Blood hormonal levels and lymphocyte beta-adrenoceptor characteristics have been studied in subjects exposed to acute noise stress. Cortisol and DHEAS show a peak at 15 min after the beginning of the stimulus. Catecholamine levels show an increase in 4 out of 8 subjects. However, no statistically significant changes have been observed in beta-adrenoceptor characteristics.

Catecholamines↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Assay of estrogen and progesterone receptors in small samples of breast cancer: I. Mathematical analysis of total binding data.

The quantitative determination of Estrogen and Progesterone receptors in breast cancer is performed using about 500 mg of tissue. Such an amount of tissue sample is available with ever increasing difficulty. In the present paper a mathematical method of analysis of the total (specific+nonspecific) binding data is given. In this way about 50% of tissue can be saved as only one set of test tubes is required; in fact, the method does not need the second set of tubes used to determine nonspecific binding in the conventional assay. Additional advantages from the statistical point of view are also presented.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Assay of estrogen and progesterone receptors in small samples of breast cancer: II. The conventional procedure compared to the mathematical one.

Parallel assays of ER and PR receptors have been performed in the same tissue samples using both the conventional method employing two sets of test tubes and a mathematical method which does not need the second set of tubes containing excess cold ligand concentrations. Determinations have been performed in calf uterus and human breast cancer samples. Findings show that the two methods give quite similar results. In particular, they are very close in human BC tissues where receptor density values show a very wide range. The mathematical method seems quite useful when the samples are poor of receptors, a case where the precision of the method may influence both prognosis and therapy.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Value of CA 125 as a tumor marker in ovarian carcinoma].

UNLABELLED: Cancer antigen 125 (CA 125) is a high molecular weight antigenic glycoprotein. It is recognized in the serum by a monoclonal antibody. Rising of serum levels is most frequently observed in borderline and malignant serous ovary tumors. Occasionally other cancers show elevated levels of CA 125. Structure derived from the celomic epithelium can also show elevated levels of CA 125. PURPOSE: Review the useful of CA 125 for diagnosis and follow-up of patients with ovarian carcinoma. METHOD: To obtain the information, an extensive and up-to-date bibliographic review was done about this topic. RESULTS: This tumor marker has an excelent sensibility although it is not especific. As it cannot develop tumors smaller than 1 cm, it is not indicated for populational screenings. CONCLUSION: CA 125 is useful to follow-up of patients whose ovarian carcinoma had already been diagnosed and suffered surgery procedures followed for chemotherapy. In this cases CA 125 show the therapeutic response.

CA-125 Antigen↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Determination of the optimal conditions to study DNA synthesis in cultures of mouse hepatocytes.

Mouse hepatocytes undergo profound changes during aging, such as increased nuclear volume, occurrence of tetraploid nuclei and impaired DNA synthesis following in vivo adrenergic stimulation. These alterations have been found reversible by implanting a neonatal thymus into old animals. In the present paper we studied the optimal experimental conditions in order to investigate the mechanisms of such actions in vitro. Unfortunately, in fact, most of data in the field comes from experiments on rats. Thus, we examined DNA synthesis of hepatocytes from mice cultivated in presence of neonatal calf serum only, or after the addition of the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol or the beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol. DNA synthesis in hepatocytes from young Balb/c-nu mice shows a peak between 36 and 48 h even in the absence of any specific stimulation other than newborn calf serum. The addition of isoproterenol does not modify the DNA synthetic pattern, while propranolol causes a slight but statistically significant decrease in 3H-thymidine incorporation. Results are compared with those obtained from other authors in rats.

Adrenergic beta-Agonists↗