A melatonin-free pineal extract administered to rats in doses of 2 ml/day/animal along 12 days, induced a statistically significant drop in urinary 17 KS, cholesterolemia, hepatic, adrenal and testicular cholesterol. The dose of 1 microgram melatonin/day/animal did not alter these biochemical indices. This dose administered for 3 days did not affect the serum level and testicular concentration of testosterone, unlike the pineal extract which lowered significantly serum and testicular testosterone. Unlike the pineal extract administration of melatonin in doses of 10 micrograms/day/animal along 3 days had no effect on DNA, RNA and testicular proteins. Administration of the pineal extract lowered significantly serum LH and FSH after 3 days whereas melatonin in doses of 50 micrograms/day/animal did not have a similar effect. Furthermore, while the pineal extract inhibited the post-castration elevation of LH and FSH, melatonin in doses of 50 micrograms/day/animal had no effect. The same difference was noted with rats under GnRH stimulation: the pineal extract inhibited the pituitary response to GnRH whereas melatonin did not. The authors conclude that the effects produced by the pineal extract are not mediated by melatonin.

17-Ketosteroids↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Enzymatic aspects of severely acute diarrheal disease in infants].

Acute dehydration of diarrhoea of the breast-fed child is a type of hypovolemic shock which, by its severity and frequency is one of the major emergencies of pediatrics. The liver, as the site of many metabolic processes is mainly affected in the frame of the multiple-tissue involvement which is characteristic for this condition. The authors carried out a study of several enzymes (total LDH and the thermally-labile fraction, gluthamatdehydrogenase, gammaglutamyltranspeptidase, acid and alkaline phosphatase) in 27 breast-fed children. Determination of the enzymes was done on hospitalization, and 10 days later. The study showed that all the enzymes that were evaluated had moderate increases in 40.7-71% of all cases. The increases were significant (p less than 0.001). After 10 days the enzyme titers showed a tendency to become normal again, and slightly higher values were found in only 15-12% of all cases. Minimal hepatopathy can be considered, associated to the clinico-biological evolution of this severe conditions of the breast-fed child pathology.

Acid Phosphatase↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of pineal treatment on testicular biochemical parameters under basal conditions and after stimulation with HCG in the rat.

The effect of a melatonin-free pineal extract on sialic and ascorbic acid, nucleic acids (DNA RNA), proteins, total, free and esterified cholesterol in the rat testis under basal conditions and after stimulation with HCG was followed up. The pineal extract induced a decrease in sialic and ascorbic acid, total and esterified cholesterol, but it increased the proteins and RNA after 3 days of treatment, under basal conditions. The decrease in RNA and proteins was noticed after 30 days of treatment. Administration of HCG increased the sialic and ascorbic acids and decreased the total and esterified cholesterol, proteins and DNA without affecting RNA and free cholesterol in the testicular tissue. Concomitant administration of HCG and pineal extract showed that the pineal treatment corrected partially and sometimes completely the increasing or decreasing effect produced by HCG on the biochemical indices studied. The decrease in testicular esterified cholesterol the latter associated with androgen hormone synthesis, brings into discussion the role of the pineal gland in testicular testosteronogenesis, as the same pineal extract also caused a decrease in testosterone. The authors also discuss the regulating role of the pineal gland on some testicular biochemical indices.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The antisteroid, antigonadotropic and metabolism-regulation activity of the pineal gland.

This is a synthetic presentation of the data accumulated along almost fourty years in the Institute of Endocrinology in Bucharest, on the biology of the pineal gland. Most of these were included in the book treating on the pineal gland as an organ of metabolic regulation. The works revealed hypoglycemic, anabolic, anticholesterolemic and glomerulotrophic action of the pineal peptides as opposed to the pinealectomy which induced completely opposite effects. It was also demonstrated that the pineal gland has an antisteroid action, being both anticorticosteroid and antiandrogenic; the antigonadotropic action was also revealed on the basis of the classical method in endocrinology in which two states of plus or of minus of the glandular secretions show diametrically opposed phenomena. Researches on the hormonology of the pineal gland led to the production of a biologically active peptide extract which was finally turned into a medicine under the name of Crinofizin. The therapeutic indications of this drug are also presented.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of pineal treatment on rat HDL-cholesterol under basal conditions and under stimulation with HCG.

The effect of the pineal extract and that of two fractions, f1 and f2, one above, the other 10,000 daltons obtained by ultrafiltration of the extract, on HDL-cholesterol as well as on cholesterolemia and testosterone, under basal conditions and under exogenous HCG stimulation was followed up. Under basal conditions, the pineal extract induced a statistically significant decrease in the 3 biochemical indices, an effect which was also recorded with the two fractions, with the difference that the effect of f2 is more intense and significant as compared to f1, whereas the effect of the pineal extract appears more intense than that of the fractions. Under exogenous HCG stimulation, the pineal extract and less the fractions, partly inhibited the lowering effect of HCG on cholesterol and the rising effect of this hormone on testosterone. The role of the equilibrating agent of the pineal extract on HDL-cholesterol, cholesterolemia and testosterone, is discussed.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[A decrease in blood cholesterol after therapy with the pineal extract Crinofizin in 15 patients. Preliminary data].

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Adult↗