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Biomedical subjects

E K Mincey

Publications and source records attributed to E K Mincey.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

Human chorionic gonadotropin, prolactin, estriol, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate concentrations in cord blood of premature and term newborn infants: relationship to the sex of the neonate.

Although the composition of human chorionic gonadotropin, prolactin, estriol, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in the umbilical cord blood has been studied, less information is available on the effect of fetal sex on the cord blood concentrations. We assayed these hormones in cord blood from 405 newborn infants delivered between 23 and 43 weeks of gestation. In pooled data for both sexes, human chorionic gonadotropin showed a declining trend from the beginning to the end of the sampling interval. By contrast, in 398 newborn infants of known sex, prolactin, estriol, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels increased during the same period. Sex differences were observed for human chorionic gonadotropin only; female newborn infants had higher cord blood concentrations throughout the sampling period, with the differences becoming statistically significant between 29 and 36 weeks.

Chorionic Gonadotropin

Role of androgens in menstrual disorders of nonhirsute and hirsute women, and the effect of glucocorticoid therapy on androgen levels in hirsute hyperandrogenic women.

The plasma concentrations of total testosterone, free testosterone index, androstenedione, 17 beta-estradiol, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, prolactin, and urinary 17-ketosteroid and 17-ketogenic steroid excretion were measured in 48 nonhirsute and 119 hirsute patients. Hormone data were compared within and between groups according to whether the menstrual cycles were eumenorrheic, amenorrheic, or oligomenorrheic. Eleven hirsute women treated with prednisone were followed for 6 months. It was concluded that: (1) androstenedione, testosterone, free testosterone index, and adrenal androgens alone or in combination play a role in the pathogenesis of the hirsutism observed in eumenorrheic women and in the amenorrhea and oligomenorrhea of both hirsute and nonhirsute women; (2) body weight correlated with adrenal adrogens (17-ketosteroids) in nonhirsute women and with androstenedione in hirsute women; (3) prednisone significantly suppressed androstenedione and 17-ketosteroids (p less than 0.05), with a decline of testosterone to 65% and luteinizing hormone to 51% of pretreatment values, with favorable clinical effects on the hirsutism, menstrual dysfunction, and infertility; (4) concentrations of 17 beta-estradiol were lower in amenorrheic than in eumenorrheic and oligomenorrheic women of both groups.

17-Ketosteroids

Adrenal and sex steroid hormone production by a virilizing adrenal adenoma and its diagnosis with computerized tomography.

The presence of an androgen-secreting tumor in a 29-year-old woman was confirmed and its location was determined by computerized axial tomographic (CAT) scanning. The hormone production from this virilizing adrenal adenoma was studied in vivo and in vitro. The major secretory products of the tumor (as compared to normal adrenal tissue) were testosterone (24-fold) and 17 beta-estradiol (five-fold). Although the adenoma produced lesser amounts of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), the demonstration of elevated serum testosterone and DHEAS in serial samples was a better marker for an androgen-secreting adrenal tumor than were the urinary 17-ketosteroids, which remained in the upper limit of normal. The hormone production from the tumor depended neither on adrenocorticotropic hormone nor on human chorionic gonadotropin. The conclusions were that: (1) on the basis of serial measurements of serum testosterone and DHEAS, virilizing adrenal adenomas may be suspected when the concentrations of these hormones reach or exceed 200 ng/dl and 6,600 ng/ml, respectively; (2) the high-resolution CAT scanner can accurately localize these tumors; (3) cosmetic and menstrual dysfunction regressed after resection of the tumor; and (4) virilizing adrenal adenomas may produce both androgens and estrogens.

17-Ketosteroids

Evaluation of a new in-vitro blood test for determining thyroid status: the effective thyroxine ratio.

Estimation of serum thyroxine concentration in test serum was performed in the presence of test serum itself and expressed as a fraction (Effective Thyroxine Ratio, E.T.R.) of serum thyroxine concentration similarly determined in normal serum. From studies of serum obtained from euthyroid, hyperthyroid, and hypothyroid patients and from euthyroid pregnant women and women taking contraceptive (oestrogen) medication, the E.T.R. estimation has been shown to have a diagnostic accuracy (99%) in defining thyroid status comparable to that shown by the free thyroxine index (98%). Because of the ease and rapidity with which the procedure can be completed, estimation of E.T.R. shows promise as a single, accurate measure of thyroid status.

Contraceptives, Oral