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Biomedical subjects

M Coculescu

Publications and source records attributed to M Coculescu.

64 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Hydro-osmotic activity of the cerebrospinal fluid in fetuses, children and adults].

The hydroosmotic activity of the cerebrospinal fluid in 38 persons of different ages and in 2 fetuses was investigated. In the fetal cerebrospinal fluid the hydroosmotic activity was undetectable. The highest hydroosmotic activity was observed in the cerebrospinal fluid of children aged 0 to 3 years (24.320 +/- 3530 microhydroosmotic units (mHOU/ml). The activity significantly decreased in the cerebrospinal fluid of children 7 to 10 years of age (13.184 +/- 2112 mHOU/ml, p < 0.01). The above activity was detected in 40% of the adult patients with different diseases and in all the cases of idiopathic diabetes insipidus. The hydroosmotic activity of both children and adults was sensitive to trypsin digestion. The data obtained suggest the presence of a basic peptide, probably arginine-vasotocin, in the cerebrospinal fluid studied. If this hypothesis is right, vasotocin occurres in the cerebrospinal fluid only after birth and decreases with age, with the exception of some cases of pathology.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Is angiotensin a new pineal hormone?

An isorenin is synthetized in the pineal gland cells. For the synthesis of angiotensin I and II a supply of alpha2 globulin renin substrate is necessary. The amount of isorenin as well as of angiotensin I and II in the pineal gland depends on the circadian rhythm, the sleep-wakefulness cycle, osmotic stimuli, stimulation of the sympathetic postganglionar fibres which innervate the pineal gland and it is increased in some diseases, as hereditary diabetes insipidus and spontaneous hypertension in rat. Pineal angiotensin is released both into the blood and into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The major sites of action are the circumventricular organs, the periventricular receptors of the anterior hypothalamus and the epiphysis cerebri itself. Beside its participation in the regulation of arterial pressure and of the hydroelectrolytic metabolism through its direct effects on the brain, pineal angiotensin also participates in the pool of circulating angiotensin and it may represent Farrell's pineal glomerulotropic factor.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mixed TSH- and HGH-secreting pituitary adenoma.

A man aged 36 was found to have an invasive pituitary adenoma with evolutive acromegaly and hyperthyroidism and a high serum level of HGH and TSH, suggesting a tumoral production of HGH and TSH. The serum concentration of HGH was above 180 ng/ml; there was also an inappropriately high serum level of TSH, which failed to decrease following the triiodothyronine suppression test and did not increase after TRH (0.4 mg i.v.). In the tumoral tissue removed during pituitary surgery, the concentration of TSH was 1,267.2 microU/g and that of HGH was 1,158.6 micrograms/g, showing that the pituitary adenoma secreted both TSH and HGH.

Acromegaly↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Additional antitumoral effects of bromocriptine and radiotherapy in patients with prolactinomas or acromegaly.

Thirteen patients with prolactin-secreting and/or growth hormone secreting pituitary tumours have been treated with bromocriptine in doses of about 10 mg/day for several months. Nine of these patients were previously submitted to external or interstitial radiotherapy and one case to pituitary microsurgery. Serum prolactin concentration in patients with prolactinomas was still very high within one year after pituitary irradiation or operation, i.e. 5,125.6 +/- 974 mU/l (mean +/- SEM). It has been reduced to normal level only during bromocriptine therapy, i.e. to 329.1 +/- 88mU/l (p less than 0.001), and increased thereafter, but remained to a significantly lower concentration than before bromocriptine treatment, i.e. 2,709.0 +/- 553 mU/l (p less than 0.05). Serial pneumonecephalotomography has demonstrated the reduction of tumour size afrer bromcriptine therapy to two prolactinomas with suprasellar extension. In patients with acromegaly the effects of bromocriptine were less evident. The antitumoral effects of bromocriptine on prolactin-secreting adenomas is independent and additional to the effects of pituitary radiotherapy or microsurgery, and has therapeuticical implications.

Acromegaly↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hormonal evidence for the dissemination through the cerebrospinal fluid, of secreting cells from invasive pituitary adenomas.

In 13 patients with invasive pituitary adenomas submitted to pituitary surgery (5 HGH-secreting adenomas, 6 prolactin-secreting adenomas, 2 non-secreting adenomas), the concentrations of HGH and prolactin (PRL) constantly decreased after operation both in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum, and the CSF/serum ratio remained under one, with few exceptions. These last cases (2 with acromegaly, 2 with invasive prolactinomas), showed an increase of HGH or PRL concentrations in CSF when serum levels decreased; the CSF/serum ratio rose above one within 2 weeks post surgery in 2 patients, and within 2 years post surgery in another two. The circulation of CSF was not obstructed. This indicated the appearance of a new, extrapituitary source for secreting HGH or PRL directly into the CSF, a source which most probably developed through the dissemination, via CSF, of secreting cells from malignant pituitary adenomas.

Acromegaly↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier for prolactin in empty sella syndrome.

In six patients with "empty sella" syndrome (ESS), three primary (pESS) and three secndary (sESS), the ratio of serum to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of prolactin (PRL) was 6.6 +/- 0.7 (mean +/- SEM) (range 5.5--9.6), with a significant correlation between serum and CSF levels of PRL (r = 0.93 p less than 0.01). A control group of ten normal subjects showed similar values. The hyperprolactinemia found in two cases of pESS did not change the serum/ CSF ratio of PRL. The acute release of PRL into the serum following TRH i.v. did not increase the PRL level in CSF either in control subjects or ESS, with one exception. In a case of sESS consecutive to the treatment with bromocriptine (for 6 months) of an invasive prolactinoma, TRH i. v. released PRL into the CSF but not into the blood, and the serum/ CSF ratio of PRL was very low, until a new cure with bromocriptine (for 3 months) mormalised it. It is suggested that the blood-CSF barrier for PRL is similar in ESS and in normal subjects, with the exception of sESS following incomplete remission of some invasive prolactinomas, in which the high permeability of BCB may be explained both by hemodynamic changes in the pituitary portal vascular system and by a new source of PRL which release it directly into the CSF, bypassing the blood route.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A light and electron microscopical study of pituitary adenomas.

Authors studied ten cases of human pituitary adenomas, using light and electron microscopical techniques. Based on morphological features correlated with endocrine symptomatology, seven adenomas proved to be functional and three were nonfunctional. The seven secretory adenomas were classified as follows : somatotropic adenomas with densely granulated cells (1 case); prolactinomas with sparsely granulated cells (3 cases); and mixed somatotroph cell - prolactin cell adenomas (3 cases). The nonfunctional tumors belonged to the undifferentiated cell adenoma type. The cells of the densely granulated adenoma resembled the normal cell from which they derived. In the sparsely granulated tumors the secretory granules were smaller and more nonspecific than those of the normal pituitary cells. The cells of the undifferentiated adenomas had sparse organelles and often showed oncocytic transformation. The ultrastructural characteristics of the adenomas are discussed in relation with the type of hormonal secretion and proliferative propension.

Adenoma↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A renin-like activity in the human hypophysis.

A renin-like enzyme was determined in the acetone-dried tissue of human pituitaries, in both the anterior and posterior pituitaries using Boucher micromethod. The mean pituitary concentration of the renin-like activity (RA) was equivalent to 60.4+/-7.1 (SEM) ng angiotensin II/g tissue protein/h. The possible functional relationship between the hypophyseal and the brain renin-like enzyme is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pattern visual evoked potentials represent an early index for the evolution of optic chiasma syndrome of tumoral etiology.

The use of visual evoked potentials in the detection of optic chiasma syndrome of tumoral etiology has been controversial in the literature. In our study the pattern visual evoked potentials (PVEP) were recorded in 22 healthy free volunteers and in 32 patients with optic chiasma syndrome (OCS) produced by tumors of the hypothalamic-pituitary area, mainly pituitary adenomas with suprasellar extension, proved by CT scan. The PVEP were recorded bilateral after monocular photic stimulation of each atropinized eye, in parallel with a complete ophthalmologic exam consisting in visual field, visual acuity and optic fundus. The main results showed that the latencies P100 recorded bilateral were correlated (p < 0.01) with the types of visual field deficiency, in each hemifield. The changes in P100 latency are more sensitive than the evolution of visual field deficiency by campimetry. The same correlation was observed between the "W" form of P wave with the visual field defect. A significant decrease (p < 0.05) of the amplitude of P100 was observed only if the visual acuity was less than 1/2. It is suggested that the PVEP is a reliable index of diagnosis and evolution for the optic chiasma syndrome aside the usual ophthalmologic exam.

Adolescent↗