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Arterial lesions in repeatedly bred spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Repeatedly bred male and female rats of many strains develop hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and arteriosclerosis spontaneously. The intensity of their arterial disease and related metabolic derangements appear to be related to their reproductive activity. Repeatedly bred spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were found to have severe hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, elevated creatine phosphokinase (CPK), serum glutamic oxaloacetic and glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGOT, SGPT), and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), as well as high circulating corticosterone levels. Despite these atherogenic metabolic derangements and their severe hypertension, the breeder SHR did not develop the severe, generalized arteriosclerosis found in other strains of breeder rats. Instead, the arterial lesions, consisting of intimal hyalinization and fibrosis, medial hypertrophy, and occlusion of the lumen, were found only in male breeder SHR and were confined to the intratubular arteries of the testes. It is suggested that the severe hypertension, genetic influences, or differences in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-gonadal function in breeder SHR may not have been conducive to the development of arteriosclerosis in this particular strain of rats.

Adrenal Glands↗

Plasma progesterone and 17-hydroxyprogesterone in normal men and children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Plasma 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) concentrations in normal men averaged 0.094 mug/100 ml. Studies using suppressive doses of androgens and glucocorticoids showed that 90% of the 17-OHP originated from the Leydig cell. The 17-OHP production rate was 1.8 mg/24 hr. Plasma 17-OHP has a marked circadian variation, the 8 p.m. values being only 40% of the 8 a.m. values. Plasma luteinizing hormone measured in the same samples did not vary. The adrenal cortex has the capacity to synthesize and secrete 17-OHP and progesterone since adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) caused a fourfold increase in these plasma steroids. In children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, plasma 17-OHP levels were 50-200 times those of normal men and plasma progesterone was increased 6- to 10-fold over normal men.

Adolescent↗

Dopamine (3-hydroxytyramine) replacement and metabolism in sympathetic nerve and adrenal medullary depletions after prolonged thermal injury.

After severe thermal injury, the adrenal medulla and the sympathetic nerves can be partially or totally depleted of their adrenaline (epinephrine) and noradrenaline (norepinephrine). The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the rate at which dopamine-2-(14)C, a precursor of noradrenaline, is synthesized into noradrenaline and noradrenaline metabolic products, thereby giving some indication as to dopamine's utilization, turnover, and possible use in treating such noradrenaline-adrenaline depletions. Three burned subjects, 3 wk postburn, were infused with 104.6 muc (872 mug) of dopamine-2-(14)C for 4 hr. Urine was collected at various hourly intervals for the 1st day, and thereafter for 4 days, assayed, and compared with the metabolism of dopamine in normal subjects. Methods for separating, identifying, and counting radioactivity of the various metabolic products of dopamine are described. Normally 87.6 +/-3.1% of the total radioactivity is recovered within 24 hr after an infusion of dopamine-2-(14)C, but in the three severely burned patients, this value was increased to 93.1, 97.3, and 97.5% in 24 hr. There was a marked decrease in the percentage of radioactivity recovered as noradrenaline in all collection periods, and in contrast to normal subjects, no radioactive noradrenaline was recovered after 24 hr. Concomitantly, there was an increase in radioactivity recovered as metabolic products of noradrenaline, reflecting a compensatory shift toward noradrenaline synthesis and utilization at the expense of the dopamine metabolic products. The results indicate that in the burned patients the infused dopamine-2-(14)C was rapidly synthesized into noradrenaline and then rapidly released and metabolized. From these results it seems evident that dopamine would be a useful adjunct in the treatment of sympathico-adrenal medullary depletion in burns.

Adrenal Medulla↗

Abnormally sustained aldosterone secretion during salt loading in patients with various forms of benign hypertension; relation to plasma renin activity.

Among 25 patients with benign, essential hypertension, and an equal number with other benign forms of hypertension, without serious cardiac, renal, or cerebrovascular impairment, 41 cases failed to reduce aldosterone excretion rates into the normal range (less than 5 mug/day) on a daily intake of 300 mEq of sodium. The hypertensive patients excreted slightly less than the normal fraction of labeled aldosterone as acid-hydrolyzable conjugate. Secretion rates were significantly higher in the hypertensive patients than in normotensive controls taking the high-sodium intake. On a 10 mEq sodium intake, the increase in excretion and secretion rates of aldosterone in the hypertensive patients could be correlated with plasma renin activity (PRA). The patients with the least increase in PRA had subnormal increase in aldosterone secretion and excretion, while unusually large rises in aldosterone secretion accompanied high PRA, especially in the cases with increased plasma angiotensinogen induced by oral contraceptives. The persistence of inappropriately high aldosterone secretion in most hypertensive patients during sodium loading could be related to a higher PRA than that found in normotensive controls under comparable conditions. In other hypertensives, whose PRA was unresponsive to sodium depletion, there was no significant correlation between PRA and aldosterone output, and no known stimulus to aldosterone production was detected. Five obvious cases of hyperaldosteronism were found among the 16 low-renin patients. The cause of the nonsuppressible aldosterone production in the other low-renin cases remains to be determined.

Adolescent↗

The metabolic clearance rate and origin of plasma dihydrotestosterone in man and its conversion to the 5-alpha-androstanediols.

Dihydrotestosterone metabolism was studied with a constant infusion technique in three men, three women, five hirsute women, and four estrogen-treated hirsute women. The mean dihydrotestosterone metabolic clearance rate was higher in men (336 liters/24 hr per m(2) [range, 239-448]) than in women (153 liters/24 hr per m(2) [range, 108-184]). The metabolic clearance rates in hirsute patients were intermediate between those men and women and were decreased by estrogen treatment. These observations demonstrate similarities in the metabolic rates of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. The conversion of plasma testosterone and androstenedione to dihydrotestosterone was studied in men and hirsute women. Approximately 4 and 2% of plasma testosterone and androstenedione, respectively, were converted to plasma dihydrotestosterone in both groups. From these observations it was determined that a major fraction of plasma dihydrotestosterone was derived from these plasma precursors rather than from glandular secretion. Both 5alpha-androstan-3alpha,17beta-diol (3alpha-diol) and 5alpha-androstan-3beta,17beta-diol (3beta-diol) were identified in plasma during dihydrotestosterone and testosterone infusions. The conversion ratio of dihydrotestosterone to 3alpha-diol (C(BB) (DHT-3alpha)) was greater than the conversion ratio to the 3beta-isomer (C(BB) (DTH-3beta)) in all the patients studied. Both C(BB) (DHT-3alpha) and C(BB) (DHT-3beta) were higher in men (mean values of 0.151 [range, 0.110-0.222] and 0..031 [range, 0.022-0.042]) than in women (means of 0.044 [range, 0.037-0.048] and 0.012 [range 0.010-0.013]). A smaller fraction of testosterone was converted to 3alpha-diol and 3beta-diol.

Adrenocortical Hyperfunction↗

Circadian rhythm of plasma aldosterone concentration in patients with primary aldosteronism.

Plasma aldosterone, cortisol, and renin activity were measured in nine recumbent patients with hyperaldosteronism, including seven with adenomas, one with idiopathic hyperplasia, and one with glucocorticoid suppressible hyperplasia. All had peak values of plasma aldosterone concentration from 3 a.m. to noon and lowest values at 6 p.m. or midnight. This rhythm was similar to the circadian pattern of plasma cortisol in the same patients. When these data were normalized to eliminate the wide variation in ranges of plasma aldosterone and cortisol between individuals, there was an excellent correlation (r = + 0.87, P < 0.005) between the two hormones. In contrast, plasma aldosterone concentrations did not correlate with plasma renin activity before or after normalization of data. Short term suppression of ACTH by administration of dexamethasone eliminated the circadian variation of plasma aldosterone in both patients with hyperplasia and in four of five patients with adenomas, while it markedly altered the rhythm in the fifth. Similar doses of dexamethasone were administered to four normal subjects and did not flatten the circadian rhythm of plasma aldosterone. These data suggest that patients with primary aldosteronism have a circadian rhythm of plasma aldosterone mediated by changes in ACTH.

Adenoma↗

Intestinal calcium absorption in exogenous hypercortisonism. Role of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and corticosteroid dose.

Pharmacologic doses of corticosteroids impair intestinal calcium absorption and contribute to negative calcium balance. However, the relationship between the impaired calcium absorption and a possible defect in the conversion of vitamin D to its physiologically active form, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, is unknown. We compared fractional calcium absorption (double-isotope method, 100-mg carrier) and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D) (Haddad method) in 27 patients receiving pharmacologic doses of prednisone with 27 age-, sex-, and season-matched normal subjects. In patients receiving high daily doses of prednisone (15-100 mg/day), calcium absorption (P < 0.02) and serum 25-OH-D (P < 0.001) were decreased. However, in patients receiving low doses (8-10 mg/day) or high doses (30-100 mg) of prednisone on an alternate-day schedule, both of these parameters were normal. Calcium absorption in the patients treated with daily prednisone correlated inversely with the dose of corticosteroids (r = -0.52, P < 0.025) and, in all steroid-treated patients, correlated directly with serum 25-OH-D (r = 0.58, P < 0.01). In four patients who received high-dose corticosteroid therapy for an average of 4 wk, serum 25-OH-D decreased by 35.5% from pretreatment values. Administration of a physiologic or near-physiologic dose of synthetic 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (0.4 mug daily for 7 days) to patients receiving high-dose corticosteroids led to an increase in calcium absorption in all patients. These results suggest that calcium malabsorption in the corticosteroid-treated patients is due to a dose-related abnormality of vitamin D metabolism and not to a direct effect of corticosteroids on depressing transmucosal intestinal absorption of calcium.

Adrenocortical Hyperfunction↗

Primary cortisol resistance in man. A glucocorticoid receptor-mediated disease.

We have studied a man suspected of having primary cortisol resistance on the basis of high 24-h mean plasma cortisol levels (27.4 micrograms/dl) and no stigmata of Cushing's syndrome. His son had slightly elevated 24-h mean plasma cortisol levels (9.9 micrograms/dl; normal 7.52 micrograms/dl). Both had high plasma protein unbound cortisol and increased urinary free cortisol. Plasma ACTH concentration was high, and both were resistant to adrenal suppression by dexamethasone. The father appeared to have mineralocorticoid excess resulting in hypertension, hypokalemia, and metabolic alkalosis. This was found to be due to markedly elevated plasma levels of deoxycorticosterone and corticosterone. The son, who was normotensive, had mildly increased plasma corticosterone and normal deoxycorticosterone levels. To study the apparent end-organ resistance to cortisol, we examined the glucocorticoid receptor in the white cells and fibroblasts of these patients. In both tissues, using both whole cell and cytosol assays, the glucocorticoid receptor was found to have reduced affinity for dexamethasone. In the cytoxol assays, a reduced receptor number was found as well. We conclude that cortisol resistance is a rare familial syndrome owing to an abnormal glucocorticoid receptor with a decreased affinity for cortisol.

Adrenocortical Hyperfunction↗

The behavior of hypersexual delinquent girls.

The author presents case reports of seven girls with histories of hypersexual behavior associated with delinquency, aggressive behavior, and hypomania. Six of the girls had been exposed to virilizing hormones in utero or in childhood. Most of the girls in the sample were hirsute, tended toward mesomorphic build, and had been young at menarche. The author postulates that exposure to virilizing hormones can result in the kind of hypersexuality and delinquent behavior observed in his sample; he points out the need for adequate medical attention to this type of patient.

Abortion, Threatened↗

Depression in the medically ill: an overview.

Depressive symptoms and syndromes are common in the medically ill, although they are frequently unrecognized and untreated. The authors review the epidemiology, differential diagnosis, clinical presentations, and response to treatment of this clinical problem. They address such methodological issues in the current literature in this area as the advantages and limitations of standardized assessment measures and discuss treatment modalities for depression in the medically ill, including antidepressant medication and ECT. This clinical problem warrants attention for a variety of reasons: its prevalence, associated morbidity, and treatability. Elucidation of the mechanisms of depression in the medically ill may also contribute to a broader understanding of depression in other populations.

Adjustment Disorders↗

Urinary free 11-hydroxycorticosteroid/creatinine ratios in early morning urine samples as an index of adrenal function.

Urinary free 11-hydroxycorticosteroid/creatinine ratios were determined in early morning urine samples from 113 females (age range 20-45 years) and 65 males (age range 22-45 years). Basal values in normal subjects fluctuated between 5 and 55 mumol/mol creatinine. In four patients in whom Cushing's syndrome was diagnosed, urinary free 11-hydroxycorticosteroid/creatinine ratios were greater than 85 mumol/mol creatinine. Administration of dexamethasone (0.5 mg/q.i.d.) to nine normal laboratory staff for two days resulted in a suppression of the urinary free 11-hydroxycorticosteroid/creatinine ratio to less than 50% of the mean basal value in all cases. This degree of suppression did not occur in two cases of Cushing's syndrome due to adrenal tumours.

11-Hydroxycorticosteroids↗

Screening for Cushing's syndrome using early morning urine samples.

Urinary free 11-hydroxycorticosteroid/creatinine ratios (UFC/Cr)were determined in early morning urine samples from 138 obese subjects attending endocrine clinics in the Glasgow area. The majority of patients (128) had UFC/Cr ratios within the normal range for non-obese subjects (5-55 mumol/mol). Of those with elevated UFC/Cr ratios, further investigations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis confirmed a diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome due to bilateral adrenal hyperplasia in six of the cases and adrenal tumours in a further two patients. In the remaining two patients there was evidence of intermittent adrenal hyperactivity with inconsistent responses to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia tests.

11-Hydroxycorticosteroids↗