Biomedical subjects

J Winikoff

Publications and source records attributed to J Winikoff.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

Serum total renin is increased before microalbuminuria in diabetes.

Serum prorenin is increased in patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) with microvascular complications. The present longitudinal study investigated whether increases in serum total renin concentration (TRC, active+prorenin) can predict the development of microalbuminuria in IDDM patients over a 10 year period. TRC and albumin excretion rates (AER) were determined in 78 IDDM patients who were followed longitudinally for 10.4 +/- 0.2 (mean +/- SE) years. Twelve patients had progressively increasing albuminuria (progressors), and these were compared to 66 patients in whom albuminuria did not rise (non-progressors). The two groups had similar duration of diabetes, age, follow-up, glycemic control and blood pressure at the start of the study. Serum TRC was increased in progressors [350 (1.1) mIU/liter, geometric mean (tolerance factor)] compared to non-progressors [189 (1.2)] after 5 to 10 years duration of diabetes, and continued to rise in this group, reaching a mean of 923 mIU/liter (normal range 131 to 170) after 20 years of diabetes. When serial measurements of TRC and AER were compared in individual progressors, a significant increase in TRC was apparent up to five years before the onset of microalbuminuria. Microalbuminuria in patients with IDDM is preceded by a substantial increase in serum TRC, suggesting that serum TRC may predict the subsequent development of incipient nephropathy.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

Acute suppurative thyroiditis.

A 25 year old woman suddenly developed pain in a neck mass which had been present for 10 years. Aspiration of a large cyst revealed by ultrasonography produced blood stained fluid from which E. coli was subsequently grown. Acute suppurative thyroiditis is the least common inflammation of the gland, and E. coli infection has been reported only once before in the past decade. A technetium scan is helpful in distinguishing acute from subacute thyroiditis.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1983

Characterization of antihuman chorionic gonadotropin serum antibody appearing after ovulation induction.

After repeated im courses of menopausal gonadotropins and hCG, a factor was found in a woman's serum which preferentially bound the intact hCG molecule (nanograms or milliinternational units required for 50% displacement of [125I] hCG: hCG, 9.2 ng; APL, 74 mIU; Pergonal, 400 mIU; LER 960, 900 ng; and FSH and TSH alpha-subunits, hCG beta-subunit, and LH beta-subunit, greater than 1000 ng). This factor had a low affinity (Ka = 5.8 X 10(9) liters/M) and high capacity (binding capacity, 5.5 X 10(-11) M/liter) for hCG, was isolated with the immunoglobulin G fraction of the patient's serum, and coeluted with immunoglobulin G from a Sepharose CL-6B-200 column. Preincubation of hCG with this fraction did not reduce the in vitro biological activity of the hCG in the hypophysectomized rat ventral prostate weight assay. Similarly, there was no gonadal resistance to hCG in the patient, since ovulation could still be induced with hCG, and both progesterone and 17-hydroxyprogesterone levels as well as duration of the luteal phase increased after repeated hCG injections. This serum factor prolonged the half-life of injected hCG in the patient's circulation (t 1/2 = 9.4 days in patient vs. 1.3 days in controls). The titer of the factor transiently decreased with the exogenous administration of hCG. No binding of the serum factor to human placental tissue could be demonstrated by immunohistochemical techniques. Thus, this factor behaves similarly to the antibodies frequently found after the injection of other polypeptide hormones, in that it serves as a high capacity reservoir of the hormone but does not significantly reduce its biological activity. These results also indicate that the factor requires the intact tertiary structure of the hCG molecule for immune recognition.

Animals↗

PubMed1977

Regulation of cyclic AMP level and lactic acid production in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

1. Quercetin (3.3',4',5,7-pentahydroxy flavone) at the concentration of 10(-4) M, as well as 2-10(-2) M theophylline and 1.5 - 10(-4) M prostaglandin E2 caused maximal rise of cyclic AMP in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. 2. No additional increase of cyclic AMP level in these cells was found when both quercetin (10(-4) M) and theophylline (2-10(-2) M) were present in the incubation medium, while combination of quercetin (10(-4) M) and prostaglandin E2 (1.5 - 10(-4) M) has a synergistic effect on the level of cyclic AMP. 3. Degradation of cyclic AMP by homogenate of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells was inhibited by both quercetin and theophylline. 4. Quercetin, and to a smaller but significant extent theophylline, inhibited the lactic acid production in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells while prostaglandin E2 did not change the glycolytic rate in these cells. No synergistic inhibitory effect on lactic acid production was found when combinations of quercetin and prostaglandin E2, quercetin and theophylline or prostaglandin E2 and theophylline were tested. 5. Treatment of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells with dextran sulfate abolished the inhibitory effect of quercetin on lactic acid production, while the effect of the bioflavonoid on cyclic AMP levels was not altered.

Animals↗

PubMed1977

Control of liver size in heat-acclimated hamsters.

In the hamster, heat acclimation reduces liver weight more than it does body weight. Therefore, liver weight constitutes a lower percentage of body weight during exposure to high ambient temperature. This change is not a result of dehydration since water content of the whole body and of the liver is not altered during heat acclimation. However, changes in lactic dehydrogenase isozyme proportions indicate a higher rate of liver degradation during the first 2 wk of heat exposure. These changes are accompanied by enhancement of DNA synthesis which is found to be elevated during the early period of heat exposure and later to fall to the control levels. The enhanced DNA synthesis might be a result of a high rate of tissue regeneration which probably takes place in the organ following the commencement of the degradative processes as was suggested in partial hepatectomy. Since the activity of DNA synthesis is negatively correlated with cyclic AMP levels, it is suggested that cyclic AMP plays some role in controlling hepatic DNA synthesis during heat acclimation.

Acclimatization↗

PubMedDate not supplied

In vitro secretory patterns of human chorionic gonadotrophin, placental lactogen and pregnancy-specific beta 1-glycoprotein.

The control of secretion of the placental hormones human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) and human placental lactogen (hPL), and the trophoblastic protein pregnancy-specific beta-glycoprotein (SP1), is not well understood. During pregnancy, the hCG concentrations peak in the first trimester then decrease, while hPL and SP1 increase steadily throughout gestation. In order to determine whether the discordance between hCG secretion and that of hPL and SP1 observed in vivo also occur in vitro, we cultured placental explants with and without dibutyryl cyclic AMP (dbcAMP) and theophylline. Between 5 and 12 explants were used for each treatment in each experiment. The concentration of the proteins secreted into the media each day was measured by specific radioimmunoassays. The quantities of hPL and SP1 secreted per day declined in a parallel fashion after 24 hours under both basal and dbcAMP-stimulated conditions. The hCG output progressively decreased in the unstimulated cultures until 48 hours, at which time an increase in hCG secretion was observed. The dbcAMP-stimulated placentae significantly increased their hCG output at both 48 and 72 hours. These data show that hCG secretion is regulated differently from that of hPL and SP1. The results do not negate the possibility that term placental tissue may contain an inhibitor of hCG release that is removed by experimental manipulation in vitro.

Bucladesine↗