Kate 2006 Spring

Each year, kate seeks to: explore ideas about normative gender, sex, and sexuality work against oppression and hierarchies of power in any and all forms serve as a voice for race and gender equity as well as queer positivity encourage the silent to speak and feel less afraid build a zine and community that we care about and trusthttps://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/kate/1001/thumbnail.jp

Serum levels of 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) in relation to markers of reproductive function in young males from the general Swedish population.

A time-related deterioration in male reproductive function caused by exposure to endocrine disrupters, including persistent organochlorines (POCs), has been hypothesized. In animal studies, POCs were found to have adverse effects on male reproductive function. However, little is known about the impact of POC exposure on reproductive parameters in men. In a study of 305 young Swedish men 18-21 years old from the general population, we correlated lipid-adjusted serum levels of 2,2',4,4',5,5' -hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153)--an index substance for POC exposure--to markers of male reproductive function: testis size assessed by ultrasound, sperm concentration, total sperm count, sperm motility assessed manually and with a computer-aided sperm analyzer (CASA), and serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone, inhibin B, testosterone, sexual hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), luteinizing hormone, and estradiol. We found weak but statistically significant, negative correlations between CB-153 levels and both the testosterone:SHBG ratio (r = -0.25, p < 0.001)--a measure of the biologically active free testosterone fraction--and CASA sperm motility (r = -0.13, p = 0.02). No statistically significant association with other seminal, hormonal, or clinical markers of male reproductive function was found. In previous studies of more highly POC-exposed groups of adult men, the correlation between POC exposure, including CB-153, and free testosterone levels was not statistically significant. The present study gives some tentative support for weak negative effects of CB-153 exposure on sperm motility and free testosterone levels in young men, but further semen studies on more highly exposed groups may give more firm conclusions on the hazard for male reproductive function from dietary POC exposure

Kate 2006 Winter

Each year, kate seeks to: explore ideas about normative gender, sex, and sexuality work against oppression and hierarchies of power in any and all forms serve as a voice for race and gender equity as well as queer positivity encourage the silent to speak and feel less afraid build a zine and community that we care about and trusthttps://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/kate/1005/thumbnail.jp

Catestatin, vasostatin, cortisol, temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, scores of the short form of the Glasgow composite measure pain scale and visual analog scale for stress and pain behavior in dogs before and after ovariohysterectomy

Background: The stress reaction induced by surgery and associated pain may be detrimental for patient recovery and should be minimized. The neuropeptide chromogranin A (CGA) has shown promise as a sensitive biomarker for stress in humans. Little is known about CGA and its derived peptides, catestatin (CST) and vasostatin (VS), in dogs undergoing surgery. The objectives of this study were to investigate and compare concentrations of CGA epitopes CST and VS, cortisol, body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, scores of the short form of the Glasgow composite measure pain scale (CMPS-SF) and visual analog scales (VAS) for stress and pain behavior in dogs before and after ovariohysterectomy. Methods: Thirty healthy privately owned female dogs admitted for elective ovariohysterectomy were included. Physical examination, CMPS-SF, pain behavior VAS, and stress behavior VAS were recorded and saliva and blood samples were collected before surgery, 3h after extubation, and once at recall 7–15 days after surgery. Dogs were premedicated with morphine and received carprofen as analgesia for 7 days during the postoperative period. Results: At 3h after extubation, CMPS-SF and pain behavior VAS scores had increased (p&lt;0.0001) and stress behavior VAS scores, temperature, respiratory rate (p&lt;0.0001), plasma CST concentrations (p=0.002) had decreased significantly compared to before surgery. No significant differences were observed in the subjective and physiological parameters between before surgery and at recall, but plasma CST (p=0.04) and serum cortisol (p=0.009) were significantly lower at recall. Plasma VS, saliva CST, and heart rate did not differ significantly at any observed time. Conclusion: Study parameters for evaluating surgery-induced stress and pain changed in dogs subjected to ovariohysterectomy. To further evaluate CST and VS usefulness as pain biomarkers, studies on dogs in acute painful situations are warranted

Serum gastrin and chromogranin A during medium- and long-term acid suppressive therapy: a case-control study.

Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital Maastricht, the Netherlands. BACKGROUND: Serum chromogranin A (CgA) is regarded as a reliable marker of neuroendocrine proliferation. We previously described increased serum CgA levels during short-term profound gastric acid inhibition. AIM: To investigate serum gastrin and CgA levels in dyspeptic patients during continuous medium- (6 weeks to 1 year), or long-term (1-8 years) gastric acid suppressive therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 114 consecutive dyspeptic patients referred for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were enrolled in a cross-sectional, case-control study [62 patients on continuous antisecretory therapy, either with proton pump inhibitors (n = 47) or H2-receptor antagonists (H2RA) (n = 15) for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease with or without Barrett's oesophagus or functional dyspepsia, and 52 age- and sex-matched patients without medical acid inhibition and with normal endoscopic findings (control group)]. Omeprazole doses ranged from 20 mg to 80 mg daily and ranitidine from 150 mg to 450 mg daily. Fasting serum CgA and serum gastrin levels were measured by radioimmunoassay (reference values: serum CgA < 4.0 nmol/L; serum gastrin < 85 ng/L). RESULTS: Fasting serum CgA levels positively correlated with serum gastrin in the entire study population (r = 0. 55, P = 0.0001). Median serum CgA values were higher in patients treated with a proton pump inhibitor than H2RA [2.8 (2.0-5.9) nmol/L vs. 2 (1.9-2.3) nmol/L, P < 0.002] and controls [2.8 (2.0-5.9) nmol/L vs. 1.8 (1.5-2.2) nmol/L, P < 0.0001) and did not differ between patients treated with H2RA or controls. Serum gastrin and CgA levels in patients on proton pump inhibitor therapy positively correlated with the degree and duration of acid inhibition. Patients on long-term proton pump inhibitor therapy had significantly higher fasting serum gastrin and CgA than those on medium-term proton pump inhibitor therapy [127 (73-217) ng/L vs. 49 (29-78) ng/L, P < 0.0001 and 4.8 (2.8-8) ng/L vs. 2.1 (1.9-2.6) ng/L, P < 0.001]. No such relation was found in patients on medium- vs. long-term H2RA. Overall, patients with positive Helicobacter pylori serology had higher serum gastrin and CgA levels than those with negative H. pylori serology [51 (27-119) ng/L vs. 27 (14-79) ng/L, P = 0.01, 2.4 (1.9-3.4) nmol/L vs. 2.0 (1.7-2.5) nmol/L, P = 0.05]. CONCLUSIONS: During long-term continuous proton pump inhibitor treatment, serum gastrin and CgA levels are significantly elevated compared to H2RA treatment and nontreated dyspeptic controls. H. pylori infection seems to affect gastric ECL cell secretory function. Increased serum CgA values during long-term profound gastric acid inhibition could reflect either gastric enterochromaffin-like cell hyperfunction or proliferative changes

Ratio between serum IL-8 and pepsinogen A/C: a marker for atrophic body gastritis

Ratio between serum IL-8 and pepsinogen A/C: a marker for atrophic body gastritis. Sanduleanu S, Bruine AD, Biemond I, Stridsberg M, Jonkers D, Lundqvist G, Hameeteman W, Stockbrugger RW. Department of Gastroenterology/Hepatology, University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands. [email protected] BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Elevated serum gastrin and a low pepsinogen A/C ratio are well-recognized markers for atrophic body gastritis (ABG). We have shown that the presence of body atrophy is also associated with elevated serum pro-inflammatory cytokines. This study tested the hypothesis that serum cytokines provide additional information to gastrin and pepsinogens in screening for ABG. METHODS: Two hundred and twenty-six consecutive patients were investigated on referral for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy: 150 were patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, receiving acid inhibitory medication either with proton pump inhibitors (n = 113) or with histamine2-receptor antagonists (n = 37), and 76 were nontreated controls, who had normal endoscopic findings. Gastric mucosal biopsies were sampled for histological examination (Sydney classification). Serum samples were analyzed for gastrin, chromogranin A (CgA), and pepsinogens A and C by RIA, and for the interleukins (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8 by ELISA. RESULTS: Subjects with ABG had significantly higher serum gastrin (P < 0.01) and serum CgA (P < 0.01) levels and significantly lower pepsinogen A/C ratios (P < 0.001) than those without ABG. Additionally, serum IL-1beta, IL-6 and, especially, IL-8 levels were significantly higher in the subjects with than in those without ABG (P < 0.0001, for all cytokines). To optimize the detection of body atrophy we defined the ABG index: the ratio between the simultaneously measured IL-8 and pepsinogen A/C. The area under the ROC curve for the ABG index was significantly greater than that for serum gastrin and for serum pepsinogen A/C alone (0.91 +/- 0.029 vs. 0.72 +/- 0.042, and vs. 0.83 +/- 0.031, P = 0.018 and P = 0.049). Using the ABG index at a cut-off value of 1.8 pg mL-1, 91% of the cases were classified correctly. CONCLUSIONS: The ratio between serum IL-8 and pepsinogen A/C accurately predicts the presence of ABG. We therefore propose the ABG index as a noninvasive screening test for ABG in population-based studies