Androgen treatment of abdominally obese men

Middle-aged men with abdominal obesity were treated in a double-blind study with moderate doses of transdermal preparations of testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), or placebo. This resulted in moderately elevated T concentrations and marked decreases in follicle stimulating and luteinizing hormones in the group treated with T, while the DHT group showed elevated DHT, markedly lower T values, and less diminution of gonadotropin concentrations. In the group treated with T visceral fat mass decreased (measured by computerized tomography) without significant changes in other depot fat regions. Lean body mass did not change. In the group treated with T, glucose disposal rate, measured with the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp method, was markedly augmented. Plasma triglycerides, cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose concentrations as well as diastolic blood pressure decreased. There were no such changes in the DHT or placebo treatment groups. The men treated with T reported increased well-being and energy. In none of the groups did prostate volume, specific prostate antigen concentration, genito-urinary history, or urinary flow measurement change. It is suggested that supplementation of abdominal obese men with moderate doses of T might have several beneficial effects.     

The role of oxidative stress, caused by amiodarone, in the side effects of the drug

It was supposed that free radicals are produced during the metabolism of amiodarone and involved in the mechanism of the drug's side effects. In vitro and in vivo experiments were performed in rats to check this hypothesis. We verified that amiodarone generated free radicals in vitro by chemiluminometric method. The light emission induced by amiodarone was inhibited by dihydroquinoline type antioxidants CH 402 and MTDQ--DA in a dose dependent manner. The malondialdehyde content, --one of the end products of lipid peroxidation--was increased by in vivo amiodarone administration in the serum and liver homogenate of rats. Amiodarone treatment increased significantly the NADPH and Fe3+ induced lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsomal fractions. The protective effect of antioxidants, MTDQ--DA and silibinin were ambiguous in these in vivo "short term" experiments.     

Physiodiagnostische Indikatoren bei Spannungskopfschmerzen

Practitioners often rely on physiodiagnostic indicators to corroborate the hypothesis of a muscular origin of headache. Although these indicators have been widely applied, their reliability and validity have seldom been tested empirically in headache sufferers. In a controlled double blind study, two trained raters palpated muscle tension and latent and active myogeloses of the left and right trapezius and sternocleidomastoideus muscles and measured passive head rotation flexibility. There were 28 subjects in the study, 14 suffering from tension headache and 14 matched controls. In spite of the training, interrater reliability of ratings concerning degree of muscle tension and number of latent myogeloses proved to be too low to justify subsequent use of these indicators. In keeping with the hypothesis, the various parameters of active myogeloses very clearly differentiated between the experimental groups. The hypothesis turned out not to be true for the parameters of head rotation flexibility. In subjects suffering from tension headache, no correlations could be found between the number of myogeloses of the right trapezius muscle and parameters recorded in long-term EMGs of this muscle, and no correlations could be found between the total number of myogeloses and the chronicity of headache.     

Protein biomarkers for breast cancer prevention.

Protein biomarkers suitable for the prevention of breast cancer must be extremely sensitive, easily detectable and highly correlated with the disease. They should be expressed in the reversible phase of carcinogenesis. Among the large number of candidate tumour-associated proteins, those related to the oestrogen/chorionic gonadotropin/insulin pathway seem to be of most interest because these can be causally implicated. They presumably are the first to express differently and are open to hormonal treatments. The biomarkers that give information on membrane receptor-modulated signal transduction should be considered as well. Up to now, only tamoxifen has shown some preventive activity, suggesting that the oestrogen pathway is useful indeed. Fenretinide and recombinant human chorionic gonatotropin (hCG) are also promising. But the financial requirements and the very long assessment periods largely prevent current research. This is precisely why we badly need to give priority to molecular biology research, in particular in the protein compartment There is widespread belief that advanced proteomics together with increased informatics can provide specific combinations of disease-related expression profiles that could identify high-risk groups with much more reliability and allow us to monitor preventive strategies.     

临床瞳孔检查新进展

瞳孔每时每刻处于动态的变化之中,因此瞳孔的检查也是一个较为复杂的过程。随着对屈光手术质量要求的日益提高,特别是暗适应下瞳孔的大小往往在一定程度上可能决定着术后质量的好坏,因此暗适应下瞳孔的精确测量变得尤为重要。现对近年来涌现的瞳孔检查新技术作一简要概括。     

甲氨喋呤配对甲酰四氢叶酸钙联合中药治疗输卵管妊娠

目的　通过对异位妊娠药物保守治疗的观察 ,总结经验并指导临床工作。方法　对 40例输卵管妊娠病人采用甲氨喋呤配对甲酰四氢叶酸钙 (CF)联合中药治疗 ,甲氨蝶呤 (MTX) 2 0～ 3 0mg·d- 1·次 - 1,肌内注射 ,总量≤ 150mg ;CF 10 0mg·d- 1·次 - 1,肌内注射 ;中药冷水煎服 ,每日 1剂。结果　住院 17 6±7 2 5d ,显效 40例 (10 0 % )。出院时血 β HCG量同比下降 75 87% ,妊娠包块直径同比缩小 2 1 65%。 结论　甲氨喋呤配对CF联合中药治疗输卵管妊娠 ,方法安全 ,疗效确切 ,不良反应少 ,值得临床应用     

Prognostic relevance of Masaoka and Müller-Hermelink classification in patients with thymic tumors

BACKGROUND: To compare the prognostic relevance of Masaoka and Müller-Hermelink classifications. METHODS: We treated 71 patients with thymic tumors at our institution between 1980 and 1997. Complete follow-up was achieved in 69 patients (97%) with a mean follow up-time of 8.3 years (range, 9 months to 17 years). RESULTS: Masaoka stage I was found in 31 patients (44.9%), stage II in 17 (24.6%), stage III in 19 (27.6%), and stage IV in 2 (2.9%). The 10-year overall survival rate was 83.5% for stage I, 100% for stage IIa, 58% for stage IIb, 44% for stage III, and 0% for stage IV. The disease-free survival rates were 100%, 70%, 40%, 38%, and 0%, respectively. Histologic classification according to Müller-Hermelink found medullary tumors in 7 patients (10.1%), mixed in 18 (26.1%), organoid in 14 (20.3%), cortical in 11 (15.9%), well-differentiated thymic carcinoma in 14 (20.3%), and endocrine carcinoma in 5 (7.3%), with 10-year overall survival rates of 100%, 75%, 92%, 87.5%, 30%, and 0%, respectively, and 10-year disease-free survival rates of 100%, 100%, 77%, 75%, 37%, and 0%, respectively. Medullary, mixed, and well-differentiated organoid tumors were correlated with stage I and II, and well-differentiated thymic carcinoma and endocrine carcinoma with stage III and IV (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed age, gender, myasthenia gravis, and postoperative adjuvant therapy not to be significant predictors of overall and disease-free survival after complete resection, whereas the Müller-Hermelink and Masaoka classifications were independent significant predictors for overall (p < 0.05) and disease-free survival (p < 0.004; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The consideration of staging and histology in thymic tumors has the potential to improve recurrence prediction and patient selection for combined treatment modalities.     

不同严重急性呼吸综合征疗法的疗效评价

目的　评价不同疗法的治疗效果,为严重急性呼吸综合征(SARS)的正确治疗提供理论依据。方法　以2 0 0 3年3月至6月太原市收治的30 4例SARS患者为对象,比较分析三种疗法(甲组采用抗生素+抗病毒药治疗;乙组采用抗生素+抗病毒药+糖皮质激素治疗;丙组采用抗生素+抗病毒药+糖皮质激素+营养支持疗法治疗)。抗生素包括大环内酯类、喹诺酮类及头孢类;抗病毒药包括病毒唑、更昔洛韦(ganciclovir)、鱼腥草及清开灵;糖皮质激素包括甲泼尼龙(methylprednisokne)、地塞米松及氢化可的松(hydrocortisone)。营养疗法包括白蛋白、静脉高营养、输注血浆及全血)的发热持续时间、胸片转归情况、出院情况及住院时间等多项指标,并进行统计学分析。结果　三组发热持续时间分别为(6±4 )d、(4±3)d和(5±3)d(P =0 .13)。胸片吸收率分别为87. 9%、80 .0 %和74 .3% (P =0 . 0 3)。出院好转率分别为10 0 %、94 . 8%和86 . 8% (P <0 . 0 1)。住院时间分别为(2 2±7)d、(30±11)d和(31±12 )d(P <0 . 0 1)。结论　在疾病早期使用抗生素和抗病毒药,不仅可预防感染发生,且对降低体温,改善症状也有效。但对年龄偏大,伴有合并症的患者,加糖皮质激素治疗可取得满意的疗效。