Search

Increased activities of liver glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD, EC 1.1.1.49) and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD, EC 1.1.1.44) in the pentose phosphate cycle were accompanied with a depletion of reduced glutathione (GSH) following an intragastric administration of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) to rats. Oxidized glutathione (GSSG) also decreased remarkably, keeping the GSSG: GSH ratio constant. No significant alteration of glutathione reductase (EC 1.6.4.2.), glutathione peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.9) and malic enzyme (EC 1.1.1.40) activities in the supernatant and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GTP, EC 2.3.2.2) activity in the homogenate of the injured liver were observed. Furthermore, no marked difference in the GSH-synthesizing activity was found between control and CCl4-intoxicated liver. An intraperitoneal injection of GSH produced a significant increase in liver GSH content in control rats but not in CCl4-treated rats; G6PD activity was not affected. Intraperitoneal injections of diethylmaleate resulted in continuously diminished levels of liver GSH without any alteration of liver G6PD activity. In vitro disappearance of GSH added to the liver homogenate from CCl4-treated rats occurred enzymatically and could not be prevented by the addition of a NADPH-generating system. The results suggest that increased G6PD activity in CCl4-injured liver does not play an important role in the maintenance of glutathione in the reduced form and that the decreased GSH content in the injured liver might be caused by enhanced GSH catabolism not due to gamma-GTP.

Electron microscopy of four human T-cell lines revealed the production of type C virus particles in two T-cell lines: one derived from acute lymphoblastic leukemia and the other from a leukemic T-lymphoid malignancy. Virus particles isolated from these cells had reverse transcriptase activity and the major internal structural protein of 30,000 daltons (p30). The indirect immunofluorescence test of these virus-producing cells with sera of patients with adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) was negative. The data indicate that these retroviruses are different from adult T-cell leukemia virus (ATLV).

Using the ventriculo-cisternal perfusion method, the effects of droperidol and ketamine hydrochloride on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) production were studied in dogs. Neither droperidol (0.25 mg/kg, IV) nor ketamine (3 mg/kg, IV) caused a statistically significant change in CSF production rate. Positive correlation between CSF production and corresponding cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) was observed in the ketamine study, whose unfavorable effect on neurosurgical anaesthesia would be obvious. On the other hand droperidol (0.25 mg/kg, IV) tended to decrease CSF production. Droperidol alone or in combination with other analgesics such as fentanyl as currently used in neurosurgical anaesthesia appears to be an appropriate choice in patients with increased intracranial pressure.

Computed tomographic arteriography (CTA) was performed in 30 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Detection of HCC by CTA was compared with that of conventional celiac or hepatic arteriography. CT scanning was performed immediately, 30 seconds and 1 min after an injection of 5 to 10 ml of contrast medium into the common or proper hepatic artery. Repeated infusions allowed whole liver sections to be visualized. HCC was localized in 28 of the 30 patients by conventional arteriography, with CTA detecting the masses in 27 of the 28 patients. CTA imaging presented the tumor mass in 1 of the 2 patients missed by arteriography. Conventional arteriography delineated the boundaries of HCC in 15 (50%) of the 30 patients. CTA clearly delineated the masses in 26 (87%) of the 30 patients including 11 patients in which the tumor borders were obscure by conventional arteriography. HCC lesions smaller than 1 cm in diameter were detected only by CTA in 6 (20%) of the patients. It was concluded that CTA is both useful and necessary in the demarcation of small HCC masses.

The effects of surgical intervention by removal of the primary focus, and the effectiveness of an immunomodulator, Corynebacterium parvum (Cp), on the proliferation of metastatic tumor tissue were investigated by following the postoperative changes in the 3H-thymidine labelling rate of metastatic tissue in an experimental model of metastasis in mice. In addition, the delayed type hypersensitivity reaction (DTH) was studied to investigate the immune capacity of the host. The labelling rate of mice that had the primary focus removed remained high with little variation, while that of the mice not operated on decreased gradually. On the other hand, in mice undergoing a sham operation, the rate was the same as that of the mice with the primary focus removed for a short while, but then gradually decreased. When Cp was administered, especially before removal of the primary focus, the rate was lower than that of the tumor bearing control group and decreased steadily. The number of pulmonary metastatic nodules was increased by removal of the primary focus, but this increase was inhibited by the administration of Cp which prolonged life. The depression in the DTH was less in the group given Cp preoperativeLy than in either the group of mice having the primary focus removed or those not having it removed.

Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) increased with the development of tumors in C3H/He mice bearing spontaneous breast cancer or the syngeneic hepatoma MH-134 and in C57BL/6 mice bearing the syngeneic Lewis lung carcinoma 3LL. This cytotoxicity decreased after treatment with guinea pig, monoclonal IgM anti-Thy 1.2 serum and complement to the non-cancer level thus indicating that the increased ADCC in mice with cancer seems mainly attributable to cells with the Thy 1 antigen. On the other hand, NK activity decreased greatly when mice had tumors. Treatment with monoclonal IgM anti-Thy 1.2 serum and complement showed no significant influence on the natural killer (NK) activity of spleen cells of mice bearing MH-134 cancer, but in the 3LL-bearing mice the activity decreased significantly.

Serum neutral amino acid levels in cirrhotic patients with abnormal oral glucose tolerance test patterns were not different from those of subjects without impaired carbohydrate metabolism. However, the characteristic features of serum aminograms in the patients, that is, increased levels of tyrosine, decreased levels of valine and leucine and the diminished ratio of branched chain amino acids to phenylalanine and tyrosine levels, were less pronounced in those treated with insulin. This finding is clinically important for evaluating the serum aminogram of cirrhotic patients under insulin therapy.

We investigated the restriction of the host range to infectivity of MSV by helper leukemia virus in vivo. When newborn SD-rats were inoculated intracerebrally, subcutaneously, intraperitoneally or intramuscularly with xenotropic pseudotype Kirsten MSV, Ki-MSV(BV2), either brain tumors or myogenic sarcomas were induced, depending upon the route of inoculation. However, no tumors developed in SW-Icr mice inoculated with Ki-MSV(BV2) either intracerebrally or intramuscularly at birth. Ecotropic Ki-MSV(Ki-MuLV) induced myogenic sarcomas in mice when inoculated intramuscularly and also induced brain tumors and myogenic sarcomas in rats when inoculated intracerebrally and intramuscularly, respectively. Thus, the host range of pseudotype MSV appeared to depend on a helper leukemia virus.

A new nutritional product (SF-1008C) containing a high proportion of branched chain amino acids (BCAA) and low proportion of aromatic amino acids (AAA) and methionine was tested to see its effect on the impaired protein metabolism and abnormal nutritional state frequently observed in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis. A sharp increase in plasma BCAA levels and fall of AAA and methionine levels were found following the administration of an SF-1008C-supplemented diet to healthy controls and cirrhotic patients, which the BCAA levels increased only slightly following an isocaloric control diet. Blood ammonia levels increased within the normal range transiently following the diets. The SF-1008C-supplemented diet was given for 2 weeks to cirrhotic patients with histories of hepatic encephalopathy, who were taking a low-protein diet because of hyperammonemia. Serum prealbumin levels, nitrogen balance, molar ratio of plasma BCAA/phenylalanine and tyrosine, the number connection test and electroencephalograms improved during the period of the experimental diet. The results, therefore, indicate that a BCAA-supplemented diet is well tolerated by patients with advanced cirrhosis and useful for treatment of impaired protein metabolism. Furthermore, this product is beneficial in preventing hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhotics.

The morphological and biological changes in long term culture cells of normal-appearing trigeminal nerves from 2, 8, and 30-day-old S-D rats administered transplacentaLly with 75 mg ENU/kg were examined. After a marked degeneration of cells, crisscross multiple proliferative foci of transformed spindle cells appeared at the 3rd passage culture from 2 and 8-day-old rats, but not form 30-day-old rats. The transformed cells with S-100 protein and basal lamina had Schwann cell characteristics. Transformed spindle cells continued to form a crisscross pattern more than 700 days and some transformed spindle cells became round in shape 3-6 months after the primary culture. These transformed cells were transplantable to newborn S-D rats and the transplanted tumors were histologically similar to those of malignant Schwannoma of trigeminal nerves induced by ENU. Round-shaped transformed cells were more malignant than spindle-shaped cells and produced rapidly growing transplanted tumors. Spontaneous transformation with multinucleated giant cells occurred in one of the control cultures. These results indicate that the sequential changes of ENU-treated trigeminal nerves in vitro were corresponded to developmental changes of malignant Schwannoma in vivo induced by ENU. This system will be useful for analysis of ENU-carcinogenesis.

A microinjection of ferric chloride solution into the left frontal cortex of rats induced epileptic discharges which were recorded by electrocorticography. In animals having such electrographic seizure activity 30 to 60 days after the injection, the accumulation of cyclic AMP elicited by norepinephrine was examined in slices from four cortical regions. The accumulation was significantly greater in the left anterior area, into which region the ferric chloride solution was injected, than in the right anterior area. There was also a tendency for greater norepinephrine-elicited accumulation of cyclic AMP to occur in the left posterior area than in the right posterior area.

An epileptic focus not resulting in generalized convulsions was induced by a microinjection of ferric chloride solution into the left anterior cortex of rats. The formation of the epileptic focus was confirmed by the appearance of bilateral spike and slow wave complexes as well as focal isolated spikes in electrocorticograms (ECoGs). The effect of glutamate on cyclic AMP accumulation was examined in incubated slices prepared from four quadrants of the epileptic cortex. In animals showing isolated spikes 8 to 10 days after the microinjection, the effect of glutamate on cyclic AMP accumulation was stimulatory. It was greatest in the left anterior quadrant which included the injection site, but only slight in the left and right posterior quadrants. In animals showing spike and slow wave complexes 30 to 60 days after the microinjection, the stimulatory effect of glutamate was also most pronounced in the left anterior quadrant. In the right anterior and the left posterior quadrants glutamate had almost no effect, while in the right posterior quadrant, glutamate was inhibitory.

The susceptibility of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) genomes integrated in mouse ascites sarcoma cells (SR-C3H/He cells) to DNase I and DNase II was investigated. Approximately half of the viral sequences were sensitive to DNase I and DNase II when 17% and 7.4% of the chromatin DNA was rendered acid soluble, respectively. The results suggest that newly acquired exogenous proviral sequences are integrated into both transcriptionally active and inactive regions of chromatin in cells lacking related endogenous viral sequences.

The localization of both the large T and small t tumor (T) antigens in cultured cells (Vn 12 cells) of hamster brain tumors induced with BK virus (BKV), a new human papovavirus, was studied by an enzyme labelled antibody method at both the light and electron microscopic levels. Under the light microscope, BKV T antigen was observed in the nucleus, except for the nucleoli, of cells in interphase, and under the electron microscope it was observed in the nucleus except for the nucleoli and nuclear membrane. BKV T antigen appears to be closely associated with nuclear chromatin as previously reported for simian virus 40 tumor antigen (SV40 T antigen). The intracellular localization of BKV T antigen was the same as that of SV40 T antigen. In metaphase, BKV T antigen seems to be distributed diffusely throughout the cytoplasm except for the chromosomes. In telophase, BKV T antigen transfers from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. The migration of BKV T antigen during the cell cycle is thought to be related to the function of T antigen.

Cancer cells obtained from human hepatocellular carcinoma nodules were subjected to primary culture, and a hepatoma cell line was established. The cell clumps obtained by needle puncture were plated directly in plastic tissue culture flasks without any cell dissociation procedures. Cell clusters became attached to flasks in 24 h with an efficiency of about 90%. No fibroblast outgrowth was observed. Primary cultured cells were composed of polygonally shaped epithelial cells with dense cytoplasm and one or more large nuclei. They excreted plasma protein biosynthetic markers of hepatocytes into the culture medium. Plasma protein synthesis of primary cultured hepatoma cells decreased as the age of the primary cultures increased. Cells seeded in September 1980 started to grow continuously after 5 months of cultivation. A new hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (designated as KG55T) was established from these growing cells. KG55T cells have been subcultured for more than 20 passages and form a monolayer of polygonal epithelial cells which pile up after they reach confluence. The cells had a doubling time of 50-60 h and a plating efficiency of 60-65%. Albumin, alpha 1-antitrypsin and alpha 2-macroglobulin syntheses and tyrosine aminotransferase activity were detected. At the 10th passage, KG55T cells were pseudotriploid (mode, 69), and 8q+ and 15q+ translocations were distinctive of this cell line. The morphological characteristics and the capacity for plasma protein synthesis of the primary cultured hepatoma cells and cells of the established hepatoma cell line were compared.

A selective and simultaneous staining method for nuclear apparatus and cytoplasmic membrane of some bacteria has been presented. Nuclear apparatus is stained with basic fuchsin after hydrolysis with I N HCl and cytoplasmic membrane is restained with Victoria blue 4R after treating with saturated mercuric chloride. By this method, the nuclear apparatuses of B. subtilis, Sal. typhi 57 and Staph. aureus were stained red, and the cytoplasmic membrane and septum bluish purple distinctly. Thus this staining method would be of a great advantage in displaying the cellular structures of the bacteria.

Die Verfasser erwahnen die Wichtigkeit der Myotonometrie und Myographie bei der Diagnostik und Auswahl der Therapie bei rheumatischen Erkrankungen. Auf Grund ihrer 15-jahrigen Erfahrung ist einer der richtigsten Wege der Rheuma-Prophylaxie die Behandlung durch die Verbesserung bzw. der besseren Oxygenversorgung der peripheren Zirkulation (Generelle Theorie der Oxygenversorgung der peripheren Zirkulation=G. T. O. P. C. ), auf, Grund der Oxygen-Insuffizienz-Theorie (O.I. T.) nach Szirmai. Nach diesem ist jeder Schmerz durch Hypoxaemie verursacht und das sogenannte "Rheuma" ist eine Erkrankung des ganzen Organismus und ist nur durch eine allgemeine Behandlung gtinstig beeinflussbar.

Protein synthesis of the liver in both normal and CCl4 intoxicatedguinea pigs has been examined in vitro by incubating liver slices with C14-glycine. It has been demonstrated that normal liver slices synthesize albumin in vitro, which in turn incorporates with Cl4-glycine and is finally liberated into the medium very rapidly. On the other hand, immunized lymph nodes, kidney, and spleen do not show any C14-glycine incorporation into albumin. The liver slices of CCl4. intoxicated animal revealed a marked decrease in C14-glycine incorporation into albumin. Observation on the subcellular fractions proved that the incorporation of C14-glycine into microsome fraction is severely arrested, and oxygen consumption of liver slices is only slightly reduced. With the observation on the liver slices incubated with DNP, the author attributes the effect of CCl4 on protein synthesis to the decreased ATP formation by the action of CCl4 as an uncoupler for oxidative phosphorylation.

It has been revealed that ribonuclease (RNase) can penetrate into living cells and inhibits amino acid incorporation into proteins resulting in the suppression of protein synthesis and growth of living cells. BHIDE, BRACHET¹, KAUFMAN and DAs have proven that the RNase penetrates into onion root-tip cells and induces a number of mitotic abnormalities. KIMOTO and others² also have revealed that RNase injection into mice results in the reduction of cytoplasmic basophilia with the morphologic change of endoplasmic reticulum and the disturbances in DNA synthesis as demonstrated histochemically on pancreatic exocrine cells and liver cells. But there is little information so far on the mechanisms of penetration of RNase into living cells. PILLERI³ and SCHUMAKER4 in Brachet's laboratory have demonstrated the uptake of RNase by pinocytosis in amoebae and cancer cells. This may suggest the penetration of RNase through the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum in the cells whose RNase contents are low5, however it is reasonablly supposed that some phosphatase may be concerned with the permeability of RNase.

Activities of intracellular RNase of the liver cytoplasm, normal liver cells exposed to 3'-Me-DAB and heaptoma cells, have been studied in correlation with the contents of RNA and DNA and morphologic changes of the cells with or without treating RNase. The data showed that in hepatoma cells the intracellular acid RNase activity decreases with the decrease of RNA and unchanged DNA contents and alkaline RNase activity. Morphologic observation proved that hepatoma cells show a small low massed vesicular or vacuolar endoplasmic reticulum having ribosomes. For the exposure to RNase the hepatoma cells proved to be much less resistant comparing to normal liver cells. The former lost the granules and was destroyed in its endoplasmic reticulum, whereas the latter retained ribosomes and ER. From these experiments it has been speculated that acid RNase in the cell may be involved in RNA synthesis and alkaline RNase in RNA decompostition, though the effect of the difference in concentration in the case given RNase experimentally can not be neglected.