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Biomedical subjects

R Bergland

Publications and source records attributed to R Bergland.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Boron neutron capture therapy for glioblastoma multiforme using p-boronophenylalanine and epithermal neutrons: trial design and early clinical results.

A Phase I/II clinical trial of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) for glioblastoma multiforme is underway using the amino acid analog p-boronophenylalanine (BPA) and the epithermal neutron beam at the Brook-haven Medical Research Reactor. Biodistribution studies were carried out in 18 patients at the time of craniotomy using an i.v. infusion of BPA, solubilized as a fructose complex (BPA-F). There were no toxic effects related to the BPA-F administration at doses of 130, 170, 210, or 250 mg BPA/kg body weight. The tumor/ blood, brain/blood and scalp/blood boron concentration ratios were approximately 3.5:1, 1:1 and 1.5:1, respectively. Ten patients have received BNCT following 2-hr infusions of 250 mg BPA/kg body weight. The average boron concentration in the blood during the irradiation was 13.0 +/- 1.5 micrograms 10B/g. The prescribed maximum dose to normal brain (1 cm3 volume) was 10.5 photon-equivalent Gy (Gy-Eq). Estimated maximum and minimum doses (mean +/- sd, n = 10) to the tumor volume were 52.6 +/- 4.9 Gy-Eq (range: 64.4-47.6) and 25.2 +/- 4.2 Gy-Eq (range: 32.3-20.0), respectively). The estimated minimum dose to the target volume (tumor +2 cm margin) was 12.3 +/- 2.7 Gy-Eq (range: 16.2-7.8). There were no adverse effects on normal brain. The scalp showed mild erythema, followed by epilation in the 8 cm diameter field. Four patients developed recurrent tumor, apparently in the lower dose (deeper) regions of the target volume, at post-BNCT intervals of 7,5,3.5 and 3 months, respectively. The remaining patients have had less than 4 months of post-BNCT follow-up. BNCT, at this starting dose level, appears safe. Plans are underway to begin the dose escalation phase of this protocol.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Changes in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma vasopressin in the febrile sheep.

Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of vasopressin (AVP) were measured in conscious sheep during fever induced by iv endotoxin. Body temperature and blood pressure were also measured. AVP concentrations increased in both CSF and plasma although increases were not parallel. AVP concentrations in CSF were significantly correlated to increases in body temperature whereas plasma AVP concentrations were not. Neither CSF nor plasma AVP concentrations were correlated with changes in blood pressure. These data indicate that there may be independent regulation of AVP release into plasma and CSF compartments and supports the idea that AVP may have several physiological functions to perform during fever.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Endotoxin-stimulated opioid peptide secretion: two secretory pools and feedback control in vivo.

Small doses of endotoxin evoked a dramatic biphasic response of opioid peptide secretion into blood in sheep. The first phase began within minutes and coincided with a brief hypertensive response to endotoxin well before the appearance of fever or hypotension. The ratio of beta-endorphin to beta-lipotropin fell abruptly at the onset of the second phase of release, suggesting early depletion of a pool rich in beta-endorphin and subsequent emergence of a pool rich in unprocessed precursor. The concentration of cerebrospinal fluid opioids increased tenfold during the second phase. Naloxone administration augmented endotoxin-induced opioid secretion in both early and late phases, suggesting a short-loop feedback regulation of stress-induced endorphin secretion.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Hyperprolactinaemia in males with and without pituitary macroadenomas.

To ascertain whether in hyperprolactinaemic men pituitary macroadenomas represent the end stage of a disease process wherein the only early symptom is impotence, the features of 16 hyperprolactinaemic men with radiological evidence of pituitary macroadenomas were compared with those of 10 hyperprolactinaemic men without pituitary macroadenomas. All were impotent and 25 had low serum testosterone levels. The group with pituitary macroadenoma was older (48.1 vs 63.2 years) and had tolerated impotence for longer (10.4 +/- 6.0 vs 4.5 +/- 2.1 years). 6 of them had visual field defects (none in the other group), 14 had hypopituitarism (1 in the other group), and 14 were initially seen for problems other than sexual dysfunction (whereas all 10 without pituitary macroadenomas were seen primarily for evaluation of recent onset of impotence). In the macroadenoma group bromocriptine restored serum prolactin levels in 13 of the 16 and serum testosterone and potency in 5, whereas in the non-tumour group it restored serum prolactin levels in all 10 and serum testosterone and potency in 9.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1982

Bromocriptine reduces pituitary tumor size and hypersection. Requiem for pituitary surgery?

Twelve patients with pituitary tumor whose prior treatment included surgery and radiotherapy in four, surgery alone in four, radiotherapy alone in one, and none in three were studied. Nine had hyperprolactinemia, two had elevated serum growth hormones, and one had no pituitary hormone excess. Visual field defects were present in six. All had pituitary-gonadal insufficiency manifested as impotence or amenorrhea. All were tested with bromocriptine, 7.5 to 25 mg daily, and followed up for eight to 27 (mean 15) months. Serum prolactin levels decreased to normal in seven of nine patients. Serum growth hormone values were normalized in both acromegalics. When hormone levels were reduced to normal, pituitary tumor size decreased. Vision was restored to normal in five of six patients, including one patient with pituitary tumor but no pituitary hormone excess. Bromocriptine corrects the physiological defects associated with pituitary tumors that have been incompletely treated with surgery, radiotherapy, or both and may be a useful primary treatment for patients with pituitary tumors.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Adrenocorticotropic hormone may be transported directly from the pituitary to the brain.

Experiments were designed to test the hypothesis that pituitary hormones may be delivered directly to the brain. Concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in the plasma were determined in blood samles obtained simultaneously from the carotid artery, the sagittal sinus, and the jugular vein of three awake sheep. Seizures were induced electrically to stimulate ACTH secretion, and at precise intervals thereafter several simultaneous comparisons were made in each animal. In many of the post-seizure comparisons, the ACTH plasma concentrations within the sagital sinus exceeded those within the carotid artery as well as those within the jugular vein, indicating that this hormone was released from the pituitary and carried directly through capillary beds of brain to the venous blood within the sagittal sinus. The experiment was repeated in one hypophysectomized sheep and, in this animal, ACTH concentration in the plasma was reduced, but that in the sagittal sinus still was elevated after the seizure, an indication that some ACTH (or ACTH-like material) was released from the brain itself.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1976

Characterization of mammotrophs separated from the human pituitary gland.

Human pituitary tissues from 27 patients and 7 persons post mortem were dissociated into single cell suspensions. On the average, 23% of the cells were mammotrophs. The concentration of prolactin in these suspensions averaged 3.8 ng/1,000 cells. After cell separation by velocity sedimentation at unit gravity, mammotrophs and other cell types were enriched twofold to threefold. The separated mammotrophs retained structural integrity at light and electron microscopic levels. In eight separation experiments, cells recovered from different gradient regions were assayed for intracellular prolactin levels. In cells from "normal" subjects, 8.5% of the prolactin recovered from the gradient was associated with large mammotrophs, whereas in patients with breast cancer, 28% of the hormone was associated with large mammotrophs. The number of mammotrophs recovered from this gradient region (beyond fraction 6) was doubled in breast cancer (2 expts). These mammotrophs showed areas of hypertrophied Golgi and endoplasmic reticulum. Culture of the separated cells from 1 patients with diabetes and 2 patients with breast cancer for 21 days showed that mammotrophs in the upper gradient fractions (diabetic) secreted seven times more hormone than those in the lower regions, whereas those mammotrophs from patients with breast cancer that fell to the lower gradient regions secreted 15 times more prolactin than did those in the upper regions. These data suggest that pituitaries of patients with breast cancer contain a small pool (10-20%) of hypertrophied mammotrophs that have the potential for significant secretory activity in vitro.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Superior results with complete resection of Askin's tumor.

A malignant small round cell tumor of the thoracopulmonary region arising in childhood has been described by Askin and colleagues. Subsequent descriptions have emphasized refinements (or disagreements) regarding pathology and emphasized the usual poor outcome. Complete excision has not been uniformly attempted in previous series. Our purpose is to describe superior results possible in a multidisciplinary setting emphasizing complete surgical excision.

Adult↗