I . This communication reports the action of bovine thrombin on ovine, bovine and human growth hormones. Thrombin cleavage was shown to be restricted to a single homologous peptide bond in all three growth hormones (at sequence positions 133 -134 of the ovine and bovine hormones).2. Ovine growth hormone was the most sensitive to the action of thrombin, bovine growth hormone was attacked to a relatively less extent, and human growth hormone was the most resistant to the enzyme.3. After reduction and carbamidomethylation of the disulfide bonds in thrombin modified ovine growth hormone, the two fragments (residues 1 -133 and 134-191) were isolated. The large NH,-terminal thrombin fragment of the hormone (residues 1 -133) was found to be inactive in the rat tibia test, whereas a tryptic fragment (residues 96-133) isolated in an independent way gave measurable responses.After the first isolation of growth hormone from bovine pituitary glands [I], our knowledge of the chemistry of pituitary growth hormones has steadily grown. Complete primary structures (191 amino acids) of human [2-41, ovine [5] and bovine growth hormones [6-81 have been elucidated, revealing a 65 homology between the structures of human and ovine growth hormones [3] and only a single sequence difference between the ovine and bovine hormones [7 -81.

Forty‐five endogenously depressed patients in nine different hospitals were given, randomly, tricyclic antidepressants plus placebo, or tricyclic antidepressants plus lithium carbonate, for a minimum of 4 weeks. At the hospital with the largest single material, the six patients in the lithium group showed significantly greater improvement after 1 and 4 weeks than the seven patients in the placebo group. At the other hospitals, a total of 14 patients received lithium and 18 placebo, with no significant difference in outcome. However, the heterogeneity of this part of the material might easily have obscured any real difference in treatment outcome. Treatment response in the total material did not correlate significantly with diagnosis (e.g., whether unipolar or bipolar affective illness), age or sex. No significant side effects were reported. It is concluded that lithium does not antagonize, but rather seems to enhance the therapeutic effect of tricyclic antidepressants. Therefore, when an endogenously depressed patient is considered suited for longterm prophylactic lithium medication, such medication ought to be started while the patient is still depressed and under treatment with anti‐depressant drugs.

The effect of tamoxifen (TAM) on the serum levels of sexual hormones and on the sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) was investigated in 30 postmenopausal patients with advanced breast cancer. To study the ‘prolactin reserve capacity’ of the pituitary gland, thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH) and sulpiride-induced prolactin release were measured prior to TAM treatment, then in the 2nd and 8th week of the therapy. The TRH (400 μg i.v.)-induced prolactin secretion was significantly suppressed by TAM after an 8-week treatment, but only in responding cases. Maximal prolactin stimulation occurred at the 15th min after TRH injection, being equal to 5,600 ± 800 mlU/l in cancer patients, and decreasing to 2,400 ± 150 mlU/l after 8 weeks. TAM did not suppress the sulpiride-inducable prolactin release either in responders or in nonrespon-ders.

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