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Biomedical subjects

G L Warne

Publications and source records attributed to G L Warne.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

The methyltrienolone binding protein of JEG-3 cells and human placenta is localized within the nucleus and is tightly associated with chromatin.

Human placenta contains the methyltrienolone binding protein (MTBP), an androgen binding protein which is distinct from the androgen receptor. This study demonstrates that the human choriocarcinoma cell line (JEG-3) also contains the MTBP and that in both human placenta and JEG-3 cells the MTBP is located exclusively in the nucleus and in particular is associated with DNase 1 resistant chromatin.

Androgen-Binding Protein

Factors predicting residual beta-cell function in the first year after diagnosis of childhood type 1 diabetes.

Twenty-five children aged 2-14 years (mean age 8.39 +/- 0.78 years) were studied prospectively during the first year after the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. Of their clinical and metabolic features at diagnosis, only age showed a significant independent relationship with endogenous C-peptide production during the first year. Age was correlated with higher values for basal and stimulated plasma C-peptide at 7-14 days after diagnosis, at 6 months and at 12 months. At diagnosis, age was also associated with a higher value for HbA1c and a lower prevalence of insulin antibodies. C-peptide production peaked at 3 months and thereafter declined. Mean HbA1c and insulin requirement were both minimal at 6 months. At diagnosis, there were significant inverse relationships between basal C-peptide production and both insulin dose and HbA1c and between stimulated C-peptide production and HbA1c. Basal and stimulated C-peptide production were inversely related to insulin dose at 6 and 12 months. Stimulated C-peptide was higher at 12 months in children retaining islet cell antibodies. These findings confirm the importance of age as a predictor of residual beta-cell function in type 1 diabetes and indicate that older children present clinically following a slower course of beta cell destruction.

Adolescent

A possible defect in the inter-conversion between cortisone and cortisol in prepubertal patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia receiving cortisone acetate therapy.

Oral administration of cortisone acetate is widely used to treat prepubertal patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). However, efficient 'first pass' hepatic conversion of the biologically inactive cortisone (E) to cortisol (F) by the 11-reductase component of the 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11 beta-HSD) system is required for suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. 11-beta-HSD activity can be assessed by measurement of urinary tetrahydroderivatives of E (tetrahydrocortisone, THE) and F (tetrahydrocortisol, THF), formed in separate hepatic compartments by reduction of the A ring. Inadequate HPA axis suppression is frequently encountered in peripubertal CAH patients receiving cortisone acetate therapy. In this paper, we describe THE and THF concentration in 24 h urine samples collected every 3-6 months from 14 prepubertal patients with simple virilizing CAH. The patients had been receiving cortisone acetate and 9 alpha-fluorohydrocortisone since diagnosis and were investigated for 2-4 years during which there was marked intra- and inter-individual variation in the level of suppression. Good and poor control of HPA axis suppression were defined on the basis of a profile of early morning serum 17-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, plasma renin activity and 24 h urinary excretion of pregnanetriol, pregnanetriolone and 5 beta, 17 alpha-hydroxypregnanolone. Serum steroids were measured by RIA and urinary metabolites quantitated as methyloxime-trimethylsilylimidazole derivatives by gas chromatography and GC-mass spectrometry. There were no significant differences in the THE/THF ratio between male (n = 9) and female (n = 5) patients during either good or poor therapeutic control. The data were therefore analyzed without consideration of patient sex. Urinary THE/THF (mean +/- SD) was significantly higher in patients during periods of poor control (6.56 +/- 2.51, P less than 0.001) compared with periods of good control (3.73 +/- 0.96) in the same patients. THE/THF levels were also significantly (P less than 0.001) higher in CAH patients, irrespective of the level of control, than those for the normal subjects (1.79 +/- 0.20). Furthermore, THE excretion was significantly higher during periods of poor control compared with good control at all doses of cortisone acetate administered (10-50 mg/day). There were no significant differences in THF excretion. THE levels also rose significantly (P less than 0.001) in response to increasing total dose during periods of poor control. The increase in THF excretion was slight and significant only at doses greater than 40 mg/day compared with doses less than 15 mg/day.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adolescent

Three cases of congenital adrenal hypoplasia: a cause of salt-wasting and mortality in the neonatal period.

Three infants with congenital adrenal hypoplasia are described. The two surviving infants were detected and successfully treated in the neonatal period due to a suggestive family history (Case 1) and antenatal maternal oestriol screening (Case 2). The modes of inheritance, diverse clinical presentation, associated conditions, diagnostic work-up and pathology of congenital adrenal hypoplasia in these three infants is discussed.

Adrenal Glands

Serum gonadotropin, sex steroid, and immunoreactive inhibin levels in the first two years of life.

To characterize the changes in serum immunoreactive inhibin (INH) in the first 2 yr of life, blood samples were obtained from 46 boys (age range, 61-659 days) and 37 girls (76-666 days) undergoing minor surgery for nonendocrine related conditions. Serum levels were compared with those of simultaneously measured FSH, LH, and either testosterone (T) or estradiol (E2). In the boys, the levels of all 4 hormones fell progressively with age up to about 300 days, with a minor fall only in the second year. FSH (0.7-1.4 IU/L) was initially at the lower adult male limit, while LH (3.2-5.0 IU/L) was at the midrange. T levels (2.2-3.3 nmol/L) were in the adult female range, while INH (200-820 U/L) was in the midrange for men. In the youngest girls, FSH levels (12-26 IU/L) were frequently above the upper limit of normal for the adult follicular phase, but fell to approximately 2.0 IU/L after 300 days. LH levels (0.5-3.5 IU/L) were at the lower adult normal limit and changed little with age, while E2 levels in the youngest girls (280-550 pmol/L) were in the midfollicular range, but were generally less than 10 pM at more than 200 days. INH levels (175-260 U/L) were in the low adult range initially, but the majority were undetectable over 200 days. In the boys, significant negative correlations were observed for all 4 hormones with age, while FSH, LH, and T were positively correlated with INH. In the girls, there were weaker negative correlations of the 4 hormones with age, but no significant correlations between the gonadotropins and INH. E2 was strongly correlated with INH. Thus, the previously described early postnatal activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis involves INH as well as the se steroids and gonadotropins. FSH levels in young girls were strikingly high, and INH levels were much higher in boys than girls. The low INH levels in girls may contribute to the elevated FSH seen during the period of neonatal gonadal activation.

Aging

Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue (Buserelin) treatment for central precocious puberty: a multi-centre trial.

A multi-centre open trial of Buserelin, a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) analogue, was conducted in 13 children with central precocious puberty. Eleven children (eight girls and three boys), aged 3.4-10.2 years at commencement, completed the required 12 month period of treatment. Initially all patients received the drug by intranasal spray in a dose of 1200 micrograms/day, but by the end of the 12 month period two were having daily subcutaneous injections and three were receiving an increased dose intranasally. The first month of treatment was associated in one boy with increased aggression and masturbation, and in the girls with an increase in the prevalence of vaginal bleeding. Thereafter, however, both behavioural abnormalities and menstruation were suppressed. Median bone age increased significantly during the study, but without any significant change in the ratio of height age to bone age. The median predicted adult height for the group therefore did not alter significantly over the twelve months of the study. Buserelin treatment caused a reduction in the peak luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) responses to LHRH, mostly to prepubertal levels, and also suppressed basal FSH. In the first weeks of treatment, the girls' serum oestradiol levels rose significantly and then fell to prepubertal or early pubertal levels. A similar pattern was seen for serum testosterone levels. Serum somatomedin-C levels, however, showed little fluctuation over the course of the study. Buserelin treatment was safe and well accepted, and offers the promise of improved linear growth potential in precocious puberty.

Administration, Inhalation

The relationship of adrenal androgens to the secretory patterns for cortisol, prolactin, and growth hormone during early puberty.

Serum concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHA-sulfate), cortisol, prolactin, and growth hormone were measured at half-hour intervals for 24 hr in five healthy children aged 8--13 yr. Their adolescent development was assessed by clinical staging, plus determinations of serum FSH, LH, testosterone and estradiol during both wakefulness and sleep. Correlative analysis indicates that there was synchronous secretion of DHA and cortisol, implying regulation of both by ACTH. With advancing age and sexual maturation, there was a progressive rise in mean serum DHA and DHA-sulfate levels, but no similar change in serum cortisol concentrations. There was evidence for enhanced secretion of both growth hormone and prolactin during sleep in all subjects (including one who was hyperprolactinemic), but there was no obvious relationship between levels of these pituitary hormones and the early pubertal rise in adrenal androgens.

Adolescent

Hormonal changes in girls with precocious adrenarche: a possible role for estradiol or prolactin.

Serum concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone, DHA sulfate, estradiol, and prolactin in 20 girls with precocious adrenarche were compared with those of healthy girls of varying age and degrees of breast and sex hair development. Production of adrenal androgens, as reflected by serum DHA and DHA-sulfate concentrations, was significantly increased in PA above that in age-matched control subjects. Surprisingly, in spite of their lack of breast growth, the patients with PA also had serum estradiol levels that were higher than in the prepubertal girls and similar to those found in girls with both breast and pubic hair development. Serum prolactin concentrations in the patients with PA were not increased over those of the age-matched (less than 8 years) prepubertal girls. In the older prepubertal ( greater than 8 years) and early pubertal girls serum prolactin levels were lower. The finding of increased estradiol levels suggests that precocious adrenarche is not a distinct endocrine entity, but merely represents a variant of early adolescence in which estrogen secretion is sufficient to influence adrenal 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity with a resultant rise in DHA production, but not sufficient to produce clinically apparent breast changes. The data do not support a similar role for prolactin.

Adrenal Cortex

Studies on human sexual development. VI. Concentrations of unconjugated dehydroepiandrosterone, estradiol, and estriol in amniotic fluid throughout gestation.

Concentrations of unconjugated dehydroepiandrosterone, estradiol, and estriol were measured in samples of amniotic fluid from uneventful pregnancies of 9-40 weeks conceptual age. There was no apparent influence of fetal sex upon the levels of these steroids. Dehydroepiandrosterone concentrations rose slightly from 9-20 weeks, and then showed little further change. Estradiol concentrations declined slightly from 9-20 weeks; after 32 weeks gestation, there was a 2-fold rise to term. Estriol levels rose in almost exponential fashion throughout gestation.

Amniotic Fluid

Attempted suicide by insulin overdose in insulin-requiring diabetics.

Four cases of suicidal insulin overdose in insulin-requiring diabetics presented to one hospital in three years. In three cases there was a history of depression; but despite huge doses of insulin (3,000 and 1,500 units) in two, no patient died and only one had residual signs of clinical brain damage. The estimated plasma insulin level was not well correlated with the severity of the hypoglycaemia. It is probable that suicidal insulin overdose is more common than reports in the literature suggest, and may often be unrecognized. The dissociation between huge doses of insulin and the severity of the subsequent hypoglycaemia in diabetics is unexplained.

Adult

Glucagon and diabetes. II. Complete suppression of glucagon by insulin in human diabetes.

In order to determine whether glucagon levels of diabetic subjects are suppressible, alpha cell responsiveness to acute insulin administration (0.1 units/kg intravenously) was determined in fourteen juvenile onset, healthy diabetic and eight control subjects. In the diabetics, insulin produced a significant but slow fall in blood glucose over 60 min (P less than 0.01). On the other hand, glucagon levels fell dramatically in all diabetics to undetectable levels (P less than 0.001). Only one diabetic became hypoglycaemic and he alone showed a rebound rise of glucagon at 60 min. The rate of fall of blood glucose in the diabetic subjects was not influenced by the basal glucagon level (r=0.13) or the rate of fall of plasma glucagon (r=0.04). The glucose and glucagon responses of control subjects to insulin administration were in sharp contrast to the diabetics: blood glucose levels fell rapidly to hypoglycaemic levels and were associated with a major rise in glucagon levels (mean rise 116 pmol/1, P less than 0.001). We conclude that alpha cell hyperfunction in human diabetes can be completely suppressed by insulin administration and is therefore not autonomous, and that the slow rate of fall of blood glucose following insulin administration in diabetics is not secondary to glucagon excess.

Adolescent

Studies on human sexual development. V. Concentrations of testosterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone and progesterone in human amniotic fluid throughout gestation.

Concentrations of unconjugated testosterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone (170HP) and progesterone were measured by radioimmunoassay in amniotic fluid (AF) specimens from normal pregnancies of 9-40 weeks gestation. In two-thirds of samples from pregnancies with male fetuses. AF testosterone exceeded the upper limit found in female samples, with minimal overlap in the 12-18 week period of gestation. Although AF testosterone levels associated with male and female fetuses were both significantly lower toward term, the sex-difference persisted. Between 9-19 weeks gestation, fetal sex was also found to influence AF 170HP, a steroid thought to be predominantly of placental and fetal adrenal origin; in this case, female levels exceeded male. Awareness of the influence of sex and gestation upon AF concentrations of these steroids is an important prerequisite for their application to the prenatal diagnosis of endocrine disease (e.g., congenital adrenal hyperplasia). There was no sex difference in AF progesterone concentrations at 12-18 weeks gestation. The median progesterone concentration at 34-40 weeks was higher with female fetuses, but this difference may be related to a difference in gestational age between AF samples obtained from male and female fetuses.

Amniotic Fluid

Adrenocortical function in hyperprolactinemic women.

To study the effects of prolactin (PRL) on adrenocortical function in humans, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHAS), androstenedione (delta) and testosterone (T) were measured in serum obtained from 35 hyperprolactinemic women with galactorrhea and amenorrhea before and after treatment with bromocriptine-induced fall in mean PRL levels from 82 +/- 8 (SE) to 14 +/- 2 ng/ml (n = 39, P less than 0.0005), DHAS fell from 322 +/- 21 to 237 +/- 21 microgram/dl (n = 39); P less than 0.0005), DHA fell from 492 +/- 47 to 378 +/- 30 ng/dl (n = 39; P less than 0.01) while T (n = 16) and delta (n = 13) levels were unchanges (44 +/- 4 vs. 49 +/- 4 ng/dl and 280 +/- 55 vs. 236 +/- 40 ng/dl, respectively). In addition, 4 women were infused iv with 25 microgram synthetic ACTH over 4 h and serial blood samples drawn while hyperprolactinemic, and again 2-4 months later following normalization of PRL levels by bromocriptine. Although pre-infusion levels of DHAS were lower when PRL levels were normalized, no significant differences in responses of circulating DHAS, DHA, T, cortisol and 17-hydroxyprogesterone concentrations were detected between the two infusions. Since DHAS is virtually an exclusive product of the adrenal cortex, and since high PRL levels appear to inhibit ovarian steroid production, the findings suggest that hyperprolactinemia selectively stimulates adrenocortical androgen production.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones

Factors influencing the prognosis of vascular disease in insulin-deficient diabetes of long duration: a seven-year follow-up.

Fifty-one insulin-dependent nonobese diabetics with duration of disease from 15 to 40 yr were reassessed after 7 yr. Those presenting with clinical vascular disease, hypertension, or elevated fasting triglycerides initially were found to have a bad prognosis. Serum cholesterol fasting blood sugar, age, or duration of diabetes were not related to outcome, Acute insensitivity to intravenous insulin was correlated with presence of initial vascular disease and was significantly related to both death and clinical deterioration in either large or small vessels over the period of follow-up. Insulin sensitivity was reproducible and may be of value in predicting the progression of long-term vascular changes in the insulin-requiring diabetic.

Adult

Prolonged control of hypoglycaemia by L-asparaginase in islet cell carcinoma producing insulin and gastrin.

L-asparaginase (140,000 units) infused into the hepatic artery resulted in a remission from disabling hypoglycaemia for nine months in a man with islet cell carcinoma of the pancreas and hepatic metastases. The tumour produced insulin and gastrin with resulting hypoglycaemia and recurrent peptic ulceration which were unresponsive to other drugs. Following L-asparaginase there was a fall in both plasma and insulin and gastrin.

Adenoma, Islet Cell