Female sex steroid induced gallbladder epithelium changes and gallstone deposits in female hamsters: TEM and SEM aspects

Author(s):  
S. Karkare ◽  
J. Gilloteaux ◽  
T. R. Kelly

Approximately 1 million people in the United States alone develop gallstones each year. The incidence is higher in women than in men and the ratio being 4 ≥ 1. A correlation has also been suggested between oral contraceptives and cholelithiasis. In addition, postmenopausal or cancer estrogen therapy has been reported to be a factor responsible for gallstone formation. Female sex hormone receptors have been detected not only in the gallbladder musculature, but also in its epithelium. As a follow up to experiments effectuated in the male and the ovariectomized Syrian hamster, this report shows that, a combination of a low cholesterol diet with female sex steroid treatment contributes to the formation of gallstone-like deposits, while modifying the surface epithelium morphology. Syrian hamsters (F1B strain, BioBreeders, Watertown MA) were housed under 12h light: 12 h dark cycle, at 20 °C, fed Purina chow and water ad libitum. Several duration/treatment groups were studied, but this report will focus on data obtained with the group injected weekly with estradiol valerate (E weekly, s.c. 8-10 μg/100 g.b.w., in corn oil) and with i.m. medroxyprogesterone acetate (DepoProvera Upjohn Co., Kalamazoo, MI; 8-10 mg/100 g.b.w.) for a 3-month period. Other parameters (blood and bile) were also studied but not reported here.

2021 ◽  
pp. 153537022110196
Author(s):  
Nathalie Fuentes ◽  
Miguel Silva Rodriguez ◽  
Patricia Silveyra

Lung cancer represents the world’s leading cause of cancer deaths. Sex differences in the incidence and mortality rates for various types of lung cancers have been identified, but the biological and endocrine mechanisms implicated in these disparities have not yet been determined. While some cancers such as lung adenocarcinoma are more commonly found among women than men, others like squamous cell carcinoma display the opposite pattern or show no sex differences. Associations of tobacco product use rates, susceptibility to carcinogens, occupational exposures, and indoor and outdoor air pollution have also been linked to differential rates of lung cancer occurrence and mortality between sexes. While roles for sex hormones in other types of cancers affecting women or men have been identified and described, little is known about the influence of sex hormones in lung cancer. One potential mechanism identified to date is the synergism between estrogen and some tobacco compounds, and oncogene mutations, in inducing the expression of metabolic enzymes, leading to enhanced formation of reactive oxygen species and DNA adducts, and subsequent lung carcinogenesis. In this review, we present the literature available regarding sex differences in cancer rates, associations of male and female sex hormones with lung cancer, the influence of exogenous hormone therapy in women, and potential mechanisms mediated by male and female sex hormone receptors in lung carcinogenesis. The influence of biological sex on lung disease has recently been established, thus new research incorporating this variable will shed light on the mechanisms behind the observed disparities in lung cancer rates, and potentially lead to the development of new therapeutics to treat this devastating disease.


1898 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 183-184
Author(s):  
Samuel H. Scudder

The following table made as simple as possible, and based almost exclusively upon the female sex, will serve to distinguish the species of Xiphidium hitherto described or recorded from the United States and Canada. It included only the species of Xiphidium proper; i. e., those of slender form with straight or nearly straight ovipositor, excluding the stouter species with distinctly arcuate ovipositor, commonly referred to Orchelimum, though both are classed together by Redtenbacher.


1984 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 985-993 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Cahill ◽  
Nasir Bashirelahi ◽  
Louis W. Solomon ◽  
Thomas Dalton ◽  
Michael Salcman ◽  
...  

✓ Two-thirds of all meningiomas and four-fifths of intraspinal and sphenoidal meningiomas occur in women. Meningiomas frequently enlarge or become symptomatic during pregnancy or during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. There is an increased incidence of meningiomas in women with breast carcinoma. In a series of 23 patients with meningiomas, the authors assayed biopsy specimens of the tumor for the presence of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors, using glycerol density gradient centrifugation and dextran-coated charcoal techniques. Significant levels of ER were found in only 17% of the patients, while significant PR levels were detected in 39%. Only one of the 16 tumors from female patients had significant ER levels, whereas three of the seven tumors from men had significant ER levels. Eight of the 16 tumors in women had significant PR levels, whereas only one of the seven tumors in men had a significant PR level. Thus, three out of four tumors with definite ER were from men, whereas eight of nine tumors with definite PR were from women. Of the eight women whose tumors contained PR, three were premenopausal and five postmenopausal. The single tumor with high levels of PR in the male patient was histologically atypical. The results of this series were compared with six published series of sex steroid assays in meningiomas. These seven series were divided into two groups: one group included two reports from the same laboratories in France, and the other the remaining five reports. Much higher percentages of both ER- and PR-positive tumors were reported from the French group. The authors suggest that this discrepancy may be due to the use of preoperative glucocorticoid therapy in the series from the United States. Since meningiomas are known to enlarge during periods when levels of circulating progestins are high, the presence of significant quantities of PR in a high percentage of tumors may have therapeutic implications for recurrent, malignant, or incompletely excised tumors, or for medically fragile patients. Conversely, since meningiomas are not known to enlarge during the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle or with exogenous estrogen therapy, the small number of tumors positive for ER may indicate that ER lacks clinical significance. High levels of PR found in a small group of histologically aggressive tumors in several series may indicate that hormonal therapy may be especially useful in this difficult subset of patients.


2007 ◽  
Vol 86 (11) ◽  
pp. 1377-1384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Westergren Söderberg ◽  
Bengt Johansson ◽  
Britt Masironi ◽  
Birgitta Byström ◽  
Christian Falconer ◽  
...  

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