Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0600142 (hot flushes)
 1,242 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This study investigated the influence of hormone therapy on affect in a double blind crossover trial. The sample consisted of 49 women who had previously undergone hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy. Therapy consisted of 3 mth each of ethinyl estradiol--50 mcg/day; levonorgestrel--250 mcg/day; "Nordial"--a combination of these 2 substances; and placebo. Affect was measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, verbal reports by women and self-ratings on visual analogue scales. Ethinyl estradiol was found to have a beneficial influence on aspects of affect such as Hamilton scores, anxiety, irritability, and insomnia. The influence of hormones on Hamilton scores could be partly but not fully explained by the alleviation of hot flushes. Norgestrel showed less favorable changes initially but these tended to diminish by the 3rd therapy month. Most of the women studied were not clinically depressed. Anxiety symptoms were the major features exhibited in the group of women investigated. The results of this study suggest that visual analogue rating scales are of questionable validity in assessing affect in patients without any appreciable psychiatric morbidity.
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PMID:Hormone therapy and affect. 39 15

The hot flush is the only symptom specifically attributable to the menopause. Hot flushes appear to represent an episodic derangement of thermoregulation as a result of estrogen deficiency but the underlying physiological mechanisms are unknown. We have developed an animal model for the study of hot flushes. Two female monkeys (Macaca arctoides) were trained to accept monitoring of scalp cutaneous temperatures. After baseline temperature recordings were obtained both monkeys were ovariectomized. A few days after operation the previously stable scalp temperature changed to an undulating pattern with cycles lasting approximately 40-50 min. Ethinyl estradiol (20 micrograms orally or im) and (7 alpha,17 alpha)-17-hydroxy-7-methyl-19-nor-pregn-5(10)-en-20-yn-3-one (2.5 mg orally), a steroid with weak estrogenic, progestogenic, and androgenic properties, suppressed the characteristic undulating temperature pattern; this returned after withdrawal of replacement therapy. Clonidine (0.15 mg twice a day) suppressed the cyclic changes for 2 to 3 h. Domperidone and naloxone had no significant effect. This animal model may be useful for the investigation of alternative therapy for the management of menopausal flushes.
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PMID:A primate model of human postmenopausal hot flushes. 649 Jul 99

The aim of the study was to compare efficacy and tolerability of the new aromatase inhibitor formestane (Lentaron) with megestrol acetate (Megestat) (MGA) in postmenopausal patients with advanced breast cancer. 179 patients were randomised to receive either 250 mg formestane intramuscularly biweekly or MGA 160 mg orally daily. 51% of the patients had received tamoxifen as adjuvant treatment; 73% of the patients had positive and 16% unknown oestrogen receptor values. The response rate was 17% in both treatment arms (95% confidence interval 10-26% for formestane and 10-27% for MGA). Disease stabilisation > or = 6 months was seen in 25% of the formestane and 22% of the MGA patients. Time to treatment failure was 120 days in the formestane arm and 111 days in the MGA arm. There was no significant difference between the treatments with regard to response rate and time to treatment failure. Overall toxicity was similar in both arms, but weight gain > 3 kg (P = 0.081) and severe cardiovascular toxicity (P = 0.044) were more frequently observed with MGA, e.g. deep vein thrombosis 0/90 formestane versus 5/81 MGA cases (P = 0.022). Formestane was associated with worsening of hot flushes/sleeping problems (P = 0.051) and mild leucopenia (P = 0.004). In our study, formestane and MGA showed similar antineoplastic activity as second-line hormonal treatment for advanced breast cancer. Both drugs have a specific toxicity profile. MGA was associated with significantly more severe cardiovascular toxicity and weight increase than formestane.
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PMID:Formestane versus megestrol acetate in postmenopausal breast cancer patients after failure of tamoxifen: a phase III prospective randomised cross over trial of second-line hormonal treatment (SAKK 20/90). Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK) 937 2

The present studies evaluated the effect of estrogens and the selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) tamoxifen and raloxifene in a rat model for hot flush. In this model, ovariectomized rats were treated for 8 or 9 days either sc or po. Rats were dependent to morphine by implanting a morphine pellet (75 mg each) sc on days 3 and 5 of treatment. On the last day of treatment, a thermistor, connected to a data acquisition system, was placed on the tail of each animal and morphine addiction was withdrawn by naloxone injection (1.0 mg/kg, sc). Temperature measurements were taken for 1 h under ketamine (80 mg/kg, im) anesthesia. In general, vehicle treated rats showed a 5-6 degrees C elevation of their tail skin temperature with the peak occurring about 15 min after naloxone injection. 17 alpha-Ethinyl estradiol (EE) was evaluated both sc and po using a broad range of doses. The IC50 for inhibition of tail skin temperature rise was approximately 0.1 mg/kg, sc and 0.2 mg/kg, po. 17 beta-Estradiol and 17 alpha-estradiol were also active in this model whereas non-estrogenic steroids were inactive. Raloxifene and tamoxifen were tested for estrogen agonist and antagonist activity administered sc and po. Raloxifene did not demonstrate reproducible estrogen agonist activity at doses up to 10 mg/kg, whereas it demonstrated significant antagonistic activity at the 10 mg/kg dose regardless of the route of administration. Tamoxifen exhibited significant estrogen agonist activity at all doses tested (0.1-10.0 mg/kg) and was a significant antagonist of EE at the 1.0 mg/kg dose. Our results demonstrate the potential utility of this model to evaluate and discriminate among classes of compounds with varying degrees of estrogen agonist and antagonist activity.
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PMID:The effect of estrogens and antiestrogens in a rat model for hot flush. 988 31