Corporate boxing matches for charity: a personal point of view.

Boxing and other combat sports receive constant exposure and support in the media. Corporate boxing matches are a popular method of raising money for charity. However, charity fights are more dangerous for the contestants than other sanctioned bouts. In a world where head trauma and concussion in sports is under constant scrutiny, the ethics of raising funds by deliberate concussive forces to the head needs to be reassessed.

Modulation of vascular endothelial growth factor and thymidine phosphorylase in normal human endometrial stromal cells.

OBJECTIVE: To study the regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and thymidine phosphorylase (TP), two angiogenic factors, in cultured endometrial stromal cells. The effects of steroids, E2, and P, the gonadotropin, hCG, and hypoxia were investigated. DESIGN: Quantitative experimental study. SETTING: Academic medical department. PATIENT(S): Women undergoing hysterectomy for benign causes. INTERVENTION(S): Endometrial cells were collected from subjects and cultured. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The secretion of VEGF in supernatant media and the numbers of cells expressing VEGF or TP. RESULT(S): Estradiol increased VEGF secretion and the number of cells that contained VEGF and TP, and those effects were inhibited by hCG. Human chorionic gonadotropin alone could increase number of cells that expressed VEGF and TP. Hypoxia increased both VEGF secretion and number of cells containing VEGF and TP. Progesterone had no observed effect on VEGF secretion or number of VEGF- or TP-containing cells. CONCLUSION(S): Vascular endothelial growth factor and TP are present in stromal cells of normal endometrium, and E2 may interact with gonadotropins to regulate angiogenic compounds to modulate stromal functioning.

Vascular endothelial growth factor and leptin: regulation in human cumulus cells and in follicles.

BACKGROUND: The factors that determine oocyte competency are poorly understood. It is believed that angiogenic factors are crucial. Modulation of these factors is therefore a central consideration. The adjacent association of cumulus cells to oocytes gives these cells a particular importance in relation to oocyte behavior. We report the effects of gonadotropins on the secretion of VEGF and leptin from cumulus cells; and the concentrations of the proteins in follicular fluid and their relationship to fertilization of oocytes in vitro. METHODS: The subjects were women undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Oocytes and follicular fluid were collected. Leptin and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentrations in incubation supernatants and follicular fluid and leptin in cell lysates were measured. Fertilization of corresponding oocytes were noted. In the present study, cells from individual follicles were incubated, as well as pooled cells from a woman. RESULTS: For the first time we demonstrated that VEGF release by human cumulus cells was modulated by gonadotropins in a dose-related, time-dependent manner, but no leptin was detected in either the supernatants after cumulus cell incubations or in cell lysates. Mean leptin levels were similar whether from follicles associated with eggs that were fertilized (14.4 +/- 1.1 ng/ml, mean +/- SEM) or not (12.4 +/- 1.1 ng/ml). Mean VEGF levels were also similar (11.1 +/- 1.2 ng/ml; 12.8 +/- 1.3 ng/ml). A greater proportion of VEGF in follicles was derived from follicular activities, compared with transfer from other physiological compartments, than leptin. CONCLUSIONS: Whereas it is possible that VEGF is part of the gonadotropin-mediated network that regulates development of the oocyte, leptin may not be produced in significant quantities by cumulus cells or be related to oocyte competency.