The fate of 17 beta-estradiol in the plasma of premenopausal and postmenopausal patients with cancer

The patterns of radioactive estrogen metabolities in the plasma of patients with a variety of malignancies were determined after the injection of physiological amounts of 17 beta-estradiol-6,7-3H or of estrone-6,7-3H. The metabolites were separated and isolated from the plasma by the following procedures: a) alumina chromatography, b) modified Brown procedure, and c) gas liquid chromatography. This study showed that the conjugated state of the estrogens varied with the subjects's age. There was a dramatic decrease in the relative quantity of the plasma free estrogens which are converted to sulfates as the age of the patient increased. This change was noted just prior to menopause, suggesting that there are alterations in the conjugation of plasma estrogens which are detectable before clinical menopause.     

Studies on congenital osteopetrosis in microphthalmic mice using organ cultures: impairment of bone resorption in response to physiologic stimulators

The mechanism of congenital osteopetrosis in microphthalmic (mi) mice has been examined in bone organ cultures. Resorption was measured by the release of previously incorporated 45Ca in fetal long bones and newborn calvaria from mi mice and heterozygous or homozygous normal litter mates. Bones from mi mice showed a generalized resorption defect with decreased spontaneous or control resorption and failure to respond to parathyroid hormone (PTH), prostaglandin E2, 1,25 dihydroxy vitamin D3, vitamin A, or osteoclast activating factor (OAF) from human peripheral leukocytes or mouse spleen cells. Bones from heterozygotes showed a smaller response to PTH than bones from homozygous normals. Mutant bones failed to show an increase in lysosomal enzyme release in response to PTH or vitamin A, agents which increased release from bones of homozygous normals. Proline incorporation into collagenase-digestible protein was similar in cultures of normal and mutant bone and was inhibited by PTH and OAF. These results indicate that congenital osteopetrosis in mi mice is due to a generalized defect in the function and hormonal response of osteoclasts and suggests that this cell line is separate from the osteoblast cell line which shows no impairment of hormonal response.     

Why behavior analysts should study emotion: the example of anxiety

Historically, anxiety has been a dominant subject in mainstream psychology but an incidental or even insignificant one in behavior analysis. We discuss several reasons for this discrepancy. We follow with a behavior-analytic conceptualization of anxiety that could just as easily be applied to emotion in general. Its primary points are (a) that languageable humans have an extraordinary capacity to derive relations between events and that it is a simple matter to show that neutral stimuli can acquire discriminative functions indirectly with no direct training; (b) that private events can readily acquire discriminative functions; (c) that anxiety disorders seem to occur with little apparent direct learning or that the amount of direct learning is extraordinarily out of proportion with the amount of responding; and (d) that the primary function of anxious behavior is experiential avoidance. We conclude that the most interesting aspects of anxiety disorders may occur as a function of derived rather than direct relations between public events and overt and private responses with avoidance functions. Implicit in this conclusion and explicit in the paper is the assertion that anxiety is a suitable subject for behavior-analytic study.     

Cytotoxic and anticancer activities of some 1-aryl-2-dimethylaminomethyl-2-propen-1-one hydrochlorides

A series of 1-aryl-2-dimethylaminomethyl-2-propen-1-one hydrochlorides demonstrated marked cytotoxicity towards approximately 55 human tumour cell lines from different neoplastic diseases. In general they were more potent than melphalan and displayed selective toxicity towards human leukemic cells. A representative compound, 1-phenyl-2-dimethyl-aminomethyl-2-propen-1-one hydrochloride (2a), had similar cytotoxicity as melphalan towards murine P388 and L1210 leukemic cells. In addition, 2a reduced the sizes of a number of human tumour xenografts including colon, prostatic and melanotic cancers passaged in athymic mice. Compound 2a showed excellent activity towards Ehrlich ascites carcinoma and B16F1 melanoma in mice which was enhanced using niosomes. One may conclude from the data generated that 1-aryl-2-dimethylaminomethyl-2-propen-1-one hydrochlorides are a novel series of cytotoxic and anticancer agents.     

Indications for laparotomy after hydrostatic reduction for intussusception

A criterion for successful hydrostatic reduction of intussusception is reflux into the terminal ileum. In our practice, absence of reflux into the terminal ileum is not an indication for laparotomy if the radiographic appearances suggest edema of the ileocecal valve. The aim of this study was to validate our approach. We reviewed the case notes of patients with a diagnosis of intussusception (n = 107; age 11.74 +/- 1.48 months; mean +/- SEM) treated from 1987 to 1991. Eleven required primary laparotomy for peritonitis. Ninety-six patients who had a contrast enema were studied. Edema of the ileocecal valve was defined as a persistent filling defect in the cecum after apparently complete hydrostatic reduction, without reflux of contrast into the distal small bowel. In 59 patients hydrostatic reduction was successful: 11 (18.6%) had edema of the ileocecal valve and no reflux contrast into the terminal ileum (group B). All improved clinically after the enema and needed no further treatment. In 37 patients hydrostatic reduction of the intussusception was unsuccessful and an operation was performed: 26 (70.3%) required manual reduction of the intussusception (group C) and 11 (29.7%) underwent bowel resection (group D). None of the patients with edema of ileocecal valve required further treatment or developed recurrent intussusception. In none of the patients who had an operation was the intussusception found to have been reduced by the contrast enema. There were no deaths.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)