Macroprolactinemia in a young man and review of the literature

A 21-year old man, complaining of headaches and fatigue, with a negative past medical history and a normal clinical examination, underwent a hormonal investigation which revealed hyper-prolactinemia and intact pituitary-gonadal axis. Drug-induced hyperprolactinemia was excluded. Pituitary magnetic resonance imaging indicated a microadenoma in the right part of the gland, with a diameter of 1.5mm. No medical treatment was given as the patient had no symptoms relevant to prolactin excess. The PEG precipitation test was carried out and showed 7% recovery, which was diagnostic of the macroprolactinemia. Relatively few cases of macroprolactinemia have been published in the literature, although the condition is regarded as a fairly common cause of hyperprolactinemia. Macroprolactinemic men represent 10% of published cases.     

Ultrasound velocity through the cortex of phalanges,radius, and tibia in normal and osteoporotic postmenopausal women using a new multisite quantitative ultrasound device

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To assess a new multisite quantitative ultrasound (QUS) device (Sunlight Omnisense 7000 S) suitable for the measurement of speed of sound (SOS) in the phalanges, radius, and tibia. METHODS: The study group consisted of 270 healthy Caucasian postmenopausal patients (mean age: 60.0 +/- 7.6 years) and 53 Caucasian postmenopausal patients (mean age: 67.2 +/- 7.4 years) with osteoporotic fractures. Measurements of SOS and bone mineral density (BMD) were carried out in all subjects. RESULTS: Intraobserver in vivo short-term precision was on average 0.76% for the radius, 0.47% for the tibia, and 1.54% for the phalanges. The interobserver precision ranged from 0.77% to 2.39%. Measurements of SOS at the 3 skeletal sites were significantly correlated (r = 0.28-0.44; P < 0.001). Significant correlations were found between SOS at all sites and BMD (r = 0.21-0.41; P < 0.001). The odds ratio for fracture prediction for SOS was 1.47 for tibia, 1.69 for radius, and 2.69 for phalanx. The corresponding odds ratios for BMD at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip ranged from 2.08 to 3.26. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve ranged from 0.611 to 0.741 for SOS measurements and from 0.745 to 0.797 for BMD measurements. CONCLUSIONS: The Omnisense multisite QUS device exhibits reproducible performance. Among the QUS variables, the phalangeal SOS provides the best discrimination of fracture patients.     

Protective effect of a novel antioxidant non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent (compound IA) on intestinal viability after acute mesenteric ischemia and reperfusion

Reactive oxygen species play an important role in the basic pathophysiology of ischemia-reperfusion injury. We investigated whether the administration of a novel non-steroidal anti-inflammatory compound with antioxidant properties, the compound [5-(2-amino-ethylamino)-1-phenyl-2-pentanone] (compound IA), has a beneficial effect on the repair process of the intestinal mucosa after transient mesenteric ischemia in a randomized blind trial. Six groups of rats were subjected to a model of 60 min of intestinal ischemia that was produced by occluding the superior mesenteric artery. At the end of ischemia, compound IA was administered intravenously and the clamp was removed allowing reperfusion. At 60 min after reperfusion, animals were sacrificed and a 10 cm section of terminal ileum was resected. The outcome was evaluated by histopathologic assessment, measurement of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and the extent of lipid peroxidation measuring the small intestine tissue malondialdehyde. After 1 h of reperfusion, the mucosal damage was less in IA-treated rats compared with the control group. Moreover, the number of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in intestinal mucosa was significantly lower in IA group. Compound IA resulted in a statistically significant reduction of the concentration of small intestine tissue malondialdehyde, compared to those of controls. Administration of compound IA decreased the mucosal damage in rats that were subjected to 60 min of ischemia followed by 60 min of reperfusion. The mechanism of compound IA action is considered to be mediated via its potent antioxidant, free radical scavenging activities and inhibition of polymorphonuclear leukocytes infiltration.     

Antileishmanial ring-substituted ether phospholipids

Three series of ring-substituted ether phospholipids were synthesized carrying N,N,N-trimethylammonium, N-methylpiperidino, or N-methylmorpholino headgroups. The first series is substituted by 2-cyclohexyloxyethyl or 2-(4-alkylidenecyclohexyloxy)ethyl groups, the second series by cyclohexylidenealkyl or adamantylidenealkyl moieties, and the third series by 2-aryloxyethyl or 6-aryloxyhexyl groups in the alkyl portion of the molecule. The antileishmanial activity of the new compounds was evaluated in vitro against the promastigote forms of L. donovani and L. infantum using an MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide)-based microassay as a marker of cell viability. Analogues 12, 15, 24, 30, 32, 41, 43, and 45 were more potent than the control compound miltefosine (hexadecylphosphocholine) against both L. donovani and L. infantum while, derivatives 13 and 42 were equipotent to miltefosine. Analogues 16, 17, 19, 20 were more potent than miltefosine against L. infantumand compounds 27, 31, 44 were more active than miltefosine against L. donovani. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to probe the role of individual ether phospholipids on the physicochemical properties of model membranes. The DSC scans showed that the active compounds have a more profound effect on the thermotropic properties of model membrane bilayers than the less active ones.     

Papillary thyroid carcinoma producing granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor is associated with neutrophilia and eosinophilia

Thyroid tumors producing colony-stimulating factors associated with neutrophilia and/or eosinophilia are very rare and almost all of them concern anaplastic thyroid cancer. Only one case of papillary thyroid carcinoma associated with neutrophilia and one case of medullary thyroid carcinoma associated with eosinophilia have been reported. In this report a 72-year old male patient with metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma associated with neutrophilia and eosinophilia is described. While investigating the cause of neutrophilia and eosinophilia, a blind bone marrow biopsy of the posterior iliac crest was performed, which showed infiltration by papillary thyroid carcinoma. High blood levels of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-csF) were found using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. As other causes of neutrophilia and eosinophilia were excluded, we assumed that these were paraneoplastic manifestations induced by GM-csF produced by the thyroid tumor. the disease progressed rapidly, despite appropriate treatment which included thyroidectomy and postoperative radioactive (131)I administration. the patient died 11 months after diagnosis because of extensive lung metastasis. Neutrophilia and eosinophilia were stable findings, while serum thyroglobulin levels remained elevated throughout the follow-up period. to our knowledge, this is the first report of a patient with metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma in whom neutrophilia and eosinophilia associated with high circulating levels of GM-csF were detected.     

Cultivated microalgae and the carotenoid fucoxanthin from Odontella aurita as potent anti-proliferative agents in bronchopulmonary and epithelial cell lines

The antiproliferative activities of several extracts from cultivated microalgae in France have been studied against bronchopulmonary and epithelial cell lines, respectively (A549, NSCLC-N6 and SRA 01/04). The algal extracts, of Diatomae (Odontella aurita, Chaetoseros sp.), as well as of Haptophyceae: Isochrisys aff. galbana, appeared as the most active among all the assayed species, expressing a broad spectrum of in vitro antiproliferative activity of well-differentiated pathologic cells such as NSCLC-N6 by terminal differentiation. Bio-guided fractionation of the above referred extracts, led us to the isolation, of the carotenoid fucoxanthin. Fucoxanthin has been structurally determined, through modern spectral means and has been studied separately for its activities.     

Levels of serum cytokines and acute phase proteins in patients with essential and cancer-related thrombocytosis

Essential thrombocytosis (ET) is a myeloproliferative disorder resulting in an increased production of abnormal platelets. Reactive thrombocytosis (RT) is occasionally observed in clinical situations including chronic inflammation and malignancy. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the discriminatory efficiency of various laboratory tests in patients with ET and cancer-related RT. Forty-five patients with ET, 52 patients with RT, and 25 age-matched normal individuals comprised the study population. Plasma interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1a), IL-2, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a), platelets, hematocrit, hemoglobin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and ferritin were determined. We found increased levels of ferritin, LDH, CRP, ESR, IL-1a, and IL-6 in RT compared with ET (p < 0.01 to p < 0.0005). Hemoglobin, hematocrit, and platelets were significantly lower in RT than in ET (p < 0.0005). Furthermore, ferritin and ESR were negatively correlated with Hct, hemoglobin, and TNF-a, whereas ferritin was positively correlated with ESR, IL-1a, IL-6, and CRP, and IL-1a was positively correlated with IL-6. We consider that the aforementioned parameters should be included in the investigation of unexplained thrombocytosis for the differentiation of essential from cancer related thrombocytosis.     

Genetic polymorphisms of CYP1A1, GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes and lung cancer risk

Genetic polymorphisms of the genes encoding for the xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes result in individual variations in the efficiency of detoxification of environmental carcinogens, and have been extensively associated with variable risk for lung neoplasms in different ethnic and environmental backgrounds. In this study, using PCR-RFLP based assays, we investigated the distribution of genetic polymorphisms in CYP1A1, GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes in Greek lung cancer patients (N=122) and healthy controls (N=178). The frequency of CYP1A1 m1 homozygous genotype was 0.04 in patients and 0.02 in controls (detected in 4.10% of patients and in 1.69% of controls, respectively), that of GSTM1 null genotype was 0.52 in patients and 0.54 in controls, whereas those of GSTT1 null genotype was 0.17 and 0.11, in patients and controls, respectively. The GSTM1 null genotype was more frequent in adenocarcinoma, as well as in lung cancer patients with history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The GSTT1 null genotype correlated with advanced age of the patients at the time of diagnosis. Three combinations of rare genotypes - in subjects carrying simultaneously deviations from the common genotype in more than one gene - were over-represented in lung cancer patients, compared to control population, and were furthermore significantly associated with history of heavy tobacco consumption in lung cancer patients. The results imply involvement of specific genotype combinations of CYP1A1, GSTM1 and GSTT1 alleles in the development of lung cancer in heavy smokers.