Artificial insemination with frozen,thawed semen and pregnancy diagnosis in addax (Addax nasomaculatus)

Nonsurgical artificial insemination (AI) procedures were performed using frozen, thawed semen in two adult female addax. Pregnant mares' serum gonadotropin (PMSG) (300 IU) and prostaglandin (PG) (125 μg) was administered intramuscularly to female 1 on days ?3 and ?1, respectively, where day 1 was the first day of AI. Only one injection of PG was used, as a low serum progesterone (PROG) concentration (0.5 ng/ml) and a low pregnanediol glucuronide (PdG) concentration (0.36 ng PdG/mg creatinine) had been recorded on day ?13. A total of 219 × 10⁶ motile sperm was deposited in the os cervix or anterior vagina on days 1–4. High serum PROG levels (9.4–15.8 ng/ml) and high urinary PdG levels (1.35–1.63 ng PdG/mg creatinine) were observed on days 23, 31, and 39, and the fetal heart was seen beating during an ultrasound exam on day 45. A male calf was born on day 266, 8.7 mo after insemination. This is the first live birth resulting from AI of an antelope with frozen, thawed semen. The Synchro-mate-B system of estrous control was used in female 2. The implant was inserted, and the injection was given on day ?11 per the manufacturer's instructions. The implant was removed on day ?1, and a total of 220 × 10⁶ motile sperm was deposited in the os cervix or anterior vagina on days 1 and 2. High serum PROG levels (17.5–24.5 ng/ml) were observed on days 13, 21, and 29. Although the fetal heartbeat was observed during an ultrasound examinataion on day 42, the fetus was not carried to term. Details of the radioimmunoassay used to determine the luteinizing hormone immunoreactivity of urine samples are presented.     

Platelet MAO-B Activity and Serotonin Content in Patients with Dementia: Effect of Age,Medication, and Disease

This study aimed at determining the effect of drug therapy, age and type of dementia on biological markers. Both platelet monoamine oxidase type B (MAO-B) activity and serotonin content of 57 demented patients and 20 control subjects were determined. Platelet MAO-B activity was measured using [¹⁴C]tyramine as substrate. Serotonin content was determined by HPLC-EC method. Increased platelet serotonin content and platelet count was found in patients with dementia compared to controls. A positive correlation was experienced between platelet MAO-B activity, platelet serotonin content and age. Platelet MAO-B activity was higher in the haloperidol treated group, compared with patients treated with anxyolitics. The main original finding of the present study is that platelet serotonin content is increased in demented patients with delusions compared to dementia without complications (p = 0.006). It seems, that platelet MAO-B activity is influenced mainly by drug therapy, while serotonin content rather reflects clinical characteristics in dementia.     

Reversible effects of acute hypertension on proximal tubule sodium transporters

Acute hypertension provokes a rapid decrease in proximal tubulesodium reabsorption with a decrease in basolateral membrane sodium-potassium-ATPase activity and an increase in the density ofmembranes containing apical membrane sodium/hydrogen exchangers (NHE3)[Y. Zhang, A. K. Mircheff, C. B. Hensley, C. E. Magyar, D. G. Warnock, R. Chambrey, K.-P. Yip, D. J. Marsh, N.-H. Holstein-Rathlou, and A. A. McDonough. Am. J. Physiol.270 (Renal Fluid Electrolyte Physiol.39): F1004-F1014, 1996]. To determine the reversibility andspecificity of these responses, rats were subjected to1) elevation of blood pressure (BP)of 50 mmHg for 5 min, 2) restoration of normotension after the first protocol, or3) sham operation. Systolichypertension increased urine output and endogenous lithium clearancethree- to fivefold within 5 min, but these returned to basal levelsonly 15 min after BP was restored. Renal cortex lysate was fractionatedon sorbitol gradients. Basolateral membrane sodium-potassium-ATPaseactivity (but not subunit immunoreactivity) decreased one-third toone-half after BP was elevated and recovered after BP was normalized.After BP was elevated, 55% of the apical NHE3 immunoreactivity,smaller fractions of sodium-phosphate cotransporter immunoreactivity,and apical alkaline phosphatase and dipeptidyl-peptidase redistributedto membranes of higher density enriched in markers of theintermicrovillar cleft (megalin) and endosomes (Rab 4 and Rab 5),whereas density distributions of the apical cytoskeleton protein villinwere unaltered. After 20 min of normalized BP, all the NHE3 and smallerfractions of the other apical membrane proteins returned to theiroriginal distributions. These findings suggest that the dynamicregulation of proximal tubule sodium transport by acute changes in BPmay be mediated by rapid reversible regulation of sodium pump activityand relocation of apical sodium transporters.

     

Systematic investigation of different steroid precursors with respect to their effect on superoxide anion production by human neutrophil granulocytes.

Free radicals are involved in several pathological processes in living organisms, for example in athero- and oncogenesis. Some steroids are known to be effective antioxidants, while others do not play any such role. The aim of our study was to examine the antioxidant capability of different metabolites in the synthesis of steroid hormones. As a model, we chose human neutrophils producing superoxide anion, which is the source of many other radicals. Neutrophils were separated from healthy volunteers. Isolated cells were incubated with varying concentrations of steroid compounds and stimulated with N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe. Superoxide anion production was determined by photometry. Neutrophils incubated with corticosterone and 18-hydroxy-deoxycorticosterone showed a significant reduction in superoxide production, whereas we found a significant enhancement in the presence of 11beta-hydroxyprogesterone. Furthermore, we observed a non-significant decreasing trend after incubation with cholesterol 3-sulphate and an increasing tendency using 11-hydroxyandrostenedione. We were also able to produce newer morphological and functional evidence of the role of myeloperoxidase enzyme in the steroidal antioxidant effect by electronic microscopy and use of sodium hypochlorite in our incubation model. Based on these results, we conclude that not only steroid end products but also their intermediate metabolites, most of which are also present in human plasma, partly influence free radical metabolism. Thus, this study provides further argument for the search for the molecular basis responsible for the antioxidant effect of steroid structures. This may lead to new opportunities for finding really efficient antioxidants, which might perhaps be used in a combined manner with other agents in the fight against certain life-threatening diseases.     

Absorption, distribution and elimination of azidomorphine and related substances.

The absorption, distribution and elimination of 14C- and 3H-azidomorphine, 3H-14-OH-azidomorphine, 14C- and 3H-azidocodeine and 3H-azidoethylmorphine were studied in comparison to 14-C-morphine. Whole body autoradiography of pregnant mice, quantitative estimations of tissue radioactivity in male mice, brain autoradiography, subcellular distribution in rat brain and elimination studies in rats were performed. Azidomorphine and morphine are absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract at the same rate but the absorption of 14-OH-azidomorphine, azidocodeine and azidoethylmorphine exceeds that of the formers. The azidomorphines pass across the blood-brain barrier more readily than does morphine. In rats treated with azidomorphines, 30--50% of the doses given were excreted with the urine the first 4 hours and about 90% within 48 hours; whereas 2--5% were recovered from the collected stools.