A twin study of ethanol metabolism

Blood alcohol measurements were obtained for 206 pairs of twins who had ingested a standard dose of alcohol (0.75 g/kg body weight) and repeat measurements were obtained for 40 of these pairs on a second occasion. The repeatability of the peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was 0.66, that of the rate of elimination was 0.39, and that of the time to peak BAC was 0.27. Only a small portion of the nonrepeatable variance could be explained by measurement error or drinking experience. It is concluded that short-term environmental factors exercise considerable influence on alcohol metabolism, particularly in the absorption phase. All of the repeatable variance in peak BAC and rate of elimination was due to genetic factors. Only a small proportion of any of the genetic variance could be explained by individual differences in weight, adiposity, or lung function. Likewise, these three factors were unable to account for the fact that females had higher BACs than males during both absorption and elimination.This work was supported by a grant in aid from the Australian Associated Brewers.     

Ventilatory anaerobic threshold in healthy children

Summary The ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VAT) during graded exercise was defined as the oxygen uptake ( ) immediately below the exercise intensity at which pulmonary ventilation increased disproportionally relative to . Since VAT is considered to be a sensitive and noninvasive measure for evaluating cardiorespiratoy endurance performance, the purpose of the present study was to determine normal values in children. We examined 257 healthy children (140 boys and 117 girls) varying in age from 5.7 to 18.5 years, during treadmill exercise. The data were analyzed in relation to sex and age. In boys the lowest (ml · min⁻¹ · kg⁻¹) was found in the youngest age group (5–6 year). In girls, on the other hand, no significant increase occurred with age. For VAT, expressed as ml O₂ · min⁻¹ · kg⁻¹ or as a percent of a significant decrease was found in boys and girls with age. This suggests an increase in lactacid anaerobic capacity during growth. In contrast to observations in adults, only low correlations were found between and VAT (r=0.28 in boys and r=0.52 in girls), which suggests that the development of the underlying physiological mechanism does not occur at the same rate in growing children. These data provide normal values for VAT that can be used for clinical exercise testing in the pediatric age group.     

Use of post-mortem human synaptosomes for studies of metabolism and transmitter amino acid release

Synaptosomes have been prepared from human brain obtained at autopsies carried out up to 24 h postmortem (p.m.). They showed generally good retention of morphology, as well as accumulation of tissue potassium and linear rates of oxygen uptake. In response to veratrine depolarization they showed increased respiration rate, decreased tissue potassium content and the specific release of transmitter amino acids. Regression analysis indicated that metabolically and functionally active preparations may be obtained up to ca. 25 h p.m. Preparations obtained from patients dying with brain injury were inactive.     

Changes of energy metabolism,myosin light chain composition,lactate dehydrogenase isozyme pattern and fibre type distribution of denervated fast-twitch muscle from rabbit after low frequency stimulation

The influence of low frequency (8–10 Hz) electrical stimulation on denervated fast-twitch muscle from rabbit was investigated. Prolonged direct stimulation of denervated muscle resulted in higher oxidative enzyme activities. Furthermore, single fibre analyses for succinate dehydrogenase showed a more uniform distribution of activity in stimulated-denervated muscle when compared to normal muscle. As was also the case following stimulation of innervated muscle, glycolytic enzymes were decreased in activity and the LDH-isozyme pattern also shifted towards heart type. No change of the myosin light chain pattern could be observed after 56 days of stimulation.This study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Sonderforschungsbereich 138, and by grant NI 204-2-2. H. R. is grateful to Dr. Dirk Pette for his guidance and encouragement during this work, which was done in Dr. Pette's laboratory at the University of Konstanz     

大鼠肝再生中糖代谢相关基因的表达变化

目的了解糖类代谢相关基因在大鼠肝再生中的表达变化。方法本研究用搜集网站资料和查阅相关论文等方法获得糖类代谢相关基因,用大鼠基因组230 2.0芯片检测它们在大鼠再生肝中的表达情况,用比较手术组和假手术组中基因表达的差异性确定肝再生相关基因。结果初步证实上述基因中118个基因与肝再生相关。肝再生早期[部分肝切除(PH)后0.5~4h]、前期(PH后4~12h)、中期(PH后16~66h)和后期(PH后72~168h)等4个阶段起始表达的基因数为33、6、68和7;基因的总表达次数为68、44、210和83。表明肝再生相关基因主要在肝再生启动阶段起始表达,在不同阶段发挥作用。它们共上调205次,下调200次,分为12种表达方式,表明肝再生中糖代谢活动多样和复杂。其中,单糖和糖原代谢、糖蛋白和糖脂(主要为神经节苷脂)合成相关基因几乎在整个肝再生中表达增强,寡糖和糖胺聚糖合成及糖蛋白和糖脂分解相关基因表达下调。结论肝再生与糖代谢密切相关。     

遗传性果糖不耐受症

遗传性果糖不耐受症（HFI）是一种罕见的、由于先天性醛缩酶B缺陷导致的果糖代谢病。为常染色体隐性遗传性疾病。特征是摄取果糖、蔗糖或山梨醇后发生严重的低血糖。若不及时终止此类食物，会导致肝肾功能损伤及生长发育障碍。本病诊断比较困难，治疗主要以对症治疗和饮食控制为主。本文就遗传性果糖不耐受症的临床生化特征、诊治方法及醛缩酶B损伤的分子学基础进行综述，为临床早期发现、早期诊断、早期治疗遗传性果糖不耐受症提供参考。     

脂类代谢和运输涉及的基因与大鼠肝再生的相关性分析

目的在基因转录水平了解脂类代谢和运输相关基因在大鼠肝再生(LR)中的表达变化和模式。方法用搜集网站资料和查阅相关论文等方法获得参与脂类代谢和运输基因,用大鼠基因组230 2.0芯片检测它们在大鼠再生肝中的表达情况,用比较手术和假手术中基因表达的差异性确定肝再生相关基因。结果初步证实上述基因中193个基因与肝再生相关。肝再生早期[部分肝切除(PH)后0.5~4h]、前期(PH后6~12h)、中期(PH后12~66h)、后期(PH后72~168h)等4个阶段起始表达的基因数为113、20、66和1;基因的总表达次数为250、205、796和293。共上调852次,下调630次,分为27种表达方式。肝再生早期和前期胆汁酸代谢相关基因转录减弱;早期和后期糖皮质激素分解相关基因转录增强;前期和中期磷脂合成相关基因转录增强,磷脂分解相关基因转录减弱;中期脂肪酸、白三烯和鞘糖脂合成相关基因转录增强,甘油三酯和磷脂酰肌醇代谢相关基因转录增强,鞘糖脂分解相关基因转录减弱;中期和后期前列腺素合成和脂肪酸分解相关基因转录增强;几乎在整个肝再生中性激素、糖皮质激素和孕酮合成相关基因转录增强,鞘磷脂代谢相关基因转录增强,脂类运输相关基因转录增强,胆固醇代谢相关基因转录减弱。结论肝再生中脂类代谢和运输变化较大,与肝再生密切相关。