Salt taste responsiveness and preference among normotensive, prehypertensive and hypertensive adults

A taste dependent marker for prehypertensives was sought inwhite American adults. Direct measures for NaCl taste responsivenessand preference were judgements of the intensity of suprathresholdaqueous solutions, judgements of the intensity of and preferencefor salted tomato juice or rice, and ad libitum salting of lowsodium tomato juice. A questionnaire provided an indirect measureof NaCl acceptability and intake. Sucrose-sweetened fruit-flavoredbeverage was a control taste stimulus. Blood pressure criteria,supplemented with family history, relative weight, heart rate,and salt-use, segregated subjects into normotensive, prehypertensiveand untreated hypertensive groups. No statistically significantdifferences between groups were found in mean taste responsivenessor preference towards NaCl or towards the sucrose-sweetenedbeverage. NaCl acceptability and intake were also similar. Theresults suggest that NaCl suprathreshold taste responsivenessand preference are not useful predictors for hypertension inthe population studied.     

Amino acids and steroids of a new guinea Boletus

In addition to the previously reported isolation of L-2-amino-4-methylhex-5-enoic acid, eleven known amino acids, mannitol, ergosterol, and two new steroids were isolated from an allegedly hallucinogenic Boletus. A modification of the GC-MS method used for the identification of neutral α-amino acids is also reported.     

Immunological analysis of chemoattractive proteins from earthworm to garter snakes.

1. Two sets of polyclonal antibodies to two highly purified prey-derived snake-attractive proteins, a low molecular weight (3000) protein and a 20,000 mol. wt protein, were generated in rabbits. 2. They are immunospecific for their respective purified immunogens and do not cross-react with each other. 3. Eight prey-derived proteins that elicit attack by garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) from earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris) were analyzed with these antibodies, and can be assigned to three distinct groups on the basis of their antigenic properties. 4. Unfolding or denaturation of the low molecular weight protein did not alter its antigenic activity to its polyclonal antibodies, suggesting the antigenic epitopes contain contiguous amino acid sequences. 5. In contrast, unfolding of the 20,000 mol. wt protein resulted in a loss of its binding with antibodies, suggesting that the epitope of this protein contains noncontiguous amino acid sequences. 6. The snake-attractivity of the 20,000 mol. wt protein could not be neutralized by reacting it with its antiserum, suggesting that the antigenic determinant (the epitope) of the antigen is not an integral part of the attractive domain of the ES20 protein. 7. In contrast, the attractivity of the purified low molecular weight protein could be neutralized by the polyclonal antibodies.     

A test for a cost of opportunism in invasive species in the Commelinaceae

Many invasive species can respond opportunistically to favorable growing conditions. In a previous work, we found that invasive species in the family Commelinaceae were more opportunistic than their noninvasive congeners and could therefore outperform noninvasive relatives in an environment with abundant resources and no competition. Contrary to the expectation that superior performance under favorable conditions comes at the cost of reduced performance under stressful conditions, invasive species did not perform more poorly relative to noninvasive congeners under any conditions we examined. Here we expand our search for potential costs of opportunism in invasive species to additional environmental conditions in which invasive taxa have been shown or predicted to perform poorly. We grew four invasive and four noninvasive species in environments consisting of all possible combinations of high and low soil resources and presence and absence of clipping (removal of aboveground biomass). We also fed leaves of each species to a generalist herbivore to assess resistance to herbivory. We found that the advantage of invasive species is reduced but not eliminated by low soil resources and clipping. At low soil resources, invasive species produced softer leaves than noninvasive species and might therefore be less resistant to generalist herbivory than noninvasive species, although a direct comparison of resistance in a no-choice bioassay revealed no difference. The invasive species outperformed noninvasive species only under the most favorable conditions, and the noninvasive species did not outperform the invasive species in any environment.     

Toxicities associated with monoclonal antibody infusions in cancer patients

The toxicity during and following 291 infusions of 19 murine and three human monoclonal antibodies (MoAB) in 177 cancer patients with 10 different malignancies was assessed. Doses ranged from 0.5 to 500 mg administered over 0.25 to 24 hours. Various reactions in varying degrees were observed in 45 (28%) patients during their first MoAb infusion. Nine additional patients experienced toxicity following a subsequent antibody infusion. Antibodies that reacted with circulating cells were associated with toxicity in 20 of 28 (71%) of the first infusions, compared to 24 of 127 (19%) for patients receiving antibodies that did not react with circulating cells. Fevers, rigors, chills, and diaphoresis were observed in 10% to 12% of the patients and were associated with binding to circulating cells. Presumed hypersensitivity reactions, including urticaria, pruritus, bronchospasm, and anaphylaxis occurred in 20 patients (11%). There were five episodes of bronchospasm and a single episode of anaphylaxis. Liver transaminases were elevated in 14%. There was no correlation between dose or infusion rate and toxicity. Murine monoclonal antibodies that are not conjugated to cytotoxic agents can be given with an acceptable frequency of side effects and serious allergic reactions. There is a small risk of anaphylaxis, and one should avoid rapid infusion of high antibody doses in the presence of circulating target cells and/or circulating free antigen.