Net vitamin C activity of erythorbic acid in guinea pigs

The enzyme activities, which are influenced by the vitamin C level in tissues, were measured to evaluate the vitamin C activity of erythorbic acid (ErA) in guinea pigs administered ErA. Guinea pigs were divided into two groups: animals in one group (control group) were administered 1, 5, and 100 mg/day ascorbic acid (AsA) and those in the other group (supplemented group) were administered 1, 5, 20, and 100 mg/day ErA for 16 days. At the end of the experimental period, they were sacrificed, blood was collected, and their livers were removed. The activities of liver aniline hydroxylase, of liver acid phosphatase, and of serum alkaline phosphatase, and the content of liver cytochrome P-450 were assayed. The activities of aniline hydroxylase and serum alkaline phosphatase and the content of liver cytochrome P-450 of the guinea pigs administered 1 mg ErA were lower than those of the guinea pigs administered 1 mg AsA. However, the enzyme activities and liver cytochrome P-450 content in the guinea pigs administered 5 mg or more of ErA were similar in level to those in the guinea pigs administered 5 mg AsA. These results suggested that administration of a considerably high amount of ErA to guinea pigs showed a similar vitamin C activity to that of AsA, which might suggest that vitamin C activity of ErA may be more than one-twentieth that of AsA, as has been generally believed.     

Tricuspid annuloplasty and right ventricular function in mitral valve disease

From 1985 to 1987, we examined relationship between the lesion of tricuspid valve and right ventricular function in 31 patients (male: 9, female: 22) with mitral valve disease. The median age at operation was 52 years (range 37-69 years). Group I consisted of 17 patients (MS: 10, MSR: 5, MR: 2) accompanied with tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and Group II 14 patients (MS: 12, MSR: 2) without TR. In all cases of Group I tricuspid annuloplasty (TAP) were performed correctly. De Vega methods were done in 12 cases and Carpentier rings were used in 5 cases. Cardiac catheterization was done before and after operation. And right ventricular volume was measured by right ventricular angiography. In both groups pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, pulmonary artery pressure and cardiac index were improved postoperatively. Pulmonary artery resistance (PAR) and total pulmonary resistance (TPR) in Group I were significantly higher before operation but there were no difference between two groups postoperatively. Right ventricular end-diastolic volume index (RVEDVI) and right ventricular end-systolic volume index (RVESVI) in Group I were significantly improved postoperatively, but in Group II these were within normal range both pre- and postoperatively. Preoperative PAR was correlated inversely with postoperative right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF). It means that patients with severe pulmonary vascular lesion had postoperative lower right ventricular function. In both groups, RVESVI was in inverse correlation with RVEF pre- and postoperatively. In both groups, there was an inverse correlation between the per cent change of RVESVI and that of RVEF. This means that RVESVI influenced right ventricular pump function.     

Expression of the differentiated phenotype of chondrocyte in adjuvant induced arthritis of rat.

Rat cartilage tissue was found to produce two types of proteoglycan monomers distinguished by density gradient centrifugation under dissociative condition and with different molecular size (PG I and PG II) as observed in cultured rabbit costal chondrocyte and human cartilaginous tissues. The incorporation of 35S-sulfate and distribution of the molecular size of proteoglycan (PG) were studied to determine the differentiated phenotypes of chondrocyte in adjuvant induced arthritis of rats. The cartilaginous tissue from the acute inflammatory phase shows a low incorporation of 35S-sulfate into PGs but produce the same hydrodynamic size as that of the control. After that acute phase the incorporation recovered suggesting of a repair phase. But in the chronic phase both the incorporation and the produced hydrodynamic size of PGs were severely alternated. With our method this paper shows the drastic alternation about the cartilaginous properties of rat chondrocytes under these circumstances.     

Comparison of [I]metaiodobenzylguanidine kinetics with heart rate variability and plasma norepinephrine level

Background. [¹²³I]Metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging has been used to assess cardiac sympathetic nerve abnormalities. We evaluated the clinical significance of myocardial MIBG imaging as a measure of cardiac sympathetic nervous system function by comparing it to heart rate variability and plasma norepinephrine level.Methods and Results. In 211 subjects, we analyzed heart rate variability with 24-hour electrocardiography, performed scintigraphy with MIBG, and measured plasma norepinephrine levels. Time and frequency domain measures of heart rate variability were calculated with the Marquette heart rate variability program (Marquette Electronics, Milwaukee, Wis.). Early and late myocardial MIBG uptakes were measured at 15 and 150 minutes after injection, respectively. MIBG clearance rate from the heart and heart-to-lung and heart-to-mediastinum ratios of MIBG activities were calculated. On the whole, heart rate variability, including low-frequency power, correlated positively, but modestly so, with late MIBG uptake and negatively with MIBG clearance rate. The plasma norepinephrine level correlated negatively with late MIBG uptake and with heart rate variability, including low-frequency power, and positively with MIBG clearance rate. Similar correlations were also observed in patient subgroups with coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, and renal failure, but these correlations were weak (R² < 0.5).Conclusions. Increased cardiac sympathetic nervous system activity may be associated with increased myocardial MIBG clearance and decreased heart rate variability, including low-frequency power. Because these associations were not strong, however, the combination of heart rate variability with MIBG may allow an interactive assessment of the cardiac autonomic nervous system.     

WIDESPREAD ECZEMA VACCINATUM ACQUIRED BY CONTACTS A Report of an Autopsy Case

A4-moth-old male infant predisposed to allergic dermatitis acquired widespread eczema vaccinatum by contacts with a recently vaccinated sibling. He died of acute purulent peritonitis following a perforation of multiple duodenal ulcers. Fluorescence immunocytochemical and electron microscopic studies on the skin lesions revealed the presence of viral antigens and numerous virus particles compatible morphologically with those of the mature form from the same batch of smallpox vaccine given to the sibling. A large number of virus particles in the developmental form were also predominantly scattered in the cytoplasm of cells at the stratum malpighii of the epidermis as well as in neutrophils and macrophages in the skin lesions. The virus isolation from the skin lesions was done by using the HeLa cells and the human embryonic lung fibroblasts. No abnormal laboratory data were noted in immunoglobulins. On the basis of atrophy of the thymus and other lymphatic tissues and an appearance of large pyroninophilic cells in association with blastoid transformation, the authors discussed a possible participation of the disturbance of cellular immunity secondary to the virus infection in the development of the disease. ACTA PATH. JAP. 29 : 435–455, 1979.     

Statistical and integrative approach for constructing biological network maps

A goal of systems biology is to build a concrete biochemical network map, which provides an important instruction to trace the pathways of interest or to understand the mechanism of a biological system. In the postgenomic era, not only the concrete biochemical maps, but also postgenomic maps (mRNA coexpression and protein-protein interaction networks) have been extensively produced. In the biochemical map, the individual reactions are reliable, but the number of the reactions is limited, because molecular biology requires extensive experiments to verify them. By contrast, postgenomic data provide much information regarding interactions, but are coarse-grained. To expand the biochemical network, an intuitional approach, which superposes postgenomic data on the map one by one, has been carried out, but it is not effective when a large amount of the coarse-grained data is handled. In order to effectively integrate such postgenomic interactions into a biochemical map, a statistical approach would be suitable rather than intuition. In this article, we proposed a novel statistical approach that integrates postgenomic interaction networks into the biochemical network, predicting novel pathways. A statistical correlation for such different types of networks identifies functional modules; subsequently the superposition of the different networks on the functional modules predicts inter-modular relations, which are the key pathways to construct a large-scale biochemical network.     

Activation of Rac1 by a Crk SH3-binding protein, DOCK180

DOCK180 is involved in integrin signaling through CrkII-p130^Cas complexes. We have studied the involvement of DOCK180 in Rac1 signaling cascades. DOCK180 activated JNK in a manner dependent on Rac1, Cdc42Hs, and SEK, and overexpression of DOCK180 increased the amount of GTP-bound Rac1 in 293T cells. Coexpression of CrkII and p130^Cas enhanced this DOCK180-dependent activation of Rac1. Furthermore, we observed direct binding of DOCK180 to Rac1, but not to RhoA or Cdc42Hs. Dominant-negative Rac1 suppressed DOCK180-induced membrane spreading. These results strongly suggest that DOCK180 is a novel activator of Rac1 and involved in integrin signaling.     

Comparative studies in induction of micronuclei by three genetically recombinant and urinary human erythropoietins

Comparative studies on the induction of micronucleated erythrocytesby three recombinant human erythropoietins (rhEPOs) such asepoetin     

Expression and localization of human herpesvirus 8-encoded proteins in primary effusion lymphoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, and multicentric Castleman's disease

To investigate the expression of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8)-encoded proteins in the cells of primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD), nine rabbit polyclonal antibodies to K2, ORF26, K8, K8.1, K10, K11, ORF59, ORF65, and ORF73 were developed. Western blot analysis in PEL cell lines (TY-1 and BCBL-1) revealed that the expression of these proteins, except ORF73 (LANA), was induced by tetradecanoylphorbol acetate (TPA) treatment, indicating that these proteins are lytic proteins. Immunofluorescence assay in primary PEL cells derived from pericardial effusion and PEL cell lines with and without TPA treatment revealed that primary PEL cells exhibited the same expression pattern as noninduced PEL cell lines, and the treatment changed localization of K8, ORF59, and ORF65 proteins. Immunohistochemistry revealed that 90% of KS spindle cells expressed the ORF73 protein, whereas a small population of KS cells expressed K8, K10, K11, ORF59, and ORF65 proteins. In MCD, ORF73, ORF59, K8, K2, and K10 proteins were expressed in the cells at mantle zone of the follicle. These data indicate that KS and PEL cells expressed predominantly latent proteins, whereas MCD expressed both latent and lytic proteins, suggesting that HHV8 plays a different role in the pathogenesis of HHV8-associated diseases.