Activation of caspase 3 in HepG2 cells by elaidic acid (t18:1)

In order to examine the effects of trans-unsaturated fatty acids (TFAs) on HepG2 cells, cells were grown in serum-free media supplemented with elaidic acid (t18:1); t18:1 is the trans-isomer of oleic acid and is the major component of TFAs in foods. Both t18:1 and palmitic acids (16:0) at concentrations higher than 100 microM inhibited growth and decreased the rate of protein synthesis. The presence of phosphatidylserine in the outer leaflet of the lipid bilayer, indicative of apoptosis, occurred 1 h after the addition of both t18:1 and 16:0 to the media. Caspase 3 was found to be activated by these fatty acids: caspase 8 was activated by 16:0 and only moderately by t18:1. Activation of caspase 3 by these fatty acids was fully inhibited by a caspase 8 inhibitor. However, growth inhibition by t18:1 was partially prevented by the caspase 8 inhibitor. These results suggest that cell death caused by t18:1 may proceed by both caspase-dependent and -independent pathways.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviws in this Article
The Misfortunes of Others: End-Stage Renal Disease in the United Kingdom, by Thomas Halper.
Centre for Early Human Development, Monash University
The Caring Imperative in Education, edited by Madeleine Leininger and Jean Watson, New York: National League for Nursing, 1990
Toward a Caring Curriculum: A New Pedagogy for Nursing, by Em Olivia Bevis and Jean Watson, New York: National League for Nursing, 1989
The Ethics of Care and the Ethics of Cure: Synthesis in Chronicity, edited by Jean Watson and Marilyn A.
Human Life and Medical Practice, by J.K. Mason, Edinburgh University Press
Preventing Birth: Contemporary Methods and Related Moral Controversies, by James W. Knight and Joan C. Callahan, Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1989
Social Science Perspectives on Medical Ethics, edited by George Weisz, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1990     

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Macrame: Creative Design in Knotting: Crown Publishers, Inc.: List Price: $7.95. Reviewed by Dona Z. MeilliCh.

Introducing Seed Collage: Watson-Guptill: List Price &7.95. Reviewed by Caryl and Gordon Simms.

Visual Education in the Primary School: Watson-Guptill: List Price $7.97. Reviewed by John M. Pickering.     

Existence of endogenous inhibitors of platelet-activating factor (PAF) with PAF in rat uterus

Two kinds of phospholipids in normal rat uterus were found to inhibit the aggregation of washed rabbit platelets induced by 1-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (alkylacetyl-GPC) and were named Inhibitor I and Inhibitor II and identified by mass spectrometry. Inhibitor I was a mixture of 1-acyl (16:0, 18:0, 18:1, 18:2, and 20:4)-2-lyso-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (acyllyso-GPC) and 1-alkyl (16:0, 18:0, and 18:1)-2-lyso-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (alkyllyso-GPC). 16:0 acyllyso-GPC was the most inhibitory, followed by 18:1, 18:2, 20:4, and 18:0 acyllyso-GPCs and 16:0 alkyllyso-GPC. Their IC50 values were in the range of 1-4 X 10(-5) M against the platelet aggregation induced by 1 X 10(-10) M 16:0 alkylacetyl-GPC, indicating that they were about 100 times weaker inhibitors than CV-3988. Inhibitor II was a mixture of N-acyl sphing-4-enyl phosphocholine (18:1/18:0, 18:1/20:0, 18:1/24:0, and 18:1/24:2). The most inhibitory of these components were 18:1/20:0 and 18:1/24:0, followed by 18:1/24:2 and 18:1/18:0, and their IC50 values were in the range of 4-5 X 10(-5) M against platelet aggregation induced by the alkylacetyl-GPC. Quantitatively, about 10(5) times higher concentrations of these inhibitors should be necessary to inhibit platelet aggregation induced by 1 X 10(-10) M 16:0 alkylacetyl-GPC. In fact, the contents of Inhibitors I and II, respectively, were approximately 10(5) times (4.7 X 10(-2) and 7.1 X 10(-2) mol/mol lipid-phosphorus of the original uterine phospholipids) than that of 16:0 alkylacetyl-GPC (1.4 X 10(-6) mol/mol lipid-phosphorus). The role of alkylacetyl-GPC in normal rat uterus is uncertain, but it coexists in situ with two kinds of endogenous inhibitors, choline containing lysoglycerophospholipids and sphingophospholipids.     

Developmental fatty acid changes in different parts of the rat brain

The proportion of 26 fatty acids (FA) in the lipids of the cerebral cortex, subcortical formations (the thalamus, hypothalamus and basal ganglia) and the medulla oblongata was studied in rats aged 5, 10, 14 and 90 days. Very marked developmental changes in the proportion of the various FA were demonstrated in the different parts of the brain. In the cerebral cortex the proportion of 17:1 rose by 285%, 18:3 n-3 by 1820% and 22:6 n-3 by 80%, while the proportion of 14:0, 16:0 and 16:1 fell significantly. In the tissue of subcortical formations we found an increase in the proportion of FA with 18 carbons (18:0 by 40%, 18:1 by 100%, 18:3 n-3 by over 5000%) and a decrease in the proportion of 14:0, 16:0, 16:1 and 20:4 n-6. The situation in medulla oblongata tissue was similar to the one in subcortical formations. On comparing the proportion of FA in individual parts of the CNS in the same age category, we found the smallest number of statistically significant differences in 5-day-old rats. In adult rats we found significant differences chiefly in the proportion of palmitic acid (16:0), oleic acid (18:1), linolenic acid (18:3 n-3) and acids with 20-22 carbons.     

Linolenic acid desaturation and chain elongation and rapid turnover of phospholipid n - 3 fatty acids in isolated rat liver cells

The desaturation and chain elongation of [1-14C]linolenic acid was studied in isolated liver cells from rats fed a diet deficient in essential fatty acids. 14C-labelled 18:4, 20:3, 20:4, 20:5, 22:5 and 22:6, all n - 3 fatty acids, were formed. In the presence of lactate relatively large amounts of 20:5, 22:5 and 22:6 were formed. 20:5 was mainly present in phospholipids, 22:5 and 22:6 were present in both phospholipids and triacylglycerols. (+)-Decanoylcarnitine and (-)-hydroxycitrate decreased the formation of 20:5, 22:5 and 22:6 and increased the recovery of 18:4. The unchanged 18:3 substrate was also initially rapidly incorporated both in the phospholipids and in the triacylglycerol fraction. During long incubation periods, continued after nearly all the [14C]linolenic acid substrate had been metabolized either by esterification or by oxidation, the phospholipid content of labelled 18:3 and 18:4 decreased while the content of 20:5, 22:5 and 22:6 increased markedly, suggesting a remodeling of the phospholipid n - 3 fatty acid content by a series of deacylations-reacylations. The n - 3 fatty acid pattern in the triacylglycerol fraction changed little. 22:5 and 22:6 appeared in the VLDL fraction secreted by the isolated liver cells.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
The Ethics of Reproductive Technology edited by Kenneth D. Alpern. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992
Medical Confidentiality and Legal Privilege by Jean V. McHale. London and New York: Routledge, 1993
The Codes of Codes , edited by Daniel J. Kevles and Leroy Hood. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992
The Troubled Dream of Life: Living with Mortality by Daniel Callahan. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1993
International Directory of Bioethics Organizations. Anita L. Nolen and Mary Carrington Coutts, editors. Bioethics Resource Series, Volume 1. Washington, DC: Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, 1993
The Codification of Medical Morality, Volume One: Medical Ethics and Etiquette in the Eighteenth Century , edited by Robert Baker, Dorothy Porter and Roy Porter. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1993
Pursuing Parenthood: Ethical Issues in Assisted Reproduction by Paul Lauritzen. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1993     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Gays/Justice by Richard Mohr.
Death:Beyond Whole-Brain Criteria , edited by Richard M. Zaner.
The Contraceptive Ethos:Reproductive Rights and Responsibilities Edited by S.F. Spicker, W.B. Bondeson, H.T. Englehardt, Jr., Dordrecht, Holland:D. Reidel.
Made to Order:The Myth of Reproductive and Genetic Progress Edited by Patricial Spallone and Deborah Lynn Steinberg.
Reproductive Technologies:Gender, Motherhood and Medicine Edited by Michele Stanworth.
For the Patient's Good:The Restoration of Beneficence in Health Care by Edmund D. Pellegrino and David C. Thomasma.
'The Physician as Captain of the Ship:A Critical Reappraisal', Philosophy and Medicine , vol. 29. Edited by Nancy M.P. King, Larry R. Churchill, and Alan W. Cross.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviws in this Article
The Human Body and the Law, 2nd edition by D.W. Meyers, Edinburgh University Press, 1990
Classic Cases in Medical Ethics by Gregory E. Pence. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. 1990
Changing Values in Medical and Health Care Decision Making, edited by Uffejuul Jensen and Gavin Mooney. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1990
IVF and Justice by Teresa Iglesias, London: The Linacre Centre For Health Care Ethics, 1990
The Practical, Moral and Personal Sense of Nursing: A Phenomenon-ological Philosophy of Practice by Anne H. Bishop and John R. Scudder, Jr. New York: State University of New York Press, 1990
A Companion to Ethics, edited by Peter Singer. Oxford and Cambridge, Mass: Basil Blackwell, 1991.
Ethics and Law in Health Care and Research edited by Peter Byrne, Chichester, UK: 1990
The Human Embryo edited by G.R. Dunstan, Exeter: Exeter University Press, 1990
Everyday Ethics: Resolving Dilemmas in Nursing Home Life by Rosalie A. Kane and Arthur L. Caplan. N.Y.: Springer Publishing Company, 1990
Psychiatric Ethics, 2nd edition, edited by S. Bloch and P. Chodoff. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1991
Health Care and Gender by Charlotte Muller. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1990     

Influence of retinol deficiency and curcumin/turmeric feeding on tissue microsomal membrane lipid peroxidation and fatty acids in rats

The effect of retinol deficiency and curcumin/turmeric on lipid peroxidation and fatty acid profile was studied in liver, kidney, spleen and brain microsomes of rats. Results revealed an increase in lipid peroxidation in retinol deficient liver by 32%, kidney 30%, spleen 24% and brain 43% compared to the controls. Feeding 0.1% curcumin or turmeric for three weeks in diet to retinol deficient rats reduced the lipid peroxidation respectively to 12.5 or 22.6%, in liver, 23.7 or 24.1% in kidney, 14.4 or 18.0% spleen and 16.0 or 31.4% in brain. Retinol deficiency lead to a reduction in the essential fatty acids. In liver C18:1 showed a reduction by 45.6%, C18:2 by 31.6% and C20:4 by 22.8%. In kidney C18:1 was reduced by 33.6%, 18:2 by 24.6% and 20:4 by 13.7%. In spleen and brain C18:1 showed a reduction by 10.2% and 33.9%, C18:2 by 37.9% and 12.1% and C20:4 by 15.7% and 35.3% respectively. Curcumin and turmeric fed group showed a significant increase in the abnormally reduced fatty acid levels. (Mol Cell Biochem 175: 43–48, 1997)     

Fatty acids and the selective alteration of in vitro proliferation in human fibroblast and guinea-pig smooth-muscle cells

Summary Human-foreskin fibroblast (HF) and guinea-pig aorta smooth-muscle (SM) cultures were treated with several saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Relative plating efficiencies were used to determine the proliferative response to each treatment. At low concentrations (16 to 18 μm), proliferation in HF cultures was inhibited by 8,11,14-eicosatrienoic acid (20:3), and stimulated by both 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid (20:4) and 9-octadecenoic acid (18:1). At these levels, proliferation in SM cultures was unchanged by 20:3, inhibited by 20:4, and enhanced by 18:1. At higher concentrations (80 to 90 μm), HF cultures were inhibited by all three unsaturated fatty acids. At these same concentrations, proliferation in SM cultures was inhibited by 20:3 and 20:4, whereas 18:1 continued to stimulate proliferation. Thus proliferative response was a specific effect of the fatty acid used, its concentration, and the cell line involved. Further treatment of SM cultures by tetradecanoic acid (14:0), hexadecanoic acid (16:0), and octadecanoic acid (18:0) showed that their relative abilities to inhibit cell proliferation increased with increasing chain length. Concentrations required for the effective inhibition of proliferation in SM cultures by 14:0, 16:0 and 18:0 were 220 μm, 95μm and 18μm, respectively. The fatty acids used in these studies are all endogenous components of sera used as growth supplements in in vitro systems. Their roles as prostaglandin and hydroperoxy fatty-acid precursors (20:3 and 20:4), inhibitors of prostaglandin biosynthesis (18:1), or as calcium ionophores (14:0, 16:0, and 18:0) may allow them to function as endogenous controls of cell proliferation. This work was supported in part by National Heart and Lung Institute Grant HL-11897.     

一种简便的肌醇磷脂微量分析方法

分析磷脂酰肌醇循环(PI cycle)的磷脂组分常采用双向薄层层析法．建立了一个简单快速的单向薄层层析分离肌醇磷脂方法．首先采用不同的有机溶剂体系分别提取非多磷酸肌醇磷脂和多磷酸肌醇磷脂,然后用不同的层析展开体系,对两部分磷脂进行单向薄层层析分离．采用无载体 ³²P标记实验对该方法分离效果进行了观察．此法适用于同位素标记和非标记样品中肌醇磷脂组分的比较分析及多磷酸肌醇磷脂的提取、纯化和定量．     

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Pastel Painting Step-By-Step: Watson-Guptill Publications: List Price $12.50. Revewed by Elinor Lathrop Sears.

Taste: Exposition Press Inc.: List Price $4.00. Revewed by Chridopher Browne Gamert, Jr.

Experiments in Modern Art: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.: List Price $5.95. Revewed by Roy Barrio.

Complete Guide to Flower Painting: Watson-Guptill Publications: List Price $12.50. Revewed by Ralph Fabri.

The Art of Papier Mache: Chilton Book Compmny: List Price $12.50. Revewed by Carla and John B. Kepny.     

Comprehensive separation and identification of chemical constituents from Apocynum venetum leaves by high-performance counter-current chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry

High-performance counter-current chromatography (HPCCC) and high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) was efficiently utilized for the separation and identification of the chemical components with a wide range of polarity from the mixed extract of Chinese medicinal herb Apocynum venetum. For HPCCC separation, four sets of solvent systems, n-hexane-ethyl acetate-acetonitrile-water (1.5:3.5:2:4.5, v:v:v:v), ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:2:5, v:v:v) and n-butanol-methanol-water (5:1:5, v:v:v) were used for the one-step separation by four stages. The HPCCC separation was initiated by filling the column with the lower phase of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-acetonitrile-water (1.5:3.5:2:5, v:v:v:v) as a stationary phase followed by elution with the upper phase of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-acetonitrile-water (1.5:3.5:2:5, v:v:v:v) to separate the hydrophobic compounds (tail to head). Then the mobile phase was switched to the upper phase of ethyl acetate-acetonitrile-water (5:3:7, v:v:v) to eluted the moderate hydrophobic compounds, then the mobile phase was switched to the upper phase of ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:2:5, v:v:v) to eluted the moderate hydrophilic compounds, and finally the hydrophilic compounds still retained in the column was eluted by the upper phase of n-butanol-methanol-water (5:1:5, v:v:v). A total of 16 named compounds including adhyperforin, hyperforin, amentoflavone, biapigenin, quercetin, avicularin, acetylated isoquercetin, acetylated hyperoside, astragalin, trifolin, isoquercetin, hyperoside, querciturone, rutin, chlorogenic acid and quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucosyl-β-D-glucopyranoside were successfully separated via the four sets of solvent systems in one step operation for 130 min. The compounds separated by HPCCC were identified by comparing with mixed standards data of HPLC-MS as well as NMR data.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Ethics and the Elderly by Mark R. Wicclair. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993
Abortion Regimes by Kerry A. Petersen. Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1993
Advance Directives and the Pursuit of Death with Dignity by Norman Cantor, Bloomington Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1993
Death to Dust: What Happens to Dead Bodies by Kenneth V. Iserson. Tucson, Arizona: Galen Press, 1994
Peter Singer in Deutschland. Zur Gefährdung der Diskussionsfreiheit in der Wissenschaft by Christoph Anstötz, Rainer Hegselmann and Hartmut Kliemt     

THE GROWTH OF BOTRYTIS CINEREA PERS., FUSARIUM CAERULEUM (LIB.) SACC., AND PHOMA FOVEATA FOISTER IN THE PRESENCE OF TETRACHLORONITROBENZENE ISOMERS

The linear growth of Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium caeruleum and Phoma foveata in culture was reduced in the presence of vapour from any of the three isomers of tetrachloronitrobenzene. The isomers were fungistatic but not fungicidal.
Differences in activity were observed amongst the isomers. The 2:3:4:6 isomer was the most active against all three test fungi. 2:3:5:6-TCNB (tecnazene) was more active than 2:3:4:5-TCNB against Botrytis cinerea , but less active against Fusarium caeruleum and Phoma foveata . Two strains of Fusarium caeruleum resistant to the 2:3:5:6 isomer were not resistant to the other two isomers, although they were more resistant than their 2:3:5:6-TCNB sensitive parent strains.
Sporulation and sclerotial production by Botrytis cinerea were completely suppressed by 2:3:5:6-TCNB and 2:3:4:6-TCNB but not by the 2:3:4:5: isomer.     

Self-adaptive modification of red-cell membrane lipids in lecithin: Cholesterol acyltransferase deficiency. Lipid analysis and spin labeling

In a patient with lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase deficiency, free cholesterol was markedly increased, and esterified cholesterol was diminished. In the patient's plasma, an increase in phosphatidylcholine (PC) and a decrease in sphingomyelin were observed. Concomitantly, an increase in a shorter acyl chain 16:0 was noted in PC, sphingomyelin and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). In contrast to these results, longer chains such as 22:0 and 24:0 were decreased, especially in sphingomyelin. Unsaturated double bonds such as 18:1 was also increased in PC and PE. In the red-cell membrane lipids, the increase in free cholesterol was counteracted by an increase in PC and by a decrease in sphingomyelin and PE, reflecting changes in the patient's plasma lipids. Increased 16:0 (in PC) and decreased 18:0 and 24:0 were observed. The increased plasma free cholesterol due to metabolic defect (lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase deficiency) led to decreased red-cell membrane fluidity. This effect appeared to be counteracted by changing phospholipid composition (increased PC and decreased sphingomyelin and PE), by increasing shorter chains (16:0), by decreasing longer chains (18:0 and 24:0) and by increasing unsaturated double bonds (18:2). These results can be interpreted as a self-adaptive modification of lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase deficiency-induced red-cell membrane abnormalities, to maintain normal membrane fluidity. This speculation was supported by the ESR spin-label studies on the patient's membrane lipids. The normal order parameters in intact red cells and in total lipid liposomes were decreased if cholesterol-depleted membrane liposomes were prepared. Thus, the hardening effect of cholesterol appeared to be counteracted by the softening effects described above. Overall membrane fluidity in intact red cells of the lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase-deficient patient was maintained normally, judged by order parameters in ESR spin-label studies.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Constructive Drinking: Perspectives on Drink from Anthropology. Edited by Mary Douglas. Cosomologies in the Making: A Generative Approach to Cultural Vahtion in Inner New Guinea. By Fredrik Barth Human Evolution: An Illustrated Introduction. By Roger Lewin Child of Vietnam. By Uyen Loewald Re-constructing Archaeology: Theory and Practice. By Michael Shanks and Christopher Tilley Conflict in Catalonia: Images of an Urban Society. Edited by Gary W. McDonogh An International History of the Vietnam War, Volume II, The Struggle for Southeast Asia, 1961-65. By R.B. Smith. Macmillan Wage Labour and Social Change: The Proletariat in Asia and the Pacific. Edited by Michael Pinches Gender and Kinship: Essays toward a Unified Analysis. Edited by Jane Fishburn Collier and Sylvia Junko Yanagisako The Cyclades in the Bronze Age By R.L.N. Barber African Civilisations. Precolonial Cities and States in Tropical Africa: An Archaeological Perspective. By Graham Connah Sepik River Societies: A Historical Ethnography of the Chrmbri and their Neighbours. By Deborah Gewertz A World Like Our Own. Man and Nature in Madagascar. By Alison Jolly Science Encounters the Indian. 1820–1880: The Early Years of American Ethnology. By Robert E. Bieder Place and Emotion in Northern Thai Ritual Behaviour. By Gehan Wijeyewardene The Policies of Genocide: Jews and Soviet Prisoners of War in Nazi Germany. Edited by Gerhard Hirschfeld. Anthropology at Home. Edited by Anthony Jackson Man the Paradoxical Primate: A Solution to Human Bipedalism. Written, designed and produced by Jordi Fuentes. Human Evolution: an Introduction for the Behaviouml Sciences. By Graham Richards. Anthropology in South Australia Edited by C. Anderson and P. Sutton Singular Paths: Old Men Living Alone. By Robert L. Rubenstein Meyer Fortes: Religion, Mortality and the Person -Essays on Tallensi Religion. Edited and with an introduction by Jack Goody.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviws in this Article Meta-Medical Ethics: The Philosophical Foundations of Bioethics, edited by Michael A. Grodin. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995 Autonoaty and Intervention: Parentalism in the Caring Life, by Job Kultgen. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995 Long-Term Care Decisions, Ethical and Conceptual Dimensions, edited by Laurence McCullough and Nancy Wilson. Baltimore; The John Hopkins University Press, 1995 Contemplating Suicide: The Language and Ethics of Self Harm by Gavin Fairbairn. Landon and New York: Routledge, 1995     

Haemagglutination-inhibiting and neutralizing antibodies to type 3 and 5 rhinoviruses in human sera and nasal washings.

Presence of antibodies to RV 3 and RV 5 was tested by HIT and NT in 60 human sera. Antibodies to RV 3 were detected in 23 sera by HIT in a titre range of 1:4--1:64 and in 19 sera by NT in a titre range of 1:4--1:256. Antibodies to RV 5 were detected in 31 sera by HIT in titres of 1:4--1:268 and 27 sera by NT in the same titre range. In a group of 22 persons with unequivocal serum antibodies nasal secretory antibodies were found in 11 subjects in titres of 1:4--1:32. In a group of 16 persons without detectable serum antibodies, presence of secretory antibodies (titre 1:4) was only found in four cases.