Serum levels of specific glucuronidated androgen metabolites predict BMD and prostate volume in elderly men.

Androgens are important regulators of bone and prostate health in elderly men. The role of serum levels of glucuronidated androgen metabolites as predictors of BMD and prostate volume in men is unclear. We show that specific glucuronidated androgen metabolites predict BMD and prostate volume in elderly men. INTRODUCTION: Androgens are important regulators of bone and prostate health in elderly men. Local synthesis and degradation of androgens are likely to be important parameters of biological action of androgens in androgen-responsive tissues. The aim of this study was to determine the role of serum levels of glucuronidated androgen metabolites as predictors of BMD and prostate volume in elderly men. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A subsample of the population-based Swedish part of the MrOS study (n = 631, average age = 75.9 years) was investigated. Bone parameters were measured using DXA. Serum levels of total testosterone (T) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) were measured by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC-MS); androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol-3glucuronide (3G) and androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol-17glucuronide (17G) were measured by liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy. Prostate volume (n = 159) was measured by transrectal ultrasound. RESULTS: The general pattern is that two of the glucuronidated androgen metabolites, namely 17G and 3G, are stronger positive predictors of BMD than the bioactive androgens (T and DHT). In addition, 17G is a clear positive predictor of prostate volume, explaining 4.5% of the variance in prostate volume, whereas the bioactive androgens do not display any association with prostate volume. CONCLUSIONS: Serum levels of specific glucuronidated androgen metabolites predict BMD and prostate volume in elderly men. Future studies should determine if the glucuronidated androgen metabolites also reflect other biological correlates of androgenic activity, including prostate cancer, and if low levels might be a marker of general androgen deficiency in men.     

Plasma prolactin in relation to menstrual cycle phase, oral contraceptive use, arousal time and smoking habits

The study was designed to investigate if modern low dosage combined oral contraceptives were associated with changes in plasma prolactin levels in healthy nulliparous women aged 19–25. Plasma prolactin was not significantly correlated to oral contraceptive use, nor to smoking habits. Plasma prolactin was, however, significantly negatively correlated to time since awakening. A significant two-way interaction on prolactin was also seen between smoking and present oral contraceptive use. In our material the mean values of plasma prolactin were higher in the follicular phase than in the luteal phase, although not significantly.     

k-t2 BLAST: exploiting spatiotemporal structure in simultaneously cardiac and respiratory time-resolved volumetric imaging.

Multidimensional imaging resolving both the cardiac and respiratory cycles simultaneously has the potential to describe important physiological interdependences between the heart and pulmonary processes. A fully five-dimensional acquisition with three spatial and two temporal dimensions is hampered, however, by the long acquisition time and low spatial resolution. A technique is proposed to reduce the scan time substantially by extending the k-t BLAST framework to two temporal dimensions. By sampling the k-t space sparsely in a lattice grid, the signal in the transform domain, x-f space, can be densely packed, exploiting the fact that large regions in the field of view have low temporal bandwidth. A volumetric online prospective triggering approach with full cardiac and respiratory cycle coverage was implemented. Retrospective temporal interpolation was used to refine the timing estimates for the center of k-space, which is sampled for all cardiac and respiratory time frames. This resulted in reduced reconstruction error compared with conventional k-t BLAST reconstruction. The k-t(2) BLAST technique was evaluated by decimating a fully sampled five-dimensional data set, and feasibility was further demonstrated by performing sparsely sampled acquisitions. Compared to the fully sampled data, a fourfold improvement in spatial resolution was accomplished in approximately half the scan time.     

Sleep on the Night Shift: 24-Hour EEG Monitoring of Spontaneous Sleep/Wake Behavior

The present study sought to objectively describe the spontaneous sleep/wakefulness pattern of shift workers during a 24-hour period. Portable Medilog tape-recorders were used for ambulatory EEG monitoring of 25 male papermill workers (25-55 years) during days with night and afternoon work. The results showed that sleep after night work was two hours shorter than after afternoon work. The sleep reduction affected mainly Stage 2 and REM sleep while slow wave sleep was unchanged. In connection with night work 28% of the workers took a nap in the afternoon. These naps contained a large proportion of slow wave sleep and were, apparently, caused by the sleep deficit after the short main sleep period. The EEG recordings also revealed that 20% of the participants had sleep episodes during night work. These naps were as long as the afternoon naps, were experienced as "dozing offs" rather than naps, occurred at the time of the trough of the circadian wakefulness rhythm, and were concomitant with extreme subjective sleepiness and low rated work load. It was concluded that not only the sleep of shift workers was disturbed, but also the wakefulness--to the extent that sleepiness during night work sometimes reached a level where reasonable wakefulness could not be maintained. The latter observation is probably of special importance in work situations demanding a great responsibility for human lives or for great economic values.     

Reduction of epileptiform activity in response to low-dose clonazepam in children with epilepsy: a randomized double-blind study

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of low-dose clonazepam (CZP) on the amount of epileptiform activity in children with focal and generalized epilepsy. METHODS: In a single-blind pilot study, followed by a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover study, 15 children with epilepsy were evaluated by using 24-h long-term EEG recordings during baseline days and days after injections of placebo and CZP. The drug was given as a single i.m. injection of 0.02 mg/kg BW. Blood samples were obtained regularly for analysis of plasma concentrations of CZP. The number of epileptiform discharges was determined during corresponding periods with the individual child in the same state of alertness, the same real time of day, and with concomitant antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) unchanged. RESULTS: In the double-blind study, low-dose CZP produced a highly significant (p = 0.0015) decrease in the amount of epileptiform activity (mean, -69% vs. placebo, -2%) obtained during periods when median plasma concentrations ranged from 18 to <14 nM. The maximal plasma level (median, 24 nM) was reached before the start of the analysis periods. The pilot study showed reductions of epileptiform discharges within the same range as the double-blind study. In the children with daily seizures, a parallel decrease in seizures and the number of epileptiform discharges was seen after the administration of CZP. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate a significant reduction of epileptiform discharges on long-term EEGs after a single low dose of CZP with concomitant low plasma levels, which were considerably lower than the doses and plasma levels usually recommended. A concomitant reduction of seizures also was seen.     

Aqueous extracts from Menyanthes trifoliate and Achillea millefolium affect maturation of human dendritic cells and their activation of allogeneic CD4+ T cells in vitro

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Menyanthes trifoliate and Achillea millefolium have been used in traditional medicine to ameliorate chronic inflammatory conditions. The aim of this study was to identify the effects of ethanol and aqueous extracts of Menyanthes trifoliate and Achillea millefolium on maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) and their ability to activate allogeneic CD4⁺ T cells.

Materials and methods

Human monocyte-derived DCs were matured in the absence or presence of lyophilised aqoueous or ethanol extracts from Menyanthes trifoliate or Achillea millefolium and their expression of surface molecules analysed with flow cytometry and cytokine secretion measured by ELISA. DCs matured in the presence of aqueous extracts from Menyanthes trifoliate and Achillea millefolium were co-cultured with allogeneic CD4⁺ T cells and the expression of surface molecules by T cells and their cytokine secretion and cell proliferation determined.

Results

Maturation of DCs in the presence of aqueous extracts from Menyanthes trifoliate or Achillea millefolium did not affect expression of the surface molecules examined but reduced the ratio of secreted IL-12p40/IL-10, compared with that by DCs matured in the absence of extracts. Allogeneic CD4⁺ T cells co-cultured with DCs matured in the presence of aqueous extract from Menyanthes trifoliate secreted less IFN-γ, IL-10 and IL-17 than CD4⁺ T cells co-cultured with DCs matured without an extract. Maturation of DCs in the presence of aqueous extract from Achillea millefolium decreased IL-17 secretion but did not affect IFN-γ and IL-10 secretion by allogeneic CD4⁺ T cells.

Conclusions

Aqueous extract from Menyanthes trifoliate induces a suppressive phenotype of DCs that has reduced capacity to induce Th1 and Th17 stimulation of allogeneic CD4⁺ T cells, whereas aqueous extract from Achillea millefolium reduces the capacity of DCs to induce a Th17 response.