The uptake of 125I-labelled LH by equal numbers of granulosa cells from small, medium or large follicles was greater by cells from large follicles. In contrast, granulosa cells obtained from small follicles bound much more 125I-labelled FSH per cell than did cells obtained from medium and large follicles. Competition studies with unlabelled hormones indicated that porcine granulosa cells have specific receptors for LH and FSH. The addition of diethylstilboestrol enhanced the binding of 125I-labelled LH and inhibited the binding of 125I-labelled FSH to granulosa cells harvested from small and medium-sized follicles, but had no effect on those from large follicles.

Abstract. Synthetic luteinizing hormone releasing factor (LRF) was infused intravenously for 6 hours into two women who had donor insemination. Supplemental LRF was injected subcutaneously after a 6 hours continuous infusion. Ovulation was triggered by LRF infusion and two successful pregnancies were achieved. It is suggested that ovulation might be triggered by a continuous intravenous infusion of synthetic LRF, if follicular development of the ovary is sufficient. It is concluded that “triggering” of ovulation by a continuous infusion of LRF might be a convenient means for controlling the timing of ovulation in case of donor insemination.

Purpose To determine the feasibility of dual-energy (DE) computed tomography (CT) with an iodine overlay image (IOI) for evaluation of psoriatic arthritis in the hand. Materials and Methods Approval from the institutional ethics committee and written informed consent from all patients were obtained. This prospective study included 16 patients who had psoriasis with finger joint symptoms from January 2015 to January 2016. Contrast material-enhanced (CE) DE CT and 1.5-T CE magnetic resonance (MR) imaging were performed within 1 month of each other. DE CT was performed with a tube voltage of 80 kV and 140 kV with use of a 0.4-mm tin filter. Images acquired with both modalities were evaluated by two radiologists independently by using a semiquantitative scoring system. Interreader agreement was calculated for each modality: Weighted κ values were calculated for synovitis, flexor tenosynovitis, and extensor peritendonitis, and κ values were calculated for periarticular inflammation. With consensus scores and CE MR images as the reference, the sensitivity and specificity of IOI DE CT for inflammatory lesions were calculated. Statistical analysis of discordant readings was performed by using the McNemar test. Results Interreader agreement for inflammatory lesions was excellent or good (weighted κ = 0.83 and κ = 0.75 in IOI DE CT; weighted κ = 0.81 and κ = 0.87 in CE MR imaging). The sensitivity and specificity of IOI DE CT were 0.78 and 0.87, respectively. Total agreement was 86.3%; however, there were significantly more lesions detected with IOI DE CT than with CE MR imaging alone (134 vs 20 lesions in 1120 evaluated items; P < .001). Sixty-nine percent of the abnormalities detected with IOI DE CT alone were located in distal interphalangeal joints. Conclusion IOI DE CT is a new imaging modality that may be useful for evaluating psoriatic arthritis in the hand, particularly in the detection of inflammatory lesions in small joints, and may be more useful than CE MR imaging, within the limitation that there is no histopathologic reference. RSNA, 2017.

By a combination of Sephadex gel filtration, CM-C and DEAE-C chromatography, 2 highly purified HCG fractions (dA: 18,000 IU/mg, dB: 20,000 IU/mg) were obtained from a crude preparation (2130 IU/mg) which was extracted from the urine of normal pregnant women in the first trimester. They were characterized by histological response of the ovary of hypophysectomized immature rats, bioassay (the Steelman-Pohley method and the OAAD method), amino acid analysis and determination of carbohydrate content, and their high homogeneity was proved by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis. The components confirmed were 17 amino acids, galactose, mannose, hexosamine and sialic acid. LH-like activity was dominant in fraction dA, and this fraction was richer in proline and valine than fraction dB and poorer in aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, lysine and histidine. Fraction dB had dominant FSH-like activity in its biological character and was richer in acidic amino acids and sialic acid. Biological potency was particularly well correlated between LH-like activity of dA and hexose, and between FSH-like activity of dB and acidic amino acids and sialic acid. These results suggested that HCG is composed of 2 components. One has LH-like activity and the other has FSH-like activity. The ratio of these activities in HCG preparations differs according to the stage of pregnancy and biological and physicochemical properties of this hormone change throughout pregnancy. (Endocrinology 87: 233, 1970)

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) was extracted and purified from urine of normal pregnant women and patients with hydatidiform mole and choriocarcinoma using the sam methods. Both hCG-hydatidiform mole and hCG-choriocarcinoma as well as hCG-normal pregnancy was separated into alpha and beta subunits by SDS disc electrophoresis upon treatment with 2-mercaptoethanol and showed the same immunoreactivities against anti-hCG, -alpha hCG, and -beta hCG as hCG in each radioimmunoassay. In vivo bioassay, bioactivities of hCG- normal pregnancy and hCG-hydatidiform mole were approximately 7,000 IU/mg (2nd IS), while that of hCG--choriocarcinoma was only 400 IU/mg. Conversely, the receptor binding activities in vitro of hCG-chorio carcinoma was about 3 times more effective than the other 2. Although the amino acid composition of these hCG preparations were practically identical, a great difference in the carbohydrate composition was observed. The significant difference was that while sialic acid was undetectable in hCG-choriocarcinoma approximately 8.5% of sialic acid was found in hCG-normal pregnancy and hCG-hydatidiform mole. A parallel finding was that iodinated hCG-choriocarcinoma was taken up in large quantities by the liver in comparison to the ovary which differed from that observed with hCG-normal pregnancy and hCG-hydatidiform mole in Parlow rats. The present findings support the thesis that neoplastic or malignant transformation of trophoblasts may result in an alteration of the glycosylation process, especially the sialylation, in the biosynthesis of hCG rather than the translation steps.