Metoclopramide increases plasma but not cerebrospinal fluid vasopressin levels in man: study in hydrocephalic patients.

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) concentrations were determined in plasma and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in 8 adult male patients suffering from hydrocephalus of various etiologies, before and after intravenous administration of 10 mg metoclopramide. Metoclopramide was able to increase the plasma (2.6 +/- 0.2 ng/l in basal conditions and 6.1 +/- 0.6 ng/l at 30 min) but not the CSF AVP levels. The results suggest that the neurons which secrete AVP into the CSF may be functionally different from those secreting into the peripheral circulation.     

Associated Liver Partition and Portal Vein Ligation (ALPPS) vs Selective Portal Vein Ligation (PVL) for Staged Hepatectomy in a Rat Model. Similar Regenerative Response?

Associated liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) is a two-stage hepatectomy technique which can be associated with a hypertrophic stimulus on the future liver remnant (FLR) stronger than other techniques–such as portal vein ligation (PVL). However, the reason of such hypertrophy is still unclear, but it is suggested that liver transection combined with portal vein ligation (ALPPS) during the first stage of this technique may play a key role. The aim of this study is to compare the hypertrophic stimulus on the FLR and the clinical changes associated with both ALPPS and PVL in a rat surgical model. For this purpose, three groups of SD rats were used, namely ALPPS (n = 30), PVL (n = 30) and sham-treated (n = 30). The second stage of ALPPS (hepatectomy of the atrophic lobes), was performed at day 8. Blood and FLR samples were collected at 1, 24, 48 hours, 8 days and 12 weeks after the surgeries. ALPPS provoked a greater degree of hypertrophy of the FLR than the PVL at 48 hours and 8 days (p<0.05). The molecular pattern was also different, with the highest expression of IL-1β at 24h, IL-6 at 8 days, and HGF and TNF-α at 48 hours and 8 days (p<0.05). ALPPS also brought about a mild proliferative stimulus at 12 weeks, with a higher expression of HGF and TGF-β (p<0.05) than PVL. Clinically, ALPPS caused a significant liver damage during the first 48 hours, with a recovery of liver function at day 8. In conclusion, ALPPS seems to induce higher functional hypertrophy on the FLR than PVL at day 8. Such regenerative response seems to be leaded by a complex interaction between pro-mitogenic (IL-6, HGF, TNF-α) and antiproliferative (IL1-β and TGF-β) cytokines.     

A study of the histology and morphology of the digestive tract of the sea-bream, Sparus aurata

The anatomy and the histology of the digestive tract of young and adult sea-bream is described from studies using light and scanning electron microscopy. The dentition in the juvenile (25–30 mm long) comprises all canine-like teeth, to which plate teeth and transition elements are added in the adult.
The oesophagus shows a multi-layered mucosa in the upper part, and single-layered regions in the lower part. The multi-layered regions are formed by epithelial cells, mucus-secreting cells and by cells rich with eosinophilic granules.
The Y-shaped stomach, clearly distinguishable, has a single-layered columnar epithelium under which, in the cardiac and fundic portion, gastric glands, comprised of all similar cells, are present. The pyloric region is characterized by four caeca, to the base of which the ductus pancreaticus and the ductus hepaticus discharge.
The pancreas is composed of small masses spread along the upper intestine; in the adult, pancreatic infiltrations can be seen in the liver.
The intestine is short (relative length 0.5–0.6). The intestine epithelium consists of columnar cells intercalated with mucus-secreting cells. A funnel-like valve marks the passage to the intestine terminal region, characterized by a mucosa of cells with an abundance of vacuoles full of eosinophilic granules.     

Bacterial Metabolism of 2,6-Xylenol

Strain DM1, a Mycobacterium sp. that utilizes 2,6-xylenol, 2,3,6-trimethylphenol, and o-cresol as sources of carbon and energy, was isolated. Intact cells of Mycobacterium strain DM1 grown with 2,6-xylenol cooxidized 2,4,6-trimethylphenol to 2,4,6-trimethylresorcinol. 4-Chloro-3,5-dimethylphenol prevents 2,6-xylenol from being totally degraded; it was quantitatively converted to 2,6-dimethylhydroquinone by resting cells. 2,6-Dimethylhydroquinone, citraconate, and an unidentified metabolite were detected as products of 2,6-xylenol oxidation in cells that were partially inactivated by EDTA. Under oxygen limitation, 2,6-dimethylhy-droquinone, citraconate, and an unidentified metabolite were released during 2,6-xylenol turnover by resting cells. Cell extracts of 2,6-xylenol-grown cells contained a 2,6-dimethylhydroquinone-converting enzyme. When supplemented with NADH, cell extracts catalyzed the reduction of 2,6-dimethyl-3-hydroxyquinone to 2,6-dimethyl-3-hydroxyhydroquinone. Since a citraconase was also demonstrated in cell extracts, a new metabolic pathway with 2,6-dimethyl-3-hydroxyhydroquinone as the ring fission substrate is proposed.     

Selective uptake of cholesteryl ester from high density lipoproteins by plasma membranes of adipose tissue

The interaction between high density lipoproteins (HDL) and adipose tissue is an important pathway for cholesterol and cholesteryl ester flux. In intact fat cells, a disproportionately greater net uptake of cholesteryl ester occurs subsequent to lipoprotein binding than would have been predicted from a consideration of holoparticle uptake alone. To characterize the early events in this process, cholesteryl hexadecyl ether, a nonmetabolizable, accumulative marker of cholesteryl ester, was incorporated into canine HDL2, and its uptake by omental adipocyte plasma membranes was measured in relation to the binding of HDL2, which in this animal species is enriched in apolipoprotein A-I and free of apolipoprotein E. The dose-response profile for HDL2 binding was consistent with a single lipoprotein binding site at all concentrations of HDL2, whereas uptake of cholesteryl ester from HDL2 was biphasic, suggesting a high affinity site at low HDL2 concentrations and a low affinity site at high lipoprotein concentrations. Pronase treatment stimulated binding twofold and this was accompanied by a parallel twofold stimulation of cholesteryl ester uptake. EDTA, on the other hand, reduced binding and uptake of cholesteryl ester by 20%, indicating partial dependence upon divalent cations. The proportion of HDL2 cholesteryl ester accumulated by plasma membranes relative to HDL2 protein bound was not altered by either pronase or EDTA, despite the fact that these agents had opposite effects upon binding. In dissociation studies, a portion of membrane-associated HDL2 did not equilibrate with exogenous HDL2 and a greater proportion of the cholesteryl ester failed to dissociate. A stepwise mechanism for cholesteryl ester uptake, involving (i) saturable, high affinity HDL2 binding to cell surface sites, (ii) vectoral, HDL2 concentration-dependent delivery of cholesteryl ester to the membrane, and (iii) cholesteryl ester sequestration into a nonexchangeable membrane compartment, appears to be independent of metabolic energy or cell processing.     

An HLA-A2 population variant with structural polymorphism in the α3 region

The HLA-A2 antigen expressed by donor OZB can be distinguished from the main HLA-A2.1 subtype by isoelectric focusing - it is one charge unit more acidic — and by some alloreactive T-cell clones but not by cytolytic T lymphocyte lines. The structure of variant OZB has been examined by comparative peptide mapping with A2.1 and radiochemical sequence analysis. The two molecules were found to differ in a single tryptic peptide from the 0 region, spanning residues 220–243. The amino acid sequence of this peptide from variant OZB revealed that there was only one amino acid change of Glu instead of Ala at position 236, a hitherto invariant residue in class I HLA antigens. All previously characterized HLA or H-2 natural variants have structural changes restricted to the 1 and/or 2 domains. Thus, variant OZB is unique in that (1) it has one amino acid change in 3 and (2) it has no changes in l and 2. The only detected substitution of this variant may be accounted for by a single base change at the DNA level, suggesting that it might have resulted from a point mutation in the A2.1 gene. The structural features of variant OZB open a novel way to examine the influence of polymorphism in 3 on cytolytic T-cell recognition of naturally occurring class I antigens.Abbreviations CTL cytolytic T lymphocytes - HPLC high performance liquid chromatography - IEF isoelectric focusing - MHC major histocompatibility complex