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The concentrations of plasmin and epidermal growth factor were determined in tear fluid (TF) samples from wearers of different types of contact lenses (CLs) during and after cessation of CL wear (CLW). TF samples of 50 healthy eyes served as controls. The plasmin concentrations in the control group (0.4 +/- 0.1 microgram/ml; mean +/- SEM) were significantly lower (p less than 0.001) than in the group of soft CL (SCL) wearers during CLW (1.2 +/- 0.2 microgram/ml). Cessation of CLW led to a decrease in TF plasmin concentrations from 1.2 +/- 0.2 to 0.6 +/- 0.1 micrograms/ml in the group of SCL wearers (p less than 0.001), from 1.5 +/- 1.1 to 0.3 +/- 0.2 micrograms/ml in the group of extended-wear SCL wearers (p greater than 0.05) and from 0.4 +/- 0.3 to 0.0 +/- 0.0 microgram/ml in the group of gas-permeable CL wearers (p greater than 0.05). After CLW cessation, TF plasmin levels of CL wearers did not differ from those of controls. The occurrence of plasmin in TF was associated with a higher degree of corneal neovascularization and with the presence of limbal injection. The concentrations of epidermal growth factor in TF were not significantly altered by the discontinuation of CLW.

Testosterone is known to increase epidermal growth factor (EGF) concentrations in mouse plasma and submandibular salivary gland. We tested in adult sialoadenectomized (sx) and sham-operated female and male mice our hypothesis that female sex steroids also affect EGF concentrations in fluids and tissues. In 10-day treatment estradiol-17 beta increased the EGF concentration in male urine and in (sx) female plasma. Progesterone increased the concentration in both sexes in plasma (sx mice) and in the kidneys. In contrast, progesterone decreased it in female urine.

Different parameters of the response to the 5-day metyrapone test were evaluated for their diagnostic accuracy in tests given to 58 children and adolescents as part of an investigation for short stature. Insulin test, vasopressin test and ACTH test were used for diagnostic reference. A log transformation of the data was clearly appropriate. The maximal daily excretion of 17-ketogenic steroids was distinctly positively correlated with the basal excretion. Consequently, the most correct parameter of the response is the SD score of the deviation of the maximal excretion from the regression of the maximal excretion on the basal excretion in the reference population. This parameter, 'relative maximal excretion' was shown to be the diagnostically most accurate index of the response of 11 parameters studied.

60 patients (139 blood specimens) with Turner's syndrome were investigated in order to obtain information concerning the origin of the increments of androgens during puberty. The concentrations of serum FSH, LH, estradiol, testosterone, 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone and pregnenolone in patients less than 10 years old were identical to those previously found in normal healthy girls of the same age. Hence, in adrenarche the early increase of androgen secretion is independent of gonadal hormone secretion. The later increases in serum testosterone and androstenedione in our patients were very small, and the age of 15 years, their concentrations were 50 and 60%, respectively, of the corresponding levels in normal girls of the same age. After 13 years of age, the mean serum dehydroepiandrosterone concentration was also slightly, but significantly (20-30%), lower than in normal girls of the same age. It is concluded that the ovaries are responsible for most of the pubertal rises in circulating testosterone and androstenedione, and possibly for a small part of the late pubertal rise in dehydroepiandrosterone.