Arnold M. Moses

The relation between oral contraceptive use and subsequent development of hyperprolactinemia

Serum prolactin levels were determined in 123 patients who presented with menstrual irregularities and/or infertility of more than 1 years duration. Sixty-three patients had hyperprolactinemia with serum prolactin levels of 26 to 843 ng/ml (normal 5 to 22 ng/ml); 44.4% of this group of patients received oral contraceptive for a period of 2 months to 7 years. Sixty patients were normoprolactinemic, with serum prolactin levels of 3 to 22 ng/ml; 33.4% of this group received oral contraceptives for a period of 6 months to 7 years. The age of presentation, onset of symptoms, age at which they started on oral contraceptives, and duration of use were tabulated. The data were analyzed using chi 2 test corrected for continuity. There was no significant difference in age at the time of evaluation between oral contraceptive users and nonusers with hyperprolactinemia. The relative odds developing hyperprolactinemia were 2.64 times greater among women who has used oral contraceptives for more than 1 year and 6.25 times greater if this use started before the age of 25.

Acute Interstitial Nephritis With Renal Failure Associated With Propylthiouracil Therapy

Propylthiouracil therapy is associated with a variety of adverse reactions. Renal involvement, although rare, has occurred, but neither acute interstitial nephritis nor severe acute renal failure has been reported previously. We report a case of fulminant acute interstitial nephritis with renal failure following treatment with propylthiouracil.

Assays for Vasopressin

Publisher Summary Direct determination of vasopressin activity could be performed with difficulty by bioassay of extracts of tissue, plasma, or urine with the most sensitive method based on the antidiuretic effect of the hormone injected intravenously into the hydrated alcohol-anesthetized rats. A less sensitive but less difficult method for determining tissue content of vasopressin utilized the pressor action of the hormone in the anesthetized rat. Both assays were time-consuming, technically demanding, and lacked specificity, and only a relatively few samples could be assayed in a test animal. Another problem was that large amounts of blood had to be obtained and concentrated. These assays are abandoned almost completely. Nonetheless, studies performed by bioassay helped to validate the radioimmunoassays (RIAs) for argentine vasopressin (AVP), and still provide much of the basic information for the understanding of neurohypophysial function. Application of immunoassay techniques to the assay of vasopressin had an inherent difficulty. The small size of the peptide hormone resulted in its poor antigenicity. Studies, such as the ones described in this chapter can undoubtedly be applied in the future to help clarify the mechanism by which the production and secretion of AVP are controlled in cancer cells.