Multiple symmetric lipomatosis: a defect in adrenergic-stimulated lipolysis.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

The cellularity of normal and lipomatous adipose tissue and its response to different lipolytic agents have been studied in a group of 10 patients with multiple symmetric lipomatosis (MSL). In MSL patients, fat cells from lipomatous tissue are smaller than normal, uninvolved adipocytes. Fat cells from lipomata show minimal variations in size following conspicuous increase of lipomatous masses. These findings suggest that the growth of lipomata can be attributed to the neoformation of adipocytes rather than to an enlargement in the single fat cells. The incidence of reduced glucose tolerance and of hyperlipoproteinemia is similar in MSL patients and in controls. A significant reduction in plasma free fatty acids was observed in MSL patients after a 24-h fast as well as after noradrenaline infusion. A specific insensitivity of lipomatous tissue to the lipolytic effect of noradrenaline and isoprenaline was observed in vitro, as indicated by glycerol release in the medium, whereas response to theophylline and to dibutyryl cyclic AMP was retained. The lipolytic response to catecholamines was retained. The lipolytic response to catecholamines was normal in the nonlipomatous adipose tissue of MSL patients. In basal conditions ATP concentrations were similar in normal and in lipomatous adipose tissue. However, incubation with noradrenaline induced a significant fall in intracellular ATP levels in normal tissue, whereas no variations were observed in lipomatous tissue. Theophylline, instead, induced a prompt and significant decrease in intracellular ATP levels in lipomatous tissue. These observations indicate that the block in catecholamine-stimulated lipolysis in lipomatous tissue of MSL patients can be localized at a level preceding the formation of cyclic AMP.

Authors

G Enzi, E M Inelmen, A Baritussio, P Dorigo, M Prosdocimi, F Mazzoleni

Thyroid Hormonelike Actions of 3,3′,5′-l-Triiodothyronine and 3,3′-Diiodothyronine

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

l-Thyroxine is converted to 3,5,3′-l-triiodothyronine (T3) as well as to 3,3′,5′-l-triiodothyronine (reverse T3). One product of further deiodination is 3,3′-diiodothyronine (3,3′T2). The serum levels of reverse T3 and 3,3′T2 change considerably in various physiological and disease states. We previously found that reverse T3 and 3,3′T2 bind to the solubilized hepatic nuclear “receptors” for thyroid hormones. This led us to study binding and actions of these metabolites in cultured rat pituitary cells in which glucose consumption and growth hormone production are regulated by T3 and l-thyroxine.

Authors

Stathis S. Papavasiliou, Joseph A. Martial, Keith R. Latham, John D. Baxter

Effect of aldosterone on the coupling between H+ transport and glucose oxidation.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

The mode of action of aldosterone on the energetics of H+ transport in the turtle bladder was examined with the rate of glucose oxidation as an index of the metabolic activity of the epithelium (we show that H+ transport is not coupled to fatty acid oxidation). Within 6 h of addition of aldosterone H+, transport increased; so did glucose oxidation. The amount of H+ transport per mole of 14CO2 produced from glucose oxidation was 15.6 eq-mol-1 in the control hemi-bladder, while in the aldosterone-treated bladder it was 13.6, delta = 2.0+/-4.0 (n = 6). However, in bladders exposed to aldosterone for 20 h, the relation of transport to glucose oxidation was significantly altered: control 10.8, aldosterone 16.4, delta = 4.5+/-2.5, P less than 0.02, n = 7. The slope of H+ transport on the applied electrochemical gradient was steeper during both short- and long-term incubations. However, the maximum gradient necessary to nullify the net rate of secretion was unaltered in both experiments. Evidence is presented that aldosterone does not alter the passive backflux into the cell. In five additional experiments where aldosterone produced no significant stimulation of H+ transport, no change was noted in any of the metabolic or transport characteristics measured, suggesting that the alterations discussed above are dependent on the stimulation of H+ transport by the hormone. These results, along with some thermodynamic considerations, suggest that the effect of aldosterone is primarily exerted on the transport process rather than on metabolism. Further, it appears that prolonged stimulation of transport work leads to secondary alterations in the metabolic pathways reminiscent of the changes that occur in skeletal muscles of athletes undergoing physical conditioning.

Authors

Q Al-Awqati

Neurogenic coronary vasoconstrictor effects of digitalis during acute global ischemia in dogs.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

The rapid i.v. administration of digitalis has recently been shown to cause a substantial increase in coronary vascular resistance in the normal heart. This neurogenically mediated decrease in coronary blood flow would be potentially detrimental if it occurred during ischemia. The present study evaluates the effects of i.v. acetylstrophanthidin and digoxin on coronary vascular resistance during acute global ischemia in 29 dogs anesthetized with chloralose and urethane. Under these conditions, 0.5 mg of i.v. acetylstrophanthidin in 15 dogs resulted in erratic increases in coronary vascular resistance. The peak rise was 12+/-5% above control (P less than 0.01). In 7 of the 15 dogs, the initial erratic rise in coronary vascular resistance culminated in a steep rise associated with acute elevation in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, which in four dogs terminated in ventricular fibrillation. During the nonischemic control periods, the peak rise in coronary vascular resistance with acetylstrophanthidin was 16+/-1% above control (P less than 0.01). In five dogs, prior alpha adrenergic receptor blockade with phenoxybenzamine prevented the rise in coronary vascular resistance with acetylstrophanthidin during ischemia. Similar erratic increases in coronary vascular resistance were observed with i.v. digoxin (1 mg) during ischemia in three dogs. In two of these dogs, there was a progressive rise in coronary vascular resistance associated with elevation of left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and ventricular fibrillation. The increase in coronary vascular resistance with digoxin during ischemia was abolished with phenoxybenzamine in two additional dogs. Thus, i.v. digitalis in the ischemic heart results in potentially detrimental increases in coronary vascular resistance mediated through alpha adrenergic receptor stimulation.

Authors

K B Sagar, E C Hanson, W J Powell Jr

The Effect of Granulomatous Pulmonary Disease in Dogs on the Response of the Pulmonary Circulation to Hypoxia

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

We studied the effect of diffuse granulomatous pulmonary disease on the reponse of the pulmonary circulation to hypoxia in two series of experiments in intact dogs. First, in animals with unilateral disease, vasoconstriction in the diseased lung was compared to that in the contralateral control lung. Second, in animals with bilateral disease, the vasoconstriction of pulmonary shunt pathways was compared to that of the rest of the pulmonary vasculature. We assessed vasoconstriction in each study by measuring the distribution of pulmonary blood flow between the test and control set of vessels during 21 and 12% oxygen breathing. In the first set of experiments, we measured apportionment of the blood flow between the two lungs by bronchospirometry and the krypton bolus method. In normal dogs, hypoxia did not shift blood flow systematically from one lung to the other. In 10 dogs with unilateral disease, general hypoxia increased the proportion of blood flow to the diseased lung. The mean percent of blood flow to the left lung in eight dogs with disease in that lung rose from 29% during air breathing to 32% (P < 0.001). In the second set of experiments, we measured apportionment of the blood flow between shunt pathways and gas-exchanging pathways by a constant infusion of radio-active krypton and the standard shunt formula. In eight dogs with bilateral disease, hypoxia consistently increased the flow through shunt pathways, from a mean value of 10% of pulmonary blood flow to 14% (P < 0.005).

Authors

R. S. Irwin, J. Martinez-Gonzalez-Rio, H. M. Thomas III, H. W. Fritts Jr.

H₂O₂ Release from Human Granulocytes during Phagocytosis: RELATIONSHIP TO SUPEROXIDE ANION FORMATION AND CELLULAR CATABOLISM OF H₂O₂: STUDIES WITH NORMAL AND CYTOCHALASIN B-TREATED CELLS

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Normal and cytochalasin B-treated human granulocytes have been studied to determine some of the interrelationships between phagocytosis-induced respiration and superoxide and hydrogen peroxide formation and release into the extracellular medium by intact cells. By using the scopoletin fluorescent assay to continuously monitor extracellular hydrogen peroxide concentrations during contact of cells with opsonized staphylococci, it was demonstrated that the superoxide scavengers ferricytochrome c and nitroblue tetrazolium significantly reduced the amount of H2O2 released with time from normal cells but did not abolish it. This inhibitory effect was reversed by the simultaneous addition of superoxide dismutase (SOD), whereas the addition of SOD alone increased the amount of detectable H2O2 in the medium. The addition of sodium azide markedly inhibited myeloperoxidase-H2O2-dependent protein iodination and more than doubled H2O2 release, including the residual amount remaining after exposure of the cells to ferricytochrome c, suggesting its origin from an intracellular pool shared by several pathways for H2O2 catabolism.

Authors

Richard K. Root, Julia A. Metcalf

Chemotactic factor inactivators of human granulocytes.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

During phagocytosis, neutrophils release a variety of substances that include activators and inactivators of chemotactic factors. It is generally considered that these represent hydrolytic enzymes. Elastase and cathepsin G, major proteases released from lysosomal granules during phagocytosis, contain broad hydrolytic activity. This study examined granule elastase and cathepsin G for their role as inactivators of chemotactic factors. Elastase and cathepsin G were purified from human neutrophils by Trasylol-Sepharose and CM-cellulose chromatography. Small amounts (approximately equal to 3 microgram, 1 muM) of elastase and cathepsin G, comparable to quantities released by 10(6) neutrophils during phagocytosis, completely inactivated the C5 chemotactic factor generated in human serum. Larger concentrations were needed to inactivate the C3 chemotactic factor, and when the bacterial chemotactic factor from Escherichia coli was employed, five times more elastase or cathepsin G was ineffective against this chemotactic factor. Supernatant fluid from human neutrophils that had ingested complement-coated zymosan particles contained elastase and cathepsin G and had inactivator activity for both the C5 chemotactic fragment and the bacterial factor. A specific inhibitor of elastase largely abolished the inactivator activity in the phagocytic supernates that was directed against C5 factor but did not affect the inactivator activity for the bacterial factor. Similar results occurred in studies of granule lysates. These data indicate heterogeneity in the chemotactic factor inactivator activity released by phagocytosing neutrophils. The predominant inactivator activity of the C5 chemotactic fragment is attributable to elastase and cathepsin G.

Authors

J P Brozna, R M Senior, D L Kreutzer, P A Ward

Lanthanum Probe Studies of Cellular Pathophysiology Induced by Hypoxia in Isolated Cardiac Muscle

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

This study was undertaken to evaluate directly the relationship between evolution of irreversible myocardial injury induced by hypoxia in an isolated papillary muscle preparation and the development of pathophysiological alterations related to severely impaired membrane function. An ionic lanthanum probe technique was employed as a cytochemical marker to monitor the progression of cellular injury, and data from this cytologic technique were correlated with ultrastructure and measurements of contractile parameters in a total of 67 muscles subjected to control conditions or to graded intervals of hypoxia with or without reoxygenation. Marked depression of developed tension and rate of tension development occurred after 30 min of hypoxia. Contractile function showed significant recovery with reoxygenation after 1 h and 15 min of hypoxia but remained depressed when reoxygenation was provided after 2 or 3 h of hypoxia. Examination by transmission and analytical electron microscopy (energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis) revealed lanthanum deposition only in extracellular regions of control muscles and muscles subjected to 30 min of hypoxia. After hypoxic intervals of over 1 h, abnormal intracytoplasmic and intramitochondrial localization of lanthanum were detected. After 1 h and 15 min of hypoxia, abnormal intracellular lanthanum accumulation was associated with only minimal ultrastructural evidence of injury; muscle provided reoxygenation after 1 h and 15 min of hypoxia showed improved ultrastructure and did not exhibit intracellular lanthanum deposits upon exposure to lanthanum during the reoxygenation period. After 2 to 3 h of hypoxia, abnormal intracellular lanthanum accumulation was associated with ultrastructural evidence of severe muscle injury which persisted after reoxygenation. Thus, the data support the conclusion that cellular and membrane alterations responsible for abnormal intracellular lanthanum deposition precede the development of irreversible injury but evolve at a transitional stage in the progression from reversible to irreversible injury induced by hypoxia in isolated feline papillary muscles.

Authors

Karen P. Burton, Herbert K. Hagler, Gordon H. Templeton, James T. Willerson, L. Maximilian Buja

Reversal of Advanced Digitoxin Toxicity and Modification of Pharmacokinetics by Specific Antibodies and Fab Fragments

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

The effects of Fab fragments of high-affinity specific antibodies have been studied in a canine experimental model of lethal digitoxin toxicity. Selected antiserum from sheep immunized and boosted with a digoxin-serum albumin conjugate contained antibodies that cross-reacted with digitoxin with an average intrinsic association constant of 1.4 × 1010 M−1 as determined by equilibrium dialysis. Rapid second-order association kinetics (kf = 3.7 × 106 M−1 per s) and slow dissociation kinetics (kr = 1.9 × 10−4 per s) were documented for the antibody-digitoxin complex. Eight dogs given 0.5 mg/kg digitoxin intravenously developed ventricular tachycardia after 23±4 (SEM) min. Control nonspecific Fab fragments were then given. All animals died an average of 101±36 min after digitoxin administration. Another eight dogs given the same digitoxin dose similarly developed ventricular tachycardia after 28±3 min. This group then received a molar equivalent dose of specific Fab fragments intravenously over 3 min, followed by a 30-min infusion of one-third of the initial dose. All dogs survived. Conducted sinus beats reappeared 18±4 min after initial Fab infusion, and stable normal sinus rhythm was present at 54±16 min. Plasma total digitoxin concentrations increased threefold during the hour after initial Fab infusion, while plasma free digitoxin concentration decreased to less than 0.1 ng/ml. Effects on digitoxin pharmacokinetics of these Fab fragments and the antibody population from which they were derived were further investigated in a primate species. Unlike common laboratory animals previously studied, the rhesus monkey was found to have a prolonged elimination half-life, estimated at 135 and 118 h by radioimmunoassay and [3H]digitoxin measurements, respectively, similar to man and thus providing a clinically relevant experimental model. Intravenous administration of 2 mol of specific Fab fragments per mole of digitoxin 6 h after 0.2 mg of digitoxin produced a rapid 4.3-fold increase in plasma total digitoxin concentration followed by a rapid fall (t½ 4 h) accompanied by a 14-fold enhancement of urinary digitoxin excretion over control values during the 6-h period after Fab was given. Analytical studies were consistent with increased excretion of native digitoxin rather than metabolites, and the glycoside was found in equilibrium dialysis studies to be excreted in the urine in Fab-bound form. Administration of 2 mol of specific antibody binding sites per mole of digitoxin as intact IgG caused a greater and more prolonged increase in plasma total digitoxin concentration, peaking 13-fold above control levels. In contrast to the effects of Fab, however, specific IgG reduced the rate of urinary digitoxin excretion substantially below control values. We conclude that Fab fragments of antibodies with high affinity for digitoxin are capable of rapid reversal of advanced, otherwise lethal digitoxin toxicity, and are capable of reducing the plasma half-life and accelerating urinary excretion of digitoxin.

Authors

Hermann R. Ochs, Thomas W. Smith

Parathyroidectomy reduces 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1 alpha-hydroxylase activity in the hypocalcemic vitamin D-deficient chick.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

To test the hypothesis that in the vitamin D-deficient state the activity of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1 alpha-hydroxylase (25-OHD3-1 alpha-hydroxylase) is modulated by parathyroid hormone and the plasma concentration of phosphate only in the presence of small amounts of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (or some other metabolite of vitamin D), we measured the activity of this enzyme 24 h after parathyroidectomy (PTX) in frankly hypocalcemic, vitamin D-deficient chicks that were not supplemented with vitamin D or one of its metabolites. The otherwise predictable complications of PTX in this metabolic setting (hypocalcemia of increasing severity, tetany, moribundity, and death) were prevented by continuous intravenous administration of calcium (as a solution of calcium chloride/calcium gluconate 1:1) through a catheter in the external jugular vein placed at the time of PTX. The findings were as follows: (a) The activity of 25-OHD3-1 alpha-hydroxylase was significantly less in the parathyroidectomized group than in the sham-operated control chicks (P less than 0.001). (b) The reductive effect of PTX on the activity of this enzyme was significantly attenuated when hypophosphatemia was increased in severity by administration of glucose. (c) In the post-PTX state the activity of 25-OHD3-1 alpha-hydroxylase and plasma concentration of phosphate were significantly, inversely related (P less than 0.001). (d) In the sham-operated control group the activity of this enzyme and the plasma concentration of phosphate were not significantly correlated. These findings indicate that in the vitamin D-deficient state, both circulating parathyroid hormone and the plasma concentration of phosphate can significantly modulate the activity of 25-OHD3-1 alpha-hydroxylase in the absence of vitamin D or its metabolites. The findings also suggest that in the vitamin D-deficient state the plasma concentration of phosphate modulates the activity of this enzyme only when the concentration of circulating parathyroid hormone is not increased.

Authors

B E Booth, H C Tsai, R C Morris Jr

Pathogenesis of Mucosal Injury in the Blind Loop Syndrome: BRUSH BORDER ENZYME ACTIVITY AND GLYCOPROTEIN DEGRADATION

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

The effect of intestinal bacterial over-growth on brush border hydrolases and brush border glycoproteins was studied in nonoperated control rats, control rats with surgically introduced jejunal self-emptying blind loops, and rats with surgically introduced jejunal self-filling blind loops. Data were analyzed from blind loop segments, segments above and below the blind loops, and three corresponding segments in the nonoperated controls. Rats with self-filling blind loops had significantly greater fat excretion than controls and exhibited significantly lower conjugated:free bile salt ratios in all three segments. Maltase, sucrase, and lactase activities were significantly reduced in homogenates and isolated brush borders from the self-filling blind loop, but alkaline phosphatase was not affected. The relative degradation rate of homogenate and brush border glycoproteins was assessed by a double-isotope technique involving the injection of d-[6-3H]glucosamine 3 h and d-[U-14C]glucosamine 19 h before sacrifice, and recorded as a 3H:14C ratio. The relative degradation rate in both homogenate and brush border fractions was significantly greater in most segments from rats with self-filling blind loops. In the upper and blind loop segments from rats with self-filling blind loops, the 3H:14C ratios were higher in the brush border membrane than in the corresponding homogenates, indicating that the increased rates of degradation primarily involve membrane glycoproteins. Incorporation of d-[6-3H]glucosamine by brush border glycoproteins was not reduced in rats with self-filling blind loops, suggesting that glycoprotein synthesis was not affected. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of brush border glycoproteins from the contaminated segments indicated that the large molecular weight glycoproteins, which include many of the surface hydrolases, were degraded most rapidly. Brush border maltase, isolated by immunoprecipitation, had 3H:14C ratios characteristic of the most rapidly degraded glycoproteins. The results indicate that bacteria enhance the destruction of intestinal surface glycoproteins including disaccharidases. Since alkaline phosphatase, a glycoprotein, is not affected, the destruction is selective and presumably involves only the most exposed membrane components.

Authors

Anita Jonas, Peter R. Flanagan, Gordon G. Forstner

Immunoglobulin classes of DNA binding activity in serum and skin in systemic lupus erythematosus.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

36 systemic lupus erythematosus patients with native DNA binding activity (nDNA-BA) in the serum and subepidermal immunoglobulin deposits were studied to determine the relationship of the immunoglobulin (Ig) class distribution of serum nDNA-BA to the clinical characteristics of their disease and to the Ig class present at the dermal-epidermal junction (DEJ). The patients with predominantly (86-98%) IgM nDNA-BA in the serum had less active disease, mild or no renal involvement, and longer survival than those with predominantly (51-95%) IgG nDNA-BA in the serum. Renal biopsies in eight patients with predominantly IgM nDNA-BA in the serum showed relatively benign histologic changes in the kidney. In contrast, renal tissue from 23 patients with predominantly IgG nDNA-BA showed more severe histologic changes. All patients had multiple skin biopsies. Patients with predominantly IgM nDNA-BA consistently had only IgM at the DEJ. Patients with predominantly IgG nDNA-BA had IgG, usually in association with IgM, at the DEJ. The findings demonstrate that a minority of systemic lupus erythematosus patients may exhibit a limited anti-nDNA response characterized by the presence of chiefly IgM nDNA-BA in the serum and that this is reflected by the presence of mild disease and IgM alone at the DEJ. The development of IgG nDNA-BA is associated with more severe and active disease.

Authors

J B Pennebaker, J N Gilliam, M Ziff

Vasopressin-stimulated prostaglandin E biosynthesis in the toad urinary bladder. Effect of water flow.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Prostaglandin E biosynthesis and its effect on water permeability were investigated in the toad urinary bladder. Arginine vasopressin (1 mU/ml) increased prostaglandin E (PGE) biosynthesis from 0.5+/-0.1 to 5.0+/-0.4 pmol/min per hemibladder (mean +/-SEM, n= 8, P less than 0.001). Maximal vasopressin-stimulated PGE biosynthesis, 6.4+/-0.2 pmol/min per hemibladder, occurred at vasopressin concentrations in excess of 3 mU/ml. Half-maximal stimulation of PGE biosynthesis occurred at a vasopressin concentration of approximately 0.7 mU/ml, whereas half-maximal stimulation of water flow occurred at a vasopressin concentration of approximately 5 mU/ml. Vasopressin-stimulated PGE biosynthesis did not depend on water flow along an osmotic gradient or upon sodium transport. Thin-layer chromatographic analysis of the lipids released from hemibladders labeled with tritium-arachidonic acid revealed that vasopressin stimulates the release of arachidonic acid from intracellular lipid stores without affecting the percentage of free arachidonic acid converted to PGE. Neither cyclic AMP nor theophylline stimulated PGE biosynthesis although they mimic arginine vasopressin (AVP) in stimulating water permeability. Biosynthesis of PGE was inhibited by mepacrine, a phospholipase inhibitor, and by agents that inhibit arachidonic acid oxygenase. The inhibition of PGE biosynthesis resulted in augmented vasopressin- and theophylline-stimulated water flow, but had no effect on cyclic AMP-stimulated water flow. We interpret these results to mean that endogenous PGE inhibits basal and vasopressin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity. In contrast to the effects of AVP on permeability and transport, AVP stimulates PGE biosynthesis by a mechanism that does not depend on an increase in cellular cyclic AMP levels. The water permeability response of the toad urinary bladder to vasopressin is inhibited by PGE synthesized by the bladder in response to vasopressin.

Authors

R M Zusman, H R Keiser, J S Handler

Inhibition of vasopressin-stimulated prostaglandin E biosynthesis by chlorpropamide in the toad urinary bladder. Mechanism of enhancement of vasopressin-stimulated water flow.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Chlorpropamide is known to enhance the water permeability response of the toad urinary bladder to vasopressin and to theophylline. In other studies, we have shown that prostaglandin E synthesis by the toad bladder inhibits the water permeability response to arginine vasopressin and to theophylline. In this study, the effect of chlorpropamide on vasopressin-, theophylline-, and cyclic AMP-stimulated water flow and on prostaglandin E biosynthesis was investigated in the toad urinary bladder in vitro. Chlorpropamide inhibited prostaglandin E biosynthesis during vasopressin-, theophylline- and cyclic AMP-stimulated water flow. Tolbutamide and glyburide, two other sulfonylurea compounds, also enhanced vasopressin-stimulated water flow and inhibited vasopressin-stimulated prostaglandin E biosynthesis. We conclude that the mechanism of enhancement on vasopressin-stimulated water flow by the sulfonylureas is the inhibition of prostaglandin E biosynthesis.

Authors

R M Zusman, H R Keiser, J S Handler

Study of factors causing excess protoporphyrin accumulation in cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with protoporphyria.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

The activity of heme synthetase, which catalyzes the chelation of ferrous iron to protoporphyrin to form heme, is deficient in sonicates of skin fibroblasts cultured from patients with protoporphyria. During culture in Eagle's medium supplemented with fetal calf serum, these cells do not accumulate protoporphyrin, however. This may be due to a minimal requirement for heme synthesis, since glycine is incorporated into heme at a low rate which is similar to that in normal fibroblasts. In addition, the activity of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) synthetase, the first and rate-limiting enzyme of heme biosynthesis which catalyzes the formation of ALA from glycine, is normal in lysates of the fibroblasts. Cultured fibroblasts were therefore incubated with ALA in order to bypass the rate-limiting step of heme biosynthesis. In the presence of 25 muM iron, protoporphyrin was detected in protoporphyria cell lines when the concentration of ALA in the medium reached 50 muM, but not in normal lines. As the concentration of ALA was increased above 50 muM, all lines accumulated protoporphyrin. However, the amount was 2-3 times more in cultured fibroblasts from patients with protoporphyria, reflecting their deficiency of heme synthetase activity. When iron was not added to the medium, protoporphyrin accumulated to a similar degree in normal and protoporphyria fibroblasts; this was significantly more than that in the presence of iron. These studies indicate that excessive protoporphyrin accumulation in protoporphyria, which is due principally to deficient heme synthetase activity, may be modified by the rate of ALA formation in heme-producing tissues, and by the availability of iron.

Authors

J R Bloomer, D A Brenner, M J Mahoney

Lead poisoning. Further observations on erythrocyte pyrimidine-nucleotidase deficiency and intracellular accumulation of pyrimidine nucleotides.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Pyrimidine nucleotides, detectable in normal erythrocytes only in trace quantities if at all, were found to comprise 7-80% of the intracellular nucleotide pools in nine subjects with severe lead over-burden. Blood lead concentrations ranged from approximately equal to 200- to 400-microgram/dl packed cells, and the greatest accumulations of pyrimidine-containing nucleotides occurred in the two subjects with the highest blood lead levels. Most of the patients had mild or moderate anemia and moderate basophilic stippling evident in Wright's-stained peripheral smears. Pyrimidine nucleotidase activities were inhibited to 13-28% of the mean activity in normal control erythrocytes and even more so (5-15%) when compared to specimens with increased reticulocytes and young cells. Reticulocytosis was absent in two subjects and modest to moderate in the remainder, but erythrocyte assays revealed the substantial elevations in populations of young mean cell age. Inappropriately low reticulocyttial elevations in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase expected in populations of young mean cell age. Inappropriately low reticulocyte responses may reflect hematopoietic suppressive effects of lead at a variety of metabolic loci.

Authors

D E Paglia, W N Valentine, K Fink

Immunoheterogeneity of Parathyroid Hormone in Venous Effluent Serum from Hyperfunctioning Parathyroid Glands

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

The immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (iPTH) in the plasma of hyperparathyroid man consists largely of carboxyl (COOH)-terminal fragments of the hormone. Although these fragments have been thought to arise principally or solely from peripheral metabolism of intact human PTH {hPTH(1-84)} secreted from the parathyroid gland, there is disagreement about the source of iPTH fragments in vivo.

Authors

James A. Flueck, Francis P. Di Bella, Anthony J. Edis, Jean M. Kehrwald, Claude D. Arnaud

Association of factor XI and high molecular weight kininogen in human plasma.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Factor XI and high molecular weight kininogen were found associated in normal human plasma at mol wt 380,000 as assessed by gel filtration on Sephadex G-200. The molecular weight of Factor XI in high molecular weight kininogen-deficient plasma was 175,000, the same value obtained for purified Factor XI. When high molecular weight kininogen-deficient plasma was reconstituted with purified high molecular weight kininogen, all of the Factor XI was then found at mol wt 380,000. Complex formation was also demonstrable upon incubation of Factor XI and highly purified high molecular weight kininogen. This complex was distinct from the prekallikrein-high molecular weight kininogen complex; thus high molecular weight kininogen forms bimolecular complexes with either Factor XI or prekallikrein but does not form a trimolecular complex that includes both Factor XI and prekallikrein. Neither Hageman factor nor plasminogen were found associated with high molecular weight kininogen; binding to high molecular weight kininogen appeared to be a specific property of the Hageman factor substrates.

Authors

R E Thompson, R Mandle Jr, A P Kaplan

Absorption, Plasma Transport, and Cellular Retention of Cobalamin Analogues in the Rabbit: EVIDENCE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF MULTIPLE MECHANISMS THAT PREVENT THE ABSORPTION AND TISSUE DISSEMINATION OF NATURALLY OCCURRING COBALAMIN ANALOGUES

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Analogues of cobalamin (Cbl; vitamin B12) are prevalent in nature as a result of bacterial synthesis, and are of additional interest because of their potential use as antimetabolites and chemotherapeutic agents. We have synthesized 14 Cbl analogues containing 57Co and have compared their gastrointestinal absorption, plasma transport, and cellular retention to that of [58Co]Cbl in rabbits.

Authors

J. Fred Kolhouse, Robert H. Allen

The Maladaptive Renal Response to Secondary Hypocapnia during Chronic HCl Acidosis in the Dog

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

It has generally been thought that homeostatic mechanisms of renal origin are responsible for minimizing the alkalemia produced by chronic hypocapnia. Recent observations from this laboratory have demonstrated, however, that the decrement in [HCO−3], which “protects” extracellular pH in normal dogs, is simply the by-product of a nonspecific effect of Paco2 on renal hydrogen ion secretion; chronic primary hypocapnia produces virtually the same decrement in plasma [HCO−3] in dogs with chronic HCl acidosis as in normal dogs (Δ[HCO−3]/ΔPaco2 = 0.5), with the result that plasma [H+] in animals with severe acidosis rises rather than falls during superimposed forced hyperventilation.

Authors

Nicolaos E. Madias, William B. Schwartz, Jordan J. Cohen

Human rotavirus enteritis induced in conventional piglets. Intestinal structure and transport.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

To better understand the pathogenesis of infantile viral gastroenteritis, we studied Na+ and Cl- fluxes in vitro in short-circuited jejunal epithelium from 8-10-day-old piglets after infection with a standard dose of human rotavirus given via nasogastric tube. 11 infected piglets, all of whom became ill, were compared with 9 uninfected, healthy litter-mates. When killed 72 h after infection, intestinal villi were shorter and crypts deeper (P less than 0.025) in duodenum, upper jejunum, and mid-small intestine, but not ileum in infected piglets. Virus antigen was seen by fluorescence microscopy in occasional jejunal villus tip cells in only four infected piglets and no controls at 72 h. Net Na+ and Cl- fluxes did not differ from noninfected litter-mate controls under basal conditions, but response to glucose was blunted in infected piglets (P less than 0.001). Theophylline stimulated net Cl- secretion in both infected and control animals, and cyclic AMP concentration in isolated jejunal villus enterocytes did not differ significantly. In isolated jejunal villus enterocytes of infected piglets, thymidine kinase activity increased (P less than 0.001), and sucrase activity decreased (P less than 0.001). We conclude that in this invasive enteritis caused by a major human viral pathogen, glucose-coupled Na+ transport is impaired in the jejunum at a time when the villus epithelium shows enzyme characteristics of crypt epithelium, and when little or no virus is present. These findings are identical to those occurring in an invasive coronavirus enteritis of piglets but differ markedly from those seen with enterotoxigenic diarrhea.

Authors

G P Davidson, D G Gall, M Petric, D G Butler, J R Hamilton

Generation of the combined prothrombin activation peptide (F1-2) during the clotting of blood and plasma.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

We have investigated the pathway of prothrombin activation in blood and plasma. By means of a rapid purification procedure involving chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and hydroxyapatite, we demonstrated that the major prothrombin fragment in serum is that representing the amino-terminal half of prothrombin (i.e. F1-2). The F1-2 isolated was characterized by its size, amino acid and antigenic compositions, amino-terminal residue, and the peptides (designated F1 and F2, respectively) it yielded upon hydrolysis by thrombin. Measurements by the isotope dilution technique showed that F1-2 could account for the fate of at least 90% of the prothrombin originally present in plasma. By contrast, the serum concentration of the fragment representing the amino-terminal third of prothrombin (viz. F1) was less than 10% that of F1-2. These results demonstrated that the major route of prothrombin conversion in blood or plasma involves the removal of the combined activation fragment (F1-2) as a single peptide.

Authors

D L Aronson, L Stevan, A P Ball, B R Franza Jr, J S Finlayson

Effect of 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D₃ on the Renal Handling of P_i in Thyroparathyroidectomized Rats

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

The kidney adapts its tubular capacity to transport inorganic phosphate (Pi) according to the dietary supply of Pi in both intact and thyropara-thyroidectomized (TPTX) rats. However, in TPTX rats the capability of the renal tubule to adapt to a high Pi diet is diminished. In TPTX rats the production of the active vitamin D3 metabolite, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25-(OH)2D3], is also reduced. 1,25-(OH)2D3 has been shown to have a marked effect on Pi metabolism. Therefore the question arises whether the deficient production of 1,25-(OH)2D3 contributes to the alteration of the tubular transport of Pi observed in chronically TPTX rats. In the present investigation, vitamin D-replete rats were sham operated (SHAM) or thyroparathyroidectomized and then pair fed diets containing either 0.2 or 1.2 g/100 g P for 7 days. During this period, groups of SHAM and TPTX rats received i.p. 2 × 13 pmol/day of 1,25-(OH)2D3, a dose which was shown to just normalize the decreased intestinal absorption of Ca and Pi in TPTX rats. The capacity of tubular Pi transport was then assessed by measuring the fractional excretion of Pi (FEPi) at increasing plasma Pi concentration ([Pi]Pl) obtained by acute infusion of Pi. The results show that in SHAM rats fed either P diet, 1,25-(OH)2D3 has no effect on the renal handling of Pi. In TPTX rats fed 1.2 g/100 g P diet, 1,25-(OH)2D3 increases FEPi over a wide range of [Pi]Pl. In TPTX rats fed a 0.2 g/100 g P diet, 1,25-(OH)2D3 does not alter FEPi up to a [Pi]Pl of 3.0-3.5 mM, but does increase it at higher [Pi]Pl. In fact, on both diets TPTX rats supplemented with 1,25-(OH)2D3 appear to have the same renal handling of Pi as SHAM counterparts. The effect of 1,25-(OH)2D3 was not associated with a change in urine pH or in urinary excretion of cyclic AMP and was maintained under marked extracellular volume expansion. It was associated with a rise in plasma calcium in the TPTX rats fed the high, but not the low, P diet. In TPTX rats fed 1.2 g/100 g P diet, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in doses of 2 × 130 or 2 × 1,300 pmol/day i.p. did not increase FEPi.

Authors

J-P. Bonjour, C. Preston, H. Fleisch

The Interaction of Dietary Fibers and Cholesterol upon the Plasma Lipids and Lipoproteins, Sterol Balance, and Bowel Function in Human Subjects

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

To identify any metabolic effects of dietary fiber upon cholesterol metabolism in man, six adult volunteer subjects were fed eucaloric cholesterol-free formula diets, with and without added dietary fiber for two 4-wk periods. A large quantity of dietary fiber was fed, some 60 g of plant cell wall material (or 16 g of crude fiber) derived from corn, beans, bran, pectin, and purified cellulose. This provided about five times the fiber intake of the typical American diet. The addition of fiber to the cholesterol-free diet did not change either the plasma cholesterol level (171±21 mg/dl, SEM, to 167±18) or the triglyceride (103±39 to 93±27 mg/dl). The excretion of both endogenous neutral steroids and bile acids were unchanged with fiber (505±41 to 636±75 mg/day and 194±23 to 266±47 mg/day, respectively.) However, total fecal steroid excretion was increased 699±29 to 902±64 mg/day, P < 0.025). With fiber, intestinal transit time was decreased (59±9 to 35±8 h, P < 0.005), and both the wet and dry stool weights were greatly increased.

Authors

Thomas L. Raymond, William E. Connor, Don S. Lin, Susan Warner, Martha M. Fry, Sonja L. Connor

The interrelationship between the release of renin and vasopressin as defined by orthostasis and propranolol.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

The concentration of both plasma renin and plasma arginine vasopressin rose in normal subjects after an 85 degrees head-up tilt. Plasma renin activity, which increased 70-80% above the supine value, was maximal at 15 or 30 min, whereas the six- to seven-fold increase of plasma arginine vasopressin concentration was observed between 30 and 45 min. Intravenous propranolol administered just before tilt was used to investigate the possibility that the delayed rise of arginine vasopressin was stimulated by renin. Although the response of plasma renin was completely abolished by propranolol, the response of vasopressin was unaffected. These findings suggest that the release of vasopressin that follows isosmolar hypovolemia achieved by orthostasis may occur independently of changes in the renin-angiotensin system in the presence of propranolol.

Authors

R Davies, M L Forsling, J D Slater

Increased frequency of the MZ phenotype of alpha-1-protease inhibitor in juvenile chronic polyarthritis.

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Pi phenotypes of alpha-1-protease inhibitor were determined by isoelectric focusing and print immunofixation in 96 English children suffering from juvenile chronic polyarthritis. A significantly increased frequency of the MZ phenotype (10.41%) was found in comparison with a geographically matched control population (1.6%). The results of this study suggest that the possession of a Z-deficient allele of alpha-1-protease inhibitor could be a predisposing, aggravating, or perpetuating factor in the articular damage occurring in juvenile chronic polyarthritis.

Authors

P Arnaud, R M Galbraith, W P Faulk