The role of sulphur in detoxication of cadmium in young sugar beet plants

In young sugar beet plants cadmium suppressed the activity of nitrate reductase, glutamine synthetase and glutamate dehydrogenase, whereas sulphur exhibited a protective role towards activity of these enzymes, except of glutamine synthetase. Protein synthesis was suppressed in the absence of S in nutrient medium; the lowest level was at 10^-3 M Cd²⁺. Chloroplast pigment contents were increased by S while Cd²⁺, even in the lowest concentration, (10⁻⁵ M) showed a repressive effect. The highest concentrations of Cd²⁺ (10−3 M) caused a decrease in dry mass, whereas S induced its increase. Nitrate content was increased in the presence of Cd²⁺ and decreased by increased concentration of S. Acknowledgement: The authors acknowledge financial support of the Ministry for Science and Technology of Serbia. The paper was presented at 9th Congress of the Federation of European Societies of Plant Physiology, Brno, Czech Republic, 3–8 July 1994.     

Possible role of C-reactive protein in detoxication of mercury

In mercury-treated rats, C-reactive protein (CRP) has been found to be synthesized in the liver which, in turn, sequesters mercury resulting in the denaturation of the protein into subunits. The subunits retain the mercury and are released into the serum from where it gets excreted. Native CRP and CRP-subunits have been found to have different antigenicity. Thus one of the physiological roles of CRP seems to be detoxication of heavy metals.     

The role of histamine in implantation in the rabbit.

When disodium cromoglycate, an inhibitor of histamine release, was instilled into the uterine lumen on Days 5 or 6 of pregnancy, the number of blastocysts implanting was significantly (P less than 0.002) reduced. Simultaneous instillation of histamine and disodium cromoglycate prevented the effect.