Luteal function after tubal sterilization

The luteal function in women after tubal sterilization was evaluated and compared with a control group of women of a similar average age. Progesterone measurements and endometrial biopsies were obtained in the midluteal phase (5 to 10 days before the next menstrual period). The group of women who had been sterilized by tubal ligation or electrocoagulation had a significantly lower (P less than or equal to .001) mean midluteal progesterone level (8.5 +/- 6.0 ng/ml) than the group of women who had been sterilized by Hulka-Clemens clips (15.4 +/0 6.3 ng/ml) and the control group (17.2 +/- 4.8 ng/ml). The comparison between these 3 groups on days 19 and 20 and on days 21 and 22 gave the same statistical results. Progesterone levels were lower than 10 ng/ml in 54% of women after tubal ligation or electrocoagulation, whereas such low values were found in only 20% of women after sterilization by Hulka-Clemens clips and in 12% of the women in the control group. A retarded endometrium was observed more frequently in the women who underwent tubal ligation or electrocoagulation than in those who were sterilized by Hulka-Clemens clips. The most likely hypothesis to explain these differences is that sterilization using Hulda-Clemens clips preserves the continuity of the uteroovarian artery.

Demonstration of plasma human chorionic gonadotropin beta-subunit during pregnancy using LH-hCG receptors from immature porcine testis

In an attempt to provide better assessment of human chorionic gonadotropin beta-subunit (hCG-beta) secretion in pregnant women, a method was developed for complete removal of hCG by porcine-purified receptors before measurement of the free hCG-beta subunit by radioimmunoassay. Blood samples of 111 pregnant women were collected and the following results were obtained: (1) Extensive removal (over 96%) of hCG allows quantitative determination of the free hCG-beta subunit by a specific radioimmunoassay. Our data demonstrate the presence of circulating hCG-beta subunit during pregnancy, a fact that was still under controversy until now. (2) In contrast with the hCG profile drug during pregnancy the free hCG-beta subunit exhibits a plasma concentration peak (400 +/- 132 ng/ml; mean +/- 1 SD) at the 12th-13th week, indicating that the changes in plasma levels of intact hCG and free hCG-beta subunit are unrelated.

Inactivation of coxsackieviruses B3 and B5 in water by chlorine

The inactivation rates of coxsackievirus B3 (CB3) and B5 (CB5) by chlorine in dilute buffer at pH 6 were very nearly the same and about half that of poliovirus (Mahoney) under similar conditions. Purified CB3, like the poliovirus, aggregated in the acid range but not at pH 7 and above. Purified CB5 aggregated rapidly at all pH values; still, the graph of log surviving infectivity versus time was a straight line. No chlorine inactivation data were obtained with dispersed CB5, for it could be dispersed only by addition of diethylaminoethyl dextran, which would react with the chlorine. Addition of 0.1 M NaCl to the buffer at pH 6 did not influence the aggregation of CB5 or the rate of chlorine action on either of the coxsackie-viruses, but at pH 10 it increased the disinfection activity of OCl- for both viruses roughly 20-fold. Cesium chloride had a similar but smaller effect. KCl was the most active of the three in this respect, making the inactivating effect of OCl- at pH 10 about equal to that of HOCl at pH 6.

Nuclear energy: The accuracy of policy makers' perceptions of public beliefs

hysical risks. The policy makers' own attitudes were found to be significantly more favorable than those of the total public sample; this was primarily because the policy makers' beliefs about psychological risks made a significantly smaller negative contribution to attitude, and their beliefs about environmental risks made a significantly larger positive contribution. Tkhe policy makers were able to shift their own (personal) responses in the directions indicated by their role-play assignments to reproduce accurately the overall attitudes of the PRO and CON groups on this controversial topic, although there was a tendency to overestimate the positive attitudes of the PRO nuclear public. In terms of the underlying belief dimensions, however, there was a significant faiure to recognize the extent to which issues of psycholo;gical significance contribute negatively to the attitudes of both PRO and CON public groups. The policy makers underestimated the negative value both groups assigned to these risks as well as the extent to which the public believed that nuclear energy would lead to such risks.

Immunoreactive relaxin-like substance in human seminal plasma

Large amounts of an immunoreactive relaxin-like peptide were demonstrated in human seminal plasma. The concentrations of this peptide were determined in seven healthy volunteers, and in twenty-eight non-selected male patients seeking advice for sterility. A wide range of immunoreactive relaxin concentrations was observed, varying between 1,240 pg and 73,000 pg of relaxin porcine equivalents per ml of seminal plasma. Given the very special assay medium of seminal plasma, particular attention was paid to the validity of the radioimmunoassay system when applied to this medium.

Molecular mechanisms of control of albumin and alphafetoprotein production: a system to study the early effects of chemical hepatocarcinogens

The cellular mechanism of control of alphafetoprotein (AFP) and albumin (ALB) production during normal and pathologic permissive states is being examined using complementary DNA probes. AFP is the major serum protein for most of fetal life, but normally is produced in very small amounts in the adult. AFP production recurs in the adult during restitutive proliferation of the liver following partial hepatectomy or chemical injury, early after the exposure to chemical carcinogens and in animals with hepatocellular or yolk sac carcinomas. AFP production is roughly proportional in each case examined so far to the amount of mRNA available. On the other hand, there appears to be no difference in the gene number or gene organization in permissive or non-permissive states and there is no evidence of selective degradation of AFP or AFP (and ALB) production is probably at the level of gene transcription. Understanding of how carcinogens act to permit expression of the AFP gene may lead to important insights into carcinogenic mechanisms.

Relaxin in non-pregnant women during ovarian stimulation

Around pharmacologically induced ovulation, inconstant immunoreactive plasma relaxin concentrations were observed. Increasing levels appear during HCG or LH-RH induced lutinization. These values remain high as long as the corpus luteum is sustained. These observations may suggest that relaxin has a role during early luteinization and during the non-gestational lifespan of the corpus luteum in women.

Control of albumin and alpha-fetoprotein expression in rat liver and in some transplantable hepatocellular carcinomas

Albumin and alpha-fetoprotein production by rat liver and by four selected transplantable hepatocellular carcinomas is compared to the messenger RNA present in these tissues. Albumin and alpha-fetoprotein were measured by radioimmunoassay of serum concentration, immunofluorescence, and in vitro incorporation of labeled amino acids into proteins specifically precipitated by antisera. The number of mRNA molecules per cell was calculated from the hybridization of specific cDNA probes to polysomal mRNA and by translational activity of polysomal RNA in a wheat germ system. The amount of albumin and alpha-fetoprotein produced by the different tissues is directly related to the number of functional mRNA molecules per cell for each protein.

Changes in expression of albumin and alpha-fetoprotein genes during rat liver development and neoplasia

Albumin mRNA was isolated and purified from rat liver polysomes by a combination of immunoprecipitation of specific polysomes, poly(U)-Sepharose 4B chromatography, and fractionation of the resulting poly(A)-containing RNA on a sucrose gradient. alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP) mRNA was isolated from Morris hepatoma 7777 by a similar procedure. The purity of the mRNA preparations was determined by analytical gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions, analysis of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the polypeptides synthesized in a wheat germ cell-free system, and the kinetics of hybridization to cDNA transcribed from albumin mRNA and AFP mRNA. The albumin mRNA possessed a chain length of approximately 2265 nucleotides and the AFP mRNA possesed a length of approximately 2235 nucleotides when examined under stringent denaturing conditions on agarose gels containing 10 mM methylmercury hydroxide. Analysis of poly(A) content by a hybridization assay with [3H]poly(U) revealed the presence in albumin mRNA of a poly(A) region containing approximately 100 adenosine residues. The AFP mRNA preparation was found to contain an average poly(A) tract of approximately 190 bases. Thus, albumin mRNA appears to contain approximately 330 untranslated nucleotides, and AFP mRNA appears to contain a similar number (approximately 285) of noncoding, nonpoly(A) bases. The purified albumin and AFP mRNA's were used as templates for synthesis of full-length cDNA hybridization probes. Both of the probes selectively hybridized to their templates with kinetics expected for single RNA species the sizes of albumin and AFP mRNA. ROt analysis was used to quantitate albumin and AFP mRNA sequences during normal liver postnatal development and liver oncogenesis. The number of polysomal AFP mRNA molecules per liver was found to drastically decrease during the first weeks of postnatal life, concomitant with a decline in the AFP synthetic capacity of the livers and in the serum concentrations of AFP. During this period, the concentration of albumin mRNA molecules per cell in the liver remained at high, approximately constant levels. In Morris hepatoma 7777, the concentration of AFP-specifying sequences was at least 10(3)-fold higher than that found in normal adult liver, whereas the content of albumin nRNA was four- to five-fold lower. These changes in concentration of albumin and AFP mRNA sequences closely correlated with a parallel variation in the specific protein synthetic capacity of the tissues.

Fetal heart rate in the second stage of labour. Method of interpretation and parameters of the new-born

The authors present a protocol for the interpretation of the fetal heart rate during the second stage of labour (limited to the last 30 min before delivery). The FHR recordings were grouped according to five classes of increasing pathological significance. Good correlations were obtained between these classifications and the Apgar score as well as the umbilical artery pH.

Changes in pituitary gonadotropins during the amenorrhoea-galactorrhoea syndrome due to sulpiride

Sulpiride, a dopamine receptor blocker which raises prolactin, was given to six women with idiopathic amenorrhoea for 10 days and to eleven women with regular cycles for 3 to 6 months. The latter group developed galactorrhoea and amenorrhoea during treatment. Basal LH AND FSH concentrations showed no significant changes. At 3 months but not at 10 days (amenorrhoea group) or 6 months (regular menses group) the area-under-the-curve of LH response to LHRH was increased. FSH responses to LHRH was not altered. The significance of these results to the hyperprolactinaemia-amenorrhoea syndromes are discussed.

Radioimmunoassay of LH-RH. Standard curves and specificity

As important discrepancies in blood concentrations of LH-RH remain, the basic problem of the specificity of the radioimmunoassay was reinvestigated using an antiserum raised against a new conjugate (33). Cross-reactions with related and unrelated peptides were studied in both charcoal-dextran and second antibody methods of separation. The possible relation between the nature of the conjugate and the specificity is discussed.

Characterization of relaxin radioimmunoassay using Bolton-Hunter reagent. First results in plasma during pregnancy, and in placenta, corpora lutea and ovarian cysts in woman

Application of a porcine relaxin radioimmunoassay system using Bolton and Hunter reagent was characterized in different biological fluids. In pregnant woman, plasma reveals concentrations from undetectable values to 1,800 pg/ml. Maximal concentrations are found between the 8th and the 13th weeks of pregnancy. These peak values are significantly different from those at other stages of pregnancy. Appreciable relaxin concentrations are detected in gestational corpus luteum extract, and in corpora lutea cyst fluid of pregnant and nonpregnant women. No relaxin was detected in a cyclus corpus luteum extract, in a placental extract, or in an ovarian serous cyst. The presence of immunoreactive relaxin in the nonpregnant woman is reported.

Radioimmunoassay of LH-RH. Application to human plasma

Comparison of standard curves with different concentrations of human plasma in the medium of incubation is presented. It appears that Bo varies with the dilution although the ratio B/Bo is independent of the dilution. This last observation was used to research 'endogenous' LH-RH in four menstrual cycles, in postmenopausal women and in men. The validity of the dosage is discussed in a more general way in the light of the results published in the literature.

Rate of disappearance in plasma of synthetic LH-RH intravenously injected in man

The rate of disappearance of intravenously injected LH-RH was studied in 6 human volunteers. The blood samples were taken every 20 sec from the time of injection to time +5 min and every 30 sec from time +5 min to time +10 min. The half-life of LH-RH was calculated in the interval of 3-10 min, and was found to be 2.4 +/- 0.4 min. The amounts of LH-RH estimated in the vascular compartment were relatively low when compared to the total amount of injected LH-RH. This observation suggests a rapid and important passage towards the extravascular compartment.

Nucleic acids from leaves of a yellowing and a non-yellowing variety of Festuca pratensis Huds

High molecular weight ribosomal RNA components and their pattern of loss on ageing of excised leaf sections were the same in the non-yellowing mutant and the normal genotype of Festuca pratensis even though the mutant showed retarded chlorophyll loss. Thus it appears that the genetic lesion does not extend to changes in the ribosomal RNA components of chloroplasts or cytoplasm.

[Radioimmunoassay of HCG and HCG beta in blood during pregnancy and trophoblastomas]

This work was carried out on 151 estimations of the radioimmune levels of hCG-hCG beta in the first half of normal pregnancy and 390 levels estimated in 10 molar pregnancies, in 4 choriocarcinomata following moles and 1 primary choriocarcinoma of the ovary using homologous hCG beta. In normal pregnancy the level of hCG-hCG beta rises rapidly. The levels are highest between the 8th and 9th weeks of pregnancy, and then gradually decrease. In active molar pregnancies the levels of hCG-hCG beta in the plasma are significantly higher than those found in normal pregnancies of the same gestational age. When the outcome is going to be favourable the levels drop progressively. Complete absence in peripheral blood is usually found about 14 weeks after a mole has been expelled or evacuated. In choriocarcinomata, if the level of hCG-hCG beta rises it is a certain sign of reactivation of the tumour.

Plasma concentrations of unconjugated estrone, estradiol-17beta and estriol, and HCS throughout pregnancy in diabetics and gestational diabetics

Plasma unconjugated estrone (E1), estradiol-17beta (E2) and estriol (E3), and HCS were measured in the same plasma samples collected throughout pregnancy in 19 gestational diabetics (GD) and 21 diabetics (D). When compared to the results obtained in 22 normal subjects, plasma levels of E1 and E2 were significantly elevated in D in the second half of gestation. The results were intermediate although closer to the normals, in GD. E3 values were not different from the normals in both D and GD. HCS values were lower than normal in early pregnancy in both D and GD. In late pregnancy HCS levels were not different from normal in either D or GD, although some individual values were much above the upper limit in some diabetic patients. The hormonal ratios in D and GD parallel those in normals, although E3/E2 and HCS/E2 were lower in D. These results are discussed with respect to the different behaviour of E2 and E3, taking into account the difference in their respective biosynthetic pathways. Besides a possible quantitative modification of the placental function in D, the results could tentatively be explained by a qualitative change in the fetal estrogen precursors to placental aromatization, in favour of the 16 non-hydroxylated compound. However, maternal modifications in precursor production or in estrogen metabolism can be an alternative hypothesis. Finally, the present work does not support the hypothetical estrogen deficiency in diabetic pregnancy. Estrogen treatment appears to have no objective justification.

Ribosomal RNA synthesis in the mycelium of Phycomyces blakesleeanus. High molecular weight RNA

Total RNA was extracted from 24 h old mycelia of Phycomyces blakesleeanus which had been grown in liquid culture. Heavy molecular weight RNA was fractionated on 2.6% polyacrylamide gels. 1. The main cytoplasmic ribosomal RNA fractions had molecular weights of 1.34 and 0.72-16(6). 2. [3H]Uridine pulse labelling of cultures revealed an initial ribosomal RNA precursor of molecular weight 2.5-10(6). 3. An intermediate precursor for the 1.34 - 10(6) dalton peak was found, having a molecular weight of 1.6-10(6). 4. Pulse-chase experiments, using [3H]methionine, showed the flow of synthesis as being (see article). 5. Mature 0.72-10(6) dalton RNA appeared prior to the 1.34-10(6) dalton RNA but no immediate precursor for it was detected.