Endocrine Abstracts

The blood-brain barrier for peptide hormones is protective for the maternal brain.OBJECTIVE: To compare peptide hormone levels on the two sides of the blood cerebrospinal fluid barrier in pregnant, non pregnant and menopausal women.METHODS: We investigated, with the approval of the local ethics committee, 35 healthy pregnant women at term, aged 21-41 years (group G), 27 non-pregnant women aged 21-43 years (group C) and 15 menopausa...

Background: Hirsutism is a major feature of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and the only accepted clinical sign of hyperandrogenism for its diagnosis, according to the androgen excess society (AES) recommendations. Previous studies demonstrated that hirsutism can be influenced by factors other than hyperandrogenism per se.Aim: To detect factors influencing hirsutism severity in PCOS.Patients and methods: Hundred and sev...

There are difficulties in establishing the diagnosis of gonadotropinomas using serum hormonal levels, even after intravenous TRH. We evaluated the relationship between humoral (serum and cerebrospinal fluid - CSF) levels of gonadotropins and the immunohistochemical evidence in tumor tissue.Serum and CSF levels of pituitary hormones were assayed using rapid fluoroimmunometry with Europium. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed with avidin-biotine. Grou...