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Clinical Trial 2005; 26(2): 136-142 PubMed PMID: 15855885 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Aged, Alcohol Drinking:urine, Body Mass Index, Circadian Rhythm:physiology, Electromagnetic Fields, Female, Humans, Lymphoma:urine, Male, Melatonin:analogs & derivatives, Middle Aged, Reference Values, Statistics, Nonparametric,.   

OBJECTIVES: Exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) has been suggested to suppress melatonin secretion, which might result in higher cancer risks because of its missing oncostatic action. We investigated the effects of residential exposure to ELF-EMF on the excretion of urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (6-OHMS), the major melatonin metabolite, as an indicator of nocturnal melatonin secretion.r />r /> METHODS: 6-OHMS was measured in two spot urine samples, collected at 22.00 h and 08.00 h, in 29 men and 22 women. Spot ELF-EMF measurements were conducted at the centre and the four angles of the living room, the bedroom, and the kitchen of study subjects at low current configuration (all lights and appliances turned off), and they were repeated immediately at high current configuration (all lights and appliances turned on).r />r /> RESULTS: Risk of a reduced 6-OMHS nocturnal secretion was elevated for daily alcohol intake (OR = 6.4; 95%C.I. 1.4,33.1), and body mass index (BMI) above the median (OR = 2.2; 95%C.I. 0.5,9.6). Risk of disrupted rhythm of 6-OHMS excretion was moderately elevated for domestic ELF-EMF exposure above the upper tertile at low current configuration (OR = 2.6; 95%C.I. 0.4,15.7).r />r /> CONCLUSION: Alcohol consumption, BMI, and gender seem to affect nocturnal melatonin secretion, while an effect of residential exposure to ELF-EMF is uncertain. Future studies should properly account for the effect of such variables, when addressing the hypothesis of disturbances in melatonin secretion as a plausible explanation for the reported excess risk of several tumoral diseases associated with low level ELF-EMF exposure....

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Clinical Trial 2005; 26(2): 131-135 PubMed PMID: 15855884 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Adult, Autoantibodies:analysis, Drug Combinations, Estradiol:therapeutic use, Estriol:therapeutic use, Female, Germ Cells:immunology, Hormone Replacement Therapy, Humans, Medroxyprogesterone Acetate:therapeutic use, Menstruation Disturbances:c.   

INTRODUCTION: To investigate levels of antiovarian autoantibodies in girls and young women with disturbances of menstrual cycle before and during treatment with hormonal therapy. To explain morphological changes in ovarian structure in these patients.r />r /> MATERIAL AND METHODS: Studied group included 39 patients. 18 patients were treated for primary amenorrhoea, 21 for menstrual cycle disorders. Patients included in the study were repeatedly examined at the beginning of the study and after six months during which they were treated by estrogen and gestagen. In all patients we have tested FSH, LH and FSH/LH ratio, presence of antiovarian antibodies. Results were compared with those obtained in control women. 21 antiovarian antibodies positive patients were indicated for laparoscopic biopsy. Bioptic sample was examined using light and electron microscopy.r />r /> RESULTS: Our treatment with hormonal therapy lead to the reduction of ovarian antigens. In 85% of the cases marked decrease of antiovarian autoantibodies levels was observed, while in 28% of the cases the levels were undetectable. From morphological changes of the bioptic sample enhanced atresia of follicules at different developmental stages was frequently observed. It evoked marked reduction of follicular apparatus up to its complete disappearing.r />r /> CONCLUSION: The results of our study and mapping of the antiovarian antibodies positivity support our hypothesis that the antiovarian antibodies positivity corresponds with the clinical symptoms. Appropriate treatment with hormonal replacement therapy minimizes ovarian destruction, preserves ovarian hormonal functions and saves healthy ovarian tissue necessary for future fertility....

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Comparative Study 2005; 26(2): 125-130 PubMed PMID: 15855883 Citation  Keywords:  Action Potentials:physiology, Animals, DNA-Binding Proteins:metabolism, Electrophysiology, Hypothalamus:cytology, In Vitro Techniques, Male, Milk Proteins:metabolism, Neurons:metabolism, Prolactin:physiology, Rats, Rats, Wistar, Receptors, Prolactin:metab.   

OBJECTIVES: The study investigated the role of prolactin (PRL) in modulating STAT5 and electrical activity of magnocellular neurones in the supraoptic (SO) nucleus of male rats.r />r /> METHODS: Evidence of expression of STAT5 in the SO nucleus was investigated by immunocytochemical methods. Effect of blocking prolactin receptors on STAT 5 expression was investigated by Western blotting following transfection of SO neurones with a dominant negative mutant form of the PRL receptor. Prolactin-induced changes in electrical activity were investigated by extracellular recording in hypothalamic slices.r />r /> RESULTS: A high proportion of SO neurones in male rats expressed immunoreactive STAT5. Levels of activated STAT5 within the SO nucleus of PRL-treated rats was reduced following transfection with a dominant negative mutant form of the PRL receptor, as compared to rats transfected with wild type PRL receptor. Electrophysiological recordings from the SO nucleus in horizontal brain slices showed that approximately 25% of neurones were responsive to PRL, with both inhibitory and excitatory effects being observed. Cells displaying PRL responses included pharmacologically-identified oxytocinergic neurones.r />r /> CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, the results suggest that central PRL targets neurones of the SO nucleus, influencing both activation of the JAK-STAT signalling pathway and neuronal excitability. Whilst the functional significance of this interaction remains to be established, it might be important in co-ordinating oxytocin secretion with physiological events associated with changes in plasma PRL, or in mediating a feedback loop in the oxytocinergic regulation of lactotrophs....

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Comparative Study 2005; 26(2): 121-124 PubMed PMID: 15855882 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Exploratory Behavior:drug effects, Female, Habituation, Psychophysiologic:drug effects, Male, Motor Activity:drug effects, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Rats, Sex Factors, Testosterone:pharmacology, Vocalization, Animal:drug effec.   

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to characterize the influence of testosterone administered to pregnant females on offsprings postnatal behavioral strategies in the open field.r />r /> METHODS: The influence of maternal testosterone on behaviour of 23 day old male and female offsprings was studied in a 20-minute open field test. A total of 9 behavioural events were compared between a control (male n=12, female n=8) and a testosterone group (male n=9, female n=9). Dynamics and patterns of association of these behavioural events were analyzed. The testosterone group was prenatally exposed to testosterone (a single intramuscular injection of 2.5 mg testosteroni isobutyras on gestation day 14).r />r /> RESULTS: Male offsprings exposed prenatally to testosterone displayed significantly high levels of ambulation (P<0.05), sniffing (P<0.01), sniffing the air (P<0.05), urination (P<0.05) and significantly lower level of vocalization (P<0.05) than control. Female offsprings exposed prenatally to testosterone displayed significantly higher level of sniffing the air (P<0.05) than control. Significant differences in the dynamics of habituation process were registered only in the group of male. They were from 5 to 10 min in ambulation (P<0.05), from 10 to 15 min in sniffing (P<0.05) and vocalization (P<0.05), from 10 to 15 min and from 15 to 20 min in sniffing the air (P<0.05) and from 0 to 5 min in defecation (P<0.05) and urination (P<0.01).r />r /> CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that maternal testosterone may influence especially male postnatal open field strategies....

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Comparative Study 2005; 26(2): 113-120 PubMed PMID: 15855881 Citation  Keywords:  Adrenal Medulla:physiology, Adrenalectomy, Animals, Epinephrine:physiology, Fibrosarcoma:chemically induced, Hormones:physiology, Male, Methylcholanthrene, Rats, Rats, Wistar, Transplantation, Autologous, Tumor Burden:physiology,.   

OBJECTIVE: Effects of adrenomedullary hormone(s) on the induction and growth of fibrosarcoma by methylcholanthrene (MC) were examined.r />r /> METHODS: At 28 days of age, male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: 1) control, 2) bilateral adrenomedullectomy (Bil. AMX), 3) right AMX + left adrenomedullary autotransplantation (AMX + AMT), 4) Bil. AMX + epinephrine injection (Bil. AMX + E) groups. 14 days after surgery, MC crystals were inserted underneath the dorsal skin, and in the Bil. AMX + E group, epinephrine was injected subcutaneously, twice every week.r />r /> RESULTS: The incidence of tumor at 90 days after the MC injection was 8 per 35 cases (22.9%) in the control group, 12 per 36 cases (33.3%) in the AMX + AMT group, 8 per 28 cases (28.6%) in the Bil. AMX + E group, and each value was lower compared with that of the Bil. AMX group, 24 per 34 cases (70.6 %), (P<0.001, P<0.002, P<0.005). Such differences among groups were not seen at 165 days after the injection of MC.r />r /> DISCUSSION: The mechanisms of effects of AMX, AMT and/or epinephrine on the tumor incidence have been discussed with reference to tumor promotion, vascular neoplasia, etc. Since norepinephrine remaining in the blood of AMX rats was ineffective, at least it is likely that this inhibitory effect of epinephrine is mediated via the beta2-receptor.r />r /> CONCLUSION: The results suggest that adrenomedullary hormone, probably epinephrine, has inhibitory effects on the induction and growth of fibrosarcoma by MC, particularly in the early stage....

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Case Reports 2005; 26(2): 109-112 PubMed PMID: 15855880 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Aged, Autoimmune Diseases:complications, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Markers, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, HLA-DR Antigens:drug effects, Hepatitis C, Chronic:complications, Humans, Hypothyroidism:complications, Interferon-alpha:adverse ef.   

OBJECTIVES: The interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) therapy for HCV hepatitis may exacerbate or induce underlying thyroid disorders. Besides viral factors, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) may be an independent risk factor.r />r /> METHODS: We evaluated fifteen patients with HCV chronic hepatitis during a period of 40 months. At the enrollment, all the patients were negative for thyroid disorders, excluding one patient with subclinical hypothyroidism. Eleven patients received IFN-alpha therapy. The HLA system was examined in every patient, evaluating antigens (n=40) of locus A, B and Cw and alleles (n=19) of locus DRB1* and DQB1*. The HLA system was also examined in healthy subjects (n=107) as a control group.r />r /> RESULTS: The HCV genotype distribution in patients was: 1b=20%, 2a=60%, 3a=20%. Four IFN-treated patients presented clinical thyroid disorders, including autoimmune hypothyroidism (n=2), transient thyrotoxicosis (n=1) and subacute thyroiditis (n=1). The HLA susceptibility to thyroid disorders (antigen/allele frequency) in the whole group of patients was not different in respect to controls and normal Italian population. The patients with HCV chronic hepatitis that developed thyroid diseases after IFN- treatment had a double and specific association with the HLA system (Mantel-Haenszel X(c)(2)=4.706, p<0.05).r />r /> CONCLUSIONS: This case report suggests that HLA system examination is an important and promising diagnostic aspect that may be considered in order to evaluate the appearance of thyroid disorders during the IFN-alpha treatment for HCV-related chronic hepatitis....

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Journal Article 2005; 26(2): 98-108 PubMed PMID: 15855879 Citation  Keywords:  Child, Child, Preschool, Clinical Protocols, Decision Trees, Diagnosis, Differential, Family Health, Humans, Spinocerebellar Ataxias:classification, Spinocerebellar Degenerations:classification, Syndrome,.   

: Differential diagnosis in neurologic patients with spinocerebellar syndrome is complex as a result of the great degree of variability in phenotypic and genetic aspects of more than 200 nosological entities. In the past decade, genetic etiology has been discovered in part of the diseases and the term ''spinocerebellar ataxia'' has become, from a neurologic point of view, a loose definition applied to a group of autosomal dominant diseases. Topical extensive literature about differential diagnoses of ataxias usually refers to genetics classification or is produced by a group of radiologists, elektrophysiologists and biologists as well as others in the field. A further problem is that the majority of studies do not take into account other acquired illnesses and diseases which may fundamentally alter the symptomology and course of a primary disease, not to mention the possibility of concomitancy in hereditary diseases. The following article was prompted by daily contact with ataxic patients and related issues raised by colleagues; its goal is to clarify problems faced by child neurologists and neurologists in clinical practice....

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Comparative Study 2005; 26(2): 89-97 PubMed PMID: 15855878 Citation  Keywords:  Analysis of Variance, Animals, Base Sequence, Hemolymph:metabolism, Humans, Molecular Sequence Data, Morphine:metabolism, Nephropidae:metabolism, Nerve Tissue Proteins:metabolism, Nervous System:metabolism, Nitric Oxide:secretion, Nitric Oxide Synthase:me.   

OBJECTIVES: The study was designed to determine if morphine was present in lobster tissues. It was also important to determine, as in other animals, if its levels would change in response to stress. In this regard, it was also important to determine if lobster immune and neural tissues express the mu opiate receptor subtype, which was coupled to constitutive nitric oxide synthase derived nitric oxide release.r />r /> METHODS: Homarus americanus were used in these experiments. Morphine was purified in lobster tissues via high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to UV detection. It was quantified via radioimmunoassay (RIA) and was identified via quadruple time of flight - mass spectrometry. Animals were subject to 2 forms of trauma, namely pereiopod-ablation or lipopolysaccaride (LPS) - injection, and morphine levels determined in nerve cord or hemolymph. Real-time nitric oxide production was determined via an amperometric probe. RT-PCR was used to determine the presence of a micro opiate receptor transcript.r />r /> RESULTS: In Homarus americanus hemolymph and nerve cord morphine was found. RIA revealed morphine levels of 3.36 pg/mg +/ - 0.48 SEM (N=8) in nerve cord and 717.88 pg/ml +/ - 56.77 SEM (N=58) in hemolymph. In stressed (pereiopod-ablated or LPS-injected) animals, the endogenous morphine levels initially increased significantly by 24% for hemolymph and 48% for nerve cord. By day 5, the stressed and control values for endogenous morphine, in both tissues, was lower and non-distinguishable. In both hemocytes and neural cells, morphine, not met-enkephalin, stimulated constitutive nitric oxide release in a naloxone antagonizable manner, demonstrating a mu opiate receptor mediated phenomenon and suggesting the presence of the mu opiate receptor subtype, micro3, since it is opiate alkaloid selective and opioid peptide insensitive. RT-PCR revealed the presence of a micro opiate receptor transcript in Homarus neural and immune tissues, which exhibits a 100% sequence identity with its human counterpart.r />r /> CONCLUSION: Taken together, after eliminating all sources of contamination, morphine is present in lobster tissues, potentially demonstrating hormonal and neurotransmitter functions that are involved in the animals' stress response....

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