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Biomedical subjects

A S Bhatnagar

Publications and source records attributed to A S Bhatnagar.

48 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Serum prolactin levels in galactorrhea.

Some patients with galactorrhea will have normal serum prolactin levels but many will have elevated serum prolactin levels. The galactorrhea may be due to drug ingestion, nipple afferent nerve stimulation, nonneoplastic disease or injury, and intracranial tumors. Serum prolactin levels were measured by radioimmunoassay in 17 women with galactorrhea. Levels 5 and 6 times normal values were found in two women who had proved pituitary adenomas. The latter conditions must be strongly considered and functional tests may help in diagnosis prior to enlargement of a prolactin-secreting tumor to the size where changes in the sella are seen on x-ray or visual field changes occur. If galactorrhea persists when no evidence of tumor can be found, the patient must be periodically re-evaluated, as the tumor may have been too small for detection at the time of the previous examination.

Adenoma↗

Effect of long-term treatment with aromatase inhibitor on testicular function of adult male bonnet monkeys (M. radiata).

The role/need for estrogen in regulating testicular function of adult male bonnet monkeys (M. radiata) has been investigated by dosing orally a group of five normal males 2.5 mgs of CGP 47645, a long-acting nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor (AI), once every 5 days for over 150 days. Such treatment resulted in a 10-fold increment in nocturnal serum testosterone (T) levels, which were sustained for 85 days of treatment, and a twofold increment in basal serum T levels was present throughout the 150 days of treatment. Analysis of ejaculated semen showed a marked reduction (approximately 90%) in sperm counts in four out of five monkeys between Days 55-85 of treatment. During this period, the motility score also was markedly reduced from a normal score of 3-5 to 0-2. Flow cytometric analysis of testicular germ cells obtained from biopsy tissue taken on Days 63 and 120 indicated a marked reduction only in elongating/elongated spermatid population (compared to Day 0 values), suggesting inhibition in spermiogenic process. Epididymal sperm maturation also seemed effected as sperm chromatin, on flow cytometric analysis for decondensability following exposure to 5 mM dithiotreitol, showed to be in a hypercondensed state. This study thus indicates that estrogen has an important role in providing normal testicular and sperm function in the primate.

Administration, Oral↗

Intracellular aromatase and its relevance to the pharmacological efficacy of aromatase inhibitors.

An important feature of the pharmacological profile of aromatase inhibitors is the ability of the various inhibitors to inhibit intracellular aromatase. It is now well documented that a large proportion of breast tumors express their own aromatase. This intratumoral aromatase produces estrogen in situ and therefore may contribute significantly to the amount of estrogen to which the cell is exposed. Thus it is not only important that aromatase inhibitors potently inhibit the peripheral production of estrogen and eliminate the external supply of estrogen to the tumor cell, but that they in addition potently inhibit intratumoral aromatase and prevent the tumor cell from making its own estrogen within the cell. To study the inhibition of intracellular aromatase we have compared the aromatase-inhibiting potency of the non-steroidal aromatase inhibitors, letrozole, anastrozole and fadrozole in a variety of model cellular endocrine and tumor systems which contain aromatase. We have used hamsters ovarian tissue fragments, adipose tissue fibroblasts from normal human breast, the MCF-7Ca human breast cancer cell line transfected with the human aromatase gene and the JEG-3 human choriocarcinoma cell line. Although letrozole and anastrozole are approximately equipotent in a cell-free aromatase system (human placental microsomes), letrozole is consistently 10-30 times more potent than anastrozole in inhibiting intracellular aromatase in intact rodent cells, normal human adipose fibroblasts and human cancer cell lines. Whether these differences between letrozole and anastrozole are seen in the clinical setting will have to await the results of clinical trials which are currently in progress.

Anastrozole↗

Effects of estradiol on platelet aggregation in cerebral microvessels of mice.

Mice were implanted subcutaneously with a pellet containing 0.5 mg estradiol or with a placebo. Eight to 12 days later platelet aggregation was produced in pial arterioles by injuring their endothelium in vivo with a noxious light/dye stimulus. The time between the onset of the noxious stimulus and the appearance of platelet aggregates was significantly shortened (p less than .02) by estradiol treatment in young (2 month old) mice. The same treatment had the opposite effect in 4-6 month old mice and significantly delayed the onset of aggregation (p = .01). When platelet rich plasma (PRP) was prepared, aggregation by sodium arachidonate was always inhibited in PRP from estradiol treated mice, irrespective of age. Estradiol treatment had no effect on aggregation induced ex vivo by ADP. Thus the enhanced aggregation observed in pial arterioles of young estradiol treated mice may not reflect direct effects of estradiol on the platelet itself. The data are discussed in light of the literature suggesting enhancement of ischemic vascular disease, including strokes, in patients receiving estrogens, and especially high doses of estrogens.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗