Serum concentrations of oestradiol-17beta, progesterone, relaxin and chorionic gonadotrophin during blastocyst implantation in natural pregnancy cycle and in embryo transfer cycle in the rhesus monkey

The present study was undertaken to assess the temporal association between the profiles of serum concentrations of oestradiol-17beta, progesterone, chorionic gonadotrophin (CG) and relaxin in pregnancies established naturally, and after embryo transfer, as well as in failed pregnancies in rhesus monkeys. In naturally mated cycles (group 1) a conception rate of 75% was obtained. In group 1, the mean day of CG detection in serum was 11.5 +/- 1.9 day post-ovulation, and for relaxin, 9.0 +/- 2.5 day post-ovulation. In group 2, embryo transfer to synchronous, non-mated surrogate recipients was performed; seven embryo transfer cycles yielded three pregnancies which were allowed to continue to term and normal infants were delivered. In embryo transfer cycles the mean day of CG detection was 14.8 +/- 1.8 day post- ovulation, and for relaxin, 11.4 +/- 2.6 day post-ovulation. A delay of about 3 days was observed in the appearance in circulation of CG (P < 0.05) and also of relaxin (P < 0.05) between natural mated and embryo transfer conception cycles. Significant differences (P < 0.05 for progesterone and P < 0.03 for oestradiol) were obtained for the areas under the curves for progesterone and oestradiol between days 12 and 16 in conception cycles compared with failed pregnancies. These data provide the first observation of the normal hormonal signals associated with maternal recognition of transferred embryos during the peri- implantation period, and suggest that the use of such an experimental primate embryo transfer model may help to elucidate components of maternal and embryonic signal-response mechanisms during embryo implantation.      

The role of size, sequence and haplotype in the stability of FRAXA and FRAXE alleles during transmission

Factors involved in the stability of trinucleotide repeats during transmission were studied in 139 families in which a full mutation, premutation or intermediate allele at either FRAXA or FRAXE was segregating. The transmission of alleles at FRAXA, FRAXE and four microsatellite loci were recorded for all individuals. Instability within the minimal and common ranges (0-40 repeats for FRAXA, 0-30 repeats for FRAXE) was extremely rare; only one example was observed, an increased in size at FRAXA from 29 to 39 repeats. Four FRAXA and three FRAXE alleles in the intermediate range (41-60) repeats for FRAXA, 31-60 for FRAXE) were unstably transmitted. Instability was more frequent for FRAXA intermediate alleles that had a tract of pure CGG greater than 37 although instability only occurred in two of 13 such transmissions: the changes observed were limited to only one or two repeats. Premutation FRAXA alleles over 100 repeats expanded to a full mutation during female transmission in 100% of cases, in agreement with other published series. There was no clear correlation between haplotype and probability of expansion of FRAXA premutations. Instability at FRAXA or FRAXE was more often observed in conjunction with a second instability at an independent locus suggesting genomic instability as a possible mechanism by which at least some FRAXA and FRAXE mutations arise.      

The role of pancreatic venous sampling in the localization of occult insulinomas

The palpation and enucleation of occult insulinomas (less than 15 mm) can be a difficult surgical problem even with good arteriographic localization. In the authors' limited experience, confirmation of arteriographic findings by pancreatic venous sampling provided little additional localizing information. However, if arteriography is negative or equivocal, venous sampling can indicate the segment of pancreas to be "blindly" resected if the adenoma is not palpable. Venous sampling may be misleading in polyendocrine syndromes because of the frequency of multiple adenomas and variable hormone production.     

Takayasu''s aortitis with renovascular hypertension

We report a case of Takayasu's disease with severe renovascular hypertension in a girl from Eritrea. In the "burn-out" phase after the erythrocyte sedimentation rate had normalized, reconstructive vascular surgery was performed as further progression of the disease seemed unlikely. However, probably due to her growth, the graft rotated and a second operation was successfully performed.     

Rising incidence of type 1 diabetes in Scottish children, 1984-93. The Scottish Study Group for the Care of Young Diabetics

OBJECTIVES: To calculate the incidence of type 1 diabetes in Scottish children aged less than 15 years between 1984 and 1993; to examine changes in incidence; and to calculate the prevalence of diabetes at the end of this period. DESIGN: Three data sources were used to construct the Scottish Study Group for the Care of Young Diabetics register: active reporting of all new cases; reports from the Scottish Morbidity Register 1; and local registers. SUBJECTS: All children resident in Scotland diagnosed with primary insulin dependent diabetes mellitus when less than 15 years of age between 1984 and 1993. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Annual incidence and prevalence rate for Scotland; time trend in incidence over the 10 years; differences in incidence between the three different age groups; and completeness of the register. RESULTS: The average annual incidence for Scotland was 23.9/100,000 children. The prevalence rate was 1.5/1000 in 1993. A total of 2326 cases was identified from the three sources. Capture-recapture analysis suggests a case ascertainment of 98.6%. The annual incidence rates increased at a rate of 2% each year (rate ratio = 1.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01 to 1.03). The incidence was higher in boys than girls (rate ratio = 1.08, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.18), and the incidence rates increased with age: 15.3/100,000/year for age 0-4 years, 24.4/ 100,000/year for age 5-9 years, and 31.9/ 100,000/year for age 10-14 years. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of type 1 diabetes in Scotland is increasing and the prevalence is relatively high. These findings have important implications for health service resource allocation. The Scottish Study Group for the Care of Young Diabetics' register provides a base for monitoring and research.     

Studies on luteolysis: effect of antiserum to luteinizing hormone on sterols and steroid levels in pregnant hamsters.

The effect of luteinizing hormone antiserum (LH A/S) on sterol and steroid levels in luteal and non-luteal ovarian compartments, and on serum steroid levels of pregnant hamsters, was studied. Injection (ip) of 0.1 ml of LH A/S on day 7 caused termination of pregnancy and morphological regression of the corpus luteum (CL) within 18-20 h of treatment, whereas LH-free non-immune serum had no effect. Within 3 h of administration of LH A/S the luteal progesterone levels fell from a control value of 36.0 +/- 2.4 to 15.6 +/- 3.4 ng/mg, and estrogen from a control value of 20.8 +/- 3.4 to 12.2 +/- 1.5 pg/mg. By 12 h progesterone had dropped to 7.3 +/- 0.3 ng/mg whereas estrogen was undetectable by radioimmunoassay. Serum progesterone fell in 3 h from 5.53 +/- 0.39 to 3.15 +/- 0.26 ng/ml whereas estrogen fell from 172 +/- 26 to 123 +/- 9 pg/ml. The progesterone content of non-luteal ovarian tissue dropped in 3 h from 1.06 +/- 0.01 to 0.47 +/- 0.06 ng/mg and estrogen from 115.0 +/- 1.5 to 11.0 +/- 0.65 pg/mg. Both progesterone and estrogen were undetectable at 24 h. In the CL, free cholesterol concentration did not change significantly after A/S treatment, while esterified cholesterol increased from 2.82 +/- 0.14 to 4.14 +/- 0.25 mug/mg within 6 h and 5.52 +/- 0.17 mug/mg by 12 h. The results suggest that LH plays a critical role in the maintenance of CL of early pregnancy in the hamster and that deprivation of LH, even for periods as short as 3 h, significantly influences steroid production. The accumulation of cholesterol esters following LH-deprivation suggests that loss of cholesteryl esterase activity could be one of the events leading to luteolysis.     

Inhibition of in vivo pituitary release of luteinizing hormone in lactating rats by exogenous prolactin.

The mechanism whereby the reciprocal relationship between the plasma levels of prolactin and HL is maintained in lactating rats under different degrees of suckling stimulus has been investigated in the present study. Plasma levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) in lactating rats suckling two pups could be reduced significantly by injecting prolactin (PRL). This reduction was also evident in ovariectomized and ovariectomized-adrenalectomized lactating rats, thus excluding mediation of the inhibitory effect by steroids from end-organs. The in vivo response of the pituitary to exogenous LHRH was lower in rats suckling eight pups than those suckling two pups. Prolactin administered prior to LHRH caused an inhibition of the response of the pituitary to exogenous LHRH in rats suckling two pups. These data provide evidence for the hypothesis that in the lactating rat, in the presence of minimal suckling stimulus, the causative factor for reducing serum LH levels is prolactin, which acts by altering the pituitary responsiveness to LHRH.