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Biomedical subjects

P Gorden

Publications and source records attributed to P Gorden.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Persistent or recurrent acromegaly. Long-term endocrinologic efficacy and neurologic safety of postsurgical radiation therapy.

As in other clinics, pituitary surgery was definitive treatment in less than 50% of cases of acromegaly treated at one institution over several decades. From 1965 to 1989, 24 acromegalic patients who had noncurative pituitary surgery received radiation therapy at the National Institutes of Health, with a basal human growth hormone level of greater than 5 ng/ml as the criterion for active disease. Using megavoltage irradiation, more than 60% of these patients stabilized at a normal hormonal range, and the overwhelming majority had decreasing growth hormone levels with time. No major side effects of irradiation were encountered except panhypopituitarism of varying degrees. The authors evolved a policy of surgery as the first option, followed by irradiation for patients with postoperative growth hormone levels more than 5 ng/ml.

Acromegaly

Insulin-induced surface redistribution regulates internalization of the insulin receptor and requires its autophosphorylation.

The role of insulin-induced receptor autophosphorylation in its internalization was analyzed by comparing 125I-labeled insulin (125I-insulin) internalization in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines transfected with normal (CHO.T) or mutated insulin receptors. In four cell lines with a defect of insulin-induced autophosphorylation, 125I-insulin internalization was impaired. By contrast, in CHO.T cells and in two other CHO cell lines with amino acid deletions or insertions that do not perturb autophosphorylation, 125I-insulin internalization was not affected. A morphological analysis showed that the inhibition is linked to the ligand-specific surface redistribution in which the insulin-receptor complexes leave microvilli and concentrate on nonvillous segments of the membrane where endocytosis occurs.

Animals

Calcium ions are required for the intracellular routing of insulin and its receptor.

We have studied the role of the cytosolic-free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) on the early and later internalization steps of insulin and its receptor. As before, we find that the rate of 125I-insulin internalization in HL60 cells remains normal when [Ca2+]i is lowered 10 times below normal resting level by the use of an intracellular Ca2+ chelator. By contrast, the subsequent intracellular steps, i.e. insulin receptor recycling and insulin degradation, are inhibited in calcium-depleted cells. Under low [Ca2+]i conditions, the association of 125I-insulin with late endosomes and lysosomes is also reduced. This suggests that calcium ions are required for fusion processes occurring at the endosomal or postendosomal stage of internalization. Thus, by regulating insulin receptor recycling and by controlling insulin degradation, Ca2+ ions play a key role in the regulation of insulin action.

Ammonium Chloride

Characterization of purified autoantibodies to the insulin receptor from six patients with type B insulin resistance.

Anti-insulin-receptor autoantibodies are present in the serum of patients with the type B syndrome of extreme insulin resistance. Sera from six patients with this syndrome were purified over protein-A agarose to remove insulin and other serum factors and obtain an immunoglobulin fraction. These purified fractions were used to quantitatively determine the antibodies' activity in three separate assays. The ability to inhibit insulin binding was determined in an assay using fibroblasts that overexpress the human insulin receptor; the ability to immunoprecipitate the receptor was determined in an assay using biosynthetically labeled insulin receptors rather than insulin cross-linked receptors; and the ability to stimulate glucose oxidation was determined in isolated adipocytes. We show that the ability of these antibodies to inhibit insulin binding is tightly coupled to their ability to immunoprecipitate the biosynthetically labeled receptor, but neither assay predicts the bioactivity of these immunoglobulins. We suggest that the inability to show this tight coupling in the past may be due to methodological differences. We find no evidence that these antibodies are anti-idiotypic antibodies.

3T3 Cells

Epidermal growth factor receptor internalization and biosynthesis in the diabetic rat.

The number of surface EGF receptors as well as their internalization rate and biosynthesis were analyzed in hepatocytes freshly isolated from control, streptozotocin-diabetic, and insulin-treated diabetic rats. All three parameters were decreased in diabetic animals and values were corrected by insulin treatment. Moreover, the inhibition of synthesis was specific for the EGF receptor since the other biosynthetically labeled proteins were not affected. These data demonstrate that the reduced number of hepatocyte surface EGF receptors results from an inhibition of EGF-receptor synthesis which is not compensated by a reduced internalization rate.

Animals

A prospective examination of octreotide-induced gall-bladder changes in acromegaly.

OBJECTIVE: We wished to determine the effects of octreotide acetate, a somatostatin analogue, on gall-bladder function during treatment of acromegaly. DESIGN: We used a prospective, open label trial of somatostatin analogue. PATIENTS: Seventeen patients with acromegaly took part. MEASUREMENTS: Ultrasonographic evaluation of gall-bladder contents were performed pretreatment, after 1 month, and subsequently at intervals of 3-6 months. RESULTS: Non-shadowing floating echogenic particles were observed in the gall-bladder in 12 of 17 patients after (mean +/- SEM) 2.5 +/- 0.6 months of treatment. During long-term treatment (mean 20.8 +/- 4.3, median 13, range 1-59 months), ultrasound evidence for cholelithiasis was observed in four patients after 20 +/- 4 months (range 4.2-43) months of octreotide therapy. No symptoms of biliary tract disease have been observed. Duration of acromegaly, average GH, average IGF-I, gender, age at entry, dose of analogue, and concurrent use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs did not affect the occurrence of sludge or gallstones. CONCLUSIONS: Formation of non-shadowing, floating echogenic particles occurs commonly during the first 6 months of treatment with octreotide acetate. Cholelithiasis is a risk of long-term treatment.

Acromegaly

Radiation therapy of acromegaly.

Conventional megavoltage irradiation of GH-secreting tumors has predictable effects on tumor mass, GH, and pituitary function. 1. Further growth of the tumor is prevented in more than 99% of patients, with only a fraction of a percent of patients requiring subsequent surgery for tumor mass effects. 2. GH falls predictably with time. By 2 years GH falls by about 50% from the baseline level, and by 5 years by about 75% from the baseline level. The initial GH elevation and the size and erosive features of the sella turcica do not affect the percent decrease in GH from the baseline elevation. 3. With prolonged follow-up, further decrease in GH is seen at 10 and 15 years, with the fraction of surviving patients achieving GH levels less than 5 ng/mL approaching 90% after 15 years in our experience. Gender, previous surgery, and hyperprolactinemia do not seem to affect the response to treatment. Patients with initial GH greater than 100 ng/mL are significantly less likely to achieve GH values less than 5 ng/mL during long-term follow-up. 4. Hypopituitarism is a predictable outcome of treatment, is delayed, and may be more likely in patients who have had surgery prior to irradiation. There is no evidence that this complication is more common in patients with acromegaly than in patients with other pituitary adenomas receiving similar treatment. 5. Vision loss due to megavoltage irradiation--using modern techniques and limiting the total dose to 4680 rad given in 25 fractions over 35 days, with individual fractions not exceeding 180 rad--is extremely rare. The reported cases have occurred almost entirely in patients who have received larger doses or higher fractional doses. The theory that patients with acromegaly are prone to radiation-induced injury to the CNS and optic nerves and chiasm because of small vessel disease is not supported by a review of the reported cases. 6. Brain necrosis and secondary neoplasms induced by irradiation are extremely rare. 7. Although anecdotal evidence raises the question of changes in intellectual function following irradiation, this has not been studied in adults receiving pituitary irradiation.

Acromegaly

Cystic fibrosis research.

In Virginia Morell's Research News article "New light on writing in the Americas" (18 Jan., p. 268), the illustrations on page 268 should have been credited to George Stuart of the National Geographic Society.

Cystic Fibrosis

Insulinomas: localization with selective intraarterial injection of calcium.

To facilitate the noninvasive preoperative localization of islet cell tumors less than 15 mm in diameter, the authors examined the use of calcium as an insulin secretagogue in an arterial stimulation venous sampling (ASVS) technique. In four patients with episodic hypoglycemia, calcium gluconate (0.01-0.025 mEq Ca2+/kg) was injected directly into branches of the celiac plexus (gastroduodenal, splenic, and hepatic arteries) and the superior mesenteric artery. In all patients, serum levels of insulin rose abruptly in blood samples taken from the right hepatic vein 30 and 60 seconds after the infusion of calcium into the artery supplying the tumor; injection into an artery not supplying the tumor did not result in a similar rise. Accurate localization of the insulinomas was verified at surgery in three patients. In the fourth patient, who did not undergo surgery, arteriographic results were positive for insulinoma at the predicted site. On the basis of these results, the authors believe noninvasive ASVS may replace invasive portal venous sampling as the most effective method for the localization of occult insulinomas.

Angiography

The relationship of ligand receptor mobility to internalization of polypeptide hormones and growth factors.

Polypeptide hormones and growth factors bind to cell surface receptors and are internalized by receptor-mediated endocytosis. Both [125I]insulin and [125I]epidermal growth factor (EGF) are internalized to a much greater extent than [125I]glucagon in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes. All three ligands bind initially and preferentially to the microvillous surface of the hepatocyte, but only [125I]insulin and [125I]EGF undergo significant redistribution to the nonvillous surface of the cell. Thus, the degree of lateral mobility of the ligand receptor complex is strongly correlated with the extent of internalization of the ligand. Since the beta-subunit of the insulin and the EGF receptors span the plasma membrane only once and both receptors are autophosphorylated, it is possible that these are important determinants of the receptor mobility.

Animals

A mutation in the tyrosine kinase domain of the insulin receptor associated with insulin resistance in an obese woman.

Insulin resistance is frequently associated with acanthosis nigricans and hyperandrogenism. In patients with type A insulin resistance, this has been shown to be due to genetic defects in insulin receptor function. However, other patients with a similar clinical syndrome have been reported to have a variant of this syndrome, in which assays of insulin receptor function were normal. We have sequenced a portion of the insulin receptor gene in one such patient, a 29-yr-old woman with obesity and insulin resistance. The patient is heterozygous for a mutation substituting isoleucine for methionine at position 1153. Met1153 is located in the intracellular domain of the receptor near the cluster of tyrosine phosphorylation sites at positions 1158, 1162, and 1163. Studies of the mutant receptor expressed in NIH-3T3 cells demonstrated that the Ile1153-mutation impairs the ability of insulin to stimulate autophosphorylation of solubilized insulin receptors. In addition, the mutation impairs the ability of insulin to stimulate receptor tyrosine kinase activity to phosphorylate an artificial substrate [poly(Glu-Tyr)]. It seems likely that this defect in receptor tyrosine kinase activity explains the defect in the ability of the patient's insulin receptors to mediate insulin action in vivo. Furthermore, this patient provides a paradigm in which genetic factors act in concert with other risk factors, such as obesity, to cause clinically important insulin resistance.

Adult

O-linked oligosaccharides on insulin receptor.

The insulin receptor, an integral membrane glycoprotein, is synthesized as a single-chain precursor that is cleaved to produce two mature subunits, both of which contain N-linked oligosaccharide chains and covalently linked fatty acids. We report that the beta-subunit also contains O-linked oligosaccharides. The proreceptor, alpha-subunit, and beta-subunit were labeled with [3H]mannose and [3H]galactose in the presence or absence of an inhibitor of O-linked glycosylation. Tryptic peptides from each component were separated by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. N- and O-linked oligosaccharide chains were identified on these peptides by specific enzymatic digestions. The proreceptor and alpha-subunit contained only N-linked oligosaccharides, whereas the beta-subunit contained both N- and O-linked oligosaccharides. The O-linked oligosaccharide chains were attached to a single tryptic fraction of the beta-subunit, which also contained N-linked chains. This fraction was further localized to the NH2-terminal tryptic peptide of the beta-subunit by specific immunoprecipitation with an anti-peptide antibody with specificity for this region. Binding of insulin and autophosphorylation of the beta-subunit were not dependent on O-linked glycosylation, because cells grown in the presence of the inhibitor exhibited a normal dose response to insulin. Therefore, the insulin receptor contains O-linked oligosaccharides on the NH2-terminal tryptic peptide of the beta-subunit, and these O-linked oligosaccharides are not necessary to the binding or autophosphorylation function of the receptor.

Acetylgalactosamine

Results of a prospective strategy to diagnose, localize, and resect insulinomas.

Since 1982, 25 consecutive patients with benign sporadic (non-multiple endocrine neoplasia type I) insulinomas have been studied. Most were referred because either the tumor was not identified at the referring institution or the diagnosis was unclear. Each patient suffered severe neuroglycopenic symptoms for a median of 24 months before diagnosis of insulinoma, and 32% had hypoglycemic seizures. Eighteen patients (72%) had a confirmed weight gain. Each patient underwent a supervised fast until 72 hours or the onset of significant neuroglycopenic symptoms (median duration 16 hours), with serum levels of glucose (median 35 mg/dl; range 24 to 46 mg/dl), insulin (median 21 microU/ml; range 11 to 230 microU/ml), C-peptide (median 2.5 ng/ml; range 1.0 to 7.2 ng/ml), and proinsulin fraction (median 55%; range 14% to 86%) measured at the termination of the fast. Preoperative imaging with ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance, and angiography visualized tumor in a minority of patients (26%, 17%, 25%, and 35%, respectively); in 48% of patients one or more imaging study results was positive. Selective portal venous sampling for insulin was the most informative localizing test (77% positive; no false-positive results). Tumor was resected for cure in 24 of 25 patients. Intraoperative ultrasonography identified nonpalpable tumor in seven patients and was crucial to the achievement of this high rate of surgical cure. We conclude that the diagnosis of insulinoma can be made by the results of a supervised fast, portal venous sampling is the most sensitive preoperative test for localizing insulinomas, and intraoperative ultrasonography is essential for intraoperative detection of insulinomas.

Adult

Localization and surgical treatment of occult insulinomas.

Management of patients with biochemical evidence of insulinoma and negative preoperative imaging studies (occult) tumors is controversial, varying from primarily medical management to aggressive, blind nearly total pancreatectomy to extirpate the tumor. Since 1982, 12 consecutive patients with occult insulinoma underwent preoperative portal venous sampling (PVS) for insulin followed by surgical exploration with intraoperative ultrasound (IOUS). Eleven of twelve patients (92%) had insulinoma removed and were cured. Portal venous sampling correctly predicted the location of the insulinoma in 9 patients (75%) and that no tumor would be found in another patient. A fourfold insulin gradient in the pancreatic tail of one patient correctly predicted that a distal pancreatectomy would remove the insulinoma despite the fact that neither palpation nor IOUS identified any tumor. Intraoperative ultrasound was the single best method to identify occult tumors because it correctly identified 10 of 11 insulinomas that were found, including five pancreatic head tumors that were not palpable. Palpation identified five insulinomas. Of the 10 tumors that were identified during operation by palpation or ultrasound, IOUS identified significantly more (100% versus 50%, p = 0.03) and guided the successful enucleation of each. The results support the strategy of preoperative PVS and operation with IOUS to localize and remove insulinoma in patients with occult tumors. Most tumors (75%) will be correctly localized to a specific pancreatic region by preoperative PVS and identified by IOUS (83%), allowing simple enucleation and biochemical correction of hypoglycemia. Morbid blind pancreatic resections are no longer indicated and long-term medical management of hypoglycemia should be reserved for the occasional patient (8%) who fails preoperative PVS and operation guided by IOUS.

Adult

Five mutant alleles of the insulin receptor gene in patients with genetic forms of insulin resistance.

The nucleotide sequence was determined for all 22 exons of the insulin receptor gene from three patients with genetic syndromes associated with extreme insulin resistance. In all three patients, insulin resistance was caused by decreased insulin binding to the cell surface. The patient with leprechaunism (leprechaun/Winnipeg) came from a consanguineous pedigree and was homozygous for a missense mutation substituting arginine for His209 in the alpha-subunit of the insulin receptor. The other two patients were both compound heterozygotes with a nonsense mutation in one allele of the insulin receptor gene, and a missense mutation in the other allele. In the patient with the Rabson-Mendenhall syndrome (patient RM-1), the missense mutation substituted lysine for Asn15 in the alpha-subunit. In the patient with type A extreme insulin resistance (patient A-1), the missense mutation substituted serine for Asn462 in the alpha-subunit. Both nonsense mutations markedly reduced the levels of insulin receptor mRNA transcribed from the alleles with the nonsense mutation as compared to the transcripts from the other allele. The reduction in the level of mRNA would be predicted to greatly reduce the rate at which the truncated receptors would be synthesized. Furthermore, the truncated receptors would be severely impaired in their ability to mediate insulin action.

Adult

The diagnosis of acromegaly: value of inferior petrosal sinus sampling.

The early diagnosis of acromegaly may be difficult when serum levels of growth hormone are minimally elevated and imaging of the pituitary gland fails to show an adenoma. However, transsphenoidal surgery has the greatest chance of cure at this stage. We therefore investigated the value of sampling petrosal sinuses for measurement of growth hormone in this group of patients. Simultaneous bilateral sampling of the inferior petrosal sinuses to measure serum concentrations of growth hormone was performed in five patients suspected of having acromegaly but with nondiagnostic CT scans (n = 5) and MR images (n = 3) of the pituitary gland. Levels of growth hormone from the petrosal sinuses were five to 36 times greater than levels in the peripheral veins in all five patients, and three of four showed a marked response to growth hormone-releasing hormone. During transsphenoidal surgery, growth hormone-producing microadenomas were resected completely in four patients. In the fifth patient, a left-sided microadenoma had invaded the cavernous sinus and could not be resected completely. Lateralization of the adenomas within the pituitary gland on the basis of differences in levels of growth hormone between the two petrosal sinuses was not completely reliable. Elevated levels of growth hormone in selective samples from the inferior petrosal sinuses can help support an early diagnosis of acromegaly when peripheral growth hormone levels and imaging are not diagnostic.

Acromegaly

Evidence for exogenous substrate phosphorylation and dimer formation by the activated 190 kDa insulin proreceptor in vitro.

The insulin receptor is synthesized as a single chain, 190 kDa glycoprotein precursor, which undergoes proteolytic cleavage, carbohydrate processing, and fatty acylation to generate the mature receptor on the plasma membrane. The relationship of these post-translational modifications to the acquisition of receptor function, i.e. ligand binding and phosphokinase activity, is not fully understood. Therefore, the 190 kDa proreceptor and mature receptor kinase activities were separately examined in vitro, and their phosphorylation properties compared. The solubilized receptor precursor from IM-9 lymphocytes was purified by sequential lectin chromatography and, following site specific anti-receptor antibody immunoprecipitation, phosphokinase studies performed. The isolated proreceptor was activated by insulin and phosphorylated exogenous substrate alpha-casein, as similarly observed for the mature receptor. Structurally, the phosphorylated proreceptor was identified as a 360 kDa homodimer under non-reducing condition.

Adenosine Triphosphate