Outer dense fibres of human spermatozoa: partial characterization and possible physiological functions

The outer dense fibres are accessory fibres in the spermatozoon. They represent up to 30% of the protein portion in human spermatozoa and are involved in sperm progressive motility. If outer dense fibres are missing or developed poorly, spermatozoa are only locally motile. For isolation of the outer dense fibres, human spermatozoa were sonicated at 25 kHz and the flagella were separated by density gradient centrifugation in Percoll. Thereafter, membranes and fibrous sheath were dissolved under reducing conditions in the cationic detergent cetyltrimethylammonium bromide for 30, 60 and 90 min, respectively. The isolation steps were monitored by phase contrast microscopy and electron microscopy. After SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and silver staining of isolated outer dense fibres, two protein bands at 55 and 67 kDa could be detected. By means of rhodamine B staining, no phosphorus could be detected in the outer dense fibre proteins.     

TSG-6基因在3T3-L1脂肪细胞诱导分化中表达水平的变化

[目的] 探讨TSG-6基因在3T3-L1脂肪细胞诱导分化中表达水平的变化。[方法] 采用细胞培养和RT-PCR技术，检测细胞诱导分化不同时段脂肪细胞中TSG-6基因的表达水平。[结果] ①随着脂肪细胞逐渐分化成熟，TSG-6基因mRNA表达水平逐渐升高；②TSG-6基因表达水平除在细胞分化第0-2d、第3-5d和第7-10d各时段内差异无显著性(P＞0.05)外，其余各时段之间表达水平差异均有显著性(P＜0.05)。[结论] TSG-6基因与细胞分化以及脂原形成可能相关。     

VEGETARIAN DIET COMPONENTS,PROTEIN AND BLOOD PRESSURE: WHICH NUTRIENTS ARE IMPORTANT?

1. Evidence that vegetarian dietary patterns lower blood pressure (BP) comes from both population studies and randomized controlled trials in normotensive and hypertensive subjects. 2. The effect has been shown most clearly in those who keep to a strict lacto-ovo vegetarian diet characterized by a relatively low intake of saturated fat, a high polyunsaturated/saturated fat ratio, and a high intake of fruit, vegetables and other fibre containing products. Randomized controlled dietary trials suggest the effects are independent of dietary sodium, additive to that of calorie restriction, and not due to the absence of meat protein per se. Indeed, recent population studies suggest an inverse relationship between dietary protein and BP. 4. Dietary fats, fibre, potassium, magnesium and calcium do not independently seem to account for the effects. A possible role for complex carbohydrate in conjunction with the other dietary factors has yet to be fully explored.     

Mechanisms underlying the antidopaminergic effect of clonazepam and melatonin in striatum

Intrastriatal injection of the GABA_A antagonist, bicuculline, caused about a 75% decrease in the inhibitory effect of the central-type benzodiazepine (BZ) agonist, clonazepam or the indoleamine hormone, melatonin, on apomorphine-induced rotation in a 6-hydroxydopamine model of dopaminergic supersensitivity. Pretreatment with the peripheral-type BZ antagonist, PK 11195 (intrastriatally or intraperitoneally), also attenuated the antidopaminergic effect of these drugs but with much less potency than bicuculline. However, the combination of both bicuculline and PK 11195, injected directly into the striatum, completely blocked the antidopaminergic action of clonazepam or melatonin. These results indicate that the antidopaminergic action of clonazepam and melatonin in the striatum involves two distinct mechanisms: (1) a predominant GABAergic activation via the BZ/GABA_A receptor complex, and (2) a secondary mechanism linked to a PK 11195- sensitive BZ receptor pathway. Recent studies indicate that PK 11195 blocks BZ-induced inhibition of the adenylyl cyclase-cyclic AMP pathway in the striatum. Since cyclic AMP has been implicated in the rotational behaviour of 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned animals, it is possible that the antidopaminergic action of clonazepam and melatonin also involves suppression of this second messenger. All rights reserved.     

Diet and phenylketonuria: time for change?

This article is a report of a meeting of dietitians held on 15 September 1992 in Birmingham to discuss the recommendations of a 'Medical Research Council Working Party on the Dietary Management of Phenylketonuria'. (Contributions on the day of the meeting came from Judith Houghton, Eleanor Weetch, Isabel Smith, Sheena Laing, Ruth Watling, John Walter, Rodney Pollitt.)     

Pharmacokinetics of reboxetine in healthy volunteers. Single oral doses,linearity and plasma protein binding

The pharmacokinetics of reboxetine, a new antidepressant agent, were found to be close to linear in a crossover study comparing administration of single 2, 3, 4 and 5 mg capsule doses in 15 healthy male volunteers, and in the same study the capsules were bioequivalent to the proposed therapeutic tablet formulation (4mg). Kinetic analysis was based on HPLC assay of reboxetine in plasma and urine collected up to 72 h after each administration. Plasma levels indicated a rapid absorption (t_max?2h) and an elimination half-life of about 13 h. Clearance and volume of distribution were modest (ratios to bioavailability: CL/F?29 mL min^?1; V_z/F?32L); urinary excretion was ～9% of dose, corresponding to a renal clearance of only 3 mL min^?1 (a value consistent with the rate of glomerular filtration of unbound drug). In vitro, binding to plasma proteins, estimated from radioactivity levels following dialysis of ¹⁴C-labelled reboxetine, appeared to be dominated by α₁-acid glycoprotein without marked saturation up to plasma concentrations of over 500 ng mL^?1 (2.8–3.1% unbound with human plasma from three additional volunteers; 1.8–2.0% for 2gL^?1 orosomucoid α₁-acid glycoprotein, and 46.4–47.4% for 40 gL^?1 albumin), whilst the mean C_max in the current study was much lower (164 ng mL^?1 after a 5 mg dose).