Sex-Dependent Effect of Metformin on Serum Prolactin Levels In Hyperprolactinemic Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Pilot Study

Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-122224

Background Metformin was found to reduce circulating levels of pituitary hormones. Objective The purpose of this study was to assess whether sex determines the effect of metformin on lactotroph secretory function. Methods The study population included 25 women and 12 men with mildly elevated serum prolactin levels (25–75 ng/mL). Because of concomitant type 2 diabetes, all participants were treated with metformin (3 g daily). Plasma levels of glucose and lipids, HOMA1-IR, serum levels of prolactin, thyrotropin and free thyroid hormones, as well as Jostel's, SPINA-GT and SPINA-GD indices were assessed at baseline and at the end of metformin treatment. Results The study completed 24 women and 11 men. At baseline, there were no significant differences in circulating levels of glucose and lipids, insulin sensitivity, hormones, Jostel's, SPINA-GT and SPINA-GD indices between women and men. In both men and women, metformin reduced fasting glucose levels and HOMA1-IR. However, only in women metformin decreased elevated prolactin levels and this effect correlated with an improvement insulin sensitivity, as well as with the impact on SPINA-GT. Conclusions The results of the study suggest that the effect of metformin on serum prolactin levels is sex-dependent.
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© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

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EEG correlates of visual short-term memory in older age vary with adult lifespan cognitive development

Publication date: February 2018
Source:Neurobiology of Aging, Volume 62
Author(s): Iris Wiegand, Martin J. Lauritzen, Merete Osler, Erik Lykke Mortensen, Egill Rostrup, Lene Rask, Nelly Richard, Anna Horwitz, Krisztina Benedek, Signe Vangkilde, Anders Petersen
Visual short-term memory (vSTM) is a cognitive resource that declines with age. This study investigated whether electroencephalography (EEG) correlates of vSTM vary with cognitive development over individuals' lifespan. We measured vSTM performance and EEG in a lateralized whole-report task in a healthy birth cohort, whose cognitive function (intelligence quotient) was assessed in youth and late-middle age. Higher vSTM capacity (K; measured by Bundesen's theory of visual attention) was associated with higher amplitudes of the contralateral delay activity (CDA) and the central positivity (CP). In addition, rightward hemifield asymmetry of vSTM (Kλ) was associated with lower CDA amplitudes. Furthermore, more severe cognitive decline from young adulthood to late-middle age predicted higher CDA amplitudes, and the relationship between K and the CDA was less reliable in individuals who show higher levels of cognitive decline compared to individuals with preserved abilities. By contrast, there was no significant effect of lifespan cognitive changes on the CP or the relationship between behavioral measures of vSTM and the CP. Neither the CDA, nor the CP, nor the relationships between K or Kλ and the event-related potentials were predicted by individuals' current cognitive status. Together, our findings indicate complex age-related changes in processes underlying behavioral and EEG measures of vSTM and suggest that the K-CDA relationship might be a marker of cognitive lifespan trajectories.



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Chemometric and high-resolution mass spectrometry tools for the characterization and comparison of raw and treated wastewater samples of a pilot plant on the SIPIBEL site

Abstract

Due to its key role in the contamination of natural resources, the assessment of raw and treated wastewater effluents is a current major concern and urges comprehensive analytical methods capable of selectively capturing the chemodiversity of these samples. In this context, the overall objective of this work can be summarized as (i) the assessment of the performance of secondary and tertiary (advanced oxidation) wastewater treatments through multivariate analysis followed by (ii) the comprehensive characterization of wastewater samples based on their spectral fingerprints and a combination of suspect and non-target screening approaches. Several compounds, belonging to different sources of contamination were annotated and/or partially identified: pharmaceuticals, metabolites and transformation compounds, human activity markers, surfactants, and polyethoxy compounds. These results highlight the contribution of filtering and screening tools such as monoisotopic exact mass, mass defect, MS/MS data-dependent acquisitions, isotopic pattern and retention time to the selection, and the identification of environmental contaminants and their metabolites/degradation products. This paper completes the target study conducted in the SIPIBEL site and offers an alternative for the assessment of treatment processes by broadening the spectrum to a larger number of compounds and the correlations between them.

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Recycling of wastes from fish beneficiation by composting: chemical characteristics of the compost and efficiency of their humic acids in stimulating the growth of lettuce

Abstract

Waste from the beneficiation of fish was composted with crushed grass aiming to characterize their chemical composition and investigate the possibility of the use of the final compost as source of humic acids (HA) able to stimulate the growth of lettuce. Compost presented pH value, C/N ratio, and electrical conductivity that allow its use as an organic fertilizer. The element content was present in the following order of abundance in the compost: P > Ca > N > Mg > K > Fe > Zn > Mn > Mo > Cu, and the humus composition was similar to that observed in others kind of organic residues composted. The high content of oxygen pointed out a high level of oxidation of HA, in line with the predominance of phenolic acidity in the functional groups. The ¹³C-NMR spectra showed marked resonances due to the presence of lipids and other materials resistant to degradation as methoxy substituent and N-alkyl groups. A concentration of 20 mg L⁻¹ HA increased significantly both dry and wet root matter in lettuce but the CO₂ assimilation, stomatal conductance, and number of lateral roots of the plants were not affected. However, increases of 64% in the water-use efficiency was observed due to the HA addition, probably related to the root morphology alteration which resulted in 1.6-fold increase of lateral root average length and due to the higher H⁺ extrusion activity. Reuse of residues from the fish beneficiation activity by composting may represent a safe tool to increase the value of recycled organic residues and generate HA with potential use as plant growth stimulants.

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Table of Contents

Publication date: December 2017
Source:Pediatric Neurology, Volume 77





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The Dreadful Knowledge of Truth: Newborn Screening in the Modern Age

Publication date: December 2017
Source:Pediatric Neurology, Volume 77
Author(s): E. Steve Roach




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Editorial Board and Masthead

Publication date: December 2017
Source:Pediatric Neurology, Volume 77





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