Absent aldosterone response to metoclopramide in patients with high spinal cord transection: evidence that metoclopramide stimulates aldosterone secretion through central pathways

This study evaluates dopaminergic regulation of aldosterone secretion in 6 patients with high spinal cord transections. Administration of the dopamine antagonist metoclopramide resulted in a marked rise in plasma aldosterone and 18-hydroxycorticosterone levels in 12 normal individuals, but no change in plasma levels of these zona glomerulosa corticosteroid products in spinal cord patients. Spinal cord transected patients also did not have the rise in plasma renin activity that was observed in normals following metoclopramide administration. Basal levels of aldosterone, 18 hydroxycorticosterone, corticosterone and renin activity as well as the aldosterone responses to graded dose infusion of adrenocorticotropin were similar in the spinal cord patients and the normals. These data suggest that dopaminergic regulation of adrenal zona glomerulosa corticosteroid and renal renin secretion is absent in patients with high spinal cord transections, suggesting that intact neural pathways from the central nervous system are necessary for metoclopramide stimulation of aldosterone and renin secretion in men. Since basal plasma aldosterone levels were normal in spinal cord transected patients, it appears that the absence of dopaminergic control does not result in elevated secretion.     

D-2 dopamine receptors in the frontal cortex of rat and human

D-2 dopamine receptors and serotonin receptors in the frontal cortex of rat and human were labelled with 3H-spiroperidol. The D-2 receptors were then distinguished in 4 ways. Dissociation of spiroperidol was biphasic, indicating two populations of sites. Cinanserin in competition with 3H-spiroperidol exhibited high (75%) and low (25%) affinity sites. Dopamine and LY 141865 in competition with 1.25 nM 3H-spiroperidol exhibited high (20-25%) and low (80-75%) affinity sites in the absence of cinanserin, while in the presence of 300 nM cinanserin only the high affinity sites remained. Lesioning of the dopaminergic meso-cortical pathway increased the number of cinanserin-resistant sites by 26%. Thus 3H-spiroperidol binding in the presence of cinanserin can be used to selectively label D-2 receptors in the frontal cortex.     

Changes in the size and shape of the synaptic vesicles in the sensorimotor cortex of the rat brain in the initial phases of kindling

The sensorimotor area of rat cerebral cortex was subjected to repeated electrical stimulation at 10-min intervals, with resultant formation and progressive lengthening of self-sustained after-discharges (SSAD). One and 60 min after the third SSAD ended, we carried out an electron microscopy morphometric analysis of the agranular synaptic vesicles in type I synapses (after Gray) in the second cortical layer of the homotopic area of the unstimulated hemisphere. One minute after the seizure ended, 5.8% enlargement of the synaptic vesicles compared with the control was demonstrated in zone II of the synapse (0.1-0.2 micron from the active zone of the synapse). Neither the size nor the shape of the synaptic vesicles in the other parts of the synaptic apparatus altered. Sixty min after the seizure ended, a 5.5% enlargement of the synaptic vesicles in zone I (0.0-0.1 micron) and a 5.4% enlargement of those in zone II was found. The synaptic vesicles in zone I in the experimental animals were more oval than in the controls. Our findings support the vesicular theory and testify that hyperfunction, up to temporary exhaustion of the synaptic apparatuses, produces a change in the transmitter content of the synaptic vesicles. A raised amount of transmitter in the synaptic vesicles near the active zone could be one of the factors responsible for continued hyperexcitability of the tissue one hour after the seizure had ended. The results likewise support the concept of two mechanisms of synaptic vesicle formation, and hence of the existence of two different vesicle populations.     

Characterization of beta-lactamase from Mycobacterium butyricum ATCC 19979

beta-lactamase has been purified to a homogeneous state from Mycobacterium butyricum ATCC 19979. The molecular weight (Mr = 29,000) and the isoelectric point (4,0) of the enzyme have been determined. The enzyme showed both penicillinase and cephalosporinase activity, but had relatively more of the former. With respect to substrate-profile the enzyme resembled the plasmid specified TEM-type beta-lactamases commonly encountered in Gram-negative bacteria. The enzyme was insensitive to p-chloromercuribenzoate, sodium chloride, or iodine inhibition.     

Amiloride fluxes across erythrocyte membranes

Amiloride is known to inhibit both the influx of Na+ and the activation of mitogenesis in many cultured cell lines. This paper describes experiments in which the permeability coefficient of amiloride was determined from measurements of tracer fluxes across human erythrocytes and resealed ghosts. From an analysis of these fluxes, a permeability coefficient of 10(-7) cm/s for the uncharged form of amiloride was deduced. Based upon this measured permeability value, we present calculations of intracellular accumulation times of amiloride in cells of differing surface-to-volume ratio.     

Inhibition of apoptosis by calcium ionophores in IL-3-dependent bone marrow cells is dependent upon production of IL-4+.

Calcium ionophores inhibit apoptosis in the IL-3-dependent cell line BAF3 and maintain the cells in a viable noncycling state. In this report, an identical effect of ionophore was also demonstrated on the multipotent IL-3-dependent progenitor cell line FDCP-MIX and on the primary IL-3-dependent cell population that could be cultured from murine bone marrow. Inhibition of apoptosis required extracellular calcium and could be blocked by cyclosporin A. Nuclei from IL-3-dependent cells were found to lack a calcium-activatable nuclease that degrades chromatin in the linker region between nucleosomes, unlike the nuclei of lymphoid cells. The mechanism of action of calcium ionophore could be divided into two distinct steps. First, ionophore induced the production of a survival factor that stimulated DNA synthesis and was identified as IL-4. Second, ionophore inhibited the cell cycle of the various IL-3-dependent cells. IL-4 production could be inhibited by cyclosporin A and required extracellular calcium, whereas cell cycle arrest did not. This implied that factor production was the step that was necessary for inhibition of apoptosis and maintenance of cell viability. This was confirmed by the use of an anti-IL-4R antibody, which blocked the inhibition of apoptosis induced by calcium ionophores.     

Effect of 5,7-unsaturated sterols on ethanol tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Structural membrane lipids are known to contribute to the high ethanol resistance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (2, 4, 17). By manipulating the yeast cellular sterol level by changing the carbon-to-nitrogen source ratio in the chemostat growth medium, high delta 5,7-sterol levels were found to increase the resistance of yeast populations to ethanol-induced death. The resistance of the erg2 (delta 8----delta 7-sterol isomerase) mutant to ethanol-induced death was generally comparable with that of the delta 5,7-sterol-synthesizing strain. In contrast, the sensitivity of anaerobic growth to inhibition by ethanol was higher in the erg2 mutant in comparison with the delta 5,7-sterol-synthesizing strains but a high level of those sterols increased the vulnerability of anaerobic growth to ethanol inhibition.