Difference of LH and FSH secretory characteristics and degree of concordance between postmenopausal and aging women.

OBJECTIVE: Several neuroendocrine changes occur at menopause and the present study aimed to verify whether the episodic release and the degree of concordance of LH and FSH differs between early and late postmenopausal women. METHODS: Postmenopausal (n = 32) women were enrolled and subdivided in two groups according to the menopausal age: group A (n = 22), patients with more than 2 but less than 5 years from the occurrence of menopause; group B (n = 10), patients with more than 15 years from the occurrence of menopause. All subjects underwent a pulsatility study (4 h, sampling every 10 min) to assess LH and FSH secretory characteristics and their degree of concordance. RESULTS: Mean +/- S.E.M. LH and FSH plasma levels were lower in older women than in postmenopausal women (P < 0.01). The secretory pattern was pulsatile for both LH and FSH and their pulse amplitudes were lower in aged women (P < 0.01). No significant difference was observed in terms of pulse frequency between the two groups. LH and FSH pulses were co-secreted in early postmenopausal women while such a concordance was lost in older women. CONCLUSIONS: Late postmenopause is characterized by the reduction of the amplitude of gonadotropin pulses in comparison to women in early postmenopause, reflecting changes of both GnRH secretion and/or pituitary responsiveness to GnRH. The age-related loss of concordance between LH and FSH pulses discloses the existence of a hidden FSH stimulating system, which drives FSH episodic release independently and more promptly than GnRH.

An open comparative study of the efficacy and safety of sultamicillin versus cefaclor in the treatment of acute otitis media in children.

In an open study, children (age range 6 months-12 years) with otitis media due to a bacterial infection were treated orally with 50 mg/kg sultamicillin (n = 30) in two equal doses each day for a mean of 10 days, or 40 mg/kg cefaclor (n = 30) in three equal doses each day for a mean of 11 days. Earache was rapidly improved by either treatment; none of the 27 evaluable sultamicillin-treated or the 29 evaluable cefaclor-treated patients had earache after 8-10 days. Other signs and symptoms (reddened eardrums, perforated eardrums, middle ear fluid, hearing loss) gradually improved during treatment. All the pathogens isolated from patients in the sultamicillin treatment group were eradicated, as were all but one of the pathogens isolated from patients in the cefaclor treatment group. In the sultamicillin treatment group 65.4% of patients were cured and 34.6% were improved, and in the cefaclor group 65.5% were cured and 31.0% improved, but there was one treatment failure. Study drug-related adverse events were experienced by 33.3% of sultamicillin- and 40.0% of cefaclor-treated patients, all but one (urticaria in a cefaclor-treated patient) were gastro-intestinal. The dose administered was reduced by approximately 50% in patients experiencing adverse effects. This did not lead to any reduction in efficacy and no patient was withdrawn due to adverse events.