Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G Proto.
The Authors report a case of mixed gonadal dysgenesis (DGM), with a mosaic karyotype consisting of two cell lines, one with 45 chromosomes and monosomic X (50%), the other with 46 chromosomes and one Y dicentric chromosome (50%). The patient presents a male phenotype, hypospadias (3rd degree), left cryptorchidism, hypotrophic right testis, short stature and a gonadal asymmetry.
Two cases of Graves' (Basedow) dermopathy are reported. In one case pretibial myxoedema was localized on the external surface of the legs down to insteps. In the second case a diffuse form involved both legs and was characterized by wrinkles and peau d'orange appearance at the ankles. In both cases a biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of Graves' dermopathy, showing diffuse areas of amorphus substance infiltrating the derma and fragmentation of collagen fibers. According to the literature, the skin lesions were associated with ophtalmopathy. Thyrostatic therapy affected ophtalmopathy in one of the patients, while pretibial myxoedema regressed in both. The pathogenesis of pretibial myxoedema is not completely clear yet, although dermopathy, along with ophtalmopathy and acropachy, is considered to be an extrathyroidal manifestation of Graves' disease related to bioassayble antibodies anti-TSH receptor. A class of dermopathy-associated antibodies (DAAb) has been identified. It seems to be a reliable biological marker for pretibial myxoedema since it is nearly absent in patients with ophtalmopathy and without dermopathy. Since DAAb does not stimulate human fibroblasts in culture, the role of DAAb in the development of Graves' dermopathy is still to be found.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate prolactin secretion in obesity. Basal level of serum prolactin and prolactin response after thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) were investigated in 20 obese patients and 20 healthy subjects well matched for age and sex. Obese patients had higher basal levels of serum prolactin than those of healthy subjects. Conversely, no significant difference in serum prolactin concentration was found at any time during TRH stimulating test. However obese patients showed incremental areas of serum prolactin slightly, but not significantly, lower compared to healthy subjects, probably because their basal levels were higher. In conclusion, the present study confirms that prolactin secretion is altered in obese patients. The discrepancy between basal levels and prolactin response during TRH stimulating test seems to indicate a deficiency in the dopaminergic inhibitor system.
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An example of the correlations between sugar, fat and protein metabolisms is presented and discussed. The example is taken from a group of patients subjected to outpatient metabolic tests, among whom a sub-group was found to have a higher glycosylated haemoglobin level due to unusually high levels of uricaemia and triglyceridaemia (P less than 0.001). Alcohol abuse, common to all these patients, may explain the simultaneous increase in uricaemia and triglyceridaemia, while the increase in Hb A1, might be caused dy the hyperinsulinism provoked by the first two. Altogether these alterations may put the patients at serious risk of atherogenesis, especially considering the role of insulin in regulating the fat metabolism of the arterial wall.