ultra-sonography) or when the fetus or newborn length (height) is less than two standard deviations (or third percentile) bellow the mean for gestational age (Niklasson et al. 1991; De Zegler 1997). When the fetus or newborn body size (weight or length) is insufficient for gestational age, that is less than 2 standard deviations bellow the mean (or third percentile) for gestation during the situation is referred to as Small for Gestational Age (SGA). Since both fetal weight and length (height) gains are closely related, there is much overlap between SGA and IUGR. The proportion of newborn with normal birth weight and overlap between SGA and IUGR, isolated low birt weight, isolate low birth length and combined low birth weight and length is presented in Tab. 1, according to the most recent series reported nb Niklasson (1991).
SGA/IUGR is a public health problem, since 2.5-3.0 % of newborns are affected by definition, and 8-10 % of then do not catch up postnataly, presenting with a persistent severe height deficiency, developmental difficulties and poor outcome (Underwood 1991; Siegel et al, 1991; Albertsson-Wickland et al. 1993; Lakeman et al. 1994)

ENDOCRINE REGULATIONS, Vol. 33, 33 – 36, 2000

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THE 6th MIDDLE EUROPEAN WORKSHOP ON PAEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGY (MEWPE 1999)

Emmersdorf, Austria, November 19-21, 1999

NEW BOOKS

ENDOCRINE REGULATIONS, Vol. 33, 37 – 53, 2000

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