大鼠前肢运动能力的定量测定

使用一项定量测定大鼠前肢运动能力的新方法,训练大鼠抓握与张力传感器相接的圆柱形按钮并向上拉,以牛奶为奖励,利用强化阈值递增的方法测定前肢最大拉力。拉力波形可用微机记录和存储。本方法较为简便和经济,还具有能定量反映大鼠前肢抓握能力的优点。     

局部脑缺血－再灌注大鼠行为和运动功能的动态观察

采用定量的方法动态观察局部脑缺血－再灌注大鼠的行为和运动能力,旨在为缺血性脑损伤行为评价提供敏感的指标。用直径０．２ｍｍ的尼龙线经颈内动脉可逆性插入到大脑前动脉,建立局部脑缺血－再灌注大鼠模型。术后１、２、４、８、２４、４８ｈ观察神经症状。运动能力的评价采用握－引测验、网屏测验和转棒测验,在术后１、２、３、７、１４ｄ进行。主要结果如下：该模型的偏瘫很快消失,术后４ｈ就难以用肉眼观察出运动的异常。而提尾悬空试验的阳性体征持续到术后３ｄ,转棒的成绩在术后１周恢复正常。握－引和网屏测验未能显示出肌力的异常,应考虑设计更完善的方法以排除干扰因素。上述结果提示提尾悬空和转棒测验是评价脑缺血大鼠运动缺陷的简便、客观且较敏感方法。     

Therapeutic potential of meso 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid or 2,3-dimercaptopropane 1-sulfonate in chronic arsenic intoxication in rats

The therapeutic efficacy of two thiol chelators, meso 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) or 2,3-dimercaptopropane sulfonate (DMPS) in treating chronic arsenic intoxication was investigated in male rats. Both the chelators were effective in promoting urinary arsenic excretion and restoring arsenic induced inhibition of blood -aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity and hepatic glutathione level. Elevation of urinary -aminolevulinic acid excretion and arsenic concentration in blood, liver and kidneys were reduced significantly by both the chelators. Histopathological lesions induced by arsenic were also effectively reduced by the above chelators. DMSA being more effective than DMPS. The results suggest DMSA and DMPS to be effective antidotes for treating chronic arsenic toxicity in experimental animals.     

大鼠中缝背核和中央上核内5－HT能神经元生后发育的免疫细胞化学及图像分析研究

本实验采用免疫细胞化学方法,研究了大白鼠中缝背核及中央上核内５－ＨＴ能神经元的生后转折变化,并结合图像分析对中缝中央上核内５－ＨＴ能神经元的生后发育进行了定量研究。结果显示,在生后第１天,中缝背核和中央上核内５－ＨＴ阳性胞体密集排列,突起较短。从Ｐ１到Ｐ３０,中缝背核内,５－ＨＴ阳性胞体密度明显降低,外侧部５－ＨＴ阳性细胞突起的长度显著增加。中缝中央上核内,至Ｐ１０,５－ＨＴ阳性胞体仍密集排列,且胞体增大,至Ｐ３０,细胞排列变得疏松。从Ｐ９０到Ｐ９０,中缝背核和中央上核内阳性细胞的分布及形态无明显变化。统计学处理结果表明,中缝中央上核内５－ＨＴ能胞体数量从Ｐ１到Ｐ３０有显著性增加,从Ｐ３０到Ｐ９０有显著性减少。胞体面积及周长从Ｐ１至Ｐ３０逐渐增加,在Ｐ１０至Ｐ３０阶段增长最快。Ｐ１与Ｐ３０以及Ｐ１与Ｐ９０比较,胞体形状因子显著增加。从Ｐ１至Ｐ３０,中缝中央上核外侧散布的５－ＨＴ阳性细胞逐渐减少,至成年只能偶尔见到,且胞体变得不规则。     

Hyperglycemia promotes elevated generation of TXA2 in isolated rat uteri

The relationship between high glucose concentrations and arachidonic acid metabolism in uterine tissue from control and diabetic ovariectomized rats was evaluated. Uterine tissue from diabetic rats produced amounts of PGE₂ and PGF_2α similar to controls, while a lower production of 6-keto-PGF_1α (indicating the production of prostacyclin) and a higher production of TXB₂ (indicating the generation of TXA₂) was found in the diabetic group. A group of diabetic rats was treated with phlorizin to diminish plasma glucose levels. Phlorizin treatment did not alter production of PGE₂, PGF_2α, and 6-keto-PGF_1α in the diabetic group. A diminished production of TXB₂ was found in the treated diabetic uteri when compared to the non-treated diabetic group. Moreover, a positive correlation between plasma glucose levels and uterine TXB₂ generation was observed. When control uterine tissue was exposed in vitro to high concentrations of glucose (22 mM) and compared to control tissue incubated in the presence of glucose 11 mM alterations in the generation of PGE₂, PGF_2α, and 6-keto-PGF_1α were not found, but a higher production of TXB₂ was observed and values were similar to those obtained in the diabetic tissue. Alteration in the production of the prostanoids evaluated were not observed when diabetic tissue was incubated in the presence of high concentrations of glucose. These results provide evidence of a direct relationship between plasma glucose levels and uterine production of TXA₂.     

Activation of phospholipase D by prostaglandin F2α in rat luteal cells and effects of inhibitors of arachidonic acid metabolism

In rat luteal cells labeled with (³H]oleic acid, PGF_2α-stimulated phospholipase D (PLD) activation was investigated. The PLD activity was detected by measuring the accumulation of [³H]phosphatidylethanol (PtdEt) in the presence of ethanol. PGF_2α stimulated PtdEt accumulation at concentrations of more than 100 nM in the presence of ethanol. However, PtdEt accumulation did not change in the absence of ethanol. PGF_2α (1 μM) increased PtdEt accumulation after 1 min, and the accumulation reached a plateau by 2–3 min. These results indicate that PGF_2α activates PLD in rat luteal cells. U-73122, a phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor, and staurosporine, a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor, did not inhibit PGF_2α-stimulated [³H]PtdEt accumulation. These results suggest that PGF_2α-induced PLD activation is different from PLC-PKC systems. We reported previously that PGF_2α stimulated the release of arachidonic acid. The effects of indomethacin, nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), and 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid (ETYA), inhibitors of arachidonic acid metabolism, on PGF_2α-stimulated PtdEt accumulation were examined. Pretreatment with indomethacin enhanced PGF_2α-induced PtdEt accumulation. In contrast, pretreatment with NDGA and ETYA inhibited PGF_2α-induced PtdEt accumulation. It is suggested that PGF_2α-stimulated PLD activation is mediated via lipoxygenase products.     

Stereoselective and species-dependent kinetics of reboxetine in mouse and rat

Reboxetine, (RS)-2-[(RS)-α-(2-ethoxyphenoxy)benzyl]morpholine methanesulphonate, is a racemic compound and consists of a mixture of the (R,R)- and (S,S)-enantiomers. In this study, brain and plasma levels of both enantiomers were determined in mice and rats after oral administration of reboxetine at doses (1.1 mg/kg, mouse; 20 mg/kg, rat) twice the respective ED₅₀ values in the antireserpine test. Plasma and brain concentrations of each enantiomer were measured up to 6 h postdosing using an HPLC method with fluorimetric detection after derivatization with a chiral agent (FLEC). In mice and rats, brain and plasma levels of the (R,R)-enantiomer were always higher than those of the (S,S)-enantiomer. After normalization for dose, the mean AUC_0-tz values of both the (R,R)- and (S,S)-enantiomers in mouse brain were about 23 and 32 times higher than in rat brain, respectively. In plasma, the corrected mean AUC_0-tz values were about 5 (R,R) and 10 (S,S) times higher in mice than in rats. These results provide evidence for the higher bioavailability and/or lower clearance of both enantiomers in mice than in rats, and for a higher penetration of both enantiomers into mouse brain compared to rat brain. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The differences in structural specificity for recognition and binding between asialoglycoprotein receptors of liver and macrophages

The Gal/GalNAc-specific lectin on the surface of rat peritoneal macrophages (macrophage asialoglycoprotein binding protein, M-ASGP-BP), which consists of a single polypeptide chain of 42 kDa, can form a homooligomeric receptor exhibiting high affinity for asialoorosomucoid (ASOR) [Ozaki K., Ii M., Itoh N., Kawasaki T. (1992)J Biol Chem 267: 9229–35]. In this study, the binding affinity of M-ASGP-BP was studied by using a series of synthetic or natural glycosides as inhibitors of¹²⁵I-ASOR binding to recombinant M-ASGP-BP expressed on COS-1 cells (rM-ASGP-BP), and the results were compared with those of human hepatic lectin (HHL) on Hep G2 cells. Clustering of multiple Gal (or GalNAc) residues increased the binding affinity to M-ASGP-BP as well as to HHL. In contrast to HHL and other mammalian hepatic lectins, rM-ASGP-BP bound Gal residues tighter than GalNAc residues. A galactose-terminated triantennary N-glycoside, having oneN-acetyl-lactosamine unit on the 6 branch and twoN-acetyl-lactosamine units on the 3 branch of the trimannosyl core structure, showed affinity enhancement of 10⁵ over a monovalent ligand for HHL, while the same glycopeptide showed enhancement of about 2000-fold for rM-ASGP-BP. These results suggest that spatial arrangements of sugar combining sites and subunit organization of macrophage and hepatic lectins are different.     

Do nitroxides protect cardiomyocytes from hydrogen peroxide or superoxide?

The aim of the research was to study the role played by extracellular O ₂ ^.- radicals, which are implicated in cardiac cell damage and the protective effect by cell-permeable, nitroxide, superoxide dismutase-mimics. Cardiomyocytes cultures from 1-day-old rats served as the test-system. Experiments were performed since 5th day in culture when >80% of the cells were beating myocardial cells. Oxidative damage was induced by 0.5 mM hypoxanthine and 0.06 U/ml xanthine oxidase or by 10 mM glucose and 0.15 U/ml glucose oxidase. The parameters used to evaluate damages were spontaneous beating, lactate dehydrogenase release and ATP level. The rhythmic pulsation was followed microscopically. To determine the kinetics of cytosolic enzyme release from the cells, media samples were collected at various points of time and assayed for enzyme activity. To determine the cellular ATP, cells were washed with sodium phosphate buffer, scraped off and boiled for 3 min with sodium phosphate buffer. Following centrifugation the supernatant was collected and ATP was determined by the chemiluminogenic assay using firefly tails. The present results indicate that nitroxide stable free radicals, in the millimolar concentration range, provide full protection without toxic side-effect. Unlike exogenously added SOD that failed to protect, exogenous catalase provided almost full protection. In addition, the metal-chelating agent dipyridyl, but not diethylene-triamine-pentaacetate or desferrioxamine, protected the cultured cells. The present results suggest that H₂O₂ is the predominant toxic species mediating the oxidative damage whereas extracellular superoxide radical does not contribute to cultured cardiomyocyte damage. Since nitroxides do not remove H₂O₂ they can protect the cells possibly by oxidizing the metal ions and inhibiting the Fenton reaction. The superoxide dismutase-mimic activity of nitroxides does not seem to underlie their protective effect, however, the involvement of intracellular O ₂ ^.- cannot be excluded.Abbreviations CHDO 2-spirocyclohexane doxyl (2-cyclohexane-5,5-demethyl-3-oxazolidinoxyl) - DF desferrioxamine - DTPA diethylene-triamine-pentaacetate - EPR electron paramagnetic resonance - HX hypoxanthine - LDH lactate dehydrogenase - SOD superoxide dismutase - SEM standard error of mean: TEMPOL, 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidinoxyl - TEMPAMINE 4-amino-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidinoxyl - XO xanthine oxidase - CAT catalase     

Kinetic changes of αB crystallin expression in neoplastic cells and syngeneic rat fibroblasts at various subculture stages

B crystallin, a structural protein of the mammalian lens essential for the maintenance of lens transparency, is also expressed, at variable levels, in many extraocular tissues where it plays a protective role in stress conditions. In fact, heat or toxic shocks, as well as pathological states, increase B crystallin levels in many cell types. Here we show that B crystallin expression is also modulated in subcultures of rat fibroblasts and Galliera sarcoma cells. Western blots analysis with anti B crystallin antibodies reveals the presence of the protein in both cell populations, although the kinetic pattern of expression is different. Galliera fibroblasts constitutively express the protein up to the 70th subculture and afterwards the synthesis ceases. On the other hand, Galliera sarcoma cells do not contain B crystallin in the early stages of the culture, but there is a progressive increases between the 20th and 40th cell subculture. Differences also exist concerning the intracellular distribution: B crystallin is diffusely localized in the cytoplasm of fibroblasts while in sarcoma cells it localizes mainly to the perinuclear region. B crystallin is totally recovered as soluble protein in the supernatants obtained after low speed centrifugation of fibroblast homogenates, while in sarcoma cells a portion of the protein is also recovered in the insoluble pellet. Intracellular pH measurements show an alkaline cytosol in sarcoma cells compared to fibroblasts. Heat shock treatment of fibroblast subcultures constitutively expressing B crystallin induces an over-expression of the protein, while in fibroblasts whose biosynthetic capacity is lost, heat shock is unable to activate the crystallin gene. Correlation between B crystallin expression and proliferative rate shows that highly proliferating fibroblasts do not express B crystallin, while neoplastic cells do.