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Biomedical subjects

R Hall

Publications and source records attributed to R Hall.

At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

HLA antigens and thyroid autoantibodies in patients with Graves' disease and their first degree relatives.

Patients with Graves' disease (n = 105) had an increased frequency of HLA-B8 (40%) and a reduced frequency of HLA-B12 (24.8%) when compared with random controls (n = 117; 24.8% and 40.2% respectively). Comparison of patients with their first degree relatives (n = 118) shows the frequency deviations in these antigens to be characteristic of the families from which patients with Graves' disease are drawn, rather than of the disease itself. The haplotypes, identified in eight-six patients and 113 relatives, indicate that the excess of HLA-B8 in patients and their relatives is primarily due to the halpotype 1-8. The relative risk for an HLA-B8 individual of developing Graves' disease is 2.02, whilst the relative risk for an individual of haplotype 1-8 is 4.23. No significant associations were found between the incidence of any HLA antigen or combination thereof and the presence or absence of thyroglobulin and thyroid microsomal antibodies, or antibodies which interact with the TSH receptor.

Autoantibodies↗
PubMed1980

Domperidone: a novel agent for the investigation of anterior pituitary function and control in man.

Administration of the novel agent domperidone (10 mg iv), which combines the properties of specific dopamine receptor blockade and inability to cross the blood-brain barrier, leads to acute and significant TSH and PRL release in man. This suggests that the in vivo site of action of endogenous dopamine in the inhibitory control of these two hormones is either the anterior pituitary or median eminence, since these tissues lie outside the blood-brain barrier. This class of drug is of potential value both clinically and experimentally in the investigation of anterior pituitary control mechanisms.

Autoimmune Diseases↗
PubMed1980

Epidemiology of acromegaly in the Newcastle region.

In an attempt to derive estimates of the incidence and prevalence of acromegaly a survey of the population in the area served by the former Newcastle Regional Hospital Board has been conducted to detect cases of acromegaly alive after 1 January 1960 and diagnosed before 31 December 1971. Cases were detected by means of letters to general practitioners, hospital physicians, neurosurgeons and to hospital records officers, as well as from death certificates. From the population of 3.1 millions a firm diagnosis of acromegaly was made in 164 patients, in eighty-one on clinical grounds alone and in eighty-three with confirmation by assay of human growth hormone (hGH). The annual incidence of acromegaly appears to be close to three cases per million and the prevalence of diagnosed cases up to forty cases per million. In male acromegalics there was a significant increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular, cerebrovascular respiratory and malignant diseases but in females from cerebrovascular disease only.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1980

Hyperinsulinaemia in hyperprolactinaemic women.

The metabolic sequelae of hyperprolactinaemia were studied over a 12 h period of normal meals and activity in nine young females hyperprolactinaemic subjects and fourteen matched controls. In the patients, fasting blood glucose and serum insulin concentrations were normal, as was the blood glucose response to meals; the insulin rise with meals was, however, exaggerated and hyperinsulinaemia persisted throughout the day (mean +/- SEM 12 h serum insulin, 26 +/- 8 vs. 16 +/- 9 mu/l, P < 0.01). Blood lactate, pyruvate and alanine response to meals was also increased. Blood glycerol (mean 12 h blood glycerol 0.06 +/- 0.01 vs. 0.09 +/- 0.01 mmol/l, P < 0.01) and blood 3-hydroxybutyrate (mean 12 h blood 3-hydroxybutyrate 0.03 +/- 0.01 vs. 0.05 +/- 0.01 mmol/l, P < 0.05) concentrations were lower in hyperprolactinaemic subjects. There was a strong negative correlation between mean insulin and mean 3-hydroxybutyrate levels in the afternoon period (rs = -0.92, P < 0.01). Excess circulating prolactin in young female is associated with normoglycaemic hyperinsulinaemia. The changes in blood metabolite levels observed are probably secondary to the increased insulin concentrations.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

An evaluation of supervoltage orbital irradiation for Graves' ophthalmopathy.

Twenty patients with moderately severe ophthalmopathy due to Graves' disease or ophthalmic Graves' disease were treated by supervoltage orbital radiotherapy generated by a linear accelerator. Seven patients (35%) showed some response within 3 weeks of the treatment, four patients (20%) improved minimally while nine patients (45%) were unchanged. Improvement was noted mainly in soft tissue changes while proptosis decreased in only four patients. With one exception, ophthalmoplegia did not improve after the radiotherapy. The benefit obtained with the treatment was not impressive.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Hormonal and metabolic studies in a patient with a pheochromocytoma.

The metabolic and hormonal responses to oral glucose were studied in a patient with a pheochromocytoma before treatment, after alpha-blockade, after combined alpha- and beta-blockade, and after surgical removal of the tumor. Before treatment, fasting blood glucose was elevated [6.5 mmol/liter (117 mg/dl); normal range, 4.2--5.5 mmol/liter (75--100 mg/dl)], as was the fasting plasma nonesterified fatty acid level (1.19 mmol/liter; normal range, 0.06--0.7 mmol/liter), the blood total ketone body concentration (0.50 mmol/liter; normal range, 0.02--0.44 mmol/liter) and the lactate ot pyruvate ratio (16.2; normal range, 5.9--15.01. These abnormalities were corrected by alpha-adrenergic blockade alone and together with beta-blockade. Oral glucose tolerance (50 g) was mildly impaired in the untreated state, and the insulin response was decreased. Both alpha- and alpha- plus beta-blockade restored the insulin response to glucose but failed to correct the glucose intolerance. Three months after removal of the tumor, all metabolic findings were normal. The correction of the fasting metabolite concentrations and serum insulin levels by alpha-adrenergic blockade suggests that an alpha-adenergic effect causes the original metabolic abnormalities. The residual glucose intolerance after adrenergic blockade may result from incomplete blockade or factors other than alpha- and beta-adrenergic activity.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗
PubMed1980

Dopaminergic modulation of circadian thyrotropin rhythms and thyroid hormone levels in euthyroid subjects.

Basal TSH levels are known to rise during the evening, but the mechanism by which this rise occurs is poorly understood. The rise in TSH in response to dopamine (DA) receptor blockade with metoclopramide in the morning in normal subjects and hypothyroid patients has provided evidence for a tonic inhibitory role for DA in the control of TSH secretion. We have tested the hypothesis in normal, euthyroid volunteers (14 females, aged 20--40 yr; 12 males, aged 22--45 yr) that the nocturnal elevation of serum TSH levels might result from a reduction in DA action on the thyrotroph, in which case a reduced TSH response to metoclopramide would be expected. We found, however, that the TSH response to DA receptor blockade with metoclopramide (10 mg, iv) was significantly greater at 2300 h than at 1100 h [net incremental response over 120 min, 14.9 +/- 2.5 vs. 6.7 +/- 1.6 mU/liter (mean +/- SE); P < 0.001], indicating greater DA inhibition of TSH release at night. Thus, the nocturnal elevation of TSH is not due to decreased DA action on the thyrotroph; rather, increased DA tone is present and may limit the TSH response to other as yet unknown factors. Thyroid hormone levels also rose significantly after metoclopramide at both 1100 and 2300 h compared with control values after placebo [incremental difference (in nanomoles per liter) between 0 and 120 min values (mean +/- SE): 1100 h, T3, 0.24 +/- 0.09 vs. -0.05 +/- 0.08 (P < 0.02); T4, 19.4 +/- 6.1 vs. -1.8 +/- 2.5 (P < 0.01); 2300 h, T3 +/- 0.53 +/-0.07 vs. 0.04 +/- 0.07 (P < 0.01); T4 20.9 +/- 5.6 vs. 2.8 +/- 3.2 (P < 0.01)]. Incremental thyroid hormone and TSH responses to metoclopramide were directly related (T3 vs. TSH, r = 0.59 and P < 0.001; T4 vs. TSH, r = 0.41 and P < 0.01), suggesting that the thyroid hormone responses were mediated by TSH and illustrating the sensitivity of the thyroid gland to even small increases in endogenous TSH levels.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Splenic size and function in adult coeliac disease.

Splenic scintigraphy was performed after measurement of 99Tcm-labelled heat-damaged red cell clearance in 29 patients with treated coeliac disease. Good correlation was found between splenic size and function using these techniques. 99Tcm-labelled sulphur colloid scintiscans were also performed in 24 coeliacs. Splenic volumes computed from colloid scans correlated well with those computed from red cell scans. Almost 50% of adult patients with treated coeliac disease have impaired splenic function, the incidence rising with increasing age of starting treatment. Sulphur colloid scintigraphgy provides a simple quantitative method of assessing splenic function in treated coeliac disease which can be used in exploring the possibilities of avoidance of the adverse effects of hyposplenism.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Shedding of surface proteins by porcine thyroid cells.

Isolated porcine thyroid cells were surface-labelled with 125I using the lactoperoxidase technique. Samples of the cells were then cultured and harvested at various intervals for up to 7 days. The labelled proteins remaining on the cells or shed into the culture medium were analysed by electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels run in sodium dodecyl sulphate. These studies indicated that the several different surface proteins of the thyroid cells were lost from the cell surface at similar rates (half-time of approximately 28 h) as the result, at least in part, of a process which depended on active cell metabolism. In addition, the gel profiles obtained from analysis of both medium and membrane-bound labelled proteins were similar and this suggested that peptide cleavage was not involved in the shedding of the majority of these proteins.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

In vitro studies on the control of thyroid autoantibody synthesis.

A current hypothesis suggests that autoimmune responses are prevented in normal individuals by a population of suppressor cells. We have investigated this using a system in which thyroid autoantibodies are synthesised in culture by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) from patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. A group of 8 Hashimoto patients and 17 normal subjects were used in the study. PBM from the group of patients did not differ significantly from those of the control group in terms of their ability to synthesise IgG in culture, to respond to allogeneic cells or to PHA. (Nor were any genetic differences observed between the two groups in terms of HLA-A, B or C antigens.) In 6 co-culture experiments involving equal numbers of PBM from patients and normal donors, inhibition of thyroid antibody production was not observed. Additionally, T-cell enriched populations from 2 normal donors were unable to specifically inhibit thyroid antibody synthesis by Hashimoto B-cell enriched fractions from 2 Hashimoto patients. Consequently, we were unable to show suppressor cell activity in normal PBM and it is suggested that these cells may need to be activated by antigen before their presence can be demonstrated.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Effects of bromocriptine on pituitary tumour size.

In a prospective study designed to assess the influence of bromocriptine on pituitary tumour size 12 patients with pituitary tumours, eight of whom had suprasellar extensions, were treated for three months with 20 mg of bromocriptine daily after a gradual increase to this dose. The group comprised eight women and four men, five with prolactin-secreting adenomas, four with acromegaly, two with functionless adenomas, and one with Nelson's syndrome. All five patients with prolactin-secreting adenomas showed a reduction in pituitary tumour size as assessed by computerised tomography and metrizamide cisternography accompanied by a fall in prolactin concentrations and clinical and biochemical improvement in their hypopituitarism. One patient in this group had a visual-field defect before treatment, and this resolved. There was no radiological evidence of reduction in tumour size in the remaining seven patients, though this might refect the fairly short duration of treatment, particularly in view of the ancillary evidence of clinical, biochemical, and visual-field improvement in some of the patients. These results emphasise the potential value of bromocriptine in treating patients with large prolactinomas or recurrences of such tumours after previous chiasmal decompression and conventional external megavoltage irradiation on the pituitary.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Effect of irradiation on thyroid-autoantibody production.

Irradiated lymphocytes have been found to stimulate thyroid-autoantibody synthesis by lymphocyte cultures. It is proposed that a similar effect is involved in the increased autoimmune response which follows radioiodine treatment for Graves' disease.

Antibody-Producing Cells↗
PubMed1979

The irritancy of chlorhexidine gluconate in the genital tract of the mare.

Uterine irrigation was carried out in eight Welsh pony mares using 50 ml of chlorhexidine gluconate solution diluted to give active ingredient concentrations of 0.25 per cent to 2 per cent. Treatment was repeated up to twice in mares showing no adverse effects and irritancy of treatment judged on clinical symptoms and uterine biopsy. Results indicated the inadvisability of using a higher concentration than 0.25 per cent. Three daily applications of a diluted surgical scub solution containing 2 per cent chlorhexidine gluconate to the penis of an arab stallion failed to produce symptoms or irritation. An in vitro minimum inhibitory concentration test performed with the contagious equine metritis organism confirmed its high sensitivity to both chlorhexidine gluconate preparations.

Animals↗