Plasma non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) levels during a standard insulin sensitivity test have been compared in hypopituitary and hospital control patients who had undergone full routine pituitary investigations. Significant impairment of the recovery of plasma NEFA levels after insulin injection was found in the hypopituitary group as a whole, but this finding was not consistent in individual cases. It is concluded that the measurement of NEFA levels is of little value in the diagnosis of mild hypopituitarism. Blood sugar levels after insulin were of no value in the diagnosis of minor degrees of hypopituitarism.In 19 patients with mild hypopituitarism the order of frequency of deficiency of individual hormones, as judged by tests currently available, was gonadotrophins followed by growth hormone, adrenocorticotrophic hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and antidiuretic hormone.

SUMMARY This study was undertaken to establish the variability in the levels of total cholesterol (TC), total triglyceride (TG), low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol before and after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, in order to determine postoperatively when an accurate assessment can be made of the lipid status. During a prospective study over 4 months, fasting venous samples were taken pre‐ and postoperatively on day 5, and in the 4th, 8th and 12th weeks. Ninety‐six patients admitted to the cardiothoracic and cardiac wards for CABG were recruited to the study. The mean preoperative levels were: TC 5.94 (± 0.1 mmol/l), LDL cholesterol 4.02 (± 0.09mmol/l) and HDL cholesterol 1.00 (± 0.03mmol/l). These were significantly different (p<0.01) from the levels on the 5th postoperative day when the mean level of TC was 4.14 (± 0.084mmol/l), LDL cholesterol was 2.45 (± 0.07mmol/l) and HDL cholesterol was 0.74 (±0.03mmol/l). By the 4th postoperative week, mean TC (5.73±0.13mmol/l), LDL cholesterol (3.79 ±0.14mmol/l) and HDL cholesterol (1.03 ± 0.04mmol/l) did not vary significantly from the mean preoperative values. There was no significant difference in the mean TG levels pre‐ and postoperatively. The mean TC, LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol rise to preoperative levels by the 4th week after CABG. Thus, an accurate assessment of patients' lipid status can be made from this period. An earlier postoperative assessment may be falsely reassuring.

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Plasma levels of cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP were determined in 35 guinea pigs for up to 9 days following subcutaneous passage of L2C leukemia cells. Twenty guinea pigs into which normal syngeneic guinea pig thymocytes were passaged served as controls. Cyclic AMP levels in plasma showed little change and were only elevated significantly in test animals on day 9 after passage. In contrast cyclic GMP levels reached a maximum on day 5 after passage of leukemia cells with two to threefold rises over day 1 levels. Increases in leukocyte counts were not observed until day 7 in test animals. Of the other tumour growth indices which were examined, the axillary (draining) node index gave the earliest indication of cell proliferation, with significant elevations on day 3 after passage. The authors conclude that plasma cyclic GMP increases precede increases in white cell counts by at least 2 days, and may reflect an early increase in axillary node growth. Cancer 53:79‐82, 1984.

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