Biological activities caused by far-infrared radiation

Contrary to previous presumption, accumulated evidence indicates that far-infrared rays are biologically active. A small ceramic disk that emist far-infrared rays (4–16 m) has commonly been applied to a local spot or a whole part of the body for exposure. Pioneering attempts to experimentally analyze an effect of acute and chronic radiation of far-infrared rays on living organisms have detected a growth-promoting effect in growing rats, a sleep-modulatory effect in freely behaving rats and an insomiac patient, and a blood circulation-enhancing effect in human skin. Question-paires to 542 users of far-infrared radiator disks embedded in bedelothes revealed that the majority of the users subjectively evaluated an improvement of their health. These effects on living organisms appear to be non-specifically triggered by an exposure to far-infrared rays, which eventually induce an increase in temperature of the body tissues or, more basically, an elevated motility of body fluids due to decrease in size of water clusters.     

Ischemic flow threshold for striatal dopamine release in rats

To determine the level of cerebral blood flow reduction which causes striatal dopamine release, extracellular dopamine and cerebral blood flow was simultaneously determined using in vivo brain dialysis and a hydrogen clearance method, respectively, in the striatum of spontaneously hypertensive rats, before and during experimental cerebral ischemia. The ischemic flow threshold for neurotransmitter dopamine release was found to be 20% of the resting value or 8–10 ml/100g/min of cerebral blood flow, being similar to those for energy and membrane failures.     

心房钠尿因子对麻醉家兔局部血流的影响

在42只麻醉家兔,观察了静脉注射心房肽Ⅱ(AtriopeptinⅡ,APⅡ)对局部血流量以及动脉内注射 AP Ⅱ 对局部血管阻力的影响。结果如下:(1)静脉注射 APⅡ(30μg/kg)5min后,平均动脉压(MAP)降低11.0±1.5mmHg(n=8,M±SE,下同),与溶剂对照组相比有明显差异(P相似文献   

肾神经在扩张心房时对尿量和尿钠排出的作用

单侧肾去神经的麻醉狗,用乳胶小囊扩张肺静脉-心房连接部,观察到神经完好肾的尿流量与排钠量均显著增加(P<0.01);去神经肾的尿流量仍显著增加(P<0 01),但排钠量无明显变化(P>0.05);两侧肾的肾小球滤过率(GFR)及肾血浆流量(RPF)均保持稳定;神经完好肾的静脉血浆肾素活性(PRA)及血管紧张素Ⅱ水平(PAⅡ)均明显降低,PAⅡ降低的幅度与尿流量增加的幅度无相关(r=-0.2975,P>0.05);与排钠量增加的幅度也无相关(r=-0.2359,P>0.05);去神经肾的PRA和PAⅡ都没有显著变化。说明在刺激心房感受器引起的利尿与尿钠排泄的反应中,肾神经主要促进肾对尿钠的排出。肾神经的这种作用既不是通过改变GFR和RPF,也不是抑制肾素的释放,而可能是由于直接影响肾小管对钠的重吸收。     

Brain Metabolism and Intracellular pH During Ischaemia: Effects of Systemic Glucose and Bicarbonate Administration Studied by 31P and 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy In Vivo in the Lamb

Brain metabolism and intracellular pH were studied during and after episodes of incomplete cerebral ischaemia in lambs under sodium pentobarbitone anaesthesia. 31P and 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to monitor brain pHi and brain concentrations of inorganic phosphate (Pi), phosphocreatine (PCr), beta-nucleoside triphosphate (beta NTP), and lactate. Simultaneous measurements were made of arterio-cerebral venous concentration differences (AVDs) for oxygen, glucose, and lactate. Cerebral ischaemia was induced by a combination of bilateral carotid clamping and hypotension, and the acute effects of systemic administration of glucose and sodium bicarbonate were examined. The molar ratio of glucose to oxygen uptake by the brain (6G/O2) increased above unity during cerebral ischaemia. Statistically significant AVDs for lactate were not observed. Cerebral ischaemia was associated with a reduction in brain pHi PCr/Pi ratio, and an increase in brain lactate. No effect of arterial plasma glucose on brain lactate concentration or brain pHi was evident during cerebral ischaemia or in the postischaemic period. Administration of sodium bicarbonate systemically in the postischaemic period was associated with a rise in arterial and brain tissue PCO2. A fall in brain pHi occurred which was attributable in part to coincidental brain lactate accumulation. The increase in brain lactate measured by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance in vivo during ischaemia was insufficient to account for the change in buffer base calculated to have occurred from previous estimates of brain buffering capacity.     

Simulated nitrogen dynamics and nitrate leaching in a perennial grass ley

A soil nitrogen model was used for a 4-year simulation of nitrogen dynamics and nitrate leaching, both during grass ley growth and after ploughing a grass ley. Model results were compared with field measurements of soil mineral-N status and leaching. A soil water and heat model provided daily values for abiotic conditions, which were used as driving variables in the nitrogen simulation. Simulated values for mineral-N levels in the soil agreed well with field data for the first 3 years of the simulation. During the final year the model predicted considerably higher levels of soil mineral-N content compared with measurements. To reach the mineral-N level measured at the time of ploughing the ley, the simulated N-uptake by plants had to be increased by 8 g N m⁻². Simulations of nitrate leaching suggested that estimates of leaching based on measurements in tile-drained plots can be considerably underestimated. Accurate quantification of leaching in tile-drained plots often requires additional information on water-flow paths. A substantial increase in simulated and measured values for the mineral-N content of the soil occurred after ploughing the ley. In the simulation, most of the increase was due to a high crop residue input and the absence of a growing crop after ploughing. Litter accumulations in the soil during the 4-year period contributed little to the increase in soil mineral-N.     

Ca2+-activated K+ conductance causes membrane hyperpolarizations in a monkey kidney cell line (JTC-12)

Summary We have previously reported hyperpolarizing membrane potential changes in a monkey kidney cell line (JTC-12) which has characteristics resembling proximal tubular cells. These hyperpolarizations could be observed spontaneously or evoked by mechanically touching adjacent cells. In this report, we have shown further evidence that these hyperpolarizations are elicited by an increase in membrane conductance to K⁺ which is caused by an increase in cytosolic Ca²⁺ concentration. In addition, we have found another type of hyperpolarization which is evoked by applying flow of extracellular fluid to the cell. Intracellular injection of Ca²⁺ and Sr²⁺ evoked hyperpolarizations, while intracellular injection of Mn²⁺ and Ba²⁺ did not. Intracellular injection of EGTA suppressed both spontaneous and mechanically evoked hyperpolarizations. In Ca²⁺-free medium, both spontaneous and flow-evoked hyperpolarizations were not observed, while mechanical stimuli consistently evoked hyperpolarization. In Na⁺-free medium, the incidence of cells showing the spontaneous or flow-evoked hyperpolarization increased, and the amplitude and the duration of the mechanically evoked hyperpolarization became greater. Quinidine inhibited all types of hyperpolarization. These data suggest that hyperpolarizations in JTC-12 cells are due to an increase in Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ conductance.     

Cytogenetic diversity in primary human tumors

Cytogenetic patterns from primary short-term culture of breast cancer, renal carcinoma, and tumors of the central nervous system are presented to illustrate the range of karyotypic diversity of human solid tumors as well as their biologic differences in culture systems that support their growth. These studies have illustrated several major issues. 1) Results vary with the tissue of origin: primary cultures from breast are almost uniformly diploid, while renal tumors are near-diploid, mosaic, and show clonal aberrations; and CNS tumors are heterogeneous: some diploid, some near-diploid and some highly aneuploid. 2) Results after short-term culture are selective, representing subpopulations from the heterogeneous cells that are detected on direct analysis of fresh tumors by cytogenetics or flow cytometry (FCM). It is not yet clear whether prognosis depends on the dominant population of the primary tumor or alternatively should be influenced by detection of small aneuploid subpopulations. 3) Evidence from all three tumor types supports the interpretation that cytogenetically normal diploid cells constitute part of some tumor populations, and may be better adapted to routine growth in culture than aneuploid subpopulations from the same primary tumors. These cells may also compose a major portion of the viable population of tumors in vivo and, therefore, could represent a useful model for studies of tumorigenesis and therapeutic regimens.     

Induction of reversible changes in cell-surface glycoconjugates and lung colonization potential by 13-cis retinoic acid

Murine squamous carcinoma cells (KLN205) grown in a medium supplemented with the retinoid, 13-cis retinoic acid (RA), had dose-dependent, selective increases in the expression of certain lectin receptors, which correlated with a dramatic decrease in the ability to form pulmonary colonies (P ?.0003) (Couch MJ, Pauli BU, Weinstein RS, Coon JS: JNCI, 78:971 ?977, 1987). These findings suggest a possible relationship between the RA-induced glycoconjugate alterations and the decreased experimental metastatic behavior. We further define the mechanism of RA's action. The finding that RA treatment (5 × 10^?6 M, 5 × 10^?7 M) did not perturb the cell cycle of KLN205 cells provides further proof that the decreased metastatic behavior is not attributable to any inhibition in the rate of growth or to alterations in the cell cycle. Furthermore, since stable subpopulations with variable lectin binding could not be detected, the mechanism of RA's action does not appear to be due to selection of variant tumor-cell subpopulations. Finally, in a scries of experiments designed to determine the reversibility of the RA treatment, the RA-induced decrease in metastatic behavior reverted back to a more metastatic state in the same time frame (3 days) as the reversion of the RA-induced changes in cell-surface glycoconjugate expression. This reversion provides further evidence for a close relationship between the RA-induced modulation of tumor cell-surface glycoconjugate expression and the decreased metastatic behavior; it suggests that transient, reversible modulation of the tumor cell surface may play a role in determining metastatic behavior.     

Subculture of rabbit articular chondrocytes within a collagen gel: growth and analysis of differentiation

Primary cultures of rabbit articular chondrocytes have been subcultured within three-dimensional (3D) collagen gels. Under these conditions, the cells remained viable and divided, but with a lower proliferation rate than that observed in control monolayer cultures. Flow cytometric analysis of progression of the cells into the cell cycle has confirmed and extended these findings. Also the cellular volume was decreased in 3D-culture, being in the same range as thein vivo size of cartilage cells. Specific staining for proteoglycans and type II collagen immunolocalization on sections of gels showed the expression of differentiated phenotypes and revealed the accumulation of these matrix components in the immediate surroundings of the cells. The use of Ultroser G (a serum substitute) improved the conditions for 3D- culture of rabbit articular chondrocytes.