Androgen dependent stimulation of aromatase activity in genital skin fibroblasts from normals and patients with androgen insensitivity

OBJECTIVE: To measure the effect of androgens or aromatase activity as an index of androgen responsiveness in patients with androgen insensitivity. DESIGN: Genital skin fibroblasts were established in culture using primary skin explants obtained from normal males at the time of circumcision and from androgen insensitive patients who had surgery either for gonadectomy (complete androgen insensitivity syndrome) or for reconstruction of the external genitalia (partial androgen insensitivity syndrome). PATIENTS: Foreskin samples were obtained at the time of circumcision in 27 normal males. Scrotal or labia majora skin was obtained at the time of surgery from 14 patients with the complete and 22 with the partial forms of the androgen insensitivity syndrome. MEASUREMENTS: Basal and stimulated levels of aromatase activity were measured in genital skin fibroblasts following preincubation with natural and synthetic, nonmetabolizable androgens. RESULTS: Following a 48-hour preincubation with testosterone or dihydrotestosterone, there was a five to six-fold stimulation of aromatase activity in normal fibroblasts. Mibolerone, a synthetic androgen, produced similar results. The stimulatory effect was blocked by anti-androgens. Seven patients with partial androgen insensitivity, of whom four were either receptor deficient or showed a qualitative defect in androgen binding, had reduced mibolerone induced stimulation of aromatase activity. All ten patients with receptor negative complete androgen insensitivity had an absent response. There was no aromatase induction in a further three patients with complete androgen insensitivity who were receptor positive. Two siblings in the latter group had an exon deletion encoding for part of the DNA binding domain of the androgen receptor. CONCLUSIONS: Androgens stimulate aromatase activity in genital skin fibroblasts from normals. The response is mediated via the androgen receptor and can be decreased or absent in patients with the androgen insensitivity syndrome. This may be a useful in-vitro marker of androgen responsiveness in such patients.     

Factors associated with levels of physical activity at work and during leisure time]

Factors associated with levels of physical activity at work and during leisure time were analyzed among 577 subjects who had been selected as population controls for a case-control study by random selection from telephone directories. The intensity of physical activity at work was inversely associated with body mass index, the proportion of professionals & managers, consumption of western style breakfast, coffee, butter/margarine, and whisky; and positively associated with rice intake. Frequency of physical activities during leisure time was positively associated with consumption of vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, milk, cheese and coffee, and moderation in eating; and inversely associated with rice intake and the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and medication. The association of physical activity with these factors should be considered in studying its relationship to disease risk.     

Does the Extent of Surgery Make a Difference in High Grade Malignant Astrocytoma?

This paper examines the effect of patient age, tumour grade and extent of surgery on the outcome of treatment of 278 patients with high grade malignant gliomas referred to the Queensland Radium Institute between 1980 and 1987. The aim was to determine whether the extent of surgical resection alters survival rates. The extent of surgery had no effect on survival except for those patients with grade 3 tumours in whom a total excision was possible. Those in whom only a biopsy was done did not have a worse prognosis. Grading was found to be of importance, as patients with grade 3 tumours had a better survival than those with grade 4 tumours. In grade 4 tumours, those under 30 years of age had a better survival than those over 30 years, whereas with grade 3 tumours there was a gradation of age effect (under 40 years best, then 40–49 years, and those 50 years and over doing worst).     

Influence of age on the reactivity of the BANA test among Brazilian children.

Three hundred and twenty samples of subgingival plaque were obtained from 80 caucasian girls, ranging from 10 to 13 years of age. The samples were analyzed to verify the influence of age upon colonization of the gingival sulcus by microorganisms potentially pathogenic to the periodontal tissues. The gingival and plaque status were evaluated through the gingival index (GI) and plaque index (PlI) and the microflora was assessed by the enzymatic method benzoyl-arginine-naphthylamide (BANA). The results of the BANA test were positive for 62.50% of the tested individuals and 40% of the examined sites. The influence of age was statistically significant on BANA reactivity, and the number of positive sites was greater at 11 (57.5%) than at 12 years (28.8%).