Myocardial uptake kinetics of tocainide enantiomers in the isolated perfused rabbit heart

The extent of myocardial accumulation of tocainide, administered as single enantiomers and as well as racemate, was determined in the isolated, spontaneous beating rabbit heart. The heart was retrogradely perfused at a constant rate and fractions of the perfusate were collected during and after infusion. Kinetic parameters for myocardial accumulation and disposition of tocainide were indirectly determined from drug concentration/time course in the outflow perfusate. No stereoselectivity in myocardial accumulation was observed. A two compartment model with mean half-lives for distribution and elimination of 0.60 and 3.78 min, respectively, was fitted to the accumulation and disposition data. At steady-state, tocainide enantiomers were accumulated about three times in the myocardium relative to the perfusion liquid. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Occurrence of α-acetolactate decarboxylases among lactic acid bacteria and their utilization for maturation of beer

Summary Acetolactate decarboxylase activity has been detected among three genera, nine species and 263 strains of lactic acid bacteria tested in the course of a screening for acetolactate decarboxylases amenable for use in brewing as maturation aid. Streptococcus diacetylactis strain FD-64-D was found to generate a decarboxylase exhibiting a satisfactory activity and an excellent stability at the pH prevailing in beer and wort. This decarboxylase could not be solubilized but enzymatically active, freeze-dried cells were effective for satisfactory flavour maturation of beer although difficulties were encountered during attempts to remove the applied cell material by filtration of the beer. Lactobacillus casei DSM 2547 was likewise found to produce a decarboxylase exhibiting a satisfactory activity and stability at the low pH of beer and which, in addition, was readily solubilized. A method has been developed for pilot scale production of preparations of this decarboxylase suitable for use in brewing.Abbreviations DSM Deutsche Sammlung von Microorganismen - EDTA Ethylene diaminetetra-acetic acid     

Tetrahymena. Adaptation to high iron

Fe-starved ciliates Tetrahymena thermophila cease to multiply at Fe(III) concentrations above 10 microM in a synthetic nutrient medium lacking a good iron chelator such as citrate. If, however, the Fe(III) concentration is gradually increased over a series of subcultivations the cells will tolerate up to 300 microM Fe(III). Our experiments rule out the possibility of genetic selection of Fe-tolerant clones and suggest a physiological type of adaptation.     

Nucleotide sequence of a 1.1 kb fragment of the pea chloroplast genome containing three tRNA genes, one of which is located within an open reading frame of 91 codons.

The nucleotide sequence of a 1082 bp fragment from the pea (Pisum sativum) chloroplast genome is presented. This fragment contains genes for tRNAGlu, tRNATyr and tRNAAsp as well as an open reading frame (ORF) of 91 codons on one strand and two ORFs of 52 and 59 codons on the complementary strand. The tRNAAsp gene is located entirely within the ORF of 91 codons. The first 366 bp of the fragment correspond to 376 bp at one end of a recently published (1) sequence from the broad bean (Vicia faba) chloroplast genome. These regions contain the tRNAGlu and tRNATyr genes, which are identical and separated by 60 bp in both species. These two genes are probably cotranscribed. The intergenic regions in the corresponding segments from the two species are, except for a 10 bp deletion in the pea sequence, 94% homologous.     

Nodular pulmonary amyloidosis.

An elderly man had a 10-year history of multiple pulmonary nodules that he had refused to have investigated. He died of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. At autopsy the nodules were shown to consist of amyloid. There was no evidence of systemic amyloidosis.     

The transformation of the synaptonemal complex into the “elimination chromatin” in Bombyx mori oocytes

In Bombyx mori oocytes the synaptonemal complexes are retained in modified form from pachytene to metaphase I. At the end of pachytene the length and width of the lateral components of the complex increase, whereafter the complexes become compacted during later stages of the meiotic prophase. Ultimately, at metaphase I the modified synaptonemal complexes of individual bivalents fuse to form a more or less continuous sheet between the homologous chromosomes. This sheet corresponds to the structure historically known as the elimination chromatin. It is concluded that in the absence of crossing over and chiasma formation in Bombyx mori females the retainment and subsequent modification of the synaptonemal complex has evolved as a substitute mechanism to ensure regular disjunction of the bivalents.     

The possible contribution of electron microscopy to the understanding of the mechanism of non-disjunction in man.

Sprout inhibition of onion bulbs can be effectively accomplished by low doses of radiation [2,3]. However, wholesomeness data on irradiated onions, particularly with respect to their mutagenic activity, are still insufficient for evaluation [6]. Therefore we examined the mutagenic activity of irradiated onions in bacterial systems. Because onion bulbs contain a considerable amount of free amino acids, we used indicator strains carrying the marker for mutagenicity other than the amino acid requirement.In this paper we describe the results on irradiated onions. We used tests with solid and liquid media, assaying for the streptomycin (SM) dependence in a strain having a tetracycline (TC)-resistance factor, as well as DNA repair tests using two sets of indicator strains.     

Tissue analyses guidelines for diagnosing sulfur deficiency in white wheat

Summary Visual identification of S deficiency in white wheat is difficult since deficiency symptoms are nearly identical with those of N deficiency. In this study, S deficiency was best identified by determining the total N/S ratio rather than S concentration in vegetative tissue. Vegetative growth generally decreased from tillering to boot when the whole plant N/S ratio exceeded 17. The N/S ratio in S-sufficient plants declined gradually with age, implying that the critical N/S ratio may decline with advancing growth. Changes in stem: leaf ratio could have been responsible for the decline since the N/S ratio in stem tissue at heading was less than that of green leaf tissue.Sulphur concentration less reliably indicated S-deficiency, because differences in S levels between S-deficient and S-sufficient wheat, were often less than year-to-year variation of S concentration of plants sampled at the same growth stage. In addition, S concentration in whole plants declined sharply between tillering and heading. These factors make it difficult to designate a critical S level. Sulfur distribution among various plant organs suggests that critical S levels might best be obtained by utilizing green leaf tissue.Nitrogen concentration in S-sufficient wheat plants also decreased quite rapidly with growth, which indicates a similar difficulty for determining critical N percentages. Consequently, the most reliable distinction between N and S deficiency in wheat was accomplished by evaluation of the total N/S ratio in whole plant tissue.Contribution from the Agricultural Research Service, USDA, in cooperation with the Agricultural Experiment Station, Oregon State University. Technical Paper No.3953 of the latter.     

Production and partial characterization of monoclonal antibodies specific for the gamonts of Eimeria tenella.

Thirteen hybridomas secreting monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) specific for the sexual stages (gamonts) of Eimeria tenella were produced by fusing spleen cells of gamont-immunized RBF/Dn mice with FOX-NY myeloma cells. A Mab subisotype profile revealed 1 IgG2a and 12 IgG1. All Mabs demonstrated a similar binding pattern when incubated with parasitic gamonts as determined by the indirect fluorescent antibody test. Ascitic fluid containing Mab (GD9 (IgG1) was produced and used to immunize chicks passively per os. There was a 34% decrease (P less than 0.05) in oocyst output from immunized chicks when compared to control chicks. Passively immunized chicks also had reduced cecal lesion scores when compared to control chicks. These results suggest that Mab GD9 partially inhibited the fertilization process of E. tenella.     

Coordinate Regulation of the Cyclic AMP System with Firing Rate and Expression of Tyrosine Hydroxylase in the Rat Locus Coeruleus: Effects of Chronic Stress and Drug Treatments

Recent studies have demonstrated that chronic stress increases the firing rate and expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in neurons of the locus coeruleus (LC), the major noradrenergic nucleus in brain. The present study was undertaken to examine the influence of chronic stress and other treatments known to influence the activity of LC neurons on the cyclic AMP (cAMP) second messenger system in these neurons. Chronic (5 days) cold exposure significantly increased levels of TH immunoreactivity in the LC, as previously reported, but not in substantia nigra (SN) or ventral tegmentum (VT), two dopaminergic nuclei studied for comparison. Chronic cold exposure increased levels of cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity in soluble, but not particulate, fractions of the LC, and increased basal and GTP- and forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in this brain region. In contrast, levels of the protein kinase and adenylate cyclase in VT, SN, and frontal cortex were not significantly influenced by cold exposure. To study further the relationship between regulation of LC firing rate, TH expression, and the cAMP system in the LC, other treatments known to influence TH were examined. Reserpine treatment, shown previously to increase levels of TH, was found to increase both LC firing rate and levels of soluble cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity in the LC. 6-Hydroxydopamine, shown previously to increase levels of TH and firing rate of LC neurons, also increased soluble levels of protein kinase activity. Other treatments known to either increase (adrenalectomy) or decrease (chronic imipramine) levels of TH in the LC were also found to increase or decrease, respectively, levels of cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity in this brain region.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)