Serum progesterone, estradiol-17beta and testosterone at the time of relapse in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer

Raised levels of steroid hormones may be detected in women with ovarian cancer at the time of diagnosis. The goal of this study was to investigate the levels of progesterone, testosterone and estradiol-17beta in patients with relapsed epithelial ovarian cancer. We studied 52 patients with a histologic diagnosis of ovarian cancer; 46 of 52 patients were affected by epithelial tumors, two patients had sexcord-stromal tumors, one patient had a germ cell tumor and three patients had a metastatic cancer from the bowel. Of 34 patients with disease relapse, none had elevated serum testosterone levels (>1 ng/ml), one patient (2.9%) had an elevated serum progesterone level (>1.24 ng/ml) and two patients (5.9%) had elevated estradiol-17beta levels (>28 pg/ml). The relationship between the three hormone levels at the time of initial treatment and at relapse was tested using the Students's t-test. At the time of initial treatment venous concentrations of progesterone, estradiol-17beta and testosterone were higher and statistically different (p<0.05) from samples obtained at the time of relapse in the same patients. No significant differences were found between patients studied at the time of relapse and the control group. Measurement of progesterone, estradiol-17beta and testosterone is not helpful in detecting disease relapse in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.     

Relationship between the chest radiograph, regional lung function studies, exercise tolerance, and clinical condition in cystic fibrosis

This study evaluated the accuracy of the interpretation of the chest film in delineating localised abnormalities of ventilation and perfusion, as well as the overall severity of airways obstruction, exercise tolerance, and clinical condition in children with cystic fibrosis. Radiographic findings in various regions of the chest film were compared with the functional values obtained with regional lung function tests which evaluated the arrival and disappearance of boluses of radioactive nitrogen given by inhalation and infusion. While the more severely affected areas on the chest radiograph were found to correlate with similar regions on the lung function tests, as did overall scores, errors occurred in some cases if the x-ray film alone was used as a judge of regional physiological derangement. In addition the degree of airways obstruction, the exercise tolerance on a cycle ergometer, and clinical grading, each correlated significantly with the radiographic score. We conclude that the chest radiograph is a good indicator of the overall severity of the lung disease and that it correlates well with exercise tolerance and clinical condition in cystic fibrosis.     

Hepatic scintigraphy in management of infants and children with liver disease

Scintiscans of liver and spleen using technetium 99m sulphur colloid in 15 infants with extrahepatic biliary atresia and 11 infants with severe obstructive jaundice (7 with genetic deficiency of alpha 1-antitrypsin) showed similar hepatic size, pattern of isotope uptake, and splenic abnormality with no distinguishing features. In 37 older children with a variety of liver disorders, the scan was invaluable in showing filling defects in five instances. Selenomethionine was taken up not only by the two filling defects due to hepatoblastoma but also in a haemangioendothelioma. In the remaining patiens liver scanning confirmed hepatic abnormality and the necessity for more specific invasive diagnostic investigations.     

Cardiac Tamponade,Sever Hypothyroidism and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) with COVID-19 Infection

A 21-years-old with Down syndrome presented with respiratory distress. Initial investigations revealed a cardiac tamponade. On further evaluation, he had positive coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), severe chest infection and severe hypothyroidism. He responded well to urgent pericardiocentesis, levothyroxine, hydrocortisone and tocilizumab.     

Serum profiles of insulin-like growth factors and their binding proteins in adults with growth hormone receptor deficiency treated with insulin like growth factor I

Six adult patients with growth hormone receptor deficiency (GHRD) (2 men, 4 women) with an identical defect in the growth hormone receptor (GHR) gene, were treated with recombinant human insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), 40 μgikg S.C. twice daily, for 7 days. Serum concentrations of IGF peptide and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) were measured by specific radioimmunoassays; serum IGFBPs were also measured by Western ligand blotting. The size distribution of both IGF-I and IGF-II was measured in serum following size-exclusion fast-performance liquid chromatography. IGF-I treatment resulted in a normalization of serum IGF-I levels on days 1–7 of treatment and a decrease in serum IGF-II levels. The fall in IGF-II levels and the simultaneous rise in IGF-I levels, however, resulted in an unchanged total serum IGF level. The low IGFBP-3 values did not significantly change during treatment, whereas there was a slight increase in IGFBP-2 levels. Preliminary analysis of size-fractionated sera suggested an increase in IGF-I levels in the 40 and 150 kDa regions at the expense of IGF-II levels. The results suggest that despite the failure of IGF-I treatment to increase IGFBPs significantly, serum IGFBP concentrations were sufficient to maintain normal levels of IGF-I. 0 Laron syndrome, growth hormone receptor deficiency, insulin-like growth factors, insulin-like growth factor binding protein     

Amhezole,A Novel Fungal Secondary Metabolite from Aspergillus terreus for Treatment of Microbial Mouth Infection

Bio‐guided fractionation of Aspergillus terreus extract leads to isolation of a novel terpenoidal secondary metabolite. The isolated compound and the total alcoholic extract of Aspergillus terreus showed a remarkable activity against microbial mouth infections; namely, Candida albicans, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus gordonii, and S. mutan. Moreover, the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of the isolated compound was determined and showed low values. The combination of each of the alcoholic extract of A. terreus and the isolated compound Coe‐Comfort tissue conditioner inhibited the growth of Candida albicans at concentrations of 500 and 7.81 µg/mL, respectively, Lactobacillus acidophilus at concentrations of 250 and 7.81 µg/mL, respectively, Streptococcus gordonii at concentrations of 1000 and 62.50 µg/mL, respectively, and S. mutans at concentrations of 1000 and 125 µg/mL, respectively. The oral dosing of the extract and the isolated compound did not show any significant effect on the activity of alanine aminotransferase, aspirate aminotransferase, and the levels of blood urea and serum creatinine. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.