The catecholamine producing cells of the adrenal medulla of fetal as well as adult mammals contain enkephalins. We have quantified met-enkephalin and the catecholamines, norepinephrine and epinephrine, in human fetal adrenal glands during the late first trimester and throughout the second trimester of intrauterine life. Met-enkephalin (ME) was detectable in ...

The hybrids of carp (Cyprinus carpio) and goldfish (Carassius auratus) collected from the lower Great Lakes between 1978 and 1981 exhibited epizootics of gonadal neoplasm which were rare in the parental species. The pituitary glands of hybrids were, on average, 2.5 times larger than that of carp of similar body ...

Pregnancy rarely occurs in women with Cushing's syndrome, and when it does, fetal mortality and morbidity are very high. We describe a 30-year-old woman who was found to have severe Cushing's syndrome in the 22nd week of her first pregnancy, after a year of unsuccessful attempts to conceive. The patient ...

A short term incubation of baboon fetal adrenal cells obtained at midgestation and near term was used to determine whether a change in the regulation of androgen formation occurs with advancing gestation. Adrenal glands were removed from baboon (Papio anubis) fetuses on day 100 (mid; n = 7) or day ...

Normal or pregnant rats were treated orally for 21 days or throughout pregnancy with water or increasing doses of morphine and killed on days 7, 14, and 21 of pregnancy and 1 day post partum. At these time intervals, plasma, pituitary, and hypothalamic concentrations of beta-endorphin and methionine enkephalin were ...

In the ovine fetus, plasma levels of corticosteroids are very low between 60 and 130 days of gestation, then increase dramatically before birth. ACTH appears to be an important regulating hormone for the fetal adrenal cortex, the sensitivity of which to this hormone increases during late gestation. However, the relationship ...

The present study was designed to investigate the presence of VIP in fetal adrenals, to determine the changes in adrenal VIP content associated with maturation, and to explore the factors which regulate fetal adrenal VIP release. Adrenal glands from ovine fetuses at 70 to 140 days gestation were used. Adrenal ...

The role of foetal adrenal DHAS in initiation of human parturition was studied by direct estimation of umbilical arterial blood samples and correlated with the oxytocin consumption during induced labour, Author found a closed relation between the above parameters and suggested that foetal adrenal activity might be involved in the ...

The size of the fetal adrenal gland was determined using ultrasonography in 346 fetuses with no complications at 28-40 weeks of gestation and in 12 fetuses of abnormal pregnancies (8 intrauterine growth retardations, 2 anencephalies, 1 intrauterine fetal death and 1 fetus of a mother who had been on steroids ...

The structure of the palatine tonsils in an evolutionary line of mammals and its development in man was studied. The homologies between the thymus and tonsils were pointed out. Both primordia come from the same source and their epithelium reticulizes and can form concentric corpuscles. The tonsil develops from a ...

Although systematic and detailed studies of pineal structure and function during pregnancy are rare, the available evidence indicates that morphological and biochemical changes do take place in this gland during this reproductive state. The majority of studies indicate increased activity in cytoplasmic organelles and enzymes of pinealocytes during gestation. Changes ...

A 36-year-old woman who had experienced two pregnancies consulted our hospital, because of scant menses and virilization. A 24-hour excretion of 17-ketosteroids and 17-hydroxy-corticosteroids demonstrated a decrease in 11-hydroxylase. A computed tomogram showed a huge inhomogenous tumefaction in the left adrenal. Left selective renal angiography revealed a large adrenal tumefaction. ...

In the present study, baboon fetal adrenal cells were obtained at mid- and late gestation and incubated for various intervals to determine simultaneously the effects of length of incubation and stage of development on the pattern of adrenal steroidogenesis. Cells were treated with adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from 0 to 48 ...

Plasma levels of androstane-3 alpha, 17 beta-diol glucuronide (3 alpha-diol-G) and androsterone glucuronide (ADT-G) have been found to be effective markers of C-19 steroid metabolism in periphery in man. The present study has been performed in order to study in castrated patients the effect of antiandrogen administered alone or in ...

At a time of controversy about the appropriate use of obstetric ultrasound, this study explores the effect of availability on ultrasound use. Using a historical cohort design with chart review, pregnancy ultrasound rates were compared between two teaching family-medical centres, one with on-site ultrasound facilities and one without. Pregnant patients ...

During pregnancy, rats and humans show an increase in pain threshold that is mediated by an endorphin system. In order to determine whether plasma beta-endorphin and/or other factors of pituitary origin are involved in pregnancy-induced analgesia in the rat, the effects of hypophysectomy (day 12 of pregnancy) or pharmacological suppression ...

The concentration of 17-OH-progesterone was determined in second trimester amniotic fluid collected from 58 pregnancies at risk for fetal 21-hydroxylase deficiency. The prediction was incorrect in 1 male nonsalt-loser who had an increased plasma 17-OH-progesterone concentration at 3 months of age. All 11 infants predicted to be affected were salt-losers. ...

Circulating maternal prolactin (PRL) levels have been reported to be higher in term pregnancies yielding male infants. The mechanism for this gender difference is unknown, but we theorized that it was mediated through the fetal adrenal cortex. To test this theory we measured circulating PRL and estriol (E3) concentrations with ...

A patient with mild hyperprolactinemia and a CT-scanned 6 x 9 mm pituitary adenoma is described. Pregnancy occurred spontaneously. During pregnancy severe headache and rapidly increasing visual field defects due to suprasellar extension of the adenoma were observed. The patient was treated with bromocriptine in a dose of 5 mg ...

We have encountered a case of a pituitary mass which emerged and enlarged during pregnancy in a 29-year-old woman. On CT scaning the mass disappeared over the course of four months postpartum and was followed by pituitary hypofunction. The hypofunction was restricted to ACTH, GH, and PRL. The visual field ...

The levels of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the cord blood from 34 infants were determined by radioimmunoassay. All infants were born by vaginal delivery after an uneventful pregnancy. Levels of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and ACTH were high in the cord blood. CRF levels (mean +/- SD) were 100.5 +/- 31.7 ...

The anatomy of the prostate was studied in specimens from humans ranging from fetal age to 79 years. At all ages, the prostate can be divided into two zones, inner and outer. The distribution and relative size of the prostatic lobes is similar in the fetus and in the adult. ...

Evidence is presented that in adult human axillae there exists a third type of sweat gland tentatively designated as the apoeccrine sweat gland. This type of gland shows a segmental or diffuse apocrinelike dilatation of its secretory tubule but has a long and thin duct which does not open into ...

Prolactinoma was diagnosed in 190 women of the same age range, among whom 88 were treated with transsphenoidal microadenectomy and 102 with bromocriptine. The purpose of this study was to compare the two groups according to classification of the adenomas by size and invasiveness, pregnancy rates, prolactin levels after pregnancy, ...

A case is reported of a primigravid woman presenting in midgestation with severe hypertension caused by primary hyperaldosteronism. Symptomatic treatment with an aldosterone blocker, a peripheral vasodilator, and a combined alpha beta-blocker allowed pregnancy to continue to 36 weeks' gestation. Cesarean section for fetal distress resulted in delivery of a ...

In order to verify whether fetal and maternal adrenal gland suppression induces effects on fetal behaviour, triamcinolone was administered to five healthy pregnant women at 35 weeks of gestation. Five patients of the same gestational age were used as control. Fetal heart rate (FHR) and fetal movements were recorded continuously ...

Adrenal medullary cells in adult primates contain catecholamines and several neuropeptides. Among these peptides are several products of the three opiate precursor proteins: proenkephalin, prodynorphin, and proopiomelanocortin. We used immunocytochemistry to study the ontogeny of leu-enkephalin and the catecholamine-synthesizing enzymes dopamine beta-hydroxylase and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase in adjacent sections of 14 ...

When [3H]inositol-prelabelled rat parotid-gland slices were stimulated with carbachol, noradrenaline or Substance P, the major inositol trisphosphate produced with prolonged exposure to agonists was, in each case, inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate. Much lower amounts of radioactivity were present in the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate fraction separated by anion-exchange h.p.l.c. Analysis of the inositol trisphosphate ...

Macroprolactinomas have a well-recognized potential for marked expansion during pregnancy. Measures advocated to minimize this risk include prior treatment with dopamine agonists, radiotherapy and pituitary surgery. We describe a patient who underwent transsphenoidal surgery with the removal of an histologically proven prolactin-secreting adenoma with the intention of rendering subsequent pregnancy ...

The effect of hypertension in pregnant women on fetal maturation is an issue of considerable importance. Because of a possible role of prolactin in fetal adrenal steroidogenesis and in fetal lung maturation, we have investigated the relationship between hypertension in pregnant women and levels of prolactin and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in ...

Exogenous ACTH1-24 promotes adrenal maturation in fetal sheep, and this effect appears to be modulated in part by cortisol (Challis et al. 1985). We have examined whether similar changes in adrenal metabolism of progesterone occur with ACTH-induced labour as at spontaneous term and whether the site of cortisol modulation is ...

A 29-year-old woman is described who presented with amenorrhea and galactorrhea with a large prolactinoma which regressed on bromocriptine therapy. Treatment with bromocriptine was stopped when pregnancy was diagnosed but 6 weeks later the prolactinoma had regrown with suprasellar extension and lateral invasion of the cavernous sinus. When treatment with ...

We measured the serum cortisol levels in 15 normal and 8 pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) primigravidas. The normal pregnancy had a significant (p less than 0.05) higher cortisol level than that of PIH patient. Especially, 4 severe PIH patients had a significantly (p less than 0.05) lower cortisol level. The ...

The thirty-third instance of pregnancy and Cushing's syndrome is presented and the literature is reviewed. There is a poor fetal prognosis without definitive treatment of Cushing's syndrome during pregnancy. Maternal complications are common with adrenal adenomas, 44% developing pulmonary edema and 100% developing hypertension. Prompt diagnosis and early treatment are ...

A 35 year old woman suffering from ACTH and prolactin (Prl) deficiency is described. Her symptoms of adrenal insufficiency appeared gradually after her first pregnancy in 1970; however, she conceived twice more and delivered healthy babies in 1972 and 1974, which she could not breast feed due to lack of ...

Corticotrophin releasing factor-like immunoreactivity (CRF-LI) and bioactivity, and arginine vasopressin-like immunoreactivity (AVP-LI) have been measured in extracts of human fetal and adult hypothalamic tissue and their development with the gestational age of the fetuses (12-27 weeks) studied. CRF-LI was measured by a radioimmunoassay developed for ovine corticotrophin-releasing factor (oCRF-41). Corticotrophin-releasing ...

Once other causes of hyperprolactinaemia have been excluded it is reasonable to assume that the cause lies within the hypothalamus or the pituitary. The pituitary may be the site of lactotroph hypertrophy and hyperplasia, a micro-adenoma or a macro-adenoma. Sixty-nine pregnancies in 53 patients, who required treatment of hyperprolactinaemia prior ...

In a study of 38 fetuses total kidney renin was significantly correlated with gestational age (r = 0.63). Although whole fetal kidney renin specific activity was found to decrease with gestational age (r = -0.65), the mean value of the specific activity was about 20 times greater than in normal ...

Adrenal cortex of fetuses from abortion and newborns as well as 3 anencephalic monsters between 16 and 40 weeks gestational age was investigated. In order to follow the activity of adrenal cortex the volumes of nuclei and of cells were determined by means of morphometry in both the fetal and ...

The dopamine agonist bromocriptine has been widely used to facilitate pregnancy in hyperprolactinaemic women, with a success rate of 80% in relevant cases. Neither the inappropriate hyperprolactinaemia consequent upon bromocriptine withdrawal after conception nor the relative hypoprolactinaemia caused by treatment throughout gestation appears to affect adversely the course and outcome ...

The adrenal gland of the Swiss albino strain was investigated with particular reference to the X zone. The degeneration of the X zone in the male occurred concomitant with puberty. The unmated female possessed an X zone which gradually degenerated with age. First pregnancy gave a rapid disappearance of the ...

The development of corticotropes and lactotropes was investigated in the golden Syrian hamster using an anti-porcine ACTH antiserum and a homologous anti-hamster PRL antiserum. Oval corticotropes were first visible in the ventral region of the pars distalis at 13 days of gestation. By the end of gestation, corticotropes were found ...

We have studied the effects of a purified diet enriched with animal protein (casein 40%, lactalbumin 20%) on different stages of rat pregnancy. We observed that hyperproteic diet, especially when administered from the first day of pregnancy, induces morphological alterations of liver, adrenal cortex, heart and kidney. Moreover, haematic dosages, ...

We undertook a study designed to evaluate whether it is feasible to suppress fetal adrenal secretion of androgens at mid-pregnancy by giving dexamethasone (DX) to the mother. Levels of DX and adrenal steroids were measured in maternal and cord plasma of 13 DX-treated and 16 untreated mothers undergoing abortion at ...

Glycogen deposition was determined in pregnant rats and their fetuses twenty four hrs after maternal treatment with dexamethasone in the final days of pregnancy. Dexamethasone increases glycogen accumulation in the fetal liver, heart, adrenal glands and thymus. Simultaneously, it increases the glycogen concentration in maternal liver. In this study, dexamethasone ...

Ultrasonographic studies on the fetal adrenal gland were performed in utero on 100 fetuses 22-42 weeks of gestation. The correlations of the area of fetal adrenal gland (FAGA) with gestational age (r = 0.95, P less than 0.001) were high. The circumference of the fetal adrenal gland (FAGC) correlated well ...

The regional distribution of kassinin-like immunoreactivity (KLI) was investigated by radioimmunoassay in central and peripheral tissues of the cat. In the cat brain KLI was found to have a widespread distribution with the highest concentrations present in the substantia nigra followed by the hypothalamus and caudate nucleus. Moderate levels were ...

Fifty-eight hyperprolactinemic women were followed up for 13 to 108 months after at least one bromocriptine-induced pregnancy for investigation of whether the pregnancy had any adverse long-term effects on the hyperprolactinemic state. Fifteen women had two term pregnancies. The prolactin (PRL) level decreased greater than 50% in 20 women after ...

We examined the hypothesis that cortisol (F) modulates the activation of adrenal function induced by treating fetal sheep in vivo with pulsatile ACTH (P-ACTH). Chronically catheterized sheep fetuses were infused in utero for 100 h between day 127 and day 131 of pregnancy with P-ACTH; P-ACTH plus metopirone; P-ACTH plus ...

Administration of hydrocortisone in vivo to pregnant mice between the eighth and sixteenth days of gestation leads to highly significant increases in both the volume and the labelling index of extra-adrenal chromaffin tissue (as represented by the para-aortic body) of 16 days fetal mice. The labelling index of intra-adrenal chromaffin ...