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BMC Neuroscience 2001In learning and memory tasks, requiring visual spatial memory (VSM), males exhibit higher performance levels compared to females (a difference attributed to sex steroid...
BACKGROUND
In learning and memory tasks, requiring visual spatial memory (VSM), males exhibit higher performance levels compared to females (a difference attributed to sex steroid hormonal influences). Based upon the results from our companion investigation, this study examined the influence of prenatal sex steroid hormone manipulations on VSM in adulthood, as assessed in the radial arm maze. Additionally, the influence of dietary soy phytoestrogens (i.e., the presence of high or low estrogen-like compounds present in the animal's diet) on VSM was examined in combination with the prenatal hormonal manipulations.
RESULTS
Radial arm maze performance on a phytoestrogen-rich diet: 1) females treated prenatally with testosterone were masculinized and acquired/performed in a manner similar to control or oil-treated males and 2) males treated prenatally with an androgen receptor blocker (flutamide) were feminized and acquired/performed in a fashion typical of control or flutamide-treated females. When a diet change was initiated in adulthood, control phytoestrogen-rich fed females outperformed control females switched to a phytoestrogen-free diet. Whereas, in control males the opposite diet effect was identified. Furthermore, flutamide-treated males fed a phytoestrogen-rich diet outperformed flutamide-treated males switched to a phytoestrogen-free diet.
CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that prenatal hormonal manipulations significantly sex-reverse the normal sexually dimorphic expression of VSM. Specifically, VSM was enhanced in females treated with testosterone and inhibited in males treated with flutamide. Finally, dietary soy phytoestrogens set a bias on learning and memory in these hormonally manipulated animals in a predictable manner and these data confirm and extend the findings in our companion paper.
Topics: Androgen Antagonists; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Cues; Estrogens, Non-Steroidal; Female; Flutamide; Food, Formulated; Hormones; Isoflavones; Male; Maze Learning; Memory; Multivariate Analysis; Phytoestrogens; Plant Preparations; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Rats; Sex Characteristics; Sex Factors; Testosterone
PubMed: 11801188
DOI: 10.1186/1471-2202-2-21 -
Akusherstvo I Ginekologiia 2001The nondiphtheriae corynebacteria are uncommon but increasingly recognized as important agents of community-acquired endocarditis in patients with underlying structural...
The nondiphtheriae corynebacteria are uncommon but increasingly recognized as important agents of community-acquired endocarditis in patients with underlying structural heart disease, as well as of prosthetic-valve endocarditis. We describe three cases of nondiphtheriae corynebacterial endocarditis, including the first reported case of endocarditis caused by , occurring over an 18-month period, all in association with indwelling intravascular devices.
Topics: 17-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases; Adolescent; Amenorrhea; Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome; Female; Gonadal Dysgenesis, 46,XY; Hormone Replacement Therapy; Humans; Male; Retrospective Studies; Ultrasonography; Uterus
PubMed: 11799760
DOI: 10.3201/eid0801.010151 -
Revista Da Sociedade Brasileira de... 2001The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a dynamic unstable global phenomenon, constituting a veritable mosaic of regional sub-epidemics. As a consequence of the deep inequalities that...
The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a dynamic unstable global phenomenon, constituting a veritable mosaic of regional sub-epidemics. As a consequence of the deep inequalities that exist in Brazilian society, the spread of HIV infection has revealed an epidemic of multiple dimensions undergoing extensive epidemiological transformations. Initially restricted to large urban centers and markedly masculine, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is currently characterized by heterosexualization, feminization, interiorization and pauperization. The evolution of the profile of AIDS in Brazil is above all due to the geographical diffusion of the disease from large urban centers towards medium and small municipalities in the interior, to the increase in heterosexual transmission and the persistent growth of cases among injecting drug users. The increase in transmission through heterosexual contact has resulted in substantial growth of cases among women, which has been pointed out as the most important characteristic of the epidemic's current dynamic in Brazil.
Topics: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Brazil; Child; Female; HIV Infections; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Socioeconomic Factors
PubMed: 11391445
DOI: 10.1590/s0037-86822001000200010 -
Cadernos de Saude Publica 2000Focusing on the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a summation of several epidemics coexisting in the same space and drawing on Brazilian epidemiological data, we argue that the... (Review)
Review
Focusing on the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a summation of several epidemics coexisting in the same space and drawing on Brazilian epidemiological data, we argue that the epidemic there shows variations already described elsewhere, such as feminization, pauperization, juvenization and interiorization, as a result of the deep inequalities characteristic of Brazilian society. We then examine the contributions of three bodies of sociological and anthropological literature related to HIV/AIDS: 1) sociological research and theory on the impact of recent global economic restructuring and social transformation, and its relationship to public health issues; 2) the cross-cultural and cross-national anthropological and sociological literature on structural factors shaping the course of the epidemic in different settings; and 3) the body of anthropological and sociological research on the synergistic effects of HIV/AIDS, social exclusion, and related social problems in pockets of extreme poverty in the large cities of core countries. We conclude that prevention policies for HIV/AIDS should deal comprehensively with diverse dimensions that determine differential vulnerabilities to the epidemic, thus requiring substantial social transformations.
Topics: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Adult; Anthropology; Brazil; Female; Humans; Incidence; Male; Middle Aged; Poverty; Sex Factors; Social Conditions; Socioeconomic Factors; Sociology
PubMed: 10904392
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of the National Medical... Mar 1992The hormonal profile of 40 transsexual inmates from a pool of 86 inmates in the California State prison system was studied before and after therapy with feminizing...
The hormonal profile of 40 transsexual inmates from a pool of 86 inmates in the California State prison system was studied before and after therapy with feminizing hormones. Clinical and social data were obtained on all 86 inmates; the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositivity was examined in 76 of the 86 individuals. Despite similar degrees of feminization in all 40 individuals in whom hormonal studies were performed, variable suppression of serum testosterone concentrations was present. Based on their testosterone concentrations while on feminizing hormone therapy, the transsexual inmates could be divided into three groups. In Group I (the "suppressed" group), the serum testosterone concentrations were markedly depressed (less than 10 ng/dL); in Group II (the "non-suppressed" group), the values of testosterone were normal (446 to 1072 ng/dL); and in Group III (the "intermediate" group), the testosterone values were between those of the suppressed group and the nonsuppressed group. We speculate that feminizing hormone therapy may induce the development of a state of target hormone resistance to testosterone that results in similar degrees of feminization independent of the circulating concentrations of testosterone. The incidence of HIV seropositivity (3/76) was considerably less than anticipated based on previous studies in populations at high risk for developing the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
Topics: Adult; California; Estrogens; HIV Seropositivity; Hormones; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prisoners; Progestins; Risk Factors; Testosterone; Transsexualism
PubMed: 1578499
DOI: No ID Found -
The Journal of Clinical Investigation Jul 1972The pathogenesis of the male pseudohermaphroditism in the mouse with X-linked testicular feminization (Tfm) has been investigated by comparing testosterone formation,...
The pathogenesis of the male pseudohermaphroditism in the mouse with X-linked testicular feminization (Tfm) has been investigated by comparing testosterone formation, the effects of androgen administration, and the metabolism of testosterone-1,2-(3)H in normal mice and Tfm mice of varying ages. First, it was established that the adult Tfm animal, in contrast to the human with testicular feminization, has both a low serum testosterone and a low rate of testosterone formation as assessed in slices of testes utilizing a variety of precursors. However, the formation of testosterone from pregnenolone-7alpha-(3)H was shown to be normal in newborn Tfm testes, suggesting that a defect in testosterone synthesis may not be primary to this mutation. Second, to establish that the pseudohermaphroditic state is due to androgen resistance rather than to diminished androgen biosynthesis during fetal life, the effect of the administration of dihydrotestosterone to pregnant animals was studied in male, female, and Tfm offspring. Whereas normal and carrier female littermates demonstrated striking virilization of the internal genital tract after such treatment, there was no sign of virilization in the Tfm animals. This finding provides direct experimental evidence in support of the view that male pseudohermaphroditism in testicular feminization is the result of resistance to androgen action during androgen-mediated sexual differentiation in embryos. Third, the metabolism of testosterone-1,2-(3)H was investigated both in tissue slices and in functionally hepatectomized animals. Dihydrotestosterone formation in tissue slices of the fetal anlage of the male organs of accessory reproduction is normal in the Tfm animal, suggesting that the primary defect in this disorder involves an intracellular event subsequent to this step and that the deficient dihydrotestosterone formation observed in the adult genital tract of the Tfm mouse is secondary to the failure of differentiation in these tissues. Finally, deficient binding of testosterone in the nuclei of the submandibular gland of adult Tfm animals, a known testosterone target tissue, was demonstrated in functionally hepatectomized mice. This finding could either be a manifestation of the primary genetic defect in this disorder or might reflect another acquired abnormality due to incomplete differentiation of adrogen-sensitive cell lines.
Topics: Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome; Animals; Chromatography, Thin Layer; Cryptorchidism; Crystallization; Dihydrotestosterone; Disorders of Sex Development; Epididymis; Ligation; Male; Mice; Mutation; Pregnenolone; Progesterone; Prostate; Seminal Vesicles; Sex Chromosomes; Submandibular Gland; Testis; Testosterone; Tritium; Vas Deferens
PubMed: 4402348
DOI: 10.1172/JCI106966