Ventral medulla pHi measured in vivo by 31P NMR is not regulated during hypercapnia in anesthetized rat

Chemoreceptors in the ventral medulla contribute to the respiratory response to hypercapnia. Do they ‘sense’ intracellular pH (pH_i)? We measured pH_i in the ventral medulla or cortex (control) using ³¹P-NMR obtained via a novel 3×5 mm² surface coil in anesthetized rats breathing air or 7% CO₂. During air breathing over 240 min, pH_i decreased slightly from 7.13±0.02 to 7.05±0.02 (SEM; n=5; 2 cortex, 3 ventral medulla). During 180 min of hypercapnia, cortical pH_i (n=4) decreased from 7.17±0.02 to 6.87±0.01 by 90 min and recovered by 150 min. Ventral medulla pH_i showed no such regulation. It decreased from 7.11±0.02 to 6.88±0.02 at 90 min and recovered only after cessation of hypercapnia (n=5), results consistent with pH_i being the chemoreceptor stimulus. However, non-chemoreceptor neurons that contribute to our medullary NMR signal also do not appear to regulate pH_i in vitro. Regional differences in pH_i regulation between cortex and ventral medulla may be due to both chemosensitive and non-chemosensitive neurons.     

Superior colliculus neurons provide the saccadic motor error signal

Summary Studies of the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus have suggested that it provides a desired change in eye position signal (E) for the generation of saccadic eye movements. Recent evidence, however, has shown that some neurons in these layers may be related to the velocity of saccades. We present single cell recordings from the intermediate layers of monkey superior colliculus that are consistent with the hypothesis that many superior colliculus neurons provide instead a motor error signal, e_m. Our hypothesis about the function of these cells places them inside the local feedback loop controlling the waveform of the saccade.Supported by Individual NRSA F32-EY05950 from the National Eye Institute     

利用噬菌体肽库技术获得与人Fas结合的多肽基序

目的　利用噬菌体随机肽库技术获得与人Fas胞外区结合的多肽及其多肽基序 ,观察多肽基序的生物学功能。方法　以人Fas胞外区与IgGFc段的融合蛋白Fas .Fc为筛选配基 ,筛选噬菌体随机九肽库 ;微量淘洗与ELISA相结合鉴定阳性克隆 ,DNA测序和分析。化学合成多肽进行竞争性ELISA以及细胞增殖抑制实验。结果　经过 4轮亲和筛选 ,微量淘洗鉴定 ,获得 4 2个阳性克隆 ;固定ELISA实验显示筛选到的噬菌体短肽能与Fas .Fc特异性结合 ,并呈剂量依赖关系 ;随机选取 13个阳性克隆进行DNA测序 ,其序列及出现几率分别为 :PRKARVDTS(2 / 13)、YKKKSLQVQ (2 / 13)、YKKKSMLQA(2 / 13)、SRKKYDQYA(4/ 13)、YARKIKPTA(2 / 13)和ARKKTEGAG(1/ 13)。经多重序列分析 ,获得多肽基序 : R/KKK A。在ELISA和竞争性ELISA实验中 ,化学合成多肽EGEFYKKKSM LQADPAK (P3)可抑制Fas与抗人Fas单抗Apo 1的结合 ,且呈剂量效应关系 ;P3不能抑制Fas与FasL的结合。细胞增殖实验表明 ,多肽可抑制Jurkat细胞增殖 ,且随多肽剂量的增加而加强。多肽与单抗Apo 1联合作用对Jurkat细胞增殖的影响与单独使用P3没有明显差别。结论　通过噬菌体随机肽库技术获得与Fas结合的多肽及其多肽基序 ,它们可能模拟了抗Fas抗体Apo 1对Fas的结合位点 ,为基于Fas凋     

神经症患者与正常人骨密度对照研究

目的探讨神经症患者骨密度情况.方法选择住院神经症患者60例为研究组;正常人60名为对照组.采用SPA-4系列骨矿分析仪,分别测量患者和正常人的骨线密度（BMC）和骨面密度（BMC/BW）,测量部位为右前臂桡骨中下1/3交界处.结果神经症患者的骨密度值BMC和BMC/BW均显著低于正常人（P〈0.01）.可能原因有：患者运动时间少,吸烟量高于正常人,与神经内分泌和免疫功能有关.结论神经症患者的骨密度低于正常人.     

Interaction of peripheral and central respiratory drives in cats I. Effects of sodium cyanide as a peripheral chemoreceptor stimulus at different levels of CSF pH

In cats anesthetized with chloralose-urethane, the central respiratory chemoreceptors were exposed to mock CSF of pH 7.02, 7.20, or 7.57. The right carotid body was simultaneously stimulated by intracarotid injections of 40, 80, or 160 μg sodium cyanide in 200 μl Ringer solution. The left carotid nerve and, in some animals, both vagosympathetic truncs were dissected. It could be demonstrated the the increase in ventilation produced by application of NaCN to the peripheral chemoreceptors is significantly larger at high than at low mock CSF pH (i.e. at low than at high central stimulus intensity). In vagotomized cats the responses of V_T and gelai to NaCN similarly depend upon CSF pH; they are somewhat larger, though, than in intact animals. These results are discussed as compared with results reported by different authors. Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Be 477)     

Biological balance of sodium and potassium

Summary The rhythm of renal sodium and potassium excretion was measured in 4-h-intervals in 12 subjects. Each person exhibited clear circadian variations of each variable with a maximum between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. In each subject and for both circadian rhythms the oscillation mean was correlated to the range of oscillation (amplitude).Increase in sodium or potassium excretion during 1 day resulted in an increase of oscillation range. The oscillation means of sodium and potassium periodicity did not correlate.The properties of biological control systems with oscillating correcting variables are comparable to those of technical control systems. The significance of circadian rhythm for the control of electrolyte balance is indicated.     

Periodic breathing and genetics

The episodic waxing and waning of ventilation is a fundamental event in sleep apnea syndromes. Post-hypoxic frequency decline (PHFD) and periodic breathing (PB) are evoked by brief hypoxic exposures in unanaesthetized and unrestrained inbred C57BL/6J mice, but not in A/J mice; and expression of PHFD differs not only among these mice strains but in among rat strains as well. These observations along with the current literature on genetic factors that operate on ventilatory behavior at rest and with chemosensory drive lead to the hypothesis that genetic factors infer some proportion of risk for the ventilatory instability observed in human sleep apnea syndromes.     

Ventilatory response to oscillating and non-oscillatingPa CO 2 in the anesthetized cat

Summary In 11 adult cats, lightly anesthetized with chloralose-urethane, blood from both common carotid arteries was led into a plastic chamber of 15–20 ml and returned to the carotids at a point 1.5 cm more cranial. By doing so arterial blood was assumed to pool within the chamber and lose itsP _{CO 2} oscillations which are normally known to exist as a result of the respiratory cycle. In control periods blood bypassed the chamber, thus maintaining respiratoryP _{CO 2} oscillations. Spontaneous ventilation was measured spirometrically. The animals were breathing pure O₂.Results. 1. When the sinus (carotid) nerves were intact or sectioned there was no significant difference in ventilation before or after switching from non-oscillating to oscillatingPa _{CO 2}. 2. When the vertebral arteries were ligated a drop in ventilation occurred after turning to oscillatingPa _{CO 2} which was followed by a slight rise above control values after 30–50 sec. This phenomenon was independent of sinus nerve integrity. Thus in hyperoxie condition the smallPa _{CO 2} oscillations known to occur in phase with respiration do not seem to provide a respiratory stimulus to resting ventilation above that generated by the mean level ofPa _{CO 2}. The ventilatory depression after vertebral artery ligation must at this time remain unexplained.     

Extraction of organic acids by ion-pair extraction with tri-n-octylamine - VIII. Identification of synthetic dyes in pharmaceutical preparations

Synthetic dyes were extracted from syrups, oral suspensions, tablets, gelatin capsules, suppositories and granules by ion-pair formation with tri-n-octylamine (TnOA) and back-extracted with perchlorate ions. Identification was performed by TLC on cellulose layers and by reversed phase ion-pair HPLC.     

Behavioural activity of rats measured by a new method based on the piezo-electric principle

Spontaneous and drug-induced (haloperidol, apomorphine, and amphetamine) motor activity of rats was measured simultaneously via two distinct and independent methods: the classical optical scanning technique and a new procedure based on the piezo-electric principle. The latter procedure measured animal-induced mechanical vibrations of a flexible cage floor which were transduced into electric signals via piezo-electricity. The piezo method appeared to be relatively more sensitive in recording the small, stereotyped motor movements induced by apomorpine (0.63–10 mg/kg) and high doses of amphetamine (2.5–20 mg/kg). The optical scanning technique, on the other hand, was more sensitive in recording horizontal displacements across the cage such as induced by low doses of amphetamine (0.31–2.5 mg/kg). Both methods showed comparable sensitivity in recording the depression of behaviour induced by haloperidol (0.04–1.25 mg/kg) or low doses of apomorphine (0.04–0.16 mg/kg). The piezo method may complement the optical scanning procedure, and thereby enhance the information on the extent that test compounds modify animal behaviour.