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Bibliography 2004; 25(4): 310-316 PubMed PMID: 15361824 Citation  Keywords:  China, Chronobiology Phenomena, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century,.   

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Clinical Trial 2004; 25(4): 297-301 PubMed PMID: 15361821 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Brain:physiology, Female, Homosexuality:physiology, Humans, Male, Sex Characteristics, Sex Differentiation, Sexual Behavior:physiology, Sexual Partners:psychology, Surveys and Questionnaires,.   

OBJECTIVES: The current study examined and compared the preferred partner characteristics of heterosexual and homosexual men and women in relation to speculated patterns of brain differentiation underlying the preferences. Further, the study compared the preferences of butch versus femme homosexual women.

METHODS: Two hundred twelve heterosexual and homosexual men and women completed questionnaires on which they rated themselves and their idealized sexual partners on various morphological and behavioral characteristics.

RESULTS: Results of within-subjects multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) showed that the pattern of preferred partner characteristics of heterosexual women is most consistent with the theorized brain differentiation underlying those preferences. There was varying support for the theory as it applies to the other three groups. Between-subjects MANOVAs provided evidence to support some of the predictions generated by theory on the differences in brain differentiation between heterosexual and homosexual men and women and between homosexual women categorized as butch and femme.

CONCLUSION: The overall pattern of preferred partner characteristics among and between heterosexual and homosexual men and women does not support theory that holds that underlying brain differentiation between the groups is discrete and categorical. Rather, it supports theory that holds that differentiation manifests itself on a continuum leading to a variety of patterns of sexual orientation, and by extension, preferred partner characteristics....

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Comparative Study 2004; 25(4): 257-261 PubMed PMID: 15361813 Citation  Keywords:  Adrenergic beta-Agonists:pharmacology, Age Factors, Animals, Circadian Rhythm:drug effects, Isoproterenol:pharmacology, Male, Melatonin:biosynthesis, Organ Culture Techniques, Photoperiod, Pineal Gland:drug effects, Rats, Rats, Wistar, Time Factors,.   

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the effects of the beta-adrenergic agonist, isoproterenol, on induced increase in melatonin production in the pineal gland of young and old rats, at different circadian stages.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report here the effects of 10(-6) M isoproterenol-stimulated melatonin production by perifused pineal glands obtained from young (55 day old) and old (21 month old) male Wistar rats acclimatised to light:dark cycles regimen of 12:12 for 3 weeks. Pineal glands were collected at different circadian stages: 3, 7, 11, 15, 19 and 23 hours after light onset (HALO), and perifused for 510 min.

RESULTS: The basal levels of melatonin production in the young rats were approximately twice greater than those of the old rats. Isoproterenol stimulated melatonin production in both young and old rat pineal glands, whatever the circadian stage. The intensity of the response to 10(-6) M isoproterenol infusion was greater in young than in old rat pineal glands (P<0.001), with a trend towards an increase during the light phase, at 7 HALO, in both young and old rat pineal glands, although this trend towards increased melatonin response did not reach statistical significance (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: These results show that isoproterenol is able to stimulate both young and old rat pineal glands whatever the circadian stage. The magnitude of isoproterenol stimulation is greater in young than in old glands. Our results also suggest that the pineal gland response to isoproterenol is not dependent on circadian stage, at least, under our experimental conditions....

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Comparative Study 2004; 25(4): 252-256 PubMed PMID: 15361812 Citation  Keywords:  Analysis of Variance, Animals, Free Radicals:analysis, Hydroxyl Radical:blood, Male, Melatonin:physiology, Nitrogen Oxides:blood, Pain:metabolism, Rats, Rats, Wistar, Reactive Oxygen Species:analysis, Serum:chemistry, Singlet Oxygen:blood, Somatosensory C.   

: The concentrations of ROS were measured in samples of the sensorimotor brain cortex and in the rat blood. We measured the following parameters: The six lines spectra, nitroxide radical, free hydroxyl radical and singleton oxygen. Their concentration was measured under physiological conditions, after the nociceptive stimulation and after the application of melatonin, both in normal and stimulated animals. In the brain cortex only the singleton oxygen decreased after the nociceptive stimulation, whereas the nitroxide radicals and six lines spectra increased. The free hydroxyl radicals did not change significantly. In the blood serum the six lines spectra and nitroxide radical increased, the concentration of the free hydroxyl radicals did not change. Melatonin increased both the hydroxyl and nitroxide radicals. There was a non-significant decrease in the six lines spectra. The estimation of ROS can be used as a tool for detecting metabolic changes and the consequences of different environmental influences, in our case the influence of nociception and melatonin....

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Journal Article 2004; 25(3): 191-195 PubMed PMID: 15349084 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Base Sequence, DNA Primers, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Hypothalamus:physiology, Leptin:genetics, Pituitary Gland:physiology, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Pregnancy, Pregnancy, Animal:physiology, RNA, Messenger:genetics, Swine,.   

BACKGROUND: Leptin, the 16-kDa peptide hormone product of the ob gene, is a regulatory hormone secreted mainly by adipose tissue. Recent studies have shown leptin production by other tissues, including rat hypothalamus, rat and human pituitary, rat skeletal muscle, kidney and stomach, human and porcine placenta, human mammary epithelial cells as well as endometrial tissues. This hormone is a central modulator of food intake, metabolism and neuroendocrine functions.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to detect and locate porcine leptin gene expression in the different areas of the hypothalamus and pituitary on days 14-16 and 30-32 of pregnancy in pigs.

METHOD: Leptin gene expression was analysed by RT-PCR method. PCR products were subjected to sequencing analysis.

RESULTS: Leptin mRNA was expressed in the medial basal hypothalamus, preoptic area, stalk median eminence, anterior pituitary, posterior pituitary and adipose tissue on days 14-16 and 30-32 of pregnancy. Sequence analysis of the 258 bp product from the hypothalamus and pituitary confirmed 99% homology with the corresponding region of porcine leptin cDNA sequence.

CONCLUSION: Leptin mRNA expression in the porcine hypothalamus and pituitary gland implies its paracrine and/or autocrine role in the regulation of hypothalamic-pituitary axis activity....

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Case Reports 2004; 25(3): 173-175 PubMed PMID: 15349080 Citation  Keywords:  Child, Cysts:surgery, Female, Humans, Luteinizing Hormone:blood, Pineal Gland:surgery, Puberty, Precocious:etiology,.   

: Accelerated development of secondary sexual characteristics or sexual precocity is a well-known entity. Most authors recognize two groups of patients, those described as having central precocious puberty (CPP) and those with precocious pseudopuberty. CPP results from premature activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and pseudopuberty is caused by lesions that secrete gonadotropin-like substances or hormones. The onset of CPP is usually before age 8 in females and age 9 in males; however, there is contention that the age of onset is much earlier and also differs depending on the patients' race. Previously reported causes of CPP include intracranial neoplasm, infection, trauma, hydrocephalus and Angelman's syndrome. Pineal cysts are usually asymptomatic incidental findings, but have been associated with CPP. We present an interesting case of a patient with CPP and an associated pineal cyst. We review the literature on the pathogenesis of CPP and associated pineal cyst, the neuroendocrine relationship between the pineal gland and puberty and the neurosurgical role in these cases....

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Historical Article 2004; 25(3): 169-172 PubMed PMID: 15349079 Citation  Keywords:  Arabia, China, Documentation, History, Ancient, History, Medieval, Humans, Japan, Persia, Poetry as Topic:history,.   

: A periodicity of about 500 years has been discovered in the history of poetry and documented by means of inferential statistics. Great poets of Arabia, Persia, China and Japan emerged periodically every 500 years. Moreover, the waves of poetic creativeness in the West and in the East have been synchronous for the last 3000 years. It is a surprising fact, that this periodicity has been known already before 800 B.C. to the priests of Babylon, who ascribed it to the influence of goddess Inanna. A set of psychological symptoms typical for pubescence recurs on a global (worldwide) scale during these historical epochs every 500 years. One possible explanation would be to search for a cosmophysical factor, which impacts the neuroendocrine system of men....

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Clinical Trial 2004; 25(1-2): 141-147 PubMed PMID: 15159698 Citation  Keywords:  Brain Ischemia:cerebrospinal fluid, Humans, Interleukin-1:cerebrospinal fluid, Interleukin-6:cerebrospinal fluid, Intracranial Aneurysm:cerebrospinal fluid, Rupture, Spontaneous, Subarachnoid Hemorrhage:cerebrospinal fluid, Time Factors, Vasospasm, Intrac.   

: Cytokines play a key role in mutual influence of the immunological, endocrine and CNS systems. It has been proven that proinflammatory ILs may intensify the cascade of biochemical changes in ischemic brain damage. Vasospasm, which may accompany SAH and often coexists with symptoms of DINDs, is the cause of ischemic changes in the brain. It is thought that immunological mechanisms may be one of the causes of degenerative-productive changes in vessel walls, in delayed vasospasm following SAH, which lead to substantial vasospasm and in consequence too cerebral ischemia. In the randomly selected group of patients, who underwent surgical treatment after aneurysmal SAH, we determined the concentration of IL-1 beta and IL-6 in CSF in the periods between Days 0 to 3; 4 to 7; and 8 to 15 after the occurrence of SAH. The presence and dynamics of development of vasospasm were assessed on the basis of increasing DINDs as well as CT and cerebral angiography. We examined the concentrations of ILs in CSF using radioimmunological methods, applying commercially available tests for their assessment. We found that in the period between 8 and 15 days after SAH, in increasing delayed vasospasm and DINDs, here is a statistically significant increase concentration of IL-1 beta in CSF (105.4 +/- 46.9 pg x ml-1; p<0.005), and no significant changes in patients without vasospasm and neurological deficits. On the other hand, we noted a statistically significant increase concentration of IL-6 in CSF (4802 +/- 1170 ng x ml-1; p<0.05) only in the acute phase after SAH (Days 0-3) in patients in poor clinical condition, in whom delayed vasospasm and cerebral ischemia developed later. This increase of ILs level in CSF is probably related to the intensity of the SAH, and secondarily aggravates the vasospasm and ischemic changes in the brain....

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