Effect of organic acid on gastrointertinal motility of rat invitro

The quantity of organic acids ( lactic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid ) in the content of the gastrointestinal tract of germ-free and conventional rats and the $\text{in}$$\text{vitro}$ effects of the organic acid on the motility of the gastrointestinal tract of rats were investigated.Organic acids were detected only in the gastrointestinal contents of conventional rats but not in those of germ-free rats.Lactic acid detected in the stomach of rats stimulated the motility of both small and large bowel while acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid found in the cecum stimulated the motility of the large bowel but not of small bowel.     

Source of prolactin in human follicular fluid.

To analyze whether prolactin (PRL) in human follicular fluid (FF) is synthesized locally or derived from the circulation, PRL concentrations of plasma and FF were determined in the patients after ovarian stimulations. The amounts of PRL messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) in the follicular tissues during different menstrual phases were also determined. The FF PRL concentration was correlated positively with plasma PRL and highest estradiol levels during the stimulatory cycle. No PRL mRNA sequence was detected in the RNAs extracted from follicles at any stage in the menstrual cycle, although beta-actin mRNA was detected in all samples. In a comparison with pituitary RNA, the PRL mRNA concentration in ovarian follicular tissues seemed to be 10,000 times less than that in the pituitary. These results suggest that FF PRL may not be synthesized locally, but derived from the pituitary via the circulation through passive diffusion, and thus regulated by estrogen.     

Hydrolysis of fourteen native dextrans by arthrobacter isomaltodextranase and correlation with dextran structure

The isomaltodextranase (EC 3.2.1.94) from Arthrobacter globiformis T6 hydrolysed thirteen dextrans to various extents (11?64% after 13 days) at initially large but gradually decreasing rates. Dextran B-1355 fraction S was, unlike the other dextrans, hydrolysed by the dextranase initially at the lowest rate among the dextrans used, but the rate was maintained for a long period with little decrease, so that the hydrolysis reached as high as 85% after 13 days. Paper chromatography of these dextran digests revealed that this dextranase produces in addition to isomaltose, one or two trisaccharides [isomaltose residues substituted by (1 →2)-, (1→3)-, or (1→4)-α-D-glucopyranosyl groups at the non-reducing D-glucopyranosyl residues] from every dextran used. It is evident that the non-(1→6)-linkages of these trisaccharide products constitute the “anomalous” linkages of the corresponding dextrans. The relative amounts of these trisaccharide products appear to indicate the approxima te relative amounts of a particular linkage among the dextrans, or the relative amounts of two kinds of linkages of each dextran. The kinds and the relative amounts of “anomalous” linkages of some dextrans were established on the basis of the trisaccharides produced by isomaltodextranase.     

Immunoadjuvant activities of peptidoglycan subunits from the cell walls of Staphyloccus aureus and Lactobacillus plantarum.

Attempts were made to isolate and identify the unit chemical structure essential for manifestation of the immunoadjuvant activities characteristic of bacterial cell walls. The N-acetylmuramyl-peptide subunit monomers, Nalpha-(N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutaminyl)-Nepsilon-(glycylglycyl)-L-lysyl-D-alanine from the cell walls of Staphylococcus aureus (FDA 209P) and N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutaminyl-meso-diaminopimelic acid and/or N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutaminyl-meso-diaminopimelyl-D-alanine from those of Lactobacillus plantarum (ATCC 8014), were shown to be unit chemical entities with definite adjuvant activity both in stimulation of antibody production and in induction of delayed-type hypersensitivity to ovalbumin when administered to guinea-pigs as water-in-oil emulsions.     

Effect of alkali on the structure of cell envelopes of Chlamydia psittaci elementary bodies.

Suspensions of isolated cell envelopes of infectious elementary bodies (EB) of Chlamydia psittaci at alkaline pH showed a rapid, extensive decrease in absorbance, accompanied by the release of a cell envelope component in a sedimentable form. This phenomenon was observed both at 0 C and with envelopes which had been previously heated to 100 C. Monovalent and divalent cations effectively inhibited the turbidity loss, whereas ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) caused an accelerated decrease in turbidity. The turbidity loss observed after incubation of the envelopes at alkaline pH could be reversed to the level of the initial value by dialysis against distilled water containing Mg2+. Thin-section electron photomicrographs of purified EB exposed to alkaline buffer with EDTA revealed the loss of the internal contents of cells, but these cells still maintained their round shapes. The cell surface of treated EB appeared pitted in negatively stained preparations, whereas intact EB had a smooth surface. Electron microscopic studies on negatively stained preparations of the clear supernatant obtained after the treatment of the envelope with alkaline buffer containing EDTA demonstrated the presence of spherical particles, approximately 6 to 7 nm in diameter, and rodlike particles, which appeared to be made up of two or more spherical particles.