Effect of pregnancy on gastrointestinal transit.

In order to evaluate the possible effects of pregnancy-associated sex steroids on gastrointestinal function, we determined gastrointestinal transit times and sex steroid levels in 15 women during the third trimester of their pregnancies and again 4--6 weeks following delivery when gastrointestinal function had symptomatically returned to normal. Gastrointestinal transit time from ingestion of a liquid lactulose meal to its delivery to the cecum was determined by monitoring breath hydrogen concentrations at 10-min intervals. Gastrointestinal transit times were significantly prolonged in the third trimester of pregnancy, when progesterone and estradiol levels were increased, compared to the postpartum period. This study supports previous findings which suggest that increasing levels of progesterone and estradiol affect gastrointestinal function and therefore may contribute to gastrointestinal symptoms that often occur in pregnant women.

Gastrointestinal transit: the effect of the menstrual cycle.

Gastrointestinal transit time as well as serum estradiol and progesterone levels were measured in 15 normally menstruating women twice during their menstrual cycle, once in the follicular phase (days 8-10) when progesterone levels are low and once in the luteal phase (days 18-20) when progesterone levels are increased. Each subject had a progesterone rise during the luteal phase and onset of menses at the expected time documenting ovulatory cycles. Gastrointestinal transit time from ingestion of lactulose to the delivery of the disaccharide to the cecum was determined by monitoring breath hydrogen levels at 10-min intervals. Gastrointestinal transit time was significantly (p less than 0.01) prolonged in the luteal phase when progesterone levels were increased compared with the follicular phase. This study demonstrates that the menstrual cycle plays an important role in determining the gastrointestinal transit time in normally menstruating women.

Patterns of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal dysfunction in men with liver disease due to differing etiologies.

The hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis was evaluated in two groups of age-matched men with documented biochemical and histologic liver disease and compared to that of age-matched normal controls. Basal testosterone levels (p less than 0.05), spermatozoa concentrations (p less than 0.01), and seminal plasma volume (p less than 0.01) were reduced in the alcoholics studied with liver disease, but not the hemophiliacs with liver disease when compared to the normal controls. No difference in estradiol levels was noted between groups. Basal follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations were increased (both p less than 0.01) in the alcoholics while only LH concentrations were increased (p less than 0.01) in the hemophiliacs compared to the normal controls. Gonadotropins (follicle-stimulating hormone and LH) and testosterone responses to clomiphene and to luteinizing hormone-releasing factor (LH only) in the alcoholic population studied, further distinguished the alcoholics from the hemophiliacs and the normal controls. The basal levels of the other anterior pituitary hormones (growth hormone and thyroid-stimulating hormone) as well as their provocative responses to thyrotropin-releasing hormone also distinguished the alcoholics from the hemophiliac population. Based upon these results, we propose that factors other than the liver disease per se are responsible for the disturbances of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal function observed in men with biochemically as well as histologically advanced stable liver disease.

Effect of ethanol feeding upon levels of a male-specific hepatic estrogen-binding protein: a possible mechanism for feminization.

Male, but not female, rat liver cytosol contains an estrogen-binding protein with unique properties: rapid binding of estradiol, high binding capacity, moderate affinity for estradiol, and specificity for steroidal estrogens and weak androgens, but not for nonsteroidal estrogens or other steroids. The estradiol-binding activity of this protein is reduced in cytosol from livers of alcohol-fed rats as compared to that from their isocalorically fed controls. The properties of this male-specific hepatic estrogen-binding protein suggest a role for this protein in the regulation of estrogen levels in the male animal. Moreover, the reduction in activity of this unique protein in the liver of alcohol-fed animals may explain, at least in part, the feminization commonly seen in chronic alcoholic men.