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Medical and racing records of 155 Thoroughbred racehorses that underwent arthroscopic surgery for carpal chip fractures were investigated. Articular damage for 98.4% of the fractures was classified as G1 or G2 using McIlwraith's criteria. The rate of return to racing after surgery was 82.6%. Evaluation of racing performance after surgery was attempted using a placing index (PI) based on race finish position. There was no significant difference in the PI distribution between horses that underwent surgery and other healthy horses.

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Since 1989, neonatal mass screening for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) has been performed in Japan, and the frequency of the classical form of 21-hydroxylase deficiency was found to be nearly identical to that in other countries. However, it has not yet been determined whether our mass screening program can detect the nonclassical (NC) form. From 1991 to 1994, about 4,500,000 infants underwent CAH mass screening in Japan. During this period, we identified by screening 2 siblings and 2 unrelated patients who had mild elevation of serum 17-hydroxyprogesterone levels at 5 days of age, but who revealed no symptoms of CAH. They were diagnosed as having probable NC steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency. To clarify the molecular basis of NC CAH detectable by neonatal screening in Japan, the steroid 21-hydroxylase (CYP21) genes from these cases were analyzed. The 2 siblings (patients 1 and 2) had I172N and R356W mutations in 1 allele and in the other allele had local gene conversion, including the P30L mutation in exon 1. Patient 3, who was unrelated, had gene conversion encoding the same P30L mutation in 1 allele and in the other allele had an intron 2 mutation (668-12 A-->G), causing aberrant ribonucleic acid splicing, and the R356W mutation. Patient 4, also a compound heterozygote, had the R356W and 707del8 mutations. The estimated rate of detection of the NC form by mass screening (1:1,100,000) seemed low compare to the established detection rate for the classical form (1:18,000). As all of our 4 patients were compound heterozygotes with at least 1 allele bearing 1 or more mutations associated with classic CAH, it may be difficult to detect NC cases carrying only NC-associated alleles using our current neonatal mass screening methods.

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To determine how thyroid hormone deficiency before birth influences early development of the human central nervous system, we examined sleep development in children with congenital hypothyroidism using all-night polysomnography. Although the sleep-wakefulness circadian rhythm was not disturbed, two patients under 1 year of age showed mild decreases of REM sleep. Rapid eye movements during REM sleep were significantly decreased in one patient in whom thyroxine replacement was delayed. Regarding phasic body movements during sleep, generalized gross movements were more frequently disturbed than localized muscle twitches, and even after L-thyroxine replacement, they were significantly reduced when compared with those in controls. Children with acquired hypothyroidism and neonatal transient hyperthyrotropinemia showed no severe abnormalities of the sleep parameters examined here. Sleep development in patients with congenital hypothyroidism is believed to be useful for regional evaluation of the brain impairment in congenital hypothyroidism.

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Urinary concentrations of pregnanetriol-3-glucuronide (PT-3-G) were determined in 485 normal Japanese subjects (277 males and 208 females), aged 5 days to 20 years, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The usefulness of urinary PT-3-G concentrations before giving the morning dose of medications in monitoring the adequacy of glucocorticoid treatment was assessed in eight patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD). The ratio of PT-3-G to excreted creatinine (PT-3-G/Cre ratio) increased significantly during the first month and did not change from age 1 month to 1 year of life. The ratio decreased to a nadir at age 3 or 4 years followed by continuous, significant increase until late adolescence. In the subjects treated with corticosteroids for 21-OHD, PT-3-G/Cre ratios at the 50th percentile or below suggested a risk of excessive treatment, as judged by the patients' growth. Measurement of the PT-3-G/Cre ratio enabled recognition of corticosteroid overtreatment, which was not demonstrated by determining the serum concentrations of 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP). On the other hand, ratios at the upper 95-99% tolerance limits seemed to be required for optimal control. The present study revealed the normal age-related changes in urinary excretion of PT-3-G and showed it to be a reliable marker for evaluating glucocorticoid treatment in young children with 21-OHD.

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We examined the effects of growth hormone (GH) deficiency on sleep development by performing all-night polysomnography in three female children with GH deficiency (GHD). The percentage of REM sleep seemed to be reduced before the treatment in 2 cases, and human GH (hGH) compensation slightly increased it. Submental twitch movements (mTMs), i.e., body movements during sleep localized in the submental muscle and lasting less than 0.5 seconds, were commonly disturbed in the three patients. Rapid eye movements in REM sleep (REMs) were reduced before the therapy in one case, this decrease being reversed on hGH compensation. REMs also seemed to increase after hGH treatment in the other two cases. Dopamines and cholinergic muscarinic agonists can cause GH release, while mTMs and REMs might be related to dopaminergic and cholinergic systems in the human brain. It is intriguing that GHD, and the disturbance of mTMs and REMs coexisted in children with GHD. Since a relatively poor social outcome in patients with GHD has been reported, even after hGH compensation, it is important to monitor their neurological development by means of evaluation of their sleep disturbance.

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Blood Spot 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) concentrations in neonates, especially in premature babies, were determined in relation to 1) the gestational age at birth, 2) the equivalent age of gestation at blood sampling and 3) the birth weight. The 17-OHP concentrations were found to be higher with prematurity. Accordingly, the cut-off limit in screening for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in premature infants is proposed as 20 ng/ml. Ideal cut-off limits were set by the equivalent age of gestation at blood sampling. Cut-off limits on the basis of gestational age at birth and birth weight are also suggested, where the sampling age is not so advanced. The rate of false positivity in premature infants can be reduced by this method.

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Mycological examination on skin surface of 39 female and 35 male cynomolgus monkeys was carried out. Fungi were detected from 73 out of 74 subjects. Cladosporium was mostly predominant and the moderate predominant fungi were as follows: Acremonium, Curvularia, Arthrinium, Trichoderma, Stachybotrys, Emericella, Epicoccum, Pestalotia and Aureobasidium. However, dermatophytes or keratinophilic fungi were not isolated in this study.

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A case of toxic multinodular goiter associated with repetitive monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) is reported. A 4-year-old boy was found to have asymptomatic VT. When treatment with antiarrhythmic agents turned out to be ineffective, thyrotoxicosis was suspected due to the rapid enlargement of the left thyroid gland and associated thyroid function studies. A diagnosis of toxic multinodular goiter was made on the basis of subsequent scintigraphy and ultrasonography. Treatment with antithyroid drugs and inorganic iodine restored the thyroid function to normal, and was accompanied by the disappearance of VT. A left thyroid lobectomy was performed, and the pathological findings were compatible with toxic multinodular goiter. After the operation, the patient was transiently hypothyroid and had no VT without medication. A review of the literature revealed no previously documented cases of VT with toxic multinodular goiter.

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We have developed an easy and rapid method of reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-UV spectrometry for measuring adrenal delta 4-steroids. Three female neonates with adrenal 21-hydroxylase deficiency (2 salt-losers and 1 simple virilizer), two of whom were recalled by neonatal mass-screening for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), were diagnosed using this method. Changes of several adrenal steroids were examined in these patients before and after treatment with hydrocortisone. Before treatment, the cortisone and cortisol peaks were very low and those of 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) and 21-deoxycortisol (21-DOF) were high in all 3 patients (17-OHP: 79.9-997 nmol/l, 21-DOF: 83.7-324 nmol/l). The androstenedione peak was also high in 2 of them. A peak produced by 21-deoxycortisone, which is a product of oxidation of 21-DOF at the C-11 position, was also detected in all cases (14.5-297 nmol/l). After treatment, all of these abnormally elevated delta 4-steroids decreased or disappeared. This new method is thought to be valuable for the rapid diagnosis of CAH, and especially for use in neonatal mass-screening for CAH.

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The clinical and autopsy findings in a case of adrenocorticotropic hormone unresponsiveness associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are reported. A four-month-old female with feeding difficulties and skin hyperpigmentation from two months of age was admitted with convulsions. She was hypoglycemic with normal serum electrolytes and the presence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was indicated by electrocardiogram and echocardiogram. Cardiac arrest occurred on the second hospital day. Low serum cortisol, high plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone, low urinary 17-ketosteroids, and normal urinary aldosterone excretion were documented after her death. Hypoplasia of the adrenal cortex with a persistent fetal zone and concentric hypertrophy of the heart were found at autopsy. We propose that the pathogenesis of this disease lies in impaired remodelling of the fetal adrenal cortex into the permanent cortex, and postulate an effect of adrenocorticotropic hormone on the myocardium as the cause of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

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In order to clarify some of the developmental processes of the human adrenal cortex or steroidogenesis in infancy and childhood, serum concentrations of 17-hydroxypregnenolone, 17-hydroxypregnenolone sulfate and 17-hydroxyprogesterone were measured by means of a combined radioimmunoassay method, and the age-related changes in these steroids were also examined. The actual ranges of serum concentrations of 17-hydroxypregnenolone, 17-hydroxypregnenolone sulfate and 17-hydroxyprogesterone in umbilical cord blood were 27.1-80.5, 1,560-5,030 and 53.3-304 nmol/l, respectively. These values subsequently decreased to nadirs of 0.95-2.09 nmol/l of 17-hydroxypregnenolone in subjects 1 to 2 years old, 0.93-7.03 nmool/l of 17-hydroxypregnenolone sulfate in subjects 3 to 6 years old and 0.18-0.78 nmol/l of 17-hydroxyprogesterone in subjects 1 to 2 years old, respectively, and they were followed by gradual increases to the adult levels. This study thus revealed the age-related changes in 17-hydroxypregnenolone and its sulfate concentrations in infancy and childhood and indicated that, in the process in which the adrenal cortex was differentiated to the definitive form, the decrease in the activity of steroid sulfotransferase in infancy and childhood occurred more slowly than the increase in that of 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase.

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A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the simultaneous determination of cyproterone acetate (CPA), 15 beta-hydroxycyproterone acetate (15 beta-OH-CPA) and cyproterone (CP) was reported. This method was specific, sensitive, precise, easy and rapid for determination of the serum concentrations of these steroids in patients receiving CPA. Although no peak corresponding to CP was observed for serum, peaks corresponding to CPA and 15 beta-OH-CPA were detected and well separated in all subjects undergoing long-term CPA therapy. In these patients, there seemed to be a dose-dependent relationship between the amount of CPA administered and the serum concentrations of these steroids, and the serum concentrations of CPA were either similar or low compared with those of 15 beta-OH-CPA. In conclusion, this simplified method is thought to be very valuable for studies on the pharmacokinetics of CPA and 15 beta-OH-CPA, and on the relationship between the CPA dosage and the therapeutic or side effects on adrenal and gonadal steroid production.

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Serum concentrations of 17-hydroxypregnenolone, 17-hydroxypregnenolone sulfate and 17-hydroxyprogesterone were measured simultaneously in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency, using a combined radioimmunoassay method. All these precursor steroids were found to be markedly elevated in the sera of untreated patients with a salt-losing form of the disease, whereas, in untreated patients with a simple virilizing form, only the concentration of unconjugated steroids was increased and the 17-hydroxypregnenolone sulfate concentration remained within the normal range. Among the patients with a salt-losing form under maintenance therapy, these steroids were all still significantly increased in those on insufficient control, whereas only 17-hydroxyprogesterone was significantly but slightly increased in those on adequate control. Although the mechanism whereby the serum 17-hydroxypregnenolone sulfate concentration is not increased in the untreated simple virilizers is unknown, both a milder degree of 21-hydroxylase deficiency and a role of 17-hydroxypregnenolone sulfate in adrenal steroid production as a kind of supplier are suggested as possible explanations, especially in the neonatal period and early infancy. Thus, this study showed the serum concentrations of 17-hydroxypregnenolone and its sulfate together with 17-hydroxyprogesterone in patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency in various conditions.

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Blood spot 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) concentrations were measured in 515 infants aged from the 4th to the 81st day of life, using a fluorescence enzyme immunoassay method, and the values obtained were analyzed with respect to birth weight, gestational age at birth and sampling age, to obtain accurate reference ranges and to decide appropriate cut-off limits in a neonatal mass screening for steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency. The results obtained indicate that the blood spot 17-OHP values in neonates should be interpreted using several different reference ranges obtained on the basis of the equivalent age of gestation at blood sampling. In the mass screening, therefore, the cut-off limits for recall are decided by these reference ranges as follows: (1) for blood resampling, 120, 30 and 25 nmol/l for the equivalent sampling ages of 31 weeks or less, 32-41 weeks and 42 weeks or more, respectively, and (2) for rapid confirmation of the disease by means of physical and laboratory examinations, 210, 60 and 60 nmol/l, respectively.

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Genomic DNAs from twelve Japanese patients with steroid 21-hydroxylase [21-OHase; steroid 21-monooxygenase; steroid, hydrogen-donor:oxygen oxidoreductase (21-hydroxylating); EC 1.14.99.10] deficiency were analyzed by Southern blot hybridization. A 3.7-kilobase (kb) Taq I and a 1.7-kb Pvu II restriction endonuclease fragment that correspond to a 21-OHase B gene were absent from the DNA of two unrelated patients with the salt-wasting form of the disease. However, a 10.5-kb Bgl II fragment corresponding to the region encompassing the 21-OHase B gene was still present in these two patients. The genes encoding 21-OHase were cloned from one of these two patients, who was homozygous by descent for HLA-A26;B39;C4A3;C4B1;DR4. Restriction endonuclease mapping as well as partial nucleotide sequencing analysis revealed that the 21-OHase B gene of the patient has been converted to the pseudogene, 21-OHase A, as far as the critical 0.5-kb sequence was concerned. Thus, the defect was due to both chromosomes each carrying two copies of 21-OHase A pseudogene and lacking functional 21-OHase B gene.

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