Herbert A. Selenkow

Serum Placental Lactogen (HPL) Levels as an Index of Placental Function

Abstract A rapid and reproducible radioimmunoassay for serum placental lactogen (HPL) has been developed that permits the endocrine function of the placenta to be quantitated and the progress of ge...

Effects of beta blockade on the peripheral manifestations of thyrotoxicosis.

Abstract A double-blind controlled study was conducted in 10 patients to determine the effects of beta adrenergic blockade with sotalol on the peripheral manifestations of thyrotoxicosis. After sot...

THE NODULAR THYROID GLAND AND CANCER. A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM.

The selection of patients with clinically nodular thyroid glands for operation to prevent or treat thyroid cancer is still a subject of dispute. Unlike most other tumors, thyroid cancer has an unus...

Familial Thyroxine-Binding Globulin Deficiency in a Patient with Turner's Syndrome (XO): Genetic Study of a Kindred

Abstract A kindred with deficiency of thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG) is presented in which the propositus also has XO Turners syndrome. The pattern of inheritance supports previous reports that ...

A rapid radioimmunoassay for human placental lactogen

Abstract A rapid dextran-charcoal radioimmunoassay is described for measurement of serum HPL during pregnancy. Results of studies using this assay indicate that levels of HPL are consistently detectable after 6 weeks of gestation, rising progressively to reach a plateau after 34 weeks. During molar pregnancy, serum HPL levels are strikingly lower than normal pregnancy. In patients with the placental insufficiency syndrome, serum HPL levels fail to rise to normal levels after 28 weeks of gestation. Conversely, in “mild” diabetes, serum HPL rises to levels higher than normal after 28 weeks of gestation; these correlate well with placental weghts. Serum HPL levels fall rapidly as a result of antepartum fetal distress or death. The clinical applicability of this assay is discussed.

Neonatal hypothyroidism and goiter in oneinfant of each of two sets of twins due to maternal therapy with antithyroid drugs

The occurrence of neonatal goiter or hypothyroidism is described in two sets of dizygotic twins born tothyrotoxic mothers treated with antithyroid drugs during gestation. In the first set of twins, one presented with a transient though significant goiter in the presence of slightly diminished level of serum free thyroxine. In the second set, one twin also had a transient though significant depression in serum free thyroxine. In both instances, only the affected infant had transient elevation of serum thyrotropin as measured by immunoassay and/or bioassay. Thus, for the first time, the hypothesis that antithyroid drugs cause thyroid hyperplasia in the human fetus by the stimulation of fetal pituitary thyrotropin has been confirmed. Possible factors responsible for the selective effect of antithyroid drugs in one member of each set of twins are discussed.

Patterns of Serum Immunoreactive Human Placental Lactogen (IR-HPL) and Chorionic Gonadotropin (IR-HCG) in Diabetic Pregnancy

Serum levels of immunoreactive human placental lactogen (IR-HPL) and chorionic gonadotropin (IR-HCG) were evaluated in eighty-four diabetic patients classified according to White. All patients in this group were treated with estrogen/progesterone therapy throughout pregnancy and were compared with a small group of twenty-seven diabetic patients not receiving hormonal therapy. In 164 normal pregnancies, serum IR-HPL is detected first at about six weeks and rises steadily to plateau levels of 6.2 ± 1.4 μg./ml. at thirty-five to thirty-seven weeks. In eighty-four diabetic pregnancies, the pattern of steady rise in IR-HPL levels simulates normal but the mean values are significantly greater than normal with peak values of 10.3 ± 4.7 /μg./ml. at thirty-five to thirty-seven weeks. Serum IR-HCG is first measured in normal pregnancy at about five to seven weeks by this assay, rises rapidly to peak levels of 163 ± 60 IU./ml. at eight to ten weeks and then falls to a nadir of 12.0 ± 2.0 IU./ml. at seventeen to nineteen weeks. Thereafter, there is a gradual secondary rise to a lesser mean peak value of 63 ± 19 IU./ml. at thirty-five to thirty-nine weeks. In diabetic pregnancy, the pattern of serum IR-HCG is similar to normal but with striking quantitative differences. The mean values in the second and third trimesters are significantly higher than normal with extreme variations among different pregnant individuals. The clinical implications of these abnormalities are not clear but suggest that the excessive secretion of HCG may mollify the diabetic imposition of early pregnancy whereas HPL contributes to the exaggerated glucose intolerance in late pregnancy.

A New Synthetic Thyroid Hormone Combination for Clinical Therapy

Excerpt Thyroid hormone preparations of animal origin have been used extensively for over three quarters of a century. Their striking metabolic effects in correcting human thyroid insufficiency are...

An Autoregulatory Effect of Iodide in Diverse Thyroid Disorders

Excerpt In the past, clinical observations on the effects of iodide in diverse thyroidal diseases have appeared quite paradoxic. For example, high doses are known to produce both goiter and hypothy...

Thyroid autoantibodies and a biologic false-positive reaction to the test for syphilis

Abstract The simultaneous occurrence of antibodies against thyroglobulin and a biologic false-positive reaction to a test for syphilis in a patient with chronic lymphoid thyroiditis is described. Antibody to thyroglobulin was localized in the 7-S fraction of serum gammaglobulin. Differentiation of Wassermann antibody from thyroid antibody was achieved by absorption of the serum with minced normal thyroid gland. The possible implications of the concurrent appearance of these two immunologic conditions is discussed.