Comparison of Surgery and Prolonged Spironolactone Therapy in Patients with Hypertension,Aldosterone Excess,and Low Plasma Renin

The effect of prolonged preoperative treatment with spironolactone has been studied in a series of 67 patients with hypertension, aldosterone excess, and low plasma renin. In the series as a whole a highly significant reduction in both systolic and diastolic pressures was achieved, with no evidence of escape from control during therapy lasting several years in some cases. The drug was equally effective in controlling blood pressure in patients with and without adrenocortical adenomata. Occasional unresponsive patients were encountered in both groups; pretreatment blood urea levels in these were significantly higher than in the responsive patients. The hypotensive effect of spironolactone usually predicted the subsequent response to adrenal surgery.Spironolactone in all cases corrected plasma electrolyte abnormalities; significant increases in total exchangeable (or total body) potassium and significant reductions in total exchangeable sodium, total body water, extracellular fluid, and plasma volumes were seen. Plasma urea rose during treatment and there was a slight fall in mean body weight. Significant increases in peripheral venous plasma renin and angiotensin II concentrations occurred during treatment.In two patients no increase in aldosterone secretion rate was found during treatment, although plasma aldosterone rose in three of four subjects studied.Severe side effects were rare; in only two of the 67 patients did the drug have to be stopped.In addition to its routine preoperative use, spironolactone can now be advised as long-term therapy in selected patients.     

Effects of hyperoxia on composition and rate of synthesis of fatty acids in Escherichia coli

Growth of and fatty acid synthesis in Escherichia coli were inhibited by oxygen at partial pressures above 1 atm and were prevented by exposure to oxygen at 4.2 atm on membranes incubated on a minimal medium. Growth and fatty acid synthesis returned to control rates when cells were removed from hyperoxia to air. The spectrum of fatty acids produced was unchanged by oxygen at pressures which reduced the rate of synthesis. In situ fatty acids were stable to oxygen at pressures which prevented growth and synthesis. Reinitiation of synthesis after complete inhibition in hyperoxia occurred without production of aberrant fatty acids. Fatty acid synthetase specific activity was virtually unchanged, compared with air controls, in cells exposed either to 3.2 or to 15.2 atm of oxygen. The spectrum of fatty acids synthesized by cell-free extracts during incubation in 4.2 atm of oxygen was not different from air-incubated controls. Synthetase assays included added NADPH, acyl carrier protein, mercaptoethanol, and malonyl coenzyme A; hence, damage, other than reversible sulfhydryl oxidation, to the apoenzymes of synthetase was ruled out.     

Freezing of nonwoody plant tissues. III. Videotape micrography and the correlation between individual cellular freezing events and temperature changes in the surrounding tissue

A new technique was developed for the observation and recording on videotape of thermal and microscopic changes that occur simultaneously during the freezing of cucumber tissue. The freezing process occurs in two steps. Nucleation and growth of ice crystals in the continuous extracellular liquid phase is followed by nucleation and growth of ice crystals in individual supercooled cells. The freezing of cells in rapid succession causes the average temperature to remain constant for a short time. This mechanism explains the second freezing plateau found in most plant tissue freezing curves.     

Rates of RNA synthesis during early embryogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster

We determined the absolute rates of RNA synthesis during embryogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster by measuring the incorporation of ³H-5-orotic acid into RNA, and the specific activity of the UTP pool. Initially (preblastoderm) the rate of RNA synthesis is relatively high, but declines to a lower level by gastrulation. The data suggest that RNA synthesis is initiated during very early embryogenesis.     

OBSERVATIONS ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE GOLGI APPARATUS TO WALL FORMATION IN THE MARINE CHRYSOPHYCEAN ALGA, PLEUROCHRYSIS SCHERFFELII PRINGSHEIM

The role of the Golgi apparatus in wall formation of vegetative cells of a marine chrysophyte, Pleurochrysis scherffelii, is described. Wall fragments are synthesized within the cisternae of the Golgi apparatus. A single Golgi apparatus is always located at the cell periphery, and the distended cisternae are oriented toward the cell surface. A highly-ordered body found near the inflated cisternae is associated with spherical, membrane-bounded bodies which may be involved in the progressive degeneration of cisternal membranes which release wall fragments. Protoplast movement has been detected by time-lapse cinephotomicrography and is correlated at the ultrastructural level with change in positions of the Golgi cisternae. Wall-synthesizing capacity is greatest during transverse wall formation. Senescent cells lack a Golgi apparatus with inflated cisternae. In addition, wall fragments are not present in the Golgi cisternae at this stage. Zoosporogenesis results in a temporary loss of the wall-forming capacity of the Golgi apparatus; this activity then resumes with the formation of a different morphological entity, the scale. Preliminary quantitative measurements of the turnover capacity of the Golgi apparatus have been made. From these data it has been determined that between 41 and 82 Golgi generations are required to synthesize the cell wall of an actively growing cell; this estimate indicates that approximately one cisterna is produced every 2 min, provided the cell generation time is 3 days. The time-lapse cinephotomicrographic data confirm that the rate of production of Golgi cisternae is at least one cisterna every 2 min.     

Effect of Gibberellic Acid on the Elongation Rate of Agrostis alba Root Hairs

The influence of gibberellic acid over a wide range of concentrations on the rate of elongation of root hairs of redtop grass was investigated. The rate of root hair elongation was increased by GA over the concentration range of 10^?7 to 10^?12 M inclusive, with peak stimulation occurring at 10^?6 M. Although root hair growth was slightly accelerated by 10^?6 M GA, this concentration damaged many root hairs and caused some to stop growing altogether. Rate of root hair elongation was reduced to less than 84% of the control by 10^?5 M GA.