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Biomedical subjects

L J Hipkin

Publications and source records attributed to L J Hipkin.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Testicular endocrine function in paraplegic men.

The responses of FSH and LH to the injection of LHRH were studied in fifteen paraplegic men and ten normal controls. The basal FSH levels in the paraplegic men were elevated in eight cases, basal LH being raised in nine cases. The responses of FSH were exaggerated in fourteen patients, and LH responses were exaggerated in nine patients. Only one patient was normal in respect of both hormones. Subnormal plasma testosterone was found in three patients. This depressed testicular function could not be explained as being due to spread of urinary tract infection and a direct neurological effect is the probable explanation.

Adolescent

Failure to suppress adrenal function in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (21-hydroxylase deficiency). Three case reports.

Three patients, aged 14, 16, and 32 years respectively, with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (21-hydroxylase deficiency) are described. Excessive adrenal activity and ACTH secretion could not be suppressed with doses of corticosteroids sufficient to cause iatrogenic Cushing's syndrome, even though part of the steroid dosage was administered in the late evening. The resistance to feed-back suppression was of the same order as that seen in Cushing's syndrome. Adrenalectomy was performed in the 16-year-old girl, and was followed by a menarche. Adrenalectomy was considered inadvisable in the other two patients.

Adolescent

Feto-maternal bidirectional mixed lymphocyte reaction and survival of fetal allograft.

Maternal and fetal lymphocytes were tolerant of each other in the bidirectional mixed lymphocyte reaction. This seems to be the principal reason why the mother does not reject the fetal allograft. Tolerance between maternal and fetal cells must be largely due to a genetic mechanism, because the bidirectional mixed lymphocyte reaction between parents and older children was much reduced compared with that between randomly selected pairs of controls. This weak reaction disappeared when immunosuppressive agents were given to one member of the parent/child pair, whereas the mixed lymphocyte reaction between unrelated individuals was not abolished by similar immunosuppression. It is suggested that this genetic mechanism is distinct from the HLA system. Tolerance between maternal and fetal cells was not demonstrated in the unidirectional mixed lymphocyte reaction, suggesting that this tolerance requires the viability of the two cell populations.

Female

Do plasma glycoproteins induce lymphocyte hyporesponsiveness and insulin resistance?

Depression of lymphocyte transformation and an increase in insulin resistance are common to pregnancy, oral contraceptive use, widespread malignancy, infection, and tissue destruction. We suggest that these abnormalities are caused by a rise in the plasma-glycoprotein level which is also common to these clinical states. There is evidence that glycoproteins can inhibit cell division, lymphocyte transformation, and the action of hormones on target cells. Because of the increase in plasma glycoprotein the cells in many organs and their hormone receptors may have a thicker coating of glycoproteins which blunts their response to variuos stimuli.

Cell Division