INTERRELATIONS BETWEEN PLASMA AND TISSUE CONCENTRATIONS OF 17 β-OESTRADIOL AND PROGESTERONE DURING HUMAN PREGNANCY

Oestradiol and progesterone concentration in plasma, decidua, myometrium and placenta obtained from women undergoing Caesarian section at term and abortion at weeks 16-22 of pregnancy were determined. There was a significant increase in oestradiol concentration (per g wet wt) both in placenta, decidua and myometrium from mid-term to term. Both at mid-term and term oestradiol concentrations in decidua and myometrium were much smaller than those in the plasma (per ml). Progesterone concentration in placenta and in myometrium did not increase from mid-term to term where it increased significantly in decidua. Decidual and myometrial progesterone concentrations at mid-term were 2-3 times higher than those in plasma, but at term the concentrations in both these tissues were lower than in plasma. The ratio progesterone/oestradiol in plasma, decidua, myometrium and placenta at mid-term was 8.7, 112.2, 61.4 and 370.0, respectively, and it decreased significantly in the myometrium and placenta but was nearly unchanged in plasma and decidua at term. The general conclusion to be drawn from the present study is the lack of correspondence between the plasma concentrations and the tissue concentrations of female sex steroids during pregnancy.     

Degradation of Amyloid-related Serum Protein SAA by a Component Present in Rabbit and Human Serum

After incubation of protein SAA-containing rabbit serum at 37 degrees C overnight, the strength of the precipitation reaction against antiserum to SAA was decreased. This was at east partly due to enzymatic degradation of protein SAA. The enzymatic activity was not strongly associated with the SAA-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) complex, since it sedimented in the preparative ultracentrifuge at a density at which the SAA-HDL complex floats. The degrading component was obtained in concentrated form from rabbit and human sera by adsorption to Sepharose 4B. Degradation of human SAA by the human serum component was inhibited with disopropyl fluorophosphate, an inhibitor of serine proteases.     

A New Factor in the Blood of Patients with Peptic Ulcer

Previous work on a factor in the blood of patients with peptic ulcer which contracts smooth muscle was confirmed and the work extended to investigation of the activity of blood fractions. Whole heparinized blood and its fractions were tested on a strip of guinea pig ileum and height of contraction and latent period were used as criteria of activity. Whole heparinized blood of ulcer patients had significantly higher activity than that of normal controls. Differences between the fractions of ulcer patients and controls were less significant. With the lysed buffy coat, however, while the differences between the height of contraction between the groups did not differ statistically, the speed of the reaction (shorter latent period) was significantly greater in the ulcer patients. The cellular alterations causing this response are unknown.     

On the In Vitro Metabolism of Androstenedione and Progesterone in Human Testicular Tissue from Fetal Age to Senescence

The conversion of [3H]-androstenedione to testosterone regulated by the enzyme 17 beta-ketosteroid reductase and the conversion of [3H]-progesterone to 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone and onwards along the delta 4 metabolic pathway was studied in vitro in human testicular tissue from 32 males (2 fetuses, 25 adult, infertile men and 5 elderly men with prostatic carcinoma). Additionally, two prepubertal boys were studied with respect to the conversion of [3H]-androstenedione to testosterone in vitro, whereas another seven boys were studied with reference to the conversion of [3H]-progesterone in vitro. It appeared, that in all cases, the conversion of androstenedione to testosterone was larger than the conversion of progesterone to 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone by way of the 17 alpha-hydroxylase and onwards along the delta 4 metabolic pathway. It is thus concluded that the 17 beta ketosteroid reductase is not a rate-limiting enzyme along the delta 4 metabolic pathway. No case of deficient 17 beta-ketosteroid reductase was found among the 25 infertile patients studied.     

Clinical Significance of Leukemia Associated Antigen (LAA) in Human Serum

Antiserum to serum leukemia associated antigen (LAA) was produced by immunizing rabbits or sheep with leukemic blast cells or fetal cells. This, as well as its presence in amniotic fluid and fetal tissue identifies LAA as another oncofetal component. LAA was present in the serum of 1% of healthy blood donors. In a longitudinal study of leukemia patients, LAA was found, at one stage or the other, in 50–75% of patients with acute leukemia or chronic myelogenous leukemia, but only in 27% of persons with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. A difference between those who obtained and those who did not obtain a remission was observed, since significantly more patients in the latter group had LAA at the initial test. Among these who obtained a remission, appearance of LAA seemed to signal a turn for the worse. These findings with qualitative tests were confirmed by the quantitative 'rocket' technique. The exact nature of LAA is the subject of present studies.     

Histochemical study of giant tubule content in dentin of unerupted cow incisors

Abstract – Incisal dentin of mandible cow incisors was studied by incident light. The material consisted of 12 intact permanent unerupted incisors from 2-yr-old cows removed immediately after bleeding. These specimens were kept in an isotonic EDTA-sucrose solution to be decalcified while maintaining vitality of cellular components. Three of the specimens were successfully dissected in a mesiodistal plane, exposing the giant tubule lumens and their content. By the use of NBT, a compound reduced by the dehydrogenase enzymes of the electron transport in the inner mitochondrial membrane, it was concluded that the giant tubules contained vital cells. The giant tubules were also shown to communicate with the incisal part of the pulp cavity by wide openings.