Biomedical subjects

S J Neele

Publications and source records attributed to S J Neele.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Raloxifene reduces impedance to flow within the uterine artery in early postmenopausal women: a 2-year randomized, placebo-controlled, comparative study.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate the long-term effect of raloxifene and continuous combined hormone replacement therapy (ccHRT) on impedance to flow within the uterine artery in postmenopausal women. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 2-year study was performed in 95 postmenopausal women. They received either 60 mg of raloxifene daily (raloxifene 60 group), 150 mg of raloxifene daily (raloxifene 150 group), ccHRT, or placebo. At baseline and thereafter every 6 months, color Doppler ultrasonography was used to measure the pulsatility index (PI) of the uterine artery. RESULTS: After 24 months of treatment, compared with placebo, significant decreases were found in the PI in the raloxifene 150 group (P = .021) and in the ccHRT group (P = .007). In the raloxifene 150 group compared with the placebo group, after 6 and 24 months, decreases were observed in median PI of -5% and -15%, respectively, and in the ccHRT group decreases of -2% and -19%, respectively, were found. CONCLUSION: Long-term use of 150 mg of raloxifene daily or ccHRT reduces impedance to flow within the uterine artery. This indicates that high-dose raloxifene may exert cardiovascular protection.

Arteries↗

PubMed2001

Raloxifene affects brain activation patterns in postmenopausal women during visual encoding.

Recent brain imaging studies have shown that estrogens alter brain activation patterns upon working memory tasks in postmenopausal women. Estrogens, however, have many systemic side effects. We investigated the effect of the Selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) raloxifene on brain activation patterns during a memory task in postmenopausal women with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty postmenopausal and right handed women (mean age 65.7 years; SD 3.0) were included in this double blind, placebo controlled and randomized study. Whole brain fMRI was performed before and after three months of daily treatment with raloxifene 60 mg or placebo. Each scanning session consisted of a visual encoding task, a recognition test and a simple photic simulation test. Data analyses was performed with SPM99b software. Specific regions of interest for the tasks were defined based in previous experiments. Visual encoding activated the ventral route, posterior medial temporal lobe and frontal cortex in both groups. Treatment interactions for raloxifene compared to placebo were a decrease in activation in the left parahippocampal gyrus and left lingual gyrus, an increase in activation in the right superior frontal gyrus. The mean recognition test and the simple photic stimulation test showed no treatment interactions. Our results show that raloxifene affects brain activation patterns upon visual encoding in postmenopausal women.

Aged↗

PubMed2000

Effect of estrogen on intestinal strontium absorption in postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVES: there is considerable uncertainty about the underlying cause of decreased intestinal calcium absorption that occurs in postmenopausal women. In a previous study, estrogen treatment did not result in an increased intestinal calcium absorption using strontium as a marker. A possible explanation could be that the calcium/strontium load given to the women was too high ( approximately 600 mg Ca), which might result in an insensitive test with respect to the possible stimulation of active strontium transport by estrogen. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to reinvestigate the effect of estrogen on active intestinal strontium absorption using a load of 2.5 mmol of strontium only. METHODS: the effect of estrogen on intestinal strontium absorption was measured in eight normal postmenopausal women. The study included two baseline strontium absorption tests, which were performed with an interval of 10 days for calculating the within subject variation (SER). Thereafter the effect of 2 months of estrogen treatment on intestinal strontium absorption was assessed. Fractional absorption (FC(240)) and the area under the concentration time curve (AUC) 4 h after an oral strontium load of 2.5 mmol were calculated. RESULTS: the within subject SER of FC(240) and AUC(0-240) were 2.3+/-0.76 and 1.2+/-0.41, respectively. FC(240) and AUC(0-240) of strontium were unchanged after treatment with estrogen. CONCLUSIONS: in normal postmenopausal women, we did not find a modulating effect of short-term treatment with a (supra) physiological dose of estrogen on intestinal calcium absorption as measured by the strontium absorption test.

Area Under Curve↗

PubMed2000

Ultrasound assessment of the endometrium in healthy, asymptomatic early post-menopausal women: saline infusion sonohysterography versus transvaginal ultrasound.

OBJECTIVE: To exclude pre-existing endometrial pathology in asymptomatic early post-menopausal women before starting hormone replacement therapy by transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) and saline infusion sonohysterography (SIS). METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 148 healthy women (mean age, 51.1 years; range, 46-59 years) underwent ultrasound evaluation of the endometrium before participation in a clinical trial. TVS was used to measure double-layer endometrial thickness. SIS was performed at the same visit to measure anterior and posterior single-layer endometrial thickness, and to identify endometrial abnormalities when present. Ultrasound results were defined as informative if the endometrium could be adequately visualized. Findings on TVSs were defined as abnormal if a double-layer endometrial measurement > 5.0 mm was obtained. Findings on SIS were defined as abnormal if one or both single layers of the endometrium measured > 2.5 mm, or if focal endometrial thickening or a polyp was present. RESULTS: Of the 148 eligible women, informative TVS results were obtained from 134 women, SIS results from 133 women and both procedures combined from 119 women. TVS scans gave abnormal results in 8.2% of women (11 of 134) and SIS gave abnormal results in 36.8% of women (49 of 133). Of the 14 women with a non-informative TVS, eight had abnormal SIS results. Of the 15 women with a non-informative SIS, three had abnormal TVS results. In the 119 women with both informative TVS and SIS, abnormal TVS scans were found in 6.7% of women (eight of 119) and abnormal SIS in 34.5% of women (41 of 119). All eight women with abnormal TVS had an abnormal SIS, whereas 29.7% (33 of 111) of the women with a normal TVS had an abnormal SIS. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound evaluation demonstrated endometrial abnormalities in 34.5% (41 of 119) of asymptomatic post-menopausal women. SIS is more accurate than TVS in the detection of endometrial abnormalities.

Endometrium↗