The Kallikrein-Kinin system and muscle metabolism—Clinical aspects

The influence of synthetic bradykinin (BK) on disturbed protein and carbohydrate metabolism was studied in chemical and manifest maturity-onset diabetics, in surgical patients and in alloxan diabetic rats. BK,mixed with insulin and injected subcutaneously twice daily in alloxan diabetic rats lowered the morning blood glucose concentration in a dose-dependent way, whereas in a control group treated with insulin only no decrease was seen. Accelerated local blood flow or enhanced vascular permeability as a cause of increased glucose uptake could be ruled out by control experiments using papaverine and eledoisin. Better metabolic control in the BK/insulin-treated group was also indicated by lower arterial levels of free fatty acids and of -hydroxybutyrate, normalized hepatic glycogen content and better growth of body weight. In healthy man an intravenous infusion of BK (80 g/h) did not influence normal fasting blood glucose concentrations, whereas elevated glucose levels in maturity-onset diabetics were continuously reduced within 100 min by 12.2±1.4%. A comparable diabetic group receiving saline alone showed no spontaneous drop of blood glucose concentration. An improvement of pathological carbohydrate metabolism by infusion of BK i.v. could also be demonstrated using the intravenous glucose tolerance test in chemical and manifest maturity-onset diabetics and in surgical patients: in all groupsk values of the glucose tolerance test were significantly increased by BK. This effect was neither due to stimulated insulin release nor to changed glucose pool or to increased renal glucose loss, which was even reduced by BK. Interestingly, normalk values in healthy volunteers were not further improved by BK. A stimulated protein breakdown, which occurs after surgery due to peripheral insulin resistance, can also be restricted by intravenous infusion of BK: in surgical patients urinary nitrogen excretion was reduced by 50% during infusion of BK and was accelerated again after cessation of the infusion. These results indicate that BK can improve the efficacy of exogenous insulin in insulin-deficient animals and depressed insulin sensitivity in maturity-onset diabetics and surgical patients.     

Lysogeny and lysosensitivity inShigella dysenteriae group of bacteria

The temperate phage receptor substances were tested from two serologically related bacterial strains,Sh. dysenteriae 2 andSh. boydii 15. It was shown that the protein component of somatic antigen was responsible for phage receptor activity and that this component possessed common antigen properties.     

Cytokeratin polypeptide expression in a cloacogenic carcinoma and in the normal anal canal epithelium

Summary The aim of the present study was to explore the origin of cloacogenic carcinoma in the anal canal by immunohistochemical methods. We compared cytokeratin polypeptide expression of a cloacogenic carcinoma to normal anal epithelia, to anal squamous cell carcinoma and to basal and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, using a battery of monoclonal anti-cytokeratin, polypeptide-specific antibodies. Our results indicate that cloacogenic carcinoma expresses cytokeratin polypeptides similar to those of the basal layer of anal squamous epithelium, of the anal transitional zone epithelium and of a layer of basal cells in the anal glands. Thus we concluded that each of the above cell types may be the cell of origin of cloacogenic carcinoma.     

Monoclonal antibody purified beta 2-microglobulin: heterogeneity revealed by radioimmunoassay

A monoclonal antibody, CMRF1, to human beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) was used to purify antigen to develop an in-house beta 2m radioimmunoassay. This immunoadsorption purified material was used to prepare a rabbit anti-beta 2m serum and was radiolabelled for the radioimmunoassay. The assay compared favourably with a widely used commercial radioimmunoassay but the immunological potency of the in-house standard was lower than that of the commercial reagent. This potency difference was not accounted for by antigenic denaturation. Subsequent two-dimensional gel electrophoresis revealed a second 12,000 dalton protein with a higher isoelectric point than beta 2m in the immunoadsorption purified material, which was also present, although in lesser amounts, in the commercial product. The different relative content of the additional 12,000 dalton protein appeared to explain the immunological potency difference between the in-house and the commercial standard. These results strengthen suggestions that there may be some heterogeneity or polymorphism in human beta 2m.     

Tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome type II (Langer-Giedion) with persistent cloaca and prune belly sequence in a girl with 8q interstitial deletion.

A patient with the diagnosis of Langer-Giedion syndrome (tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome type II) and interstitial 8q deletion was also noted to have persistent cloaca and prune belly sequence. This is the first report of this association. If it postulated that these latter embryonic defects may be due to the chromosome abnormality, supporting the definition of contiguous gene syndrome.     

Exposure to Landfill Leachates Affects the Embryonic Development of Zebrafish,Danio rerio: A Case Study in Yucatan,Mexico

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology - We report the chemical characterisation and toxic effects of municipal solid waste landfill leachates on the embryonic development of Danio...     

The beginning of the end of principlism

Book reviewed in this article: Principles of Biomedical Ethics . By Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress.