Delta hepatitis virus infection in China

To assess the prevalence, epidemiological features and prognostic implications of hepatitis D (Delta) in Sichuan Province, The People's Republic of China, 649 sera (515 from HBsAg positive patients and 134 from HBsAg negative subjects) were tested by radioimmunoassay (RIA) for antibody to the hepatitis D virus (anti-HD). Forty-seven sera (7.2%) showed some degree of reactivity. Serial dilutions of these sera indicated that prozoning was not responsible for the equivocal results. Thirty-four of the 47 sera were submitted under code to a second laboratory for independent analysis. According to those results anti-HD antibodies were detected in four of these sera. The overall prevalence of anti-HD in the HBsAg positive patients therefore was 0.8% (4/515). On the basis of clinical, biochemical and histological data 427 HBsAg positive sera were further divided into acute Type B hepatitis, chronic Type B hepatitis, healthy carrier state and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) subgroups. Two of 65 (3.1%) anti-HD positive sera belonged to the acute Type B hepatitis group; one of 104 (0.9%), the chronic Type B hepatitis group and one of 246 (0.4%), the healthy carrier group. No antibody was detected in sera from 12 HBsAg positive HCC patients. All HBsAg negative patients were negative for anti-HD antibody. The results of this study indicate that despite a high prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection, positive serology for delta virus is uncommon in Sichuan Province, The People's Republic of China.     

Effect of age and diet on cyclic nucleotide concentrations in the intestinal mucosa of developing rats

Mucosa isolated from the proximal third of the small intestine of infant rats had much lower cyclic nucleotide concentrations (expressed both per unit wet weight and per unit DNA content) than those determined in the intestinal wall. The steady-state concentrations of both cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP in jejunum showed dramatic increases during the first 5 d post partum. Another increase in cyclic nucleotide concentrations was observed in the isolated mucosa between d 15 and 21. Starvation for 24 h always resulted in lower intestinal cyclic nucleotide concentrations than those of the fed littermates. This effect was more pronounced in younger animals and more evident for cyclic AMP values. Three-week-old rats fed a high carbohydrate diet for 24-48 h exhibited more pronounced elevations in the concentrations of cyclic nucleotides from the jejunal mucosa than did rats fed a high fat diet.     

Selenium content and glutathione peroxidase activity in the testis of the maturing rat

In rats fed a diet with 0.25 mg Se/kg the testis selenium content rose during maturation. The value in 4-mo-old animals (7.0 mg Se/kg dry mass; 0.9 mg Se/kg wet mass) was six times higher than that in 20-d-old weanling rats. By comparison, the selenium content in the main selenium pools, muscle and liver, remained unchanged and rose by half, respectively. Due to the increased selenium requirement of the testis during its pubertal maturation the amount of selenium taken up by the male gonads was 50% of the amount deposited in muscle and liver, whereas before and after that period it was about 10%. Feeding animals a low vitamin E diet had no effect on the rise in testis selenium. Glutathione peroxidase activity was twice as high in 4-mo-old animals as in weanling rats. Because only a small percentage of the element in the male gonads was bound to the enzyme, the rise in testis selenium must have been due to other selenium compounds. The selenium content of the spermatozoa was about 21 mg Se/kg dry mass, which by far exceeded the level of this element in other compartments of the rat. The increase in testis selenium content coincided with the beginning of spermatogenesis, and it may therefore ensure the supply of adequate amounts of the element for the spermatozoa.     

Effect of feeding peptic digest of soy protein isolate on rat serum cholesterol

Growing rats were fed ad libitum soy protein isolate (SPI) or its peptic (SPI-P) or tryptic digest (SPI-T) for a month and their sera were examined for cholesterol and triglyceride levels and enzyme activities such as cholinesterase, glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and alkaline phosphatase. The rats fed SPI-P or SPI-T were inferior in growth to those fed SPI. Similarly, the serum glyceride level was lower in the SPI-P and SPI-T groups than in the SPI group. On the other hand, a significant difference was found in the serum cholesterol level between the SPI-P and SPI or SPI-T groups but not between the SPI and SPI-T groups. A similar tendency was observed for serum GPT and alkaline phosphatase activities, although there were no significant differences among dietary groups in small intestinal enzyme activities. As for the atherogenic index being a risk factor inducing atherosclerosis, the order of its value was SPI-P less than SPI less than SPI-T.     

Complement activation by female protein, the hamster homologue of human C-reactive protein

The capacity of Syrian hamster female protein (FP), a phosphorylcholine (PC)-binding pentraxin, to activate complement was tested in an in vitro system consisting of PC-coupled sheep red blood cells and guinea pig serum as the complement (C) source. FP was demonstrated to fix complement as reflected by hemolysis. Such hemolysis was eliminated by heat treatment (56 degrees C, 30 min) of guinea pig serum and inhibited by PC chloride but not dinitrophenyl lysine. The inability of C4-deficient guinea pig serum to provide lytic activity indicated that lysis proceeded through the classical hemolytic pathway.     

"Lysostrip" experiments with HLA class-II antigens. I. Independent surface mobility of DQ and DR molecules

We report on results of lysostrip experiments designated to analyse the molecular relations between DQ and DR antigens. The purpose of lysostrip application was to determine whether these antigens can independently be redistributed on B-cell surface by incubation with a specific antibody followed by incubation with F(ab')2 fragments of rabbit antihuman Ig. The obtained results have clearly shown that DQ antigens, and supertypic and narrow DR antigens, move independently, indicating that they are located on separate molecules, supporting the concept of different DQ and DR loci.     

Activation-induced changes in evoked and slow brain potentials: effect of cocaine in rabbits previously subchronically treated by cocaine

To study the type of adaptive modification (tolerance vs. sensitization) in different organism's indices following intermittent cocaine (COC) administrations, acute COC (2 mg/kg, SC)-induced changes in heart and breathing rate, response to increasing noxious stimulation, spontaneous EEG and event-related evoked and slow brain potentials (ERP) registered from the occipital cortex and hippocampal CA1 region were investigated in naive rabbits and one subchronically treated with COC (6 injections at a same dose). Tolerance developed for bradycardia, depression of noxious responsiveness, cortical desynchronization and increase of main components of cortical ERP, typical to acute COC, while the changes in breathing and hippocampal ERP were stable. These changes as well as a significant increase due to COC administrations of the basal values of an animal's noxious responsiveness and increase in relative changes in main component of cortical ERP (N205) are considered as a consequence of adaptive changes in neurophysiological/neurochemical substrate accepting COC action and mediating phenomena tolerance-sensitization and dependence typical to the drug.     

A phase I-II trial of 4'-deoxydoxorubicin (esorubicin) in refractory or relapsed acute leukemia

In a phase I-II study, 21 patients with relapsed or refractory acute leukemia were treated with 4'-deoxydoxorubicin (esorubicin), the 4'-deoxy derivative of doxorubicin. Four of 14 evaluable patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) in relapse or refractory to other anthracyclines achieved partial response (28.5%). Pharmacokinetics were similar to those of the parent compound, doxorubicin. Esorubicin has activity in ANLL and has pharmacologic properties comparable to those of other anthracyclines. Dose-limiting toxicity occurs in the form of mucositis, which may limit its use in combination with other antileukemic drugs.