It is now clear that PCOS is often associated with profound insulin resistance as well as with defects in insulin secretion. These abnormalities, together with obesity, explain the substantially increased prevalence of glucose intolerance in PCOS. Moreover, since PCOS is an extremely common disorder, PCOS-related insulin resistance is an important cause of NIDDM in women (Table 3). The insulin resistance in at least 50% of PCOS women appears to be related to excessive serine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor. A factor extrinsic to the insulin receptor, presumably a serine/threonine kinase, causes this abnormality and is an example of an important new mechanism for human insulin resistance related to factors controlling insulin receptor signaling. Serine phosphorylation appears to modulate the activity of the key regulatory enzyme of androgen biosynthesis, P450c17. It is thus possible that a single defect produces both the insulin resistance and the hyperandrogenism in some PCOS women (Fig. 19). Recent studies strongly suggest that insulin is acting through its own receptor (rather than the IGF-I receptor) in PCOS to augment not only ovarian and adrenal steroidogenesis but also pituitary LH release. Indeed, the defect in insulin action appears to be selective, affecting glucose metabolism but not cell growth. Since PCOS usually has a menarchal age of onset, this makes it a particularly appropriate disorder in which to examine the ontogeny of defects in carbohydrate metabolism and for ascertaining large three-generation kindreds for positional cloning studies to identify NIDDM genes. Although the presence of lipid abnormalities, dysfibrinolysis, and insulin resistance would be predicted to place PCOS women at high risk for cardiovascular disease, appropriate prospective studies are necessary to directly assess this.

Insulin resistance and the polycystic ovary syndrome: mechanism and implications for pathogenesis.

Report of the National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group on High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy

Article abstract—Objective: To update the 1994 practice parameter for the diagnosis of dementia in the elderly. Background: The AAN previously published a practice parameter on dementia in 1994. New research and clinical developments warrant an update of some aspects of diagnosis. Methods: Studies published in English from 1985 through 1999 were identified that addressed four questions: 1) Are the current criteria for the diagnosis of dementia reliable? 2) Are the current diagnostic criteria able to establish a diagnosis for the prevalent dementias in the elderly? 3) Do laboratory tests improve the accuracy of the clinical diagnosis of dementing illness? 4) What comorbidities should be evaluated in elderly patients undergoing an initial assessment for dementia? Recommendations: Based on evidence in the literature, the following recommendations are made. 1) The DSM-III-R definition of dementia is reliable and should be used (Guideline). 2) The National Institute of Neurologic, Communicative Disorders and Stroke‐AD and Related Disorders Association (NINCDS-ADRDA) or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 3rd edition, revised (DSM-IIIR) diagnostic criteria for AD and clinical criteria for Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (CJD) have sufficient reliability and validity and should be used (Guideline). Diagnostic criteria for vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and frontotemporal dementia may be of use in clinical practice (Option) but have imperfect reliability and validity. 3) Structural neuroimaging with either a noncontrast CT or MR scan in the initial evaluation of patients with dementia is appropriate. Because of insufficient data on validity, no other imaging procedure is recommended (Guideline). There are currently no genetic markers recommended for routine diagnostic purposes (Guideline). The CSF 14-3-3 protein is useful for confirming or rejecting the diagnosis of CJD (Guideline). 4) Screening for depression, B12 deficiency, and hypothyroidism should be performed (Guideline). Screening for syphilis in patients with dementia is not justified unless clinical suspicion for neurosyphilis is present (Guideline). Conclusions: Diagnostic criteria for dementia have improved since the 1994 practice parameter. Further research is needed to improve clinical definitions of dementia and its subtypes, as well as to determine the utility of various instruments of neuroimaging, biomarkers, and genetic testing in increasing diagnostic accuracy.

https://n.neurology.org/content/neurology/56/9/1143.full.pdf

Practice parameter: Diagnosis of dementia (an evidence-based review) Report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology

The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by the clinical association of antiphospholipid autoantibodies (aPL) with a syndrome of hypercoagulability that can affect any blood vessel, irrespective of type or size. Involvement of larger vessels, such as arteries or veins, manifests in the form of thrombosis or embolism, whereas involvement of smaller vessels, including capillaries, arterioles, and venules, manifests as thrombotic microangiopathy. Virtually any organ in the body, including the kidney, can be affected. Here, we review the basic principles and recent advances in our understanding of APS, and discuss the broad spectrum of renal diseases that have been observed in association with this syndrome. We also discuss the impact that APS may have on pre-existing renal disease as well as current recommendations for treatment of APS.

The antiphospholipid syndrome.

I. Introduction IN THE adult ovary, folliculogenesis starts when follicles leave the pool of resting follicles (RF) to enter the growth phase. From there, the early growing follicle undergoes a developmental process including a dramatic course of cellular proliferation and differentiation. In primates, only one follicle commonly reaches the preovulatory stage every cycle; most follicles fail to complete this maturation scheme, dying in the process termed atresia. In recent years, a picture has emerged depicting the classic endocrine control of ovarian function by LH and FSH, entangled in a maze of regulatory systems hinging on cell-cell interactions between follicular cells, via action of a variety of molecules (1–3). Different types of cell-cell interactions have been described. In paracrine regulations, a molecule synthesized by one cellular type is released into the interstitial milieu to act directly on another cellular type. In autocrine regulations, molecules synthesized by one cellular type are rel...

/pdf/regulation-of-ovarian-follicular-development-in-primates-4srrm0fi7f.pdf

Regulation of ovarian follicular development in primates: facts and hypotheses.

Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) are associated with poor obstetric outcome, such as recurrent abortions, fetal death, growth retardation, and early preeclampsia (1). Passive transfer of whole immunoglobulin fractions from aPL-positive sera has been found to induce fetal loss and growth retardation in pregnant naive mice, suggesting a direct pathogenetic role (2–4).

Although it has been assumed that aPL are directed against anionic PL, current advances in the field suggest that antibodies to PL-binding plasma proteins, such as β2-glycoprotein I (β2GPI), can be detected in standard aPL assays (5). Antibodies specific for β2GPI have been identified and found to be associated with the clinical manifestations of the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) (6–22). The in vivo immunohistologic demonstration of β2GPI on trophoblast surfaces (23,24) and the induction of fetal loss by anti-β2GPI antibodies in experimental animal models (25,26) suggested a role of anti-β2GPI antibodies in fetal loss. Moreover, even murine and human aPL monoclonal antibodies (mAb) specifically reacting with anionic PL in the absence of any plasma cofactor have been shown to produce fetal loss, growth retardation, placental deposition, and necrosis in experimental animal models (3,27,28).

Although experimental models have emphasized the role of thrombotic phenomena in placental tissue (4,27), studies in humans have shown that thrombotic events cannot account for all of the histopathologic findings in placentae from women with the APS (29,30). The possibility of direct villous and extravillous trophoblastic damage by aPL through the recognition of phosphatidylserine (PS) exposed during syncytium formation has been suggested (31). Reported direct effects of aPL on trophoblasts have included inhibition of the intercytotrophoblast fusion process (31), of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) or placental lactogen secretion (31,32), and/or of trophoblast invasiveness (31). Furthermore, whole IgG fractions from APS patient sera or xenogenic murine anti-PS mAb have been shown to displace annexin V from trophoblasts (and endothelial cell surfaces in the case of human IgG), thus creating conditions favorable to procoagulant state in vitro (31,33).

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the in vitro ability of IgG from sera containing high levels of aPL to bind human trophoblast cells and to affect hCG secretion and invasiveness. Furthermore, to identify whether specific effects were related to individual antibody subpopulations, human mAb reacting with β2GPI or with anionic PL in the absence of any plasma cofactor were investigated for their ability to reproduce the binding to trophoblast cell membranes and the modulation of hormone secretion as well as invasiveness. From our results, it appears that trophoblast cells might represent one target for circulating aPL reacting with β2GPI and/or with “pure” anionic PL (whose binding is independent of any plasma cofactor) and that such antibodies affect trophoblast differentiation–related activities.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/1529-0131%28200001%2943%3A1%3C140%3A%3AAID-ANR18%3E3.0.CO%3B2-P

ANTIPHOSPHOLIPID ANTIBODIES AFFECT TROPHOBLAST GONADOTROPIN SECRETION AND INVASIVENESS BY BINDING DIRECTLY AND THROUGH ADHERED β2-GLYCOPROTEIN I

Proteinuria and outcome of 444 pregnancies complicated by hypertension

Background
The vaginal microflora of a healthy asymptomatic woman consists of a wide variety of anaerobic and aerobic bacterial genera and species dominated by the facultative, microaerophilic, anaerobic genus Lactobacillus. The activity of Lactobacillus is essential to protect women from genital infections and to maintain the natural healthy balance of the vaginal flora. Increasing evidence associates abnormalities in vaginal flora during pregnancy with preterm labor and delivery with potential neonatal sequelae due to prematurity and poor perinatal outcome. Although this phenomenon is relatively common, even in populations of women at low risk for adverse events, the pathogenetic mechanism that leads to complications in pregnancy is still poorly understood.

Alessandro Caruso

Papers

ANTIPHOSPHOLIPID ANTIBODIES AFFECT TROPHOBLAST GONADOTROPIN SECRETION AND INVASIVENESS BY BINDING DIRECTLY AND THROUGH ADHERED β2-GLYCOPROTEIN I

Proteinuria and outcome of 444 pregnancies complicated by hypertension

Vaginal microbial flora and outcome of pregnancy

Rubella infection in pregnancy.

Recurrent spontaneous abortion and intrauterine fetal growth retardation as symptoms of coeliac disease