The effect of thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH) or luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) on plasma levels of growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL), thyrotrophin (TSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH), were studied in patients with anorexia nervosa. The basal plasma GH levels were elevated in 6 of 11 patients studied. Intravenous injection of synthetic TRH (500 μg) significantly raised the plasma GH levels in 9 of 11 patients. The peak values of plasma GH after TRH ranged from 6.0 to 31.5 ng/ml. Plasma GH concentrations also increased following the administration of synthetic LH-RH (100μg) in 1 of 7 patients. The intravenous injection of saline solution caused no significant change in plasma GH in these patients. The plasma LH responses to LH-RH were significantly blunted in all patients, whereas the plasma PRL and TSH responses to TRH were almost normal in the patients examined. These results suggest that the hypothalamo-pituitary function regulating GH and LH secretion is altered in patients with anorexia nervosa.
Summary
The circadian rhythm of plasma cortisol levels was studied in 20 endogenous depressive patients who received one‐night sleep deprivation therapy and 10 normal controls who were also deprived of sleep together with patients by estimation at four‐hourly intervals over 36 hours. The mean values at each sampling time were compared.
The result can be summarized as follows: The mean values of depressive patients tended to be higher than those of controls on the day following sleep deprivation. In depressive patients the mean values on the following day were higher compared to those on the preceding day. In the patients who responded well to sleep deprivation therapy, the circadian variation of mean values which was obscure the preceding day showed an evident rhythm the following day.
These findings suggest that sleep deprivation may cause a different effect between depressive patients and normal subjects, and that the possible mechanism of the anti‐depressive efficacy of sleep deprivation may be to normalize the disturbed rhythm of the physiological function in depressive patients.
The results of a series of multicentre, controlled, double-blind trials of the clinical efficacy of Encephabol compared with placebo in patients with a variety of cerebrovascular disorders are reported.
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