Effect of cortisol, its polymeric derivative and adenylate cyclase activators on the content of cyclic AMP in rat thymocytes

In has been shown that cortisol immobilized on polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP-GC) affects cyclic AMP production stimulated by adenosine and isoproterenol in rat thymocytes. This effect of PVP-GC is specific for cortisol: antiglucocorticoid progesterone (at a concentration of 10(-5) M) inhibited completely the action of PVP-GC on the intracellular cAMP level. It is suggested that cortisol effect on cAMP production is one of the mechanisms of glucocorticoid hormone action in target cells.     

Neurogenic cholinergic dilation observed in isolated vessels of the skeletal muscles of cats (the caudal femoral artery)

Neuromediated behaviour of feline caudal femoral arteries was studied in vitro. Transmural stimulation of arteries, previously constricted by noradrenaline, caused an up to 58% relaxation of the induced tone. Atropine (10(-5) g/ml) blocked this response by 93%. The removal of endothelium did not affect the magnitude of the response. It is suggested that the caudal femoral artery is an example of a blood vessel which has muscarinic receptors located directly on its smooth muscles.     

The Role of the Vascular Factor in the Reorganization of Water Metabolism in Denervated Liver after Bacterial Endotoxin Poisoning

Intoxication with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (endotoxin) is accompanied by considerable rearrangements in the systems of blood microcirculation and water metabolism of the liver. These rearrangements are manifested as increased sinusoid area, changed total area of the cytoplasm and nuclei as well as the nucleocytoplasmic ratio in hepatocytes, increased content of total water in the organ, and changed magnetic relaxation properties (spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times). Preliminary parasympathetic denervation of the liver (vagotomy) changes the pattern of the organ response to bacterial endotoxin poisoning as indicated by the kinetics of studied morphological and biophysical parameters.     

Mechanism of action of N-acetylglucosaminyl-N-acetylmuramylalanyl-D-isoglutamine on the nonspecific anti-infection resistance of mice

The stimulating influence of glucose-containing muramyldipeptide (GMDP) on the nonspecific resistance of mice was shown to depend on the features of the pathogenesis of the infection. Thus, the intraperitoneal injection of GMDP increased the survival rate of mice infected with Escherichia coli, but had no stimulating effect on the resistance of the animals to Salmonella typhimurium natural infection in whose pathogenesis macrophages played an essential role. Experiments demonstrated that GMDP was capable of enhancing the ingestive function of macrophages, but did not increase their bactericidal activity with respect to this infection.     

The diagnosis of antileptospiral antibodies in human subjects by solid-phase immunoenzyme analysis

The possibility of using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the diagnosis of leptospirosis has been shown. This method has proved to be more simple and sensitive than the leptospiral microagglutination and lysis test. The data on obtaining genus-specific leptospiral antigens are presented. As revealed in this study, the antigens obtained by the complex treatment of microbial cells with ultrasound and detergents show the maximum activity in ELISA. The optimum parameters of the ELISA system for the diagnosis of leptospirosis have been established.     

Daphniopsis australis nov.sp. (Crustacea: Cladocera), a further daphniid in Australian salt lakes

Daphniopsis australis, a new species of cladoceran in Australian salt lakes, is described, and some brief comments on its distribution are given.     

Biochemical polymorphism of serum cholinesterase in populations of the Kurdamir region of the Azerbaijan SSR

Examination of 933 schoolchildren in the Kyurdamir district of Azerbaijan for the carriage of abnormal variants of serum cholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.8.) revealed high biochemical polymorphism of the enzyme. This was conditioned by high frequencies of mutant alleles of the E1-E1a and E1s loci responsible for atypical and "silent" enzyme variants. The cases of confusions of phenotypes of different heterozygotes are being analyzed using the material on pedigrees. Two types of the normal alleles (E1u)--E1u1 and E1u2--were shown to be present in the population analyzed.     

Genetic analysis of the predisposition to uterine myoma. Prevalence and morbidity

Prevalence of uterine myoma (MU) was estimated in several Moscow districts. The overall average estimate of the MU prevalence is 2.45% among women of all groups. The prevalence MU estimates increase with the age, its maximum value reaching 8.31% at the age of 50 years. The morbidity risk estimates increased with the age as well, the maximum value being 2.98% at the age of 40-44 years. The value of "cumulative" morbidity risks, i. e. the probability to be affected, is 9.74% for a population living long enough, this value being based on the age-specific estimates of morbidity risks. Taking into consideration the autopsy data, indicating that frequency of MU, including small myomatous nodes, is 20%, the conclusion is made that MU is manifested by clinically expressed disturbances (urging a woman to address to a doctor) in 50% of cases only. Epidemiological data obtained are to be used later for genetic analysis of familial data on MU.     

Surface interactions of gamma-crystallins in the crystal medium in relation to their association in the eye lens

A comparative study of intermolecular interactions in crystals of two homologous low molecular weight proteins, gamma-II and gamma-IIIb crystallins, from calf eye lens was carried out. Crystal packings for these proteins are very different: intermolecular contact areas compose about 33% of the total accessible surface area of gamma-II as compared with 13% in gamma-III. Two key residues seem to be mainly responsible for the differences in protein association in the crystal medium. These are Ser 103 and Leu 155 in gamma-II, which are replaced by Met 103 and His 155 in gamma-IIb. A similar substitution of these residues is observed in different gene products of gamma-crystallins from a number of vertebrates. This is consistent with the existence of a genetically controlled mechanism for determining intermolecular association of gamma-crystallins in the native medium of the lens.     

Vitamin K-dependent gamma-carboxylation of the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor.

It has been reported that vitamin K deficiency in the rat markedly increases the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor (VDR) binding to DNA and that vitamin K-dependent gamma-carboxylation of endogenous substrates of the intestinal and renal cytosol, also containing VDR, sharply reduced that binding (Sergeev, I.N., and Spirichev, V.B. (1989) Nutr. Res. 9, 725-733). In the present study we have evaluated vitamin K-dependent 14CO2 incorporation to VDR quantitated by immunoprecipitation with anti-VDR monoclonal antibodies. The results obtained strongly suggest that VDR in vitro can undergo gamma-carboxylation in the presence of vitamin K1 and that 15-25% of Glu residues in the VDR are carboxylated in vivo. Taking into account our earlier findings, it is likely that the VDR gamma-carboxylation modulates its binding to DNA.