Jiang, Nai‐Siang

Abstract Radioimmunoassay of serum estrogen (sum of estrone and estradiol-17β) in 0.5 ml of human serum is described. After dilution of the serum, the estrogens are adsorbed on a Sephadex G-15 column in the presence of dilute HCl and then eluted with benzene. After evaporation of the benzene eluate, the estrogens are dissolved in bovine serum albumin (5 g/ liter solution, at pH 8.0). An aliquot of this solution is used for the assay. Serum estrogen concentrations (mean ± SD) were 69 ± 23 pg/ml in 105 normal men and 199 ± 146 pg/ml in 26 fertile women. In 109 postmenopausal women, estrogen was undetectable in seven sera, but in the remaining 102 it was 52 ± 30 pg/ml of serum.

Abstract We compared results obtained by (a) chemical (spectrophotometric) and competitive protein-binding assays for serum corticosteroids, and (b) competitive proteinbinding and radioimmunoassay, with and without CCl4 extraction, for serum cortisol. The two corticosteroid methods gave identical results. Radioimmunoassay with and without a CCl4 extraction step gave identical results for cortisol. Competitive protein-binding assays for cortisol (with and without CCl4 extraction) and radioimmunoassay for cortisol gave similar results. Specimens with above-normal corticosterone or 11-deoxycortisol concentrations are an exception: only methods that included CCl4 extraction gave correct values for cortisol; methods without such an extraction step overestimated cortisol. The normal serum corticosteroid concentration (mean ± SD) was 175 ± 53 µg/liter for morning specimens, and 103 ± 40 µg/liter for specimens collected in the afternoon. For cortisol, the corresponding values were 162 ± 44 and 82 ± 29 µg/liter.

The responses of glucagon, growth hormone, and insulin secretion to the oral administration of glucose and to the intravenous infusion of saline, arginine, and insulin were measured in seven patients who had stable diabetes, eight who had unstable diabetes, and seven healthy volunteers. Hyperglycemia suppressed secretion of glucagon in normal subjects but not in diabetics. The oral glucose and arginine infusion tests demonstrated partial preservation of insulin-secretory ability in stable diabetics and its virtual absence in unstable diabetics. Glucagon responses to arginine infusion were similar in all three groups. In response to hypoglycemia induced by insulin infusion, the concentrations of plasma glucagon increased in normal subjects and, to a lesser extent, in stable diabetics but increased in only two of the unstable diabetics. The impairment in glucagon response during hypoglycemia in diabetics correlated positively with the degree of diabetic instability and insulin deficiency during glucose and arginine testing. The severity of the insulin deficiency also correlated with the degree of diabetic instability. These findings support the hypothesis that inherent abnormalities of insulin and glucagon secretion may account for many of the clinical characteristics of unstable and stable diabetic patients.

Abstract We studied the status of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors in meningiomas removed from 52 patients, comparing dextran-coated charcoal (DCC), nuclear binding (NB), and immunoperoxidase (IP) assays. Each of the assays was performed independently by investigators well-experienced with these assays. The NB assay is a new assay that measures functional steroid receptors—that is, the activation of the receptor and its binding to the nucleus. The assay is very sensitive and requires a relatively small amount of tissue as compared with the DCC assay. In agreement with data from other studies, PR were detected in most meningiomas by all 3 methods: in 69% of the cases by NB, in 76% by DCC, and in 89% by IP. ER were detected in only a few cases: in 33% by NB, in 2% by DCC, and in none by the IP assay. The agreement for PR sites was 62% for all 3 assays, it was 66% between the NB and DCC assays, 67% between the NB and IP assays, and 86% between the DCC and IP assays. Of 26 cases that were positive by the DCC assay, 6 (23%) were negative by NB. The overall agreement for all three ER assays was 65%. The data suggest that the majority of meningiomas contain high-affinity receptors for progesterone, that estrogen receptors are present in only a few meningiomas, and that some of these estrogen and progesterone receptors appear to be functional.