Effect of Vaccinium ashei reade Leaf Extracts on Lipid Metabolism in Obese OLETF Rats

The effects of a hot water extract and fractional extracts from rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei reade) leaves (BBL) on lipid metabolism were studied in obese Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats. Feeding the hot water extract and fractional extracts from BBL alleviated hepatic triglyceride accumulation in the rats. Additionally, feeding with the flavonol glycoside (FG) and proanthocyanidin (PA) fractions lowered serum cholesterol levels in the obese rats. The results from measurements of the hepatic enzyme activity indicate that the hypolipidemic effects of the hot water extract and the PA fraction might be attributable to enhanced lipolysis in the liver. The reduced serum levels of C-reactive protein, an inflammatory cytokine, by the chlorogenic acid + rutin fraction and FG fraction might be associated with alleviating the metabolic abnormalities in obese rats. These results indicate that the BBL extracts, and especially FG and PA, exerted hypolipidemic effects on obese OLETF rats and suggest that an infusion of BBL can be useful as a dietary hypolipidemic component.     

Up- and down-regulation of membrane receptors as possible mechanisms related to the antiulcer actions of milk in rat gastric mucosa

The effects of a cow's milk diet on receptor activity and histamine metabolism in gastric glands and mucosa isolated from adult rats were examined. The milk diet was associated with (1) a decreased mobilization of H₂ receptors by histamine and (2) an increased mobilization of PGE₂ (prostaglandin E₂) receptors in mucous cells (cytoprotective effect) and parietal cells (antiacid effect). These changes are not observed for the receptors reducing pentagastrin- and histamine-induced gastric acid secretion (pancreatic/enteroglucagons, somatostatin) and stimulating mucus, bicarbonate and pepsin secretions in the rat (secretin). Cimetidine produced a parallel displacement of the histamine dose-response curve, suggesting competitive inhibition between this classical H₂ receptor antagonist and histamine in the two experimental groups. Prostaglandins and other components in milk such as EGF (epidermal growth factor) and somatostatin might therefore protect gastric mucosa by a differential control of PGE₂ and histamine H₂ receptor activity eitherdirectly (PGE₂ in milk) orindirectly (inhibition of endogeneous histamine synthesis/release and stimulation of PGE-I synthesis/release).     

C-NMR analysis of Aspergillus mutants disturbed in pyruvate metabolism

The metabolic consequences of two defects in pyruvate metabolism of the hyphal fungus Aspergillus nidulans have been investigated by natural abundance ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy. A pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (pdh) mutant, grown on acetate, accumulates alanine upon starvation which is derived from mannitol reserves. The -alanine level increases further upon incubation with the non-permissive substrate -glucose. -Glutamate is absent from these spectra as it is required both for the transamination of pyruvate and as a reaction on an impaired energy metabolism in such a pdh-deficient strain. A pyruvate carboxylase (pyc) mutant, grown upon acetate, only starts to accumulate alanine after a long incubation period with -glucose, due to the long-lasting presence of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and malic enzyme, which are both induced by growth on acetate. When this strain is grown on -fructose and -glutamate, alanine also accumulates within 3 h upon transfer to -glucose.     

Cytokinin metabolism in tomato plants. II. Metabolites of kinetin and benzyladenine in decapitated roots

Decapitated tomato plants were supplied via the roots with [8-¹⁴C]-kinetin or [8-¹⁴C]-benzyladenine in a nutrient solution for a period of 24 h. After this time the root material, the root sap produced during the 24 h period and the nutrient solution remaining at the end of the experiments were analysed for cytokinins. HPLC techniques and chemical treatments were used to tentatively identify radioactive metabolites formed. Uptake of kinetin and benzyladenine by the roots was found to be limited but once within the root tissues metabolism was both rapid and extensive.At least 14 metabolites of kinetin were recovered from root tissue and root sap. Many of these appeared to be degradation products. There was, however, some evidence of formation of zeatin-like derivatives. Side-chain cleavage of the original kinetin which occurs rapidly is suggested as a possible route for the eventual production of these endogenous cytokinin forms.The benzyladenine taken up by the roots was apparently both ribosylated and glucosylated. No unmetabolized benzyladenine was detected in the root tissues after 24 h. Only very low levels of radioactivity were associated with the retention time of adenine, suggesting that in the case of benzyladenine side-chain cleavage is of limited importance.The significance of these reactions in relation to the potential use of cytokinins in the regulation of plant growth is discussed.     

Paleolimnological evidence for recent acidification of Big Moose Lake,Adirondack Mountains,N.Y. (USA)

Big Moose L. has become significantly more acidic since the 1950s, based on paleolimnological analyses of sediment cores. Reconstruction of past lakewater pH using diatom assemblage data indicates that from prior to 1800 to ca. 1950, lakewater pH was about 5.8. After the mid-1950s, the inferred pH decreased steadily and relatively quickly to about 4.6. Alkalinity reconstructions indicate a decrease of about 30 eq · l^-1 during the same period. There was a major shift in diatom assemblage composition, including a nearly total loss of euplanktonic taxa. Chrysophyte scale assemblages and chironomid (midge larvae remains also changed in a pattern indicating decreasing lakewater pH starting in the 1950s. Accumulation rates of total Ca, exchangeable and oxide Al, and other metals suggest recent lake-watershed acidification. Cores were dated using²¹⁰Pb, pollen, and charcoal. Indicators of watershed change (deposition rates of Ti, Si, Al) do not suggest any major erosional events resulting from fires or logging. Accumulation rates of materials associated with combustion of fossil fuels (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, coal and oil soot particles, some trace metals, and sulfur) are low until the late 1800s-early 1900s and increase relatively rapidly until the 1920s–1930s. Peak rates occurred between the late 1940s and about 1970, when rates declined.The recent decrease in pH of Big Moose L. cannot be accounted for by natural acidification or processes associated with watershed disturbance. The magnitude, rate and timing of the recent pH and alkalinity decreases, and their relationship to indicators of coal and oil combustion, indicate that the most reasonable explanation for the recent acidification is increased atmospheric deposition of strong acids derived from combustion of fossil fuels.     

Normalizing the thermal effects of radiofrequency radiation: body mass versus total body surface area

The current guideline for exposure to radiofrequency radiation (RFR) was developed through assessment of the biological effects data collected primarily from the rat. The consensus that a lack of hazardous biological effects occurred below a whole-body-averaged specific absorption rate (SAR) of 4.0 W/kg led to the proposition of a 0.4 W/kg guideline with a built-in safety factor of 10. This paper demonstrates that if the RFR absorption rate in the rat had been normalized with respect to total body surface area rather than body mass, the exposure guideline would be 2.3 W/m2, which translates to an SAR of approximately 0.06 W/kg for an adult human. It is further shown that a given RFR absorption rate, normalized as a fraction of a species' heat loss per unit of surface area, is independent of body mass over a range of 0.03-100 kg; however, a normalization of the RFR absorption rate to heat loss per unit of body mass is highly dependent on the species' mass. Normalizing the rate of RFR absorption to the surface area of the rat indicates that the current RFR exposure guideline of 0.4 W/kg may be too high.     

Waterlogging responses in dune,swale and marsh populations of Spartina patens under field conditions

Summary Soil waterlogging responses were examined in three Spartina patens populations along a steep flooding gradient in coastal Louisiana. Root anatomy and physiological indicators of anaerobic metabolism were examined to identify and compare flooding responses in dune, swale and marsh populations, while soil physicochemical factors were measured to characterize the three habitats. Soil waterlogging increased along the gradient from dune to marsh habitats and was accompanied by increases in root porosity (aerenchyma). Aerenchyma in marsh roots was apparently insufficient to provide enough oxygen for aerobic respiratory demand, as indicated by high root alcohol dehydrogenase activities and low energy charge ratios. Patterns of root metabolic indicators suggest that dune and swale roots generally respired aerobically, while anaerobic metabolism was important in marsh roots. However, in each population, relatively greater soil waterloging was accompanied by differences in enzyme activities leading to malate accumulation. In dune and swale roots under these circumstances, depressed adenylate energy charge ratios may have been the result of an absence of increased ethanol fermentation. These trends suggest that: 1) Aerenchyma formation was an important, albeit incomplete, long-term adaptation to the prevalent degree of soil waterlogging. 2) All populations adjusted root metabolism in response to a relative (short-term) increase in soil waterlogging.     

Endogenous indoles and the biosynthesis and metabolism of indole-3-acetic acid in cultures of Rhizobium phaseoli

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analyses of purified extracts from cultures of Rhizobium phaseoli wild-type strain 8002, grown in a non-tryptophan-supplemented liquid medium, demonstrated the presence of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), indole-3-ethanol (IEt), indole-3-aldehyde and indole-3-methanol (IM). In metabolism studies with ³H-, ¹⁴C- and ²H-labelled substrates the bacterium was shown to convert tryptophan to IEt, IAA and IM; IEt to IAA and IM; and IAA to IM. Indole-3-acetamide (IAAm) could not be detected as either an endogenous constituent or a metabolite of [³H]tryptophan nor did cultures convert [¹⁴C]IAAm to IAA. Biosynthesis of IAA in R. phaseoli, thus, involves a different pathway from that operating in Pseudomonas savastanio and Agrobacterium tumefaciens-induced crown-gall tumours.Abbreviations IAA indole-3-acetic acid - IAld indole-3-aldehyde - IAAm indole-3-acetamide - IEt indole-3-ethanol - IM indole-3-methanol - HPLC-RC high-performance liquid chromatography-radio counting - GC-MS gas chromatography-mass spectrometry