Vasopressin and oxytocin content of microdissected hypothalamic areas in rats with hereditary diabetes insipidus

Vasopressin was virtually absent from 5 microdissected hypothalamic areas and from the posterior pituitary glands of homozygous Brattleboro rats. The oxytocin concentration was normal in all these areas except for the arcuate nucleus, where it was absent. These results support the concept that Brattleboro rats have a specific defect in biosynthesis of vasopressin. The significance of the absence of oxytocin from the arcuate nucleus in these rats remains to be determined.

Medullary carcinoma of the thyroid. Cellular immune response to tumor antigen in a heritable human cancer

We have found inhibition of mononuclear leukocyte migration in response to tumor antigen in a group of patients with medullary carcinoma of the thyroid, a cancer inherited as an autosomal dominant. This immune response was not present in a group of family members who do not have cancer.

Enhancement of attention in man with ACTH/MSH 4-10

Normal men were infused for 4 hr with ACTH/MSH 4-10 or a control solution. Behavioral testing after the infusion indicated that subjects who received ACTH/MSH 4-10 were less anxious and had better visual memory than control subjects but the predominant effect of the heptapeptide was to increase visual attention. It was speculated that ACTH/MSH 4-10 may be uniquely coded for attentional functioning.

The incidence of dystocia in fine-wool Merino ewes

The mean incidence of dystocia in 1,510 fine-wool Merino ewes over a ten-year period was 4.1% of ewes lambing. In the 10 year period, 10% of all neonatal mortality was attributed to dystocia and in only 23% of dystocias was lamb presentation abnormal. The incidence of dystocia was not related to age of ewe. Significantly more ewes experienced dystocia at spring than winter (P less than 0.05) or summer (P less than 0.01) lambings. The mean birth weights of dystocic single and twin born lambs were 4.19 and 3.38 kg respectively. The corresponding birth weights of lambs that did not experience dystocia were 3.69 and 3.00 kg. More ewes experienced dystocia when stocked at 12 or 16 per ha than at 8 per ha (P less than 0.05). Fifty per cent of recorded dystocias occurred in ewes stocked at 16 per ha, 40 per cent at 12 per ha and 10 per cent at 8 per ha. Ewe body weight pre-lambing was not related to the incidence of dystocia but it would appear that weaker ewes are more likely to have a difficult birth than ewes that are stronger and in better condition.

Studies in flock mating of sheep. 5. Incidence, duration and effect on flock fertility of initial sexual inactivity in young rams

Seventy-five 1 1/2-year-old Merino rams from four different studs were given three 20-minute libido tests followed by a 48 hour association with oestrous ewes in a flock. Seventeen rams showed no sexual activity during these tests. These inactive (I) rams and some of the active (A) rams were then joined, in pairs (A-A, A-I, or I-I combinations), with 17 flocks of 67 or 125 mature ewes for five weeks. At the end of this period, three rams had still not become sexually active; the remaining 14 began mounting ewes two hours to 34 days after introduction into the flock. Although the effect of ram combination on the number of ewes marked by the rams was not significant, the proportion of marked ewes that lambed was higher (P < 0.05) in the flocks joined with A-A pairs than in those joined with A-I or I-I ram pairs. The proportion of marked ewes that did not lamb to their first marking was lower (P < 0.001) in A-A than in A-I or 1-1 matings. The lower fertility in the flocks joined with A-I or I-I ram pairs could be ascribed to poor mating dexterity and lower libido in the I rams. Observations of ram behaviour were made during the mating period. Competition and aggression between active and inactive rams was only seen after inactive rams became sexually active.

Biosynthesis of vasopressin in vitro and ultrastructure of a bronchogenic carcinoma. Patient with the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone

Tumors from patients with the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) have been found to contain large amounts of the antidiuretic hormone vasopressin. A lung tumor from a patient with hyponatremia most likely due to SIADH was removed at surgery and found to contain 23.5 mU vasopressin/g wet weight by radioimmunoassay Slices of this tumor were incubated with phenylalanine-(3)H. Arginine vasopressin-(3)H was purified from the incubate by Sephadex G-25 column chromatography in two different systems, performic acid oxidation, and gradient elution column chromatography with diethylaminoethyl Sephadex. As oxidation of vasopressin results in drastic conformational change with breaking of the ring of the cyclic polypeptide and addition of two cysteic acid residues per molecule, the radioactive material which eluted coincident with vasopressin both before and after this procedure was considered to be arginine vasopressin-(3)H. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration of in vitro biosynthesis of vasopressin by a tumor from a patient with SIADH.Ultrastructurally, the bronchogenic carcinoma was composed of small undifferentiated and granulated cells. The granulated neoplastic cells had well developed organelles (endoplasmic reticulum, free ribosomes) concerned with protein synthesis. Secretion granules present in the tumor cells were small, surrounded by a limiting membrane, and resembled those reported in polypeptide hormone-secreting cells.