Agonistic and antagonistic activities of bacterially derived Rhodobacter sphaeroides lipid A: comparison with activities of synthetic material of the proposed structure and analogs.

Lipid A from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides (RSLA) has been previously shown to antagonize many of the effects of endotoxins from more pathogenic gram-negative bacteria. We have reported on the synthesis of the proposed structure of RSLA and determined that bacterially derived RSLA is not identical to its proposed structure (W.J. Christ, P. D. McGuinness, O. Asano, Y. Wang, M. A. Mullarkey, M. Perez, L. D. Hawkins, T. A. Blythe, G. R. Dubuc, and A. L. Robidoux, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 116:3637-3638, 1994). Here we report results of analyzing the antagonistic and agonistic activities of bacterially derived RSLA in comparison with the activities of chemically synthesized material of the proposed structure of RSLA and analogs. Results indicated that all compounds were approximately equally potent at inhibiting endotoxin-induced release of tumor necrosis factor alpha from human monocytes and human whole blood as well as endotoxin-induced generation of nitric oxide in murine macrophages. In addition, all compounds were of equivalent potencies at inhibiting the binding of 125I-labelled lipopolysaccharide derivatized with 2-(p-azido-salicylamido) ethyl-1-3'-dithiopropionate to murine macrophages. Higher concentrations of bacterially derived RSLA (10 to 100 microM) were agonistic in human and murine assays. In gamma interferon-treated murine macrophages, agonism was exhibited at concentrations as low as 100 nM. In contrast, all synthetic materials were either dramatically less agonistic or devoid of agonistic activity when tested at concentrations as high as 100 microM. It is possible either that bacterially derived RSLA contains a small amount of a highly agonistic impurity or that the agonistic activity of RSLA is intrinsic to its molecular structure. In either case, these biological results support our previous report concluding that biologically derived RSLA is not identical to synthetic material of its proposed structure.     

Progress in 3-D treatment planning for photon beam therapy

The purpose of this report is to study the feasibility of improving dose distributions using non-coplanar photon beams from a linear accelerator. Non-coplanar beams may enter the patient in any arbitrary configuration. This type of treatment technique requires a three-dimensional (3-D) planning system. Clinical examples are used to illustrate the general problems in 3-D treatment planning, and the potential improvement over coplanar beam treatments. Features of a treatment planning system for 3-D planning are discussed.     

Metastatic bronchogenic carcinoma masquerading as a felon

This report describes a rare occurrence of a subcutaneous metastatic bronchogenic carcinoma to the distal fingertip. The original clinical presentation suggested an infectious process. Subsequent roentgenograms, sterile cultures, and positive biopsy material revealed that the lesion started as a subcutaneous metastasis that secondarily involved adjacent bone. Amputation of the digit was performed.     

Dose dependent pharmacokinetics of prednisone and prednisolone in man

Six healthy male volunteers were given 5, 20, and 50 mg of oral prednisone and 5, 20, and 40 mg doses of intravenous prednisolone. Plasma and urine concentrations of prednisone and prednisolone were determined by HPLC, and the binding of prednisolone to plasma proteins was measured by radioisotopic and equilibrium dialysis techniques. The pharmacokinetics of both oral prednisone and intravenous prednisolone were dose-dependent. The mean oral dose plasma clearances of prednisone ranged from 572 ml/min/ 1.73 m ² for the 5mg dose to 2271 ml/min/1.73 m ² for the 50 mg dose. Changes in prednisone half-life were insignificant, but increases in the half-life of its metabolite were dose-dependent. The systemic plasma clearance of i.v. prednisolone was dose-dependent and increased from 111 to 194 ml/min/1.73 m ² over the 5 to 40 mg i.v. dosage range. The steady-state volume of distribution also increased, but little change in mean transit time and half-life was found. The binding of prednisolone to plasma proteins was markedly concentration-dependent, and a two compartment, nonlinear equation was used to characterize the effective binding of prednisolone to transcortin and albumin. The apparent pharmacokinetic parameters of protein-free and transcortin-free prednisolone were relatively constant with dose. The interconversion of prednisone and prednisolone varied with time and dose, although prednisolone concentrations dominated by 4-to 10-fold over prednisone. In urine, 2–5% of either administered drug was excreted as prednisone and 11–24% as prednisolone. The apparent renal clearances of both steroids were also nonlinear and unrelated to protein binding. These studies indicate that the pharmacokinetics of prednisone and prednisolone are dose-dependent and that protein binding does not fully explain their apparent nonlinear distribution and disposition.This work was supported in part by Grant 24211 from the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health.     

Transport of alpha-keto analogues of amino acids across blood-brain barrier in rats

The transport of 14C-labeled alpha-keto acids across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) was studied in rats anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital using a modification of a single-injection dual-isotope technique. alpha-Keto acids were found to cross the BBB via a saturable carrier-mediated transport system that may be specific based on lack of inhibition by glucose, isoleucine, and ketone bodies on the uptake of tracer levels of 14C-labeled alpha-keto acids. alpha-Ketobutyrate and alpha-keto-gamma-methiolbutyrate, both straight chain keto acids, and alpha-ketoisocaproate, a branched-chain keto acid, appeared to cross the barrier by a common carrier based on cross-inhibition studies. Aromatic keto acids had no effect on the uptake of tracer levels of these 14C-keto acids. The Km of transport of alpha-ketobutyrate, alpha-ketoisocaproate, and alpha-keto-gamma-methiolbutyrate, was 0.11, 0.60, and 0.33 mM, respectively. The corresponding Vmax was 15.7, 73.3, and 30.2 nmol . g-1 . min-1. Phenylpyruvate was found not to cross the BBB. Inhibition of brain uptake of alpha-keto acids by propionate and pyruvate, and not by DL-beta-hydroxybutyrate suggests that alpha-keto acids and monocarboxylic acids are transported either via a common system independent of ketone bodies or share an affinity with a monocarboxylic acid and an alpha-keto acid transport system.     

Enhanced growth of tumor isografts in rats after skin allografting.

Full-thickness skin grafts from either BN (Ag-B3) or WF (Ag-B2) rats were transplanted to WF recipients of the same sex. Six to seven days after grafting, recipients were challenged with isografts of a chemically induced rat colon carcinoma, NG-W1. In three of four experiments, mean challenge tumor volumes were greater after allografting than after skin isografting. Tumor incidences, however, were no different in rats after skin allograft or isograft placement. When isografts of a polyoma virus-induced sarcoma, P-W13, were used to challenge WF rats after skin grafting, tumor incidence was significantly greater in animals which has received allografts, whether or not they also had been immunized to P-W13 before challenge. Thus, in otherwise untreated inbred rats, grafting of full-thickness skin from donors differing at a major histocompatibility locus led to facilitated growth of solid tumor isografts in animals undergoing allograft rejection.