The effects of pentobarbital, fentanyl-droperidol, ketamine-xylazine and ketamine-diazepam on core and surface body temperature regulation in adult male rats

Many commonly used anesthetics cause hypothermia by inhibiting central and peripheral thermoregulatory mechanisms. Although it is probable that a loss of thermal homeostasis contributes directly to the high mortality frequently reported following anesthesia of laboratory rodents, this adverse effect has been investigated rarely in the past. This study compared the effects of three parenteral anesthetics (pentobarbital, ketamine-xylazine and ketamine-diazepam) and a neuroleptanalgesic (fentanyl-droperidol) on core and surface body temperature regulation in rats. Results showed a profound hypothermia with all dosages of pentobarbital, while ketamine-xylazine and ketamine-diazepam caused a dose-dependent depression in core and surface body temperature. All dosages of fentanyl-droperidol (Innovar-Vet) caused minimal depression in thermoregulation, suggesting that it is the drug which requires the least external thermal support. Results of this study also suggested that inability to compensate for heat loss, particularly from the body core, may profoundly influence anesthetic toxicity and the safety of anesthetic procedures.     

The effects of pentobarbital, fentanyl-droperidol, ketamine-xylazine and ketamine-diazepam on arterial blood pH, blood gases, mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate in adult male rats

Although anesthetics are known to cause respiratory and cardiovascular depression in humans, these adverse effects rarely have been investigated in laboratory rodents. This study evaluated the effects of four different injectable drugs, pentobarbital, fentanyl-droperidol (Innovar-Vet), ketamine-xylazine and ketamine-diazepam on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems of rats. Results showed marked acidosis, hypercarbia and hypoxia with high doses of Innovar-Vet, moderate respiratory depression with all dosages of pentobarbital and minimal respiratory depression with ketamine-xylazine and ketamine-diazepam. Innovar-Vet, ketamine-xylazine and pentobarbital caused profound hypotension, particularly at high dosages, while ketamine-diazepam caused the least depression in mean arterial blood pressure of all drugs evaluated. None of the drugs studied produced significant alterations in heart rate. Throughout all dosages investigated, the ketamine-diazepam combination showed the least overall effects on ventilation and perfusion of the four parenteral drug combinations studied.     

Direct and Continuous Detection of ATP Secretion from Primary Monolayer Cultures of Bovine Adrenal Chromaffin Cells

A method was developed for direct and continuous detection of secretion of ATP from primary monolayer cultures of bovine adrenal chromaffin cells. ATP, which is costored with catecholamines within adrenal chromaffin cells, was released into the incubation medium, where it reacted with firefly luciferin-luciferase producing light detected by a photomultiplier located directly below the culture well. Acetylcholine, nicotine, the Ca2+ ionophore A23187, BaCl2, and KCl induced release of ATP. Induction of release of ATP by acetylcholine was dose dependent, with a threshold at 10(-7) M and a maximum at 10(-4) M. The dose-response curve for nicotine was bell shaped, with a threshold at 10(-7) M, a maximum at 10(-5) M, and diminished release at higher concentrations, an observation indicative of desensitization. Investigation of the initial rates of ATP secretion revealed that 10(-4) M nicotine actually induced release of ATP at a faster rate than 10(-5) M nicotine. However, the rate of ATP release evoked by 10(-4) M nicotine began to decline by 6 s, a result indicating the onset of receptor desensitization, whereas release induced by 10(-5) M nicotine continued unabated. Induction of release of ATP by acetylcholine or nicotine was biphasic, with a rapid, initial phase of release followed by a plateau at 0.5-1.5 min and a second phase of release beginning at 1.5-2 min, reaching a maximum by 2-3 min.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Insulin-like growth factor I rapidly stimulates tyrosine phosphorylation of a Mr 185,000 protein in intact cells

The type I insulin-like growth factor (IGF) receptor, like the insulin receptor, contains a ligand-stimulated protein-tyrosine kinase activity in its beta-subunit. However, in vivo, no substrates have been identified. We used anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies to identify phosphotyrosine-containing proteins which occur during IGF-I stimulation of normal rat kidney and Madin-Darby canine kidney cells labeled with ortho[32P]phosphate. Both cells provide a good system to study the function of the type I IGF receptors because they contain high concentrations of these receptors but no insulin receptors. In addition, physiological levels of IGF-I, but not insulin, stimulated DNA synthesis in growth-arrested cells. IGF-I stimulated within 1 min of tyrosine phosphorylation of two proteins. One of them, with a molecular mass between 97 and 102 kDa, was supposed to be the beta-subunit of the type I IGF receptor previously identified. The other protein had an approximate molecular mass of 185 kDa, which resembled, by several criteria, pp 185, originally identified during the initial response of Fao cells to insulin binding (White, M. F., Maron, R., and Kahn, C. R. (1985) Nature 318, 183-186). These data suggest that tyrosine phosphorylation of pp 185 may occur during activation of both the type I IGF receptor and the insulin receptor, and it could be a common substrate that transmits important metabolic signals during ligand binding.     

The major lung surfactant protein, SP 28-36, is a calcium-dependent, carbohydrate-binding protein

SP 28-36, a major protein of pulmonary surfactant, has striking amino acid sequence homology with soluble mannose-binding proteins isolated from rat liver and contains residues common to the carbohydrate-binding domains of other mammalian lectins. We have used carbohydrate-affinity chromatography to investigate carbohydrate-binding properties of SP 28-36 isolated from canine and human (alveolar proteinosis patients) lung lavage. SP 28-36 binds to immobilized D-mannose, L-fucose, D-galactose, and D-glucose. The protein binds only weakly to N-acetyl-D-galactosamine and N acetyl-D-glucosamine. Binding is Ca2+-dependent. The threshold Ca2+ concentration is 0.6 mM and maximal binding occurs with 1 mM Ca2+. Bound protein is quantitatively recovered by elution with 2 mM EDTA. Ba2+, Sr2+, and Mn2+, but not Mg2+, can substitute for Ca2+. Unlike some other mammalian lectins, SP 28-36 binds to carbohydrate at pH 5.0. Recombinant human SP 28-36 isolated from the media of Chinese hamster ovary cells, transfected with a DNA construct encoding SP 28-36, has similar carbohydrate-binding activity to the native proteins. Mannose affinity chromatography of the culture medium of Chinese hamster ovary cells results in an efficient purification of the secreted recombinant human SP 28-36.     

Modification of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides with the 2',3'-dialdehyde derivative of NADP+ (oNADP+)

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides is irreversibly inactivated by the 2,3'-dialdehyde of NADP+ (oNADP+) in the absence of substrate. The inactivation is first order with respect to NADP+ concentration and follows saturation kinetics, indicating that the enzyme initially forms a reversible complex with the inhibitor followed by covalent modification (KI = 1.8 mM). NADP+ and NAD+ protect the enzyme from inactivation by oNADP+. The pK of inactivation is 8.1. oNADP+ is an effective coenzyme in assays of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (Km = 200 microM). Kinetic evidence and binding studies with [14C] oNADP+ indicate that one molecule of oNADP+ binds per subunit of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase when the enzyme is completely inactivated. The interaction between oNADP+ and the enzyme does not generate a Schiff's base, or a conjugated Schiff's base, but the data are consistent with the formation of a dihydroxymorpholino derivative.     

Characterization of an endogenous substrate of the insulin receptor in cultured cells

Using antiphosphotyrosine antibodies, we have characterized the tyrosine phosphorylation of an endogenous substrate of the insulin receptor in Fao hepatoma cells and in Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with a eukaryotic expression vector containing the human insulin receptor cDNA. In Fao cells, besides the beta-subunit of the insulin receptor, a protein with a molecular mass between 170 and 210 kDa designated pp185, undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation immediately after insulin stimulation reaching a maximum level within 30 s. After 4 h of continuous insulin stimulation, the labeling of pp185 decreased to less than half of its original intensity, whereas the insulin receptor was unchanged. After 24 h of insulin stimulation, the phosphotyrosine-containing insulin receptor decreased by 75% owing to down-regulation, whereas the pp185 was completely undetectable. By several biochemical and physiological criteria, the pp185 is distinct from the insulin receptor. The pp185 and the beta-subunit of the insulin receptor were strongly labeled with [32P]orthophosphate, but in contrast to the insulin receptor, the pp185 was not labeled by cross-linking with 125I-insulin or surface 125I iodination. Unlike the insulin receptor, the pp185 was extracted from Fao cells without detergent, and tryptic phosphopeptide mapping of the pp185 and the insulin receptor yielded distinct patterns. Thus, the pp185 is not located at the external face of the plasma membrane and does not bind insulin. Treatment of Fao cells with the phorbol ester, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, stimulated the phosphorylation of two proteins with molecular weights of 170 and 210 kDa which were immunoprecipitated with the anti-phosphotyrosine antibody. Subsequent insulin stimulation increased the phosphorylation of the 210 kDa protein, but the pp185 was not detected. Increasing the concentration of the human insulin receptor in the Chinese hamster ovary cells by transfection with a plasmid containing the human insulin receptor cDNA caused a higher level of tyrosine phosphorylation of the beta-subunit and the pp185. These data support the notion that the insulin signal may be transmitted to a cellular substrate (pp185) which may initiate insulin action at intracellular sites.     

Spasmodic, a mutation on chromosome 11 in the mouse

A new recessive mutation, spasmodic (spd), producing behavior that mimics that of the neurological mutation spastic (spa) with rapid tremors, stiff posture, and difficulty in righting, arose spontaneously in strain A/HeJ at the Jackson Laboratory in 1979. It is not an allele of spa and linkage tests show that this mutation is located close to vestigial tail (vt) near the center of chromosome 11. Additional genetic tests show that it is not an allele of trembler (Tr), shaker-2 (sh-2), nor vibrator (vb), all neurological mutations located in the same region of chromosome 11. No differences were observed in the levels of the major CNS and PNS myelin proteins or lipids of spd/spd mice versus littermate controls, suggesting that, unlike several closely linked mutations, the spd mutation does not affect myelination. Pharmacological studies reported here show that aminooxyacetic acid improves the behavioral abnormalities of affected spd/spd mice in the same way it improves the behavior of affected spa/spa mice. However, unlike the spa/spa mice, there are no changes in the postsynaptic receptors for glycine, GABA, or benzodiazepines in spd/spd mice.     

Hominid footprints at Laetoli: facts and interpretations

The history of discovery and interpretation of primate footprints at the site of Laetoli in northern Tanzania is reviewed. An analysis of the geological context of these tracks is provided. The hominid tracks in Tuff 7 at Site G in the Garusi River Valley demonstrate bipedality at a mid-Pliocene datum. Comparison of these tracks and the Hadar hominid foot fossils by Tuttle has led him to conclude that Australopithecus afarensis did not make the Tanzanian prints and that a more derived form of hominid is therefore indicated at Laetoli. An alternative interpretation has been offered by Stern and Susman who posit a conforming "transitional morphology" in both the Tanzanian prints and the Ethiopian bones. The present examines both hypotheses and shows that neither is likely to be entirely correct. To illustrate this point, a reconstruction of the foot skeleton of a female A. afarensis is undertaken, and the results are compared to the Laetoli tracks. We conclude that A. afarensis represents the best candidate for the maker of the Laetoli hominid trails.