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Menopausal hot flushes and plasma beta-endorphins
15 The mcnopa~~ and breast uneer Alexander FE; Roberts MM iUe&ol Computing and Statistics Unit, University of Edinburgh. Edinbuqh Kingdom J. EPIDEMIOL. COMMUN. HEALTH; 41/2 (94-100)/1987/
EH8 9AG. United
It is usually accepted that an older age of menopause is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. This is often interpreted as a statement about postmenopausal women; however. some authors explicitly and others implicity take it as embracing both an increased risk for postmenopausal women who have a late menopause and an increased risk for older premenopausal women who are still menstruating. We have recently examined the role of menstrual status and age at menopause in a study of risk factors in a population of screened women. Our results there and the difficulties we encountered in relating them to the literature have motivated this study. We begin with a survey of the literature: comparison of reported studies is difficult because of considerable variations in the defiitions of menstrual status (as well as absence and vagueness of definitions). the frequent absence of any ‘menopausal’ category, and a lack of age-specific Bgures. The only clear consensus is that there is a higher risk among women aged 50-54 who are still menstruating than among those who are postmenopausal. Later we propose a modification of the ‘two linear component’ model for age incidence: this includes increased incidence at the time of the menopause and a subsequent deficit. The intention is to test this model using data from the Edinburgh Breast Screening Trial, and the suitability for this purpose of the data which are being collected is discussed. Menopmsd hot flwdwa aud piesmabcta-cndorpbins Tepper R, Neri A; Kaufman H; et al. Department of Obstetrics ond Gynecology. Beiiinson Medical, Petah Tikvo 49100, Israel OBSTBT. GYNECOL.; 70/2 (150-152)/1987/ Plasma beta-endorphin levels were measured in five women in physiologic menopause suffering from frequent episodes of hot flushes, recorded objectively by the measurement of finger temperature. Significantly lower levels of plasma beta-endorphin levels were found at the onset of the hot flushes than 5 to 20 minutes before (P < 0.0001). After the flush there was a significant rise of plasma betaendorphin levels at 5, 1.0, and 15 minutes (P < 0.002). Spontaneous release of interhkin 1 from human blood monocytw refkcts bond formation in idiopathk osteoporosis Pacifici R; Rifas L; Teitelbaum S; et al. Divkion of Metabolism, Jewish Hospitoi of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, United States of Americo PROC. NATL. ACAD. SCI. U.S.A.; 84/13 (4616-4620)/1987/ Osteoporosis is a state of reduced skeletal mass characterized by various rates of bone remodeling. Multiple locally elaborated factors have been identified that appear to influence the cellular events in bone remodeling. The possible role(s) of these factors in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis is unknown. One such factor, interleukin 1 (IL-l), is of particular interest, as this protein is known to stimulate bone resorption and perhaps formation. Consequently, we have measured the spontaneous secretion of IL-l activity by cultured peripheral blood monocytes obtained from 22 osteoporotic patients and 14 age-matched control subjects. Monocytes from osteoporotic patients produced more IL-l than did monocytes from control subjects. When patients were grouped according to monocyte-produced IL-l activity, dynamic parameters of bone formation, as judged by quantitative histomorphometric analysis of iliac crest bone biopsies and by circulating levels of bone rl-carboxyglutamic acid protein (BPG) - a marker of bone formation - were higher in subjects with elevated IL-l activity; whereas, indices of bone resorption and static indices of bone formation were similar in subjects with either high or normal IL-l activity. IL-l activity released by peripheral blood monocytes appears to reflect bone formation rate in osteoporotic patients and may be of pathogenetic significance in a subset of individuals with osteoporosis.
EH8 9AG. United
It is usually accepted that an older age of menopause is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. This is often interpreted as a statement about postmenopausal women; however. some authors explicitly and others implicity take it as embracing both an increased risk for postmenopausal women who have a late menopause and an increased risk for older premenopausal women who are still menstruating. We have recently examined the role of menstrual status and age at menopause in a study of risk factors in a population of screened women. Our results there and the difficulties we encountered in relating them to the literature have motivated this study. We begin with a survey of the literature: comparison of reported studies is difficult because of considerable variations in the defiitions of menstrual status (as well as absence and vagueness of definitions). the frequent absence of any ‘menopausal’ category, and a lack of age-specific Bgures. The only clear consensus is that there is a higher risk among women aged 50-54 who are still menstruating than among those who are postmenopausal. Later we propose a modification of the ‘two linear component’ model for age incidence: this includes increased incidence at the time of the menopause and a subsequent deficit. The intention is to test this model using data from the Edinburgh Breast Screening Trial, and the suitability for this purpose of the data which are being collected is discussed. Menopmsd hot flwdwa aud piesmabcta-cndorpbins Tepper R, Neri A; Kaufman H; et al. Department of Obstetrics ond Gynecology. Beiiinson Medical, Petah Tikvo 49100, Israel OBSTBT. GYNECOL.; 70/2 (150-152)/1987/ Plasma beta-endorphin levels were measured in five women in physiologic menopause suffering from frequent episodes of hot flushes, recorded objectively by the measurement of finger temperature. Significantly lower levels of plasma beta-endorphin levels were found at the onset of the hot flushes than 5 to 20 minutes before (P < 0.0001). After the flush there was a significant rise of plasma betaendorphin levels at 5, 1.0, and 15 minutes (P < 0.002). Spontaneous release of interhkin 1 from human blood monocytw refkcts bond formation in idiopathk osteoporosis Pacifici R; Rifas L; Teitelbaum S; et al. Divkion of Metabolism, Jewish Hospitoi of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, United States of Americo PROC. NATL. ACAD. SCI. U.S.A.; 84/13 (4616-4620)/1987/ Osteoporosis is a state of reduced skeletal mass characterized by various rates of bone remodeling. Multiple locally elaborated factors have been identified that appear to influence the cellular events in bone remodeling. The possible role(s) of these factors in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis is unknown. One such factor, interleukin 1 (IL-l), is of particular interest, as this protein is known to stimulate bone resorption and perhaps formation. Consequently, we have measured the spontaneous secretion of IL-l activity by cultured peripheral blood monocytes obtained from 22 osteoporotic patients and 14 age-matched control subjects. Monocytes from osteoporotic patients produced more IL-l than did monocytes from control subjects. When patients were grouped according to monocyte-produced IL-l activity, dynamic parameters of bone formation, as judged by quantitative histomorphometric analysis of iliac crest bone biopsies and by circulating levels of bone rl-carboxyglutamic acid protein (BPG) - a marker of bone formation - were higher in subjects with elevated IL-l activity; whereas, indices of bone resorption and static indices of bone formation were similar in subjects with either high or normal IL-l activity. IL-l activity released by peripheral blood monocytes appears to reflect bone formation rate in osteoporotic patients and may be of pathogenetic significance in a subset of individuals with osteoporosis.