Spawning activities and physical characteristics of the spawning ground of Lethenteron reissneri at the headstream of the Himekawa River, central Japan

 The spawning period of the Far Eastern brook lamprey, Lethenteron reissneri, in the headstream of the Himekawa River is estimated to be between mid-March and late May with the peak of spawning activity between early April and early May. The sex ratio (female:male) in 1999 ranged from 1 : 2.5 to 1 : 3.0 (mean 1 : 2.8) and in 2000 from 1 : 0.8 to 1 : 4.0 (mean 1 : 2.4). In >90% of the observations of spawning nests, males outnumbered females. The construction area of spawning nests tended to shift upstream during the spawning period. The nests were constructed at water depths between 5 and 70 cm, water velocity between 10 and 30 cm/s, and on substrate with pebbles of 5–20 mm in diameter. Lethenteron reissneri constructed nests on substrate similar with Petromyzon marinus, but at shallower points and in areas with a slower water velocity. Received: April 2, 2001 / Revised: December 12, 2001 / Accepted: December 27, 2001     

Lipid A-like molecules that antagonize the effects of endotoxins on human monocytes

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin is implicated as the bacterial product responsible for the clinical syndrome of Gram-negative septicemia. Although the lipid A domain of LPS appears to be responsible for the toxicity of endotoxin, lipid A from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides (RSLA) and a disaccharide precursor of lipid A from enteric bacteria, termed lipid IVA, have little activity on human cells. Using the human promonomyelocytic cell line THP-1 and human monocytic cells, we now show that both lipid IVA and RSLA are antagonists of LPS. Complete, apparently competitive, inhibition of LPS activity is possible at a 10-100-fold excess of antagonist, as judged by measuring the release of cytokines and prostaglandin E2. Both antagonists prevent monocyte stimulation by endotoxin extracted from a variety of Gram-negative bacteria. Cells pretreated with either inhibitor and subsequently washed still show attenuated responses to LPS. Stimulation of monocytes by whole Gram-negative bacteria is also antagonized in a dose-dependent manner. Lipid X has no inhibitory effect in the same dose range as lipid IVA and RSLA. These findings rule out LPS sequestration as the explanation for the observed antagonism. Neither inhibitor alters monocyte stimulation by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, Staphylococcus aureus, or purified protein derivative, demonstrating specificity for LPS. Although RSLA appears to inhibit LPS when tested with macrophages from both humans and mice, lipid IVA had the unique ability to act as an LPS antagonist with human-derived cells but to exhibit LPS-like effects with murine-derived cells. Like LPS, lipid IVA stimulated the release of both tumor necrosis factor alpha and arachidonic acid from murine-derived RAW 264.7 macrophage tumor cells. The range of concentrations necessary for lipid IVA to induce LPS-like effects in murine cells was similar to that necessary to antagonize the actions of LPS in human monocytes. The agonist activities of lipid IVA were completely inhibitable by RSLA. This unique species-dependent pharmacology observed with lipid IVA may reflect differences between human and murine LPS receptors. RSLA and lipid IVA may be useful in defining the role of LPS in Gram-negative bacterial infections and may prove to be prototypical therapeutic agents for the treatment of Gram-negative septicemia.     

Monoclonal antibodies against human synovial phospholipase A2

Four monoclonal antibodies (HP-1, HP-2, HP-3 and HP-4) with differing reactivities were raised against human synovial fluid phospholipase A2. None of them bound to exocrine phospholipases A2, such as those from pancreas or snake venom. However, antibodies HP-1 and HP-3 showed cross-reactivity with rabbit and rat platelet secretory phospholipases A2, which share common enzymatic and structural features with the human synovial enzyme. Antibodies HP-1, HP-2 and HP-3 inhibited the activity of human synovial phospholipase A2. The antibodies were used to develop a rapid immunoaffinity column chromatographic procedure for enzyme purification. In some preparations, the recovery of total activity after immunoaffinity column chromatography was more than 100% suggesting the existence of endogenous inhibitory factors of phospholipase A2 in human synovial fluid.