The assessment of GH reserve in normal and pituitary dwarfed children by L-proline loading in high dosage (500 mg/kg).
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Popa.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Age-related somatic variability studied by 15 anthropometric parameters was assessed in 278 subjects (138 boys and 140 girls) aged between 5 and 20 years. Of these, 30% had simple obesity, 10.0% obesity associated with hypothyroidism, 10.0% obesity with diabetes, 25% obesity with adrenocortical reaction, 23.5% functional adiposo-genital syndrome and 1.5% Cushing's syndrome. The peculiarities related to the somatic development as a whole, the degree of bone development, and adiposity are interpreted in the main clinical forms of obesity, on the basis of the morphogram.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
In healthy, sexually immature children of both sexes serum IRI levels rose more than expected from random inter-individual variation (i.e. more than 3 standard deviations of the basal level) in 10 out of 21 subjects loaded by glycine. The IRI release by glycine though moderate and not constant is, however, unquestionable. The growth hormone (GH) secretory response to glycine did not change according to the occurrence and/or magnitude of IRI release. It was concluded that GH and IRI stimulatory properties of glycine given intravenously in large doses are completely unrelated.
Intravenous insulin (0.1 U/kg body weight) and oral 1-proline (100 mg/kg body weight) tolerance tests were performed in 22 healthy and 30 short-statured children and adolescents and blood glucose, serum immunoreactive growth hormone (GH), immunoreactive insulin (IRI) and 1-proline were determined. The peak level of serum GH was significantly higher following insulin than after 1-proline. The proline loading correctly identified the normality of GH axis in 12 out of 22 controls and in 3 out of 7 normopituitary short-statured patients. The serum 1-proline levels consideration did not improve much the ability of 1-proline load to detect either the normal GH responsiveness or the pituitary insufficiency. The mechanism of GH stimulatory properties of 1-proline in some healthy subjects is not known.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Antibodies against Mycobacterium tuberculosis glycolipids and whole BCG suspension were determined by ELISA on 58 sera from hospitalized patients with presumptive pulmonary tuberculosis and on 127 sera from control subjects. The experimental results demonstrated that the glycolipids are more adequate to be used as antigens than whole BCG suspension, as high sensitivity of the test was obtained. By using only one antigen, ELISA becomes more efficient in rapid diagnosis. ELISA with glycolipidic antigens should be used as a supporting test for direct smear examination in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis, especially in cases when repeated bacterial methods failed to prove the presence of M. tuberculosis.
IgG antibodies against glycolipids and proteins isolated from M. tuberculosis and BCG suspension were determined by ELISA in sera, in CSFs and in serum and CSF paired samples, from patients with tuberculous meningitis and from healthy control subjects. With specificities between 90 and 94% for the antigens used, we obtained senitivities of 75% for Pr-ELISA, 60% for G1-ELISA and 35% for BCG-ELISA. As specific antibodies were detected in serum and CSFs, only one sample is enough to perform the test. We concluded that Pr-ELISA and G1-ELISA could be used as a supporting test in TBM diagnosis, especially when repeated bacteriological methods failed to prove the presence of tubercle bacilli and in cases without evidence of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Antibodies against M. tuberculosis antigenic glycolipids were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 80 sera from patients suspected of pulmonary tuberculosis, with suggestive clinical signs and radiological abnormalities, but smears negative. The test was also performed on 68 control sera from patients with bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis, in different stages of disease. We obtained the test sensitivity of 89.5% for the confirmed tuberculosis patient sera. Low levels of specific antibodies and the sensitivity of 75% were found when using ELISA in smears negative patients at the onset of clinical tuberculosis. The experimental results showed that ELISA could be used as a supporting test in early diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.