HORMONE PRODUCTION IN ENDOCRINE TUMOURS. Ciba Foundation Colloquia on Endocrinology, Vol. 12. G.E.W. Wolstenholme and Maeve O'Connor, Eds. Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1958. 351 pp. $9.00. This volume is the twelfth in the series of Ciba Foundation Colloquia on Endocrinology, and included in this book is an index to all twelve volumes. According to the preface these published proceedings ...

This month's installment of Generally Physiological explores the identification of an oocyte cell surface receptor required for fertilization, the role of calcium stores in large dense core vesicles in neuropeptide secretion, and the conversion of a chan nelrhodopsin to a light-activated chloride channel. The ability of a sperm and an egg to fuse to form the diploid zygote depends on their reco...

The concepts of pulmonary anatomy and physiology, and the interpretations of the pathologic findings in pneumoconiosis are highly original. The stated intention of maintaining an unbiased outlook by omitting a careful study of the literature on the subject is also reflected in the meager bibliography. The annual publication of the Proceedings of the Association for Research in Nervous and Menta...

Neuroendocrine responses to stress, particularly those mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, can differ significantly between males and females in many species. In laboratory rats and mice, for example, basal and stress-induced hormone secretions in the HPA axis are generally higher in females than in males in a variety of experimental situations (1, 2). Female roden...

To the Editor We read with interest the article by Ninomiya et al., about a 45-year-old woman with maternally inherited diabetes and muscle wasting due to the presence of a m.3243A>G mutation who developed insulin resistance despite possessing a normal amount of visceral fat (1). The patient’s insulin resistance improved after the administration of pioglitazone (1). We have the following commen...

Congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) is a rare X-linked recessive disorder associated with germline mutations of the arginine vasopressin (AVP) receptor type 2 (AVPR2) gene. The researchers describe a novel mutation in the AVPR2 gene in a three-generational Turkish family with NDI. In the present report, a 22-year-old man is reported with polyuria and bilateral non-obstructive hydron...

The role of ion channel activity in the response of rat pituitary lactotrophs and gonadotrophs to dopamine (DA) and GnRH, respectively, was investigated. Single lactotrophs and gonadotrophs were unambiguously identified with the reverse hemolytic plaque assay, and recordings of membrane potential and current were obtained using whole-cell and single-channel patch-clamp techniques. In lactotroph...

During the first 2 years of Geoffrey Harris’ tenure as Fitzmary Professor of Physiology, University of London (1952–1962), I was one of the four fellows in his laboratory based in the ‘Huts’, two prefabricated buildings on the grounds of Maudsley Hospital, South London. Peter Fawcett, a later collaborator, remarked, ‘It was an enigma to me why this eminent man should be stuck in a bunch of ex-a...

CONSIDERED FOR MANY YEARS to be primarily a circulating hormone contributing to parturition and lactation, over the past three decades oxytocin’s broader spectrum of bioactivity has revealed important roles in the control of anterior pituitary hormone secretion, the stress response, social behaviors, cardiovascular control, fluid and electrolyte homeostasis, and appetite regulation. Most of the...