Antineural antibody in patients with Tourette’s syndrome and their family members

Summary It has been proposed that antineural antibodies were present in patients with Tourette’s syndrome (TS) and other neuropsychiatric disorders. The purpose of our study was to investigate the presence of antineural antibodies in the individuals with Tourette’s syndrome and the family members of TS patients. The sera of four TS patients with no current streptococcal infection, their tic-free family members including father, mother and sibling, and a age-matched control group who were tic free were assayed for antineural antibodies directed against rat tissue and neurons in primary cell culture. There were prominent antineural antibodies present in TS patients and their first-degree family members, but not in the control group. Western blotting showed proteins of about 120 kDa in their sera that were not present in the sera of controls. The preliminary results of our study suggest the importance of genetic vulnerability in the immunological pathophysiology of tic disorders. Future studies should investigate the interactions of genetics, environment, infectious agents, and immunity on symptom expression in families with tic disorders. This study was supported in part by the C.Y. Foundation for the Advancement of Education, Science and Medicine, and National Health Research Institutes (NHRI-EX94-9008SC), Taipei, Taiwan.     

Archaeal Community Revealed by 16s rRNA and Fluorescence in situ Hybridization in a Sulphuric Hydrothermal Hot Spring, Northern Taiwan

Summary The archaeal community composition of Yangmingshan National Park in northern Taiwan was investigated by 16S rRNA and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Optimization of tetrameric restriction enzyme (TRE) was performed to achieve efficient digestion and differentiation in the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) fragments, and AciI, BstUI and RsaI were shown to be the optimal TREs for TRE-RFLP. Nine clones were obtained in the studies, with clones M70 and M6 being found to be phylogenetically affiliated to Sulfolobus and Caldisphaera in domain Crenarchaeota, respectively, whereas seven other clones were found to be affiliated to an uncultured and unidentified archaeon isolated from thermoacidic environments. In FISH, soil and water region cells were hybridized with DAPI (4′, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) and specific fluorescently labelled probes. 15.69 and 7.16% of the DAPI-stained cells hybridized with universal archaeal probe ARC915 and sulphate-reducing bacterial probe SRB385, respectively.     

Estrous cycle variation of TRPV1-mediated cross-organ sensitization between uterus and NMDA-dependent pelvic-urethra reflex activity

Cross-organ sensitization between the uterus and the lower urinary tract (LUT) underlies the high concurrence of pelvic pain syndrome and LUT dysfunctions, and yet the role of gonadal steroids is still unknown. We tested the hypothesis that cross-organ sensitization on pelvic-urethra reflex activity caused by uterine capsaicin instillation is estrous cycle dependent. When compared with the baseline reflex activity (1.00 +/- 0.00 spikes/stimulation), uterine capsaicin instillation significantly increased reflex activity (45.42 +/- 9.13 spikes/stimulation, P < 0.01, n = 7) that was corroborated by an increase in phosphorylated NMDA NR2B (P < 0.05, n = 4) but not NR2A subunit (P > 0.05, n = 4) expression. Both intrauterine pretreatment with capsazepine (5.02 +/- 2.11 spikes/stimulation, P < 0.01, n = 7) and an intrathecal injection of AP5 (3.21 +/- 0.83 spikes/stimulation, P < 0.01, n = 7) abolished the capsaicin-induced cross-organ sensitization and the increment in the phosphorylated NR2B level (P < 0.05, n = 4). The degrees of the cross-organ sensitization increased in a dose-dependent manner with the concentration of instilled capsaicin from 100 to 300 microM in both the proestrus and metestrus stages, whereas they weakened when the concentrations were higher than 1,000 microM. Moreover, the cross-organ sensitization caused by the uterine capsaicin instillation increased significantly in the rats during the proestrus stage when compared with the metestrus stage (P < 0.01, n = 7). These results suggest that estrogen levels might modulate the cross-organ sensitization between the uterus and the urethra and underlie the high concurrence of pelvic pain syndrome and LUT dysfunctions.     

Effects of baicalein and wogonin on drug-metabolizing enzymes in C57BL/6J mice

Effects of baicalein and wogonin, the major flavonoids of Scutellariae radix, on cytochrome P450 (CYP), UDP-glucuronosyl transferase (UGT), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) were studied in C57BL/6J mice. One-week treatment of mice with a liquid diet containing 5 mM baicalein resulted in 29%, 14%, 36%, 28%, and 46% decreases of hepatic benzo(a)pyrene hydroxylation (AHH), benzphetamine N-demethylation (BDM), N-nitrosodimethylamine N-demethylation (NDM), nifedipine oxidation (NFO), and erythromycin N-demethylation (EMDM) activities, respectively. Treatment with a liquid diet containing 5 mM wogonin resulted in 43%, 22%, 21%, 24%, and 35% decreases of hepatic AHH, BDM, NDM, NFO, and EMDM activities, respectively. However, hepatic 7-methoxyresorufin O-demethylation (MROD) activity was increased and decreased by baicalein- and wogonin-treatments, respectively. Similar modulation was observed with caffeine 3-demethylation (CDM) activity. Immunoblot analysis showed that the levels of hepatic CYP2E1 and CYP3A proteins were decreased by both baicalein- and wogonin-treatments. Hepatic CYP1A2 protein level was increased by baicalein but decreased by wogonin. In extrahepatic tissues, renal AHH activity was decreased by wogonin whereas pulmonary AHH, 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylation (EROD), and MROD activities were increased by both flavonoids. Both baicalein and wogonin strongly increased CYP1A protein level in mouse lung. Hepatic and renal UGT activities toward p-nitrophenol were suppressed by baicalein- and wogonin-treatments. However, cytosolic GST activity was not affected by flavonoids. These results suggest that ingestion of baicalein or wogonin can modulate drug-metabolizing enzymes and the modulation shows tissue specificity.     

Enzymatic synthesis of cephalothin by penicillin G acylase*

Enzymatic synthesis of cephalothin from 7-aminocephalosporanic acid (7-ACA) and amide derivatives of 2-thienylacetic acid (2-TA) using penicillin G acylase (pen G acylase) was studied. Two amide derivatives of 2-TA namely 2-thienylacetamide (2-TAA) and 2-thienylacetohydroxamic acid (2-TAH) were used in this study. The main reason for choosing amide but not the methyl ester derivative of 2-TA for the enzymatic synthesis was to increase their solubilities in water. The solubility of 2-TA methyl ester (2-TAM), 2-TAA, and 2-TAH in aqueous solution is 8 +/- 0.05 mM, 87 +/- 0.75 mM and 120 +/- 1.65 mM, respectively. Enzymatic conversion of 2-TAH to cephalothin yielded side products but they were not found in the conversion of 2-TAA to cephalothin. The side products were derived from reactions between hydroxyamine and 7-ACA. The effects of pH, temperature, initial substrate concentrations and reaction time on the conversion of 2-TAA and 7-ACA to cephalothin were examined. The optimum reaction condition was determined at pH 6.5 and 10 approximately 15 degrees C. The best conversion yield of 72% was obtained when the initial concentration of 2-TAA and 7-ACA was at 0.4 M and 0.1 M, respectively. Furthermore, a one-step method was developed to purify cephalothin from the enzymatic reaction mixture with the purity of 91% and the recovery yield of 96%.     

Saikosaponin C induces endothelial cells growth, migration and capillary tube formation

Saikosaponin C is one of the saikosaponins that are consisted in a Chinese herb, Radix Bupleuri. Recently, saikosaponins have been reported to have properties of cell growth inhibition, inducing cancer cells differentiation and apoptosis. However, saikosaponin C had no correlation with cell growth inhibition. In this study, we investigated the role of saikosaponin C on the growth of endothelial cells and angiogenesis. We found that saikosaponin C yielded a potent effect on inducing human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) viability and growth. In addition to inducing endothelial cells growth, saikosaponin C also induced endothelial cells migration and capillary tube formation. The gene expression or activation of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK, ERK) that correlated with endothelial cells growth, migration and angiogenesis were also induced by saikosaponin C. From these results, we suggest that saikosaponin C may have the potential for therapeutic angiogenesis but is not suitable for cancer therapy.