Increase in urinary thromboxane excretion during pregnancy and labor

Urinary TXB2 excretion was measured during pregnancy and labor using high pressure liquid chromatography and radioimmunoassay. From the first trimester onwards TXB2 levels in urine of pregnant women (n = 60) were significantly (p less than 0.001) higher than in non-pregnant women (n = 12) and they increased, albeit not significantly, with advancing gestation. Labor was associated with a two-fold increase in urinary TXB2 excretion. Levels in established labor were significantly higher than at any other time in pregnancy (p less than 0.001), but the levels in incipient labor showed considerable overlap with these in late pregnancy. Thus urinary TXB2, while not necessarily originating from the pregnant uterus, appears to reflect the uterine activity of labor and may be the expression of a general stimulation of prostanoid production during parturition.     

Conversion of arachidonic acid into 12-oxo derivatives in human platelets. A pathway possibly involving the heme-catalysed transformation of 12-hydroperoxy-eicosatetraenoic acid

Analysis of arachidonic acid metabolites in human platelets by reverse-phase HPLC with radioactivity and UV detection revealed, besides Thromboxane B2 (TXB2), 12-hydroxy-heptadecatrienoic acid (HHT) and 12-hydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acid (12-HETE) previously described, two peaks of unidentified material absorbing at 280 nm. This material was purified by straight-phase HPLC and characterized by UV spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Three carbonyl compounds were identified: 12-keto-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acid and two geometric isomers of 12-oxo-5,8,10-dodecatrienoic acid. In a 5 min incubation at 37 degrees C in the presence of 9 microM arachidonic acid, the yield was of 0.5 to 1% of added arachidonic acid for the ketonic compound and of 4 to 7% for the sum of the two isomeric fatty acid aldehydes in comparison to 10 to 13% and 25 to 28% for TXB2 and 12-HETE, respectively. Because the three compounds carry a carbonyl group at position 12, their relationship with the 12-lipoxygenase pathway was investigated. It was found that the three compounds were formed when 12-hydroperoxy-eicosatetraenoic acid (12-HPETE) was incubated with intact or heat denaturated platelets or hemoproteins, strongly suggesting that these carbonyl compounds are products of a heme-catalysed transformation of 12-HPETE.     

Ecologic aspects of American tegumentary leishmaniasis. 5. Stratification of the spatial and seasonal activities of Phlebotominae (Diptera, Psychodidae) in areas of agricultural culture of the Vale do Ribeira region, State of S?o Paulo, Brazil

This paper deals with the investigation on the composition and stratification of the Phebotominae activity developed in patch and clear areas of high agricultural activity. The employment of a CDC light trap proved to be a useful tool in determining the local faune. Thirteen species of sandflies and a total of 5,423 individuals were caught. The catch places situated in the ecotone were the ones in which the results reached their best, being outstanding for Psychodopygus intermedius, Lutzomyia migonei and L. fischeri. Thereby, data lead us to believe they have acrodendrophilous habit. On the other hand, when the global results were gathered according to male and female categories, the first one proved to be predominant. In the analysis of seasonal distribution for the three species cited, it was clear that the high-activity peaks were bi- and tri-modal for different seasons. P. intermedius was almost the exclusive sandfly caught at ground level in the Autumn season. This exclusiveness has practically extended itself to the catch places situated in open field.     

Short- and long-term effects of proallatotoxin (ethoxyprecocene II) on Rhodnius prolixus females

Oogenesis and oviposition can be inhibited in female of Rhodnius prolixus by means of short-term experiment (first reproductive cycle) of a single dose of ethoxyprecocene II given by ingestion. The inhibition is dose-dependent as measured by oocyte growth, egg maturation and egg deposition. In a long-term experiment (second and third reproductive cycles) egg production and oogenesis can be partially or totally re-established by subsequent blood meals without ethoxyprecocene II. These findings suggest that in female R. prolixus, damage caused to corpus allatum by ethoxyprecocene II, in certain cases, is not irreversible.     

An abnormal terminal X-Y interchange accounts for most but not all cases of human XX maleness

To determine if human XX maleness results from an abnormal chromosomal X-Y interchange, we studied the inheritance of the paternal pseudoautosomal region in nine patients. Those six patients in whom Y-specific DNA was found (Y(+)) inherited the entire pseudoautosomal region from the paternal Y chromosome and lost that of the paternal X chromosome. Moreover, in three Y(+) cases, we observed the deletion of a paternal Xp locus tightly linked to the pseudoautosomal region. These results definitively show that an abnormal and terminal X-Y interchange during paternal meiosis causes Y(+)XX maleness. In contrast, no abnormal X-Y interchange was observed in any of the three Y(-) cases analyzed, suggesting that maleness can occur in the absence of any Y-specific DNA.     

DNA typing of HLA-DR β chain genes can discriminate between undetected alleles and real homozygotes

The polymorphism of HLA-DR antigens has been studied by Southern blot hybridization under conditions specific for the detection of the DR chain genes. Haplotype-specific patterns were defined with DNA from DR1, 2, 3, 4, 7, w8, w11, w12, and W13 homozygous typing cells, with restriction enzymes Eco RI, Bgl I, and Pvu II. Certain serological specificities, such as DR2, DR3, and DR7, can be encoded by distinct allelic forms of DR chain genes. The procedure of DNA typing was applied to family analysis of individuals expressing only a single DR specificity upon serological typing. Three cases are described here: (1) in family GR, phenotypic DR 7 homozygotes correspond to genomic heterozygotes, and a novel DR7 allele is described: (2) in family RU, the genes corresponding to a serologically undetected (blank) DR allele were identified by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP); this novel DR haplotype has an RFLP pattern similar to those of the DRw52 family, even though this specificity was not expressed on the DR-blank lymphocytes; (3) in family RG, there is no blank allele, but a homozygote RFLP situation at the DR subregion.     

Plasmid stability in immobilized and free recombinant Escherichia coli JM105(pKK223-200): importance of oxygen diffusion, growth rate, and plasmid copy number

Stability of the plasmid pKK223-200 in Escherichia coli JM105 was studied for both free and immobilized cells during continuous culture. The relationship between plasmid copy number, xylanase activity, which was coded for by the plasmid, and growth rate and culture conditions involved complex interactions which determined the plasmid stability. Generally, the plasmid stability was enhanced in cultured immobilized cells compared with free-cell cultures. This stability was associated with modified plasmid copy number, depending on the media used. Hypotheses are presented concerning the different plasmid instability kinetics observed in free-cell cultures which involve the antagonistic effects of plasmid copy number and plasmid presence on the plasmid-bearing/plasmid-free cell growth rate ratio. Both diffusional limitation in carrageenan gel beads, which is described in Theoretical Analysis of Immobilized-Cell Growth, and compartmentalized growth of immobilized cells are proposed to explain plasmid stability in immobilized cells.     

Reductive dechlorination of 2,4-dichlorobenzoate to 4-chlorobenzoate and hydrolytic dehalogenation of 4-chloro-, 4-bromo-, and 4-iodobenzoate by Alcaligenes denitrificans NTB-1

Alcaligenes denitrificans NTB-1, previously isolated on 4-chlorobenzoate, also utilized 4-bromo-, 4-iodo-, and 2,4-dichlorobenzoate but not 4-fluorobenzoate as a sole carbon and energy source. During growth, stoichiometric amounts of halide were released. Experiments with whole cells and cell extracts revealed that 4-bromo- and 4-iodobenzoate were metabolized like 4-chlorobenzoate, involving an initial hydrolytic dehalogenation yielding 4-hydroxybenzoate, which in turn was hydroxylated to 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate. The initial step in the metabolism of 2,4-dichlorobenzoate was catalyzed by a novel type of reaction for aerobic organisms, involving inducible reductive dechlorination to 4-chlorobenzoate. Under conditions of low and controlled oxygen concentrations, A. denitrificans NTB-1 converted all 4-halobenzoates and 2,4-dichlorobenzoate almost quantitatively to 4-hydroxybenzoate.     

Tomato protoplast DNA transformation: physical linkage and recombination of exogenous DNA sequences

Tomato protoplasts have been transformed with plasmid DNA's, containing a chimeric kanamycin resistance gene and putative tomato origins of replication. A calcium phosphate-DNA mediated transformation procedure was employed in combination with either polyethylene glycol or polyvinyl alcohol. There were no indications that the tomato DNA inserts conferred autonomous replication on the plasmids. Instead, Southern blot hybridization analysis of seven kanamycin resistant calli revealed the presence of at least one kanamycin resistance locus per transformant integrated in the tomato nuclear DNA. Generally one to three truncated plasmid copies were found integrated into the tomato nuclear DNA, often physically linked to each other. For one transformant we have been able to use the bacterial ampicillin resistance marker of the vector plasmid pUC9 to rescue a recombinant plasmid from the tomato genome. Analysis of the foreign sequences included in the rescued plasmid showed that integration had occurred in a non-repetitive DNA region. Calf-thymus DNA, used as a carrier in transformation procedure, was found to be covalently linked to plasmid DNA sequences in the genomic DNA of one transformant. A model is presented describing the fate of exogenously added DNA during the transformation of a plant cell. The results are discussed in reference to the possibility of isolating DNA sequences responsible for autonomous replication in tomato.