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Case Reports 2010; 31(5): 597-601 PubMed PMID: 21173743 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Anti-Bacterial Agents:therapeutic use, Biopsy, Brain Abscess:drug therapy, Diagnosis, Differential, Female, Headache:etiology, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Neurosurgical Procedures, Pituitary Diseases:complications, Sphenoid Bone:surgery, Tr.   

OBJECTIVES: Pituitary abscess is rare disease and the correct diagnosis is difficult because there are non-specific symptoms and it is often radiologically indistinguishable from other pituitary lesions.

CASE PRESENTATION: We present one case of pituitary abscess that constitute 0.15% of all pituitary adenomas operated in our department in the 20 years. A 49-year-old woman presented with a history of 10 months bifrontal headache. The MRI showed cystic intra and suprasellar mass with ring enhancement after contrast injection. During transsphenoidal surgery, copious yellowish pus was found. Antibiotic therapy was performed. Histological study of the cyst wall confirmed the diagnosis of pituitary abscess.

CONCLUSION: Pituitary abscess should be considered in the differential diagnosis of all other cyst mass in patients with diabetes insipidus....

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Comparative Study 2010; 31(5): 700-707 PubMed PMID: 21173742 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Body Mass Index, Dwarfism, Pituitary:diagnosis, Exercise, Female, Health Status, Human Growth Hormone:deficiency, Humans, Male, Obesity:diagnosis, Quality of Life, Surveys and Questionnaires,.   

OBJECTIVES: A great similarity exists between growth hormone (GH) deficiency and obesity in terms of disturbances of organ morphology and function. The aim of the study was to compare health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) as well as exercise capacity and its subjective assessment in adult patients with GH deficiency and in adult patients with obesity.

METHODS: Ten (10) GH-deficient, thirty (30) obese, and thirty (30) healthy subjects participated in the study. HR-QoL comprised two parameters: QoL measured by using the Quality of Life Assessment of Growth Hormone Deficiency in Adults (QoL-AGHDA) questionnaire, and subjective evaluation of general health state by using the Visual Analogue Scale. The exercise capacity was determined in Six Minute Walking Test and it was subjectively assessed by Borg Scale for Rating Perceived Exertion and the modified Medical Research Council scale.

RESULTS: Decreased HR-QoL (both parameters) was observed in both GH-deficient and obese patients, with that effect being much more pronounced in the former group. Both, GH-deficient and obese patients, revealed decreased exercise capacity, which was also subjectively assessed as decreased, especially by GH-deficient patients. Positive relationships between HR-QoL and exercise capacity or its subjective assessment, observed in healthy subjects, partially lost their significance in obese, whereas they completely disappeared in GH-deficient subjects.

CONCLUSION: A decrease in HR-QoL is more pronounced in GH-deficient than in obese patients, whereas exercise capacity is unfavourably affected by both disorder to a similar extent, with the lack of clear relationship between these two parameters especially in GH-deficient patients....

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Comparative Study 2010; 31(5): 673-678 PubMed PMID: 21173741 Citation  Keywords:  Aged, Biomarkers:blood, Body Mass Index, Cholesterol, HDL:blood, Cholesterol, LDL:blood, Comorbidity, Diabetes Mellitus:blood, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity:blood, Poland:epidemiology, Regression Analysis, Resistin:blood, Triglycerides:blood,.   

OBJECTIVES: Plasma cholesterol, triglycerides and serum resisistin may all be influenced by diabetes and obesity, but their associations remain unclear. Therefore, we put forward a hypothesis that serum lipids might be parallel to resistin, as they all reflect the metabolic status of obese humans.

DESIGN AND SETTING: We measured the concentrations of resistin, total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) in 134 obese non-diabetic (73 women and 61 men) and 65 obese diabetic (33 women, 32 men) humans, and examined their interrelations. Obesity was defined according to the WHO criterion (BMI, ≥ 30 kg/m²) The presence of diabetes was the only differentiating factor between two groups of frankly obese humans.

RESULTS: Non-diabetic vs. diabetic, median and interquartile range, respectively: resistin (ng/mL) 26.08, 16.09 vs. 22.37, 14.54, p=0.736; TC (mmol/L) 5.02, 1.39 vs. 5.16, 1.56, p=0.374; HDL-C (mmol/L): 1.10, 0.41 vs. 1.02, 0.47 p<0.05; LDL-C (mmol/L): 3.00, 1.05 vs. 3.00, 1.30 p=0.978; TG (mmol/L) 1.70, 1.43 vs.1.95, 1.81 p<0.05. To investigate the interrelations between resistin and lipids, a simple regression analysis was used, and the results were for resistin & TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, and TG, respectively: in the whole cohort r=-0.1364, p=0.0670, r=0.1514, p=0.0437, r=-0.2573, p=0.0006, r=0.0434, p=0.5597; in non-diabetics: r=-0.2067, p=0.0213, r=0.1023, p=0.2621, r=-0.2399, p=0.0083 and r=0.0288, p=0.7497; in diabetics r=0.0280, p=0.8360, r=0.2267, p=0.0929, r=-0.2933, p=0.0298, r=0.1349, p=0.3127.

CONCLUSIONS: In diabetic and non-diabetic subjects the atherogenic LDL cholesterol shows an inverse correlation with resistin, whereas the protective anti-atherosclerotic HDL cholesterol is positively correlated with resistin....

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Journal Article 2010; 31(5): 602-608 PubMed PMID: 21173739 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Brain:metabolism, Depression:metabolism, Humans, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System:metabolism, Neural Pathways:pathology, Neurogenic Inflammation:complications, Neuronal Plasticity, Peripheral Nerves:metabolism, Pituitary-Adrenal System:metabolism, .   

: The etiopathogenesis of depression is a highly complex process characterized by several neurobiological alterations including decreased monoamine neurotransmission in the brain, dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, decreased neuronal plasticity, and chronic inflammation in the brain and peripheral tissues. Experimental and clinical studies indicate that the vagus nerve may influence these processes. The importance of the vagus nerve in the etiopathogenesis of depression is further supported by its involvement in the induction of sickness behavior, as well as by clinical studies confirming a beneficial effect of vagus nerve stimulation in depressed patients. The aim of this article is to describe current knowledge of afferent and efferent vagal pathways role in the development and progression of depression....

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Journal Article 2010; 31(4): 517-523 PubMed PMID: 20802456 Citation  Keywords:  Analysis of Variance, Animals, Ferrous Compounds:pharmacology, Growth Hormone:pharmacology, Insulin-Like Growth Factor I:pharmacology, Lipid Peroxidation:drug effects, Liver:drug effects, Malondialdehyde:metabolism, Rats, Swine, Thyroid Gland:drug effects.   

OBJECTIVES: Growth hormone (GH) and its tissue mediator, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), are involved in oxidative processes, lipid peroxidation (LPO) included. Bivalent iron (Fe2+) is frequently used to experimentally induce oxidative damage to macromolecules (Fe2++H2O2+H+→Fe3++•OH+H2O). The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of GH and/or IGF-I on the iron-induced LPO in the rat liver and porcine thyroid homogenates.

METHODS: Rat liver and porcine thyroid homogenates were incubated in presence of GH (100; 10; 1.0; 0.1; 0.01; 0.001; 0.0001 µg/ml) or IGF-I (1000; 100; 10; 1.0; 0.1; 0.01; 0.001; 0.0001 µg/ml) or GH (100 µg/ml)+IGF-I, or FeSO4+H2O2 plus GH and/or IGF-I. The level of LPO was expressed as concentrations of malondialdehyde+4-hydroxyalkenals (MDA+4-HDA) per mg of protein.

RESULTS: GH and/or IGF-I did not change the basal level of oxidative damage to lipids. In the rat liver homogenates, GH did not affect the iron-induced LPO, whereas IGF-I--in the lowest two concentrations--enhanced the process. In porcine thyroid homogenates, GH--in its two lowest concentrations--prevented, whereas in other concentrations, it enhanced the iron-induced LPO. IGF-I, in all used concentrations, enhanced the iron-induced LPO.

CONCLUSION: GH and/or IGF-I may reveal prooxidative effects. This fact does not support their application in the treatment of disorders associated with increased oxidative damage....

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Journal Article 2010; 31(4): 553-558 PubMed PMID: 20802455 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Chi-Square Distribution, Child, Child, Preschool, Dwarfism, Pituitary:immunology, Female, Human Growth Hormone:immunology, Humans, Immunoglobulin A:immunology, Immunoglobulin M:immunology, Leukocytes:immunology, Male, Recombinant Proteins:immu.   

OBJECTIVE: This study aims at assessing how recombinant human growth hormone treatment of children and young people suffering from isolated growth hormone deficiency affects some selected parameters of the immune system: a percentage of lymphocytes, granulocytes, monocytes, concentrations of A, G, and M immunoglobulins, a percentage of T lymphocytes divided into subpopulations CD4 and CD8, a percentage of NK and B lymphocytes, and phagocytic activity of granulocytes and monocytes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study comprised 30 children and young people aged 4.2-18 years with isolated growth hormone deficiency both prior to and 6 months after rhGH (recombinant human growth hormone) treatment with a dose of 0.093 IU/kg every 24 hr. The control group comprised 25 healthy children with normal height in the respective age bracket. Labelling was conducted by flow cytometry FACS manufactured by Becton-Dickinson using both labelled antibodies and PHAGOTEST® commercial kit (Orpegen). Concentrations of A, G and M immunoglobulins in blood serum were assessed by means of immunoturbidimetric method using COBAS (manufactured by Roche).

RESULTS: The lowest percentage of active granulocytes in PHAGOTEST® was found in a group examined prior to treatment compared to the control group. The percentage increased after 6 months of rhGH treatment to values comparable with the control group. Although mean concentrations of IgM and IgA after 6 months of treatment with rhGH significantly decreased in comparison with those determined prior to treatment, they still remained within the baseline norm. No significant differences in the phagocytic activity of monocytes, IgG concentration, % of NK lymphocytes, T lymphocytes divided into CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes, B lymphocytes and CD4/CD8 lymphocytic index were found. None of the patients exhibited any clinical symptoms of immune disorders.

CONCLUSION: rhGH treatment of patients with isolated growth hormone deficiency can have positive influence on the phagocytic activity of scavenger cells, mainly granulocytes, which in children with isolated growth hormone deficiency seems to be lower than in their health peers. Growth hormone treatment of children with isolated growth hormone deficiency does not significantly affect the activity of the immune system expressed by the phagocytic activity of monocytes, the percentage of B, T and NK lymphocytes and IgG concentration in blood serum....

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Journal Article 2010; 31(4): 512-516 PubMed PMID: 20802452 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Benzhydryl Compounds, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid, Female, Follicle Stimulating Hormone:blood, Glutamic Acid:metabolism, Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone:metabolism, Hypothalamus:drug effects, Luteinizing Hormone:blood, Male, Phenols:pharm.   

OBJECTIVES: The aim of present paper was to study the probable role of glutamic acid (GLU) as a mediator of bisphenol A (BPA) effect at the hypothalamic level and its effects on the reproductive axis of prepubertal male rats.

METHODS: Mated Wistar rats were treated with either 0.1% ethanol (control group, n=10) or BPA (BPA group, n=10) in their drinking water until their offspring were weaned at the age of 21 days. The estimated average dose of exposure to dams was approximately 2.5 mg/kg body weight/day of BPA. At the prepubertal stage (35 days of age), the male rats were sacrificed and Gn-RH and glutamic acid (GLU) release, an amino acid involved in Gn-RH secretion, were measured in hypothalamic samples containing medio basal and anterior preoptic area (MBH-APOA), by RIA and HPLC respectively. LH, FSH serum levels were measured by RIA and testosterone by EQLIA.

RESULTS: Gn-RH and GLU release decreased significantly in animals exposed to BPA (p<0.001, p<0.01). LH, FSH and testosterone serum levels were also decreased by treatment (p<0.0001).

CONCLUSION: Present results provide evidence that BPA may act at the hypothalamic level to decrease GLU release which in turn may modify Gn-RH secretion altering the normal function of the axis....

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Journal Article 2010; 31(4): 425-437 PubMed PMID: 20802450 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Clinical Trials as Topic, Depressive Disorder:therapy, Electromagnetic Fields, Humans, Magnetic Field Therapy:adverse effects, Treatment Outcome,.   

: Since 1999, attempts have been made in the application of a new technique called magnetic seizure therapy (MST) or magnetic convulsion therapy (MCT) in the treatment of depressive disorder--as an alternative to electroconvulsive treatment. The technique of rapid rate transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is used to evoke intentional and repeated magnetoconvulsive seizures, though it requires the use of stimulation parameters practically inaccessible in commercially available rTMS magnetic stimulators. Magnetic convulsion therapy has been tested on monkeys as well as humans. A decisive majority of studies carried out both on animals and humans addressed the issue of safety of the MST method and confirmed that the side-effects (mostly of a cognitive nature) which occurred after magnetic seizures were weaker than those observed after electroconvulsive seizures. An analysis of available sources, however, does not confirm any proven antidepressant action of the MST technique. No experimental investigations have been carried out on animal models of depression. Clinical effectiveness had been confirmed in merely a few (perhaps three) patients with depression. The authors submit the results of the hitherto conducted studies on MST to critical analysis, particularly in the aspect of their antidepressant efficacy....

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