Glucose turnover in adult non-growing tumour-bearing mice

[6-3H]glucose was used for measurements of plasma glucose turnover in adult non-growing mice with sarcoma-induced malnutrition. Plasma glucose turnover was increased in freely-fed tumour-bearing mice but not in starved tumour-bearing mice. Elevated glucose turnover in freely-eating sarcoma-bearing mice was associated with an increased glucose pool, the latter not only being due to an expanded distribution volume of glucose. Plasma lactate was elevated in sarcoma-bearing mice independently of their food intake. The results show that elevated plasma glucose turnover in an anorectic tumour-bearing host is not due to insufficient adaptation to food depression. Increased glucose turnover in tumour-bearing mice was associated with an altered intermediary whole body metabolism of glucose which is not entirely accounted for by the state of malnutrition of the host.     

Monoclonal antibodies against histone H5. Epitope mapping and binding to chromatin

Monoclonal antibodies against chicken erythrocyte histone H5 were produced. Nine hybridomas of different clonal origin were selected, and the antibodies were purified by affinity chromatography. Typing of the antibodies indicated that all but one (IgM) belong to the IgG1 class and contain kappa light chains. Indirect immunoprecipitation, solid-phase radioimmunoassay, and competitive inhibition assays using various H5 fragments revealed that the antigen-binding sites were localized on the central region of H5 (GH5, residues 22-100). Results of immunoblots from gels containing different denaturing agents indicate that some of the antibodies recognize related continuous epitopes localized at the junction of the GH5 with the rest of the molecule. Competition experiments between pairs of the eight different IgGs suggest that they recognize at least seven distinct sites on GH5. The epitopes appear to represent different regions of GH5 although some of them overlap. In general, the antibodies recognize epitopes which are not too accessible to the environment in the native conformation of the histone. All of the antibodies examined, except one of them (5H10), react with nuclei and chromatin from the erythroid cells but not from other cell lines. The site recognized by 5H10 is likely to be one of the regions where GH5 interacts with the nucleosome. No cross-reactivity of the antibodies with other histones including H1, H2A, H2B, H3, H4, and rat liver histone H1(0) was observed.     

Haptoglobin groups in dementia of Alzheimer type and multi-infarct dementia

Haptoglobin (Hp) groups were determined in 65 patients with dementia of Alzheimer type (DAT) and 74 with multi-infarct dementia (MID). The increased Hp1 gene frequency among patients with DAT described by other investigators could not be confirmed in this study. The patients showed no significant difference from the controls with respect to phenotype and gene frequencies, and there were no significant differences between early and late onset cases of DAT.     

Haptoglobin groups and rheumatoid arthritis

Haptoglobin types were determined in 200 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) subdivided according to sex and familial occurrence of polyarthritis. A highly significant excess of the Hp2 gene was found among patients with a family history of polyarthritis, more pronounced among males. The possible association between Hp2 and predisposition for increased immune reactivity is discussed.     

Sutural morphogenesis in the mouse calvaria: the role of apoptosis

Sutural morphogenesis was studied in calvariae of fetal and newborn 16- to 26-day postconception C57B1/6J mice. The squamoid pattern characteristic of most calvarial sutures appeared to be established during the phase of approach of the adjacent bone territories as they assumed different ecto/ifendocranial planes within the desmocranium. When this stratification failed, apoptosis, a form of cell death, was seen to occur upon physical contact of the leading osteogenic cells of each heterotopic bone territory. Apoptosis appeared as part of a secondary morphogenetic mechanism preventing physical contact and resultant fusion of adjacent mineralized zones, as well as enhancing appearance of the usual pattern of overlap of calvarial sutures.     

The composition of liver chromatin proteins from embryos, chicks and adult chickens

The chemical composition of chromatin from the livers of 12-, 15- and 19-day-old embryos, of 1-day-old chicks and of adult chickens was analysed. The process of embryonic development is accompanied by an increase in non-histone chromatin proteins and chromatin RNA, as well as in the phosphorus content of chromatin phosphoproteins. The amount of these components decreases in the livers of 1-day-old chicks and adults. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of acid-soluble chromatin proteins showed an increase in the amount of the H1 histone in 19-day-old embryos and adult chickens. Non-histone proteins of embryo liver chromatin showed a high content of the fraction of Mr of about 40 000; this was not the case for adult chickens. The non-histone protein fraction of Mr of about 120 000, characteristic of adult chicken liver proteins, was not found in the livers of 12- and 15-day-old embryos. Non-histone chromatin proteins isolated from the livers of animals of different age exhibited also quantitative differences.     

Immunological analysis of histone H2A from the slime mold Physarum polycephalum

Specific antibodies against the histone H2A from calf thymus were generated by injecting rabbits with complexes: histone H2A-RNA with a protein to RNA ratio of 3:1. In the microcomplement fixation assay the antibodies against the histone H2A from calf thymus immuno-reacted with the histone H2A from calf thymus but not with H2A from Physarum polycephalum. The histone H2A from calf thymus therefore appears to have an immunological determinant(s) which does not exist in H2A from Physarum polycephalum.     

The value of provoked expectoration in obtaining sputum samples for cytologic investigation. A prospective, consecutive and controlled investigation of 134 patients

A prospective controlled investigation in 134 consecutive outpatients compared the cytologic adequacy of sputum samples obtained by spontaneous and provoked expectoration. Inhalation of nebulized 10% sodium chloride was used for provoked expectoration. A significantly higher number of adequate samples was produced after provocation, as judged by the presence of alveolar macrophages (X2 = 5.63; p less than 0.02). The improvement in sample adequacy was limited to the nonsmokers and ex-smokers in the study. This result, together with the relatively high cost of cytologic sputum examinations, indicates that provoked expectoration should at least be applied to the collection of sputum samples from nonsmokers and ex-smokers.     

Trends in economic traits, halothane sensitivity, blood group and enzyme systems of Swiss Landrace and Large White pigs

Pigs deriving from 150 breeding centres constituting a representative section of elite breeding herds (2496 Swiss Landrace pigs, 587 Swiss Large White pigs) were subjected to blood typing during the period 1981 to 1984. Production traits such as daily gain, feed conversion ratio, lean meat content and meat quality score were available to show the trend in these performance traits since 1978. Field data on the halothane reaction of 14 270 Swiss Landrace (SL) pigs were used to assess the porcine stress syndrome during the period 1978-1983. In SL pigs the frequency of the alleles Ha, PhiB and AdaA decreased significantly, and that of the Hc and PhiA increased during the period of the study. The frequency of the Ha allele dropped from 0.36 in 1981 to 0.20 in 1984, whereas the Hc allele rose from 0.22 to 0.37. In Swiss Large White (SLW) pigs, on the other hand, the frequency of the Ha allele increased constantly from 0.31 to 0.37 during this period. An initial frequency of 17.7% (1978) halothane reactors in SL pigs was lowered to 0.7% (1982) after five years of halothane testing. In SL pigs the meat quality scores improved regularly, whereas in SLW pigs it did not change very much. The percentage of PSE animals in the SL breed was reduced from 32.7% in 1978 to 7.1% in 1983. Because the Hal locus is associated with production traits such as meat quality, linkage disequilibria could explain the observed associations between the H and Phi types and production traits.     

Limited nonenzymatic glucosylation of low-density lipoprotein does not alter its catabolism in tissue culture

This study examines the effects of various degrees of chemical modification of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) on its catabolism by various cell types. Moderate glucosylation of LDL does not alter its interaction with the high-affinity receptor present on human fibroblasts at concentration of 5-2000 micrograms LDL-cholesterol/ml. Only heavily glucosylated LDL (more than 12 lysine residues glucosylated per apolipoprotein B) or LDL glucosylated in the presence of Na(CN)BH3, i.e., conditions not expected to occur in diabetes, inhibit receptor-mediated internalisation and degradation. Moderately glucosylated LDL is also readily recognized by cultured rat hepatocytes and porcine endothelial cells. Human monocyte-derived macrophages accumulate cholesteryl ester when incubated with acetylated LDL for 12 days but no enhanced cholesteryl ester formation was found when native or glucosylated LDL (3.3 lysines glucosylated per apolipoprotein B) were used.