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Proliferation of arterial smooth muscle cells (aSMC) is a key component of atherogenesis. A sample of 225 volunteers, aged 21-65 years, was exposed to "frustration," "harassment," or "relaxation," after completing the 50-item Hostility subscale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Whole blood was measured before and after exposure for platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and sera were evaluated for total and HDL cholesterol concentrations and PDGF-independent mitogenic activity (SMA). Blood pressure and pulse rate were also evaluated. Analyses of SMA (i.e., serum independent of PDGF) revealed an increase in mitogenic effect for cultured human aSMC when hostility was treated as a dichotomous modifier. Among high-hostility subjects, surprisingly, those in the relaxed group and those with a lower educational level were found to have a significant mitogen response; no significant effects were observed for the low-hostility groups. The data suggest that endogenous stresses may occur in high-hostility individuals when "relaxed," to influence proliferation of arterial smooth muscle cells, as a contribution to atherogenesis. In individuals with lower educational levels and higher hostility scores, lifestyle changes may play a role.

The 7-carboxymethoximino derivative of androsterone (1) has been prepared from dehydroisoandrosterone-17-ethyleneketal by a sequence involving inversion at C-3, introduction of a carbonyl at C-7, and reduction of the double bond at C-5. The substance was condensed with BSA by the carbodiimide procedure to afford a conjugate which produced anti-androsterone antiserum in innoculated rabbits. The antiserum is sufficiently active to be useful in radioimmunoassay procedures.

The esterifying capacity of fecal bacteria with respect to the conformation of the 3-hydroxyl of some C27 sterols has been studied by incubating labeled cholesterol, cholestanol, epicholestanol, coprostanol, and epicoprostanol with suspensions of feces. Coprostanol (24–52%) and cholesterol (17–26%) were esterified in the greatest amounts, the latter being converted to coprostanol before esterification; only smaller amounts of esterification were observed with the other sterols. This is in contrast to the mammalian sterol esterase system which requires an equatorial 3-hydroxy group.

To evaluate the possible use of orally administered androsterone esters as a means of delivering free androsterone (A) to the circulation, [3H]androsterone palmitate (AP) was prepared, characterized, and given to five subjects. For comparison, [3H]A was ingested by three of these subjects in separate studies, and one of them was also given a tracer dose of [3H]androsterone benzoate (AB) by the same route. As judged by the quantity of radioactivity appearing in the urine after A, AP, and AB (42.4–76.0%, 23.5–61.0%, and 52.0%, respectively), all were absorbed to the same extent. In the circulation, 74–100% of the radioactivity in all studies could be accounted for as the glucosiduronate and sulfate conjugates of A, while in the urine, 62–87% of the radioactivity from A and AP was identified as these same conjugates, with minor amounts recovered as isoandrosterone; only 33.8% of the radioactivity after AB could be identified as these substances. While the absorption and fate of these tracers were essentially...