Endocrine Abstracts

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons represent the primary neuroendocrine link between the brain and the reproductive system. Although they play a key role in stimulating the release of LH and FSH from the anterior pituitary gland, the underlying mechanism by which they trigger the onset of puberty is unclear. To address this issue, RT-PCR, in situ hybridization histochemistry, and Affymetrix gene arrays were used to profile hypothalamic GnRH gene expression in prepub...

In mammals, the preovulatory LH surge is thought to be triggered by enhanced release of GnRH into the hypothalamic–pituitary portal blood vessels. Recently, we discovered that the medial basal hypothalamus (MBH) of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) contains two distinct populations of GnRH-producing neurones. One of these populations expresses the traditional mammalian form of GnRH (i.e. GnRH-I) while the other expresses a more conserved vertebrate form of GnRH (i.e...

Amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques represent one of the classic hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology in the brain. In rhesus macaques, these plaques start becoming prominent when the animals are 20+ years old, although the underlying cause(s) are unclear. In the present study, our goal was to test the hypothesis that exposure to a Western-style, high-fat, high-sugar diet (WSD) and/or loss of ovarian steroids would advance the development of this histological marker...

Introduction: Gonadotroph adenomas usually present as clinically non-functioning sellar masses. They are extremely infrequent in children. Only some case report of children and adolescents with clinical manifestations of high serum gonadotrophin levels have been published. As in adult patients most of the gonadotroph adenomas have a silent growth, and therefore a late presentation as macroadenoma with mass effects.Case report: This 16-year-old girl prese...

AbstractThe aim of our research was to find different from estradiol steroid hormones that changes in their concentrations may be risk factors of coronary artery disease (CAD) in women.Material and methods:YM-CAD-38 menstruating women in the age of 42.6±3.4 years with past myocardial infarction and angiographically proven arteriosclerosis. YM-H- 15 healthy menstruating women in the age of 41.1&#17...

Aim: To define concentrations (conc) of steroid hormones in patients (pts) with preserved gonadal function, suffering from coronary artery disease (CAD), and to assess their relations to patients’ weight.Material: Pts with coronarographically proved CAD: C-W group (gr)-52 women (W) in the age 43±3 years, with stable menstrual rhythm, C-M gr-46 men (M) in the age 52±6 years. Healthy volunteers: H-W gr-15 W (H-W) in the age 41±4 years, ...

In humans and rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) the zona reticularis of the adrenal gland produces large amounts of dehydoepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfated form, DHEAS. The circulating levels of these steroids are particularly high during early adulthood, and they then decline gradually during aging, especially in females. To help elucidate the physiological function of this steroidal loss we examined the 24-hour plasma profiles of DHEAS in female rhesus monkeys, us...

Age-related cognitive decline in postmenopausal women is thought to be partially related to the loss of sex steroids. Like women, old female rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) undergo menopause and show an associated decline in circulating estradiol levels. Similarly, they show an age-related decline in the release of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) from their adrenal glands. Because DHEA acts as a substrate for estradiol synthesis in the brain, it is plausible that DHEA sup...

Aim: Assessment of possible role of arginine vasopressin (AVP) and aldosterone (Ald), hormones managing blood pressure and water-electrolyte balance, for clinical state and survival of patents after cardiac arrest (CA).Material and methods: Fifty-two patients after CA in the age 62±13 years, 29 patients after out-of-hospital CA, 23 after in-hospital CA. Twenty-eight patients died after CA (CA-D), 24 survived (CA-S). In each day after CA clinical sta...

Aim: To assess concentration (conc) of arginine vasopressin (AVP) and conc of N- terminated naturetic propeptyde type B (NTpBNP) in patients (pts) after cardiac arrest (CA) and their role for clinical state of pts after CA.Material: 52 pts after CA, 36 men and 16 women, in the age 62±13 years. CA was caused by ventricular fibrillation in 31 cases, by asystolia in 15 and by pulseless electrical activity in 6. 28 pts died after CA (P-CA-D), 24 survive...