The effect of lithium on amphetamine-induced locomotor stimulation

Rats were treated chronically with -methyl-p-tyrosine methyl-ester HCl (-MT) twice daily for 0–14 days. At 1 h after the (last) -MT injection, d-amphetamine sulphate was given and motor activity was measured in an ANIMEX activity meter for 4 h. Amphetamine-induced excitatory and stereotyped behaviour was scored according to a rating scale in a separate experiment. A single dose of -MT markedly reduced the activity response after amphetamine. After 1–3 days of -MT treatment, tolerance to its amphetamine-antagonistic affect started to develop, reaching a maximal degree after 7–14 days. The pattern of the amphetamine response, monophasic in control rats, became biphasic in the -MT tolerant rats with an early (at 0–1 h) and a late (2–4 h) peak of motor activity. The late peak appeared within 3 days, while the early peak appeared after 7 days of -MT treatment. The results on amphetamine-induced excitatory and stereotyped behaviour in essence agreed with the motor-activity data. It is concluded that tolerance to the amphetamine-antagonistic action of -MT is not complete. Its rate of development varies in a complex pattern, indicating the presence of more than one mechanism of tolerance.     

γ-Glutamyltransferase test as a new tool for identification of seminal stains

Summary A simple qualitative method for identification of seminal stains based on a high activity of -glutamyltransferase (-GTP) in human semen is described. It employs the release of -naphthylamine from N--glutamyl--naphthylamide by the -GTP action; -naphthylamine couples with Fast Garnet GBC salt to produce a strong brownish-red color. The data on its simplicity, specificity, and stability show that the present method is suitable for medicolegal examination of seminal stains as a preliminary test.     

Adenosine receptor activation by adenine nucleotides requires conversion of the nucleotides to adenosine

Summary Adenine nucleotides cause adenosine receptor-mediated increases in cyclic AMP in the VA13 human fibroblast line. Levels of adenosine accumulated in the medium are insufficient to account for the responses to adenine nucleotides. Since rapid conversion of the nucleotides to adenosine by 5-nucleotidase in the vicinity of the receptor might account for the responses, six experimental methods were developed to distinguish between local conversion and direct action of the nucleotides. Results of all six methods favored local conversion. (1) 5-Nucleotidase inhibitors blocked the accumulations of cyclic AMP elicited by AMP, ADP, and ATP, but did not affect the response to adenosine. The most potent inhibitor of both conversion of AMP and response to AMP was ,-methylene-ADP (APCP). (2) Adenosine deaminase blocked the responses to AMP, ADP, ATP, and adenosine-containing coenzymes. (3) Theophylline, a specific competitive adenosine antagonist, was an insurmountable inhibitor of the increases in cyclic AMP caused by AMP, ADP, and ATP. The insurmountability was presumably due to substrate sataration of the converting enzyme 5-nucleotidase. (4) Although ADP and ATP had partial agonist-like dose-response curves, they did not inhibit the response to adenosine. (5) Nine cell lines which responded to adenosine were tested for response to AMP. Cell lines with high levels of 5-nucleotidase had large responses to AMP, those with intermediate levels of 5-nucleotidase had large or intermediate responses to AMP, and those with low 5-nucleotidase levels did not respond to AMP. (6) Inhibition of the uptake of labelled adenosine was used as an indicator of unlabelled adenosine concentrations near the cell membrane. Unlabelled AMP inhibited uptake nearly as effectively as unlabelled adenosine. APCP reversed the inhibition by AMP but not the inhibition by adenosine.The adenosine receptor is concluded to be an enity distinct from adenine nucleotide receptors.Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego. Supported by NIMH DA-00265 and PHS RR 05665. The author has been a NSF Graduate Fellow. An abstract of this material has been published (Bruns 1977)     

Respecting the aesthetic units in the surgery of palpebral malignancy

Summary The authors, based on their own experience in this field suggest their own therapeutical view which can be described as follows: a much more frequent use of plastic procedures using sliding flaps from the cheek, associated usually with chondromucosal free grafts from the septum, will give not only much better aesthetic results but also a better guarantee against neoplastic recurrence due to the possibility of being able to carry out a much larger ablation.     

Differential effects of electrical stimulation,blockade of neuronal amine uptake and activation of α2-adrenoceptors on the release of endogenous noradrenaline and 5-hydroxytryptamine from the isolated rat pineal gland

Summary Isolated rat pineal glands were incubated in vitro and the release of endogenous noradrenaline or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) was determined by HPLC with electrochemical detection. In the absence of test drugs, the spontaneous outflow of noradrenaline was about 10 fmol/10 min and electrical stimulation (5 Hz, 1500 pulses) evoked the release of about 70 fmol noradrenaline. Nomifensine enhanced the spontaneous outflow of noradrenaline about threefold and the electrically evoked release of noradrenaline about sixfold. In the presence of nomifensine, the ₂-adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine markedly increased the electrically evoked release of noradrenaline, whereas the ₁-adrenoceptor antagonist prazosin had no effect. Clonidine inhibited the electrically evoked release of noradrenaline by about 65%, and this was antagonized by yohimbine in a competitive manner. In the absence of drugs, the initial spontaneous outflow of 5-HT was (compared with noradrenaline) very high 64 mol/10 min. It declined by 80% within 1 h of incubation in vitro. The outflow of 5-HIAA amounted initially to 38 mol/10 min and declined by 40% within 1 h of incubation. Addition of l-tryptophan (10 mol/1) after 1 h of incubation in vitro largely enhanced the outflow of 5-HT and 5-HIAA within 30 min of incubation (about ten- and fourfold, respectively). When l-tryptophan was present from the onset of incubation the initial outflow of 5-HT and 5-HIAA was only slightly elevated, but the decline was largely attenuated. Neither omission of calcium nor addition of nomifensine, clonidine or yohimbine significantly affected the spontaneous outflow of 5-HT or 5-HIAA. Likewise, neither electrical stimulation in the absence or presence of nomifensine and yohimbine nor stimulation by high potassium (45 mmol/1) significantly affected the outflow of 5-HT or 5-HIAA.In conclusion, the release of endogenous noradrenaline from the sympathetic nerves terminating in the pin eal gland is inhibited by presynaptic ₂-adrenoceptors. The outflow of 5-HT from the pineal gland originates almost exclusively from non-neuronal cells, most probably the pinealocytes, and depends largely on a continuous de novo synthesis. Catabolism of 5-HT to 5-HIAA in the pineal gland occurs mainly in an extraneuronal compartment, probably the pinealocytes and/or the interstitial cells of the pineal gland. Send offprint requests to K. Racké at the above address     

Unlabeled hemoglobin adducts of 4,4′-methylenebis (2-chloroaniline) in rats and guinea pigs

The capacity of N-oxidized metabolites of 4,4-methylenebis(2-chloroaniline) (MBOCA) to form hemoglobin (Hb) adducts was determined in vitro, and the formation of Hb adducts following in vivo administration of MBOCA was assessed with or without prior induction of cytochrome P-450 enzymes with phenobarbital or -naphthoflavone. Hb adduct formation was determined by electron-capture GLC of MBOCA as the heptafluorobutyryl derivative following mild acid hydrolysis of protein-bound MBOCA. The method was confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring. N-hydroxy- and mononitroso-MBOCA, but not MBOCA itself, formed adducts to rat and human Hb in vitro in a dose-related manner. Binding was inhibited by cysteine and glutathione but not oxidized glutathione or methionine. Intravenous administration of as little as 0.04 mol/kg N-hydroxy-MBOCA to rats resulted in measurable formation of MBOCA-Hb adducts (0.9 ng/50 mg Hb). Intraperitoneal administration of 0.5–50 mg/kg MBOCA to rats, and subcutaneous administration of 5–500 mg/kg MBOCA to rats and 4–100 mg/kg to guinea pigs resulted in dose-related formation of Hb adducts. MBOCA-Hb remained elevated in blood for greater than 10 weeks following a single subcutaneous dose in guinea pigs. Pretreatment of rats with phenobarbital induced microsomal benzphetamine N-demethylase (BND) activity and resulted in a small increase in in vitro N- andortho- hydroxylation of MBOCA, but did not increase in vivo Hb adducts. Pretreatment of rats with -naphthoflavone induced microsomal aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase as well as ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase, and increased in vitro N- but notortho-hydroxylation of MBOCA. -Naphthoflavone pretreatment increased the formation of MBOCA-Hb adducts when rats were dosed with MBOCA at 100 and 500 mg/kg, but not 20 mg/kg subcutaneously.     

Solubilization and Stabilization of a Benzylpenicillin Chemical Delivery System by 2-Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin

A dihydropyridine pyridinium salt redox carrier-based chemical delivery system for benzylpenicillin (1) was complexed with 2-hydroxypropyl--cyclodextrin (HPCD). The solubility of the lipophilic 1, which is incompatible with aqueous formulations, was dramatically increased and showed a linear dependency on the HPCD concentration. The degree of incorporation was 20 mg of 1 per g of complex. The stability study of 1 in various pH buffers indicated the base-catalyzed hydrolysis of the acyloxyalkyl linkage and the hydration of the 5,6 double bond of the dihydropyridine as the main degradation processes. The overall loss of 1, which follows first-order kinetics, was not influenced by changes in ionic strength and elimination of oxygen from the reaction medium. The HPCD complex of 1, which has a stability constant of 720–940 M ^–1, stabilized the chemical delivery system. The influence of the temperature on the stability of 1 is also discussed.     

α1-adrenergic receptors in the liver parenchyma in children: Changes associated with cirrhosis

All-Russian Research Center for Molecular Diagnosis and Treatment, Ministry of Health of Russia. Research Institute of Pediatrics, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences M. Ya. Studenikin.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 114, No. 8, pp. 134–135, August, 1992     

Synthesis of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) by human monocytes in vitro

Research Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Ministry of Health of the Belorussian SSR, Minsk. Institute of Experimental Hematology and Biotechnology, All-Union Hematologic Scientific Center, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR E. A. Zotikov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 112, No. 9, pp. 287–289, September, 1991.     

Growth plate injury of the long bones in treated β-thalassemia

In 12 patients affected by thalassemia major who received an intensive transfusion regimen combined with continuous iron chelation therapy (desferrioxamine 50–80 mg/kg daily), radiologic abnormalities of the long bones were observed similar to those observed in rickets and scurvy. These abnormalities were associated with a growth retardation. The pathogenesis of these lesions is uncertain, but probably the toxic effect of desferrioxamine plays an important role in their development. A relative deficiency of vitamins D and/or C cannot be entirely excluded.