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Biomedical subjects

R Vihko

Publications and source records attributed to R Vihko.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

Evaluation by serum ferritin assay of the influence of maternal iron stores on the iron status of newborns and infants.

Serum ferritin concentration was measured in 47 paired maternal and newborn (umbilical cord sample) blood specimens during delivery. The serum ferritin concentration was also measured in 31 of the above babies at the age of six months. Serum ferritin concentration of the newborn babies (mean 222 microgram/l) born to the mothers with a low serum ferritin content at term (mean 28 microgram/l) was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than that of those (mean 324 microgram/l) born to the mothers with a normal ferritin concentration (mean 102 microgram/l). The difference between the two groups of infants persisted for at least the whole study period of 6 months (mean at 6 months of age 99 microgram/l and 150 microgram/l, respectively).

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Serum ferritin in the diagnosis of anemia during pregnancy.

Measurements of serum ferritin were correlated with bone marrow iron content and other laboratory hematological indices in 44 anemic (B-Hb < 110 g/l) pregnant women. Seventy-two % of patients classified as iron deficient by the absence of bone marrow iron had diagnostically low serum ferritin concentrations, which percentage is about double compared with those revealed by measurements of serum transferrin, TIBC, transferrin saturation, serum iron, blood hemoglobin and red cell indices. It is also important that serum ferritin was the only one of these measurements which was able to differentiate between iron deficiency, and anemia due to infection. Seven out of 8 patients with anemia due to infection had elevated serum ferritin levels. In 17% of patients no reason for the fall of blood hemoglobin could be shown. A plausible explanation for the low blood hemoglobin is extensive hemodilution.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Peripheral and prostatic vein steroid concentrations in benign prostatic hypertrophy patients before and after removal of the adenoma.

The concentrations of androgenic steroids and some of their precursors were determined in the prostatic and peripheral veins of 16 patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). The same steroids were also measured in the peripheral vein after removal of the adenoma. The mean concentration of 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone in prostatic vein (4.40 nmol/l +/- 0.37, mean +/- S.E.M.) was significantly higher than in peripheral vein (2.63 nmol/l +/- 0.30, mean +/- S.E.M.) indicating secretion of this steroid by the adenoma. We did not observe any correlation between the weight of the removed tissue and the secretion of 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone. The concentrations of pregnenolone, progesterone, 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, testosterone and androsterone were the same in the prostatic and peripheral veins. There were no changes in the concentrations of steroids measured before and 1 and 6 months after removal of the BPH adenoma. It therefore appears that the secretion of 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone by the adenoma is insufficient to influence the circulating levels of this steroid.

Aged↗
PubMed1980

Rapid radioimmunoassay for prostate-specific acid phosphatase in human serum.

We describe a rapid radioimmunoassay for human prostatic acid phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.2) in serum, with use of monospecific antisera raised in rabbits against the primary highly purified acid phosphatase (pl 4.9) from human prostates, and with a second antibody-polyethylene glycol porecipitation. This radioimmunoassay is sensitive and can be performed within 5 h. Concentrations of the immunoreactive acid phosphatase in sera of healthy men (n = 394) ranged from 0.3 to 3.6 microgram/L (mean 1.94, SD 0.66 microgram/L). Concentrations of the enzyme in sera of men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (n = 56) or with carcinoma of nonprostatic origin (n = 24) were identical with those of the reference group. Serum concentrations of immunoreactive prostatic acid phosphatase of patients with occult, non-metastatic, and metastatic prostatic carcinoma varied from 1.7 to 9.3 (n = 9), 4.2 to 59.4 (n = 12), and 20 to 198 (n = 10) microgram/L, respectively. The amount of immunoassayable prostatic acid phosphatase was unchanged for at least five days in serum stored at 4 degrees C.

Acid Phosphatase↗
PubMed1980

Long-term effects of endocrine treatment on serum steroids in advanced prostatic carcinoma patients.

The long-term effects of endocrine therapy, including polyestradiol phosphate (Estradurin) administration, castration, and their combination, on the circulating concentrations of pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone, progesterone, 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone, and androsterone were investigated for 1 year in 22 patients with advanced prostatic carcinoma. Only Estradurin significantly reduced serum concentrations of testosterone, 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone, and 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone. Orchidectomy resulted in a more pronounced decrease in the serum concentrations of testosterone and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone; Estradurin combined with orchidectomy led to no additional decrease. There were no consistent changes in the serum concentrations of other steroids measured. It is likely that Estradurin has a direct inhibitory effect on steroidogenesis in Leydig cells, but a significant residual testicular production of testosterone occurred during the period of Estradurin treatment, when given alone. No increase in serum concentrations of adrenal androgens or their precursors was observed during any of the three treatment regimens.

Aged↗
PubMed1980

Steroid receptors in normal, hyperplastic and malignant human endometria.

Oestrogen and progestin receptors are present in the cytosol and nuclear compartments of normal human endometrium, partly associated with their endogenous ligand hormones. Receptor concentrations fluctuate in relation to the menstrual cycle. Hyperplastic endometrium tends to contain high concentrations of cytosol progestin receptor, whereas the levels of cytosol and nuclear progestin receptors in endometrial adenocarcinoma are lower than in non-neoplastic endometrium. The receptor levels seem to decline with decreasing differentiation of the tumour. Progestin treatment extending over several weeks decreases cellular oestrogen and progestin receptor content in both hyperplastic and malignant endometria. Information based on small patient series suggests that patients suffering from advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma and having significant concentrations of both receptors in the tumour tend to have a more indolent clinical course than patients with absent or low tumour receptors. Patients whose lesions are progestin receptor-rich more frequently respond to progestin administration than those with receptor-poor tumours. In contrast, patients with advanced or recurrent disease after progestin treatment and with low tumour oestrogen and progestin receptor concentrations respond more often to combination cytotoxic chemotherapy than patients with higher tumour receptor levels. More data are needed about the clinical correlates of receptor determinations in human endometrial carcinoma to confirm these encouraging preliminary results, before the clinical significance of the determinations can be settled. since there are marked differences in the receptor concentrations reported by various investigators, possibly for methodological reasons, comparison of receptor data and treatment results from different groups is sometimes very difficult.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1979

A method for identification and follow-up of patients with a steroid-21-hydroxylase deficiency.

A method is described for the determination of 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone from blood samples obtained by heel prick and dried on filter paper. Discs (10 mm diameter) were cut from the filter paper and extracted in the assay tubes with 1 ml of a methanol/diethyl ether/ethyl acetate (50 :45 :5, v/v) solvent mixture. Antibody, tritium-labelled tracer and dextran-coated charcoal were added to assay tubes using a multichannel dispenser. The approach used permits one technician to analyze two series, each of 60 duplicate samples, within one working day. Thus the method is applicable for the centralized screening of suspected cases, while emergency samples may be analyzed at the same time within 4 h. Comparisons with a highly specific but more elaborate technique for the determination of blood 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone showed a correlation coefficient of 0.99, and the regression equation for the present method (y) against the established method (x) was y = 1.07x + 2.72. The calculated upper reference limit (mean +/- S.D.) for 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone in healthy infants from two days to eight years of age of 7.5 ng/ml of serum.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMed1979

Testicular steroid secretion and peripheral serum steroid concentrations in patients with prostatic carcinoma after short-term estrogen treatment.

The short-term effects of the administration of estradiol on testicular steroid production were assessed by measuring the serum concentrations of testosterone, and a number of its precursors and metabolites, in the spermatic and peripheral veins of five inguinal hernia patients and one untreated prostatic carcinoma patient, as well as in 18 patients with advanced prostatic carcinoma, treated for 1 to 9 days with a single injection of 80 mg of polyestradiol phosphate (Estradurin). With the exception of progesterone, the treatment resulted in a significantly decreased testicular production of all steroids measured in spermatic vein serum; the same finding holds true for concentrations of testosterone, 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone, and 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone in peripheral vein serum before and after treatment. By comparing the steroid concentrations in the spermatic and peripheral veins it is evident that the testicular production of all steroids measured persisted, although at a decreased level, even 7 to 9 days after Estradurin administration; this was most pronounced in the case of testosterone and 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone. It is apparent that the effect of estradiol on testicular steroid production is a gradual process which takes several days before it is clearly evident.

Androgens↗
PubMed1979

Serum sex hormone binding globulin and testosterone binding after estradiol administration, castration, and their combination in men with prostatic carcinoma.

We measured serum sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) binding capacity, the index of testosterone binding to SHRG, and the serum concentrations of testosterone, 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone, and estradiol in 16 patients treated for advanced prostatic carcinoma in order to evaluate the effectiveness of various therapeutic regimes in reducing total and biologically active androgen in blood. Polyestradiol phosphate (Estradurin, 80 mg im as a monthly injection) treatment alone is not as efficient as castration in reducing serum testosterone and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone. There was no clear difference between the castration and combination treatment (castration followed by polyestradiol phosphate administration) groups in this respect. It is apparent that Estradurin treatment alone and in combination with castration results in small but significant increases in SHBG binding capacity, whereas this parameter did not alter after castration alone. All three forms of treatment resulted in relatively similar significant increases in the index of testosterone binding to SHBG. The rather mild effect of Estradurin on the parameters measured may be attributable to the binding of the exogenous estradiol to SHBG, which thus greatly reduces its biologic activity. We concluded that castration is clearly more effective in reducing the amount of biologically active testosterone than Estradurin and the combination of these treatments has little influence on further reducing total or biologically active circulating testosterone.

Aged↗
PubMed1979

Discrete modular system for automation of radioimmunoassay of serum choriomammotropin.

We describe a discrete automated radioimmunoassay system for determining choriomammotropin (placental lactogen) in human serum. With the present system it can be measured in as many as 37 unknown sera (50 muL) and three quality-control sera, in duplicate, within 1.5 h. The time required for sample preparation, incubation (15 min), and separation of free and bound radioactivities (a 150 mL/L polyethylene glycol solution is superior to a twofold volume of absolute ethanol) is less than 45 min. The remaining time required is for counting and data processing. Intra-assay precision is 4.6% (CV). The modular approach endows the instrumentation with much flexibility, and consequently is suitable for automation of a wide range of assay protocols.

Autoanalysis↗