Degenerative processes in skeletal muscle of Cd2+-treated rats and Cd2+ inhibition of mitochondrial Ca2+ transport

In rat skeletal muscle, chronic exposure to 50 ppm Cd2+ in drinking water produced both ultrastructural and functional damage, which took place successively and increased gradually with duration of treatment. Ultrastructurally, the first effect was a regression of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, mitochondrial cristae, and glycogen granules. Then, the number of mitochondria diminished and a degeneration of myofilaments appeared. During the 9-month course of treatment, however, the terminal cisternae and the lateral saccules of sarcoplasmic reticulum remained, and the Z lines maintained their tight and rigorously parallel appearance. Functionally, the activities of two cytosolic Ca2+-sensitive enzymes (lactate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase) decreased. Their partial restoration by EGTA and EDTA suggested the presence of inhibitory divalent cations in the cytosol of treated rats. Cd2+ also inhibited Ca2+ transport in mitochondria through the uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation. Hence, an increase of Ca2+ concentration of the cytosol of Cd2+-treated rats, activating degradative enzymes such as phospholipases, proteases and phosphorylase b kinase, can be incriminated. A direct inhibitory action of Cd2+ on the activities of lactate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase also occurred. Direct action of Cd2+ on certain other Ca2+-sensitive enzymes, thereby aggravating the indirect damage induced through increasing the Ca2+ concentration in cytosol, is hypothesized. In mitochondria, a Cd2+ activation of phospholipase A2 and/or a Ca2+-sensitive protease is a unique possibility, since Ca2+ accumulation was prevented by cytosolic Cd2+.     

Hematopoietic and fatty bone marrow distribution in the normal and ischemic hip: new observations with 1.5-T MR imaging

The conversion of hematopoietic to fatty marrow is known to correlate with physiologic decreases in intramedullary blood flow. To determine whether the chronology of conversion is altered in patients with hip ischemia, T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images of the hips in 50 healthy people and 27 with documented avascular necrosis (AVN) were reviewed. The distribution of fatty (high-signal) versus hematopoietic (low-signal) marrow was noted with respect to age. All patients had fatty marrow in the femoral capital epiphysis and greater trochanter. Hematopoietic intertrochanteric marrow was seen in 95% (80 of 84) of femurs in control subjects less than 50 years old, but in only 12.5% (two of 16) of those in control subjects older than 50 years (P less than .005). Only 33% (19 of 57) of patients less than 50 years with AVN had predominantly hematopoietic intertrochanteric marrow (P less than .005). The early conversion to fatty marrow in most patients with AVN as depicted by MR imaging may be an effect of decreased vascularity of the proximal femur and may allow the identification of patients at increased risk for AVN.     

Detection of DNA adducts of acetaldehyde in peripheral white blood cells of alcohol abusers

The effect of alcohol drinking on the formation of DNA adducts of acetaldehyde, the primary oxidative metabolite of ethanol, was investigated in humans. DNA was isolated from granulocytes and lymphocytes from 24 alcoholic patients and 12 control subjects. DNA adduct levels were measured by 32P-postlabelling using reversed-phase HPLC with on-line detection of radioactivity. A large interindividual variation in adduct levels was observed. The average adduct levels in granulocyte and lymphocyte DNA from alcoholic patients were 3.4 +/- 3.8 and 2.1 +/- 0.8 adducts/10(7) nucleotides (n = 24), respectively. These levels were 13- and 7-fold higher than the corresponding levels in control subjects (P<0.001). The average adduct level in granulocyte DNA from alcoholic patients was 60% higher than in lymphocyte DNA (P<0.01). Our results, in conjunction with the genotoxicity of acetaldehyde, thus suggest the formation of DNA adducts of acetaldehyde as a plausible mechanism explaining the involvement of alcohol drinking in carcinogenesis.      

大环内酯类抗生素麦迪霉素的电化学特性

在K₂HPO₄,NH₄Cl+NH₃和NaOH的10%(v/v)乙醇水溶液中,除0.01mol·L^-1以上NaOH液作为支持电解质外,麦迪霉素的伏安波皆为两个峰。峰A相当于它的甲醛基还原波,峰B为催化吸附氢波。溶液pH对两峰有强烈的影响。实验表明伏安波有吸附特性,且不可逆。两峰的ip与麦迪霉素的浓度成正比,线性范围分别为3×10^-6～3×10^-5mol·L^-1和1×10^-7～4×10^-5mol·L^-1,检测限为:1×10-6mol·L^-1和5×10^-8mol·L^-1。可应用于麦迪霉素的定量测定。研究了两峰的特性和电极机理,测定了有关的物理常数。     

Breathing abnormalities in sleep in achondroplasia

Overnight sleep studies were performed in 20 subjects with achondroplasia to document further the respiratory abnormalities present in this group. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were recorded in 19 of the subjects to screen for the presence of brainstem abnormalities, which are one of the potential aetiological mechanisms. Fifteen children aged 1 to 14 years, and five young adults, aged 20 to 31 years were included. All had upper airway obstruction and 15 (75%) had a pathological apnoea index (greater than five per hour). Other sleep associated respiratory abnormalities, including partial obstruction, central apnoea, and abnormal electromyographic activity of accessory muscles of respiration, also showed a high prevalence. SEPs were abnormal in eight (42%), but there was no correlation between abnormal SEPs and apnoea during sleep, either qualitatively or quantitatively. A high prevalence of both sleep related respiratory abnormalities and abnormal SEPs in young subjects with achondroplasia was demonstrated. However, the sleep related respiratory abnormalities do not always result in significant blood gas disturbances or correlate with abnormal SEPs in this group.     

Femoral head avascular necrosis: correlation of MR imaging, radiographic staging, radionuclide imaging, and clinical findings

To better correlate the appearance of avascular necrosis (AVN) of the femoral head on magnetic resonance (MR) images with the stage of disease, MR images of 56 proved AVN lesions were compared with staging from corresponding radiographs (n = 56), Tc-99m scans (n = 41), and grade of symptoms (n = 28). Fractures complicating AVN were seen in 28 (50%) of 56 radiographs (radiographic stages III-V). With long repetition (TR) and echo delay (TE) times, a characteristic "double line sign" consisting of high signal intensity inside a low-intensity peripheral rim was seen in 45 lesions (80%). The central region within the rim was isointense with marrow fat on both short and long TR and TE images in 20 (71%) of 28 lesions uncomplicated by fracture (stages I-II) but in only four (14%) of 28 stage III-V lesions (P less than .001). Symptoms were least severe in lesions isointense with fat and most severe in lesions with low-signal central regions at short and long TRs and TEs. The peripheral double line sign on long TR/TE images may add specificity to the diagnosis of AVN by MR imaging. A chronologic pattern of central MR signal features is presented which may allow staging of AVN by MR imaging.