Endomyocardial fibrosis in rats treated with N-nitrosomorpholine

Endomyocardial fibrosis was observed after long lag periods in male Sprague-Dawley rats treated for 1-14 weeks with the carcinogen N-nitrosomorpholine. The fibrosis developed predominantly in the left ventricle. It occurred during 29-78 weeks after withdrawal of the carcinogen in 5% and 79-108 weeks after withdrawal in 20% of the experimental animals, but was never observed in controls of the same age. We suggest that endomyocardial fibrosis was induced by a direct effect of the carcinogen on the fibroblasts of the endomyocardium.

Influence of phenobarbital on glycogen metabolism of rat liver pretreated with N-nitrosomorpholine

Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with N-nitrosomorpholine (NNM) alone (7 weeks, 120 mg/l in drinking water), with NNM followed by phenobarbital (PB) (750 mg/l for 6 weeks) or PB alone. The livers from these animals were investigated for glycogen content and activities of glucose-6-phosphatase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glycogen phosphorylase and glycogen synthetase. The following parameters proved to be significantly altered in the livers of rats treated with either NNM or PB or both compared with untreated controls: glycogen content was increased and the activities of glucose-6-phosphatase and glycogen synthetase were decreased. Although these data show some similarities in changes of glycogen metabolism of livers treated with NNM or PB, earlier histochemical investigations revealed important differences in the distribution of these alterations within the liver parenchyma.

The cytoskeleton in tumor cells

During the past few years several laboratories investigated the occurrence of cytoskeletal components in epithelial and mesenchymal cells by electron microscopy and/or immunocytochemical methods in a number of tumor types growing in vitro or in the body. Since it is well established that antibodies to different intermediate-sized filament proteins can distinguish cells and tissues of epithelial, mesenchymal, muscle, astrocytic and neural origin special attention has been paid to the behaviour of these filaments in neoplastic cells recently. While the organisation of the cytoskeleton in tumor cells growing in vitro is very variable, regularities relevant for the diagnosis and the determination of the histogenetic origin of tumors have been observed in tumor cells growing in the body. In general, ultrastructural and immunological features of intermediate filaments are maintained during neoplastic transformation in the body. Thus immunofluorescence microscopy with antibodies to cytoskeletal proteins is a powerful tool for the classification and differential diagnosis of tumors, especially for the distinction between epithelial and mesenchymal tumors, including metastases. The concept that presence of an excess of contractile proteins such as actin is an important prerequisite for the metastatic spread of malignant cells has not been unequivocally supported by more recent results. However, an accumulation of various types of intermediate filaments (e.g. prekeratin, vimentin, acidic glial fibrillar protein) has been shown in different tumor types. The further elucidation of this alteration could contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of neoplastic cell transformation.

[Nurses in the psychiatric department of a community hospital]

Anyone who tries to convert a Psychiatric Department into a hospitable home for the benefit on the inmates and their environment, has quite often not reckoned with, the "host", that is to say, with the doctors, nurses and the hospital staff in general. Hence, it seems that a fundamental change in the attitude and consciousness of those who are engaged in psychiatry, is just as important as a new treatment concept or a new building. The author quotes the Bad Driburg Community Hospital as an example: here, planning and construction were not the only important factors. The nurses have taken and accepted advice with regard to their supervisory functions, and in the course of a protracted process they have changed their attitude in favour of a psychiatric practice which follows a treatment pattern based on a "open-minded" approach to community members.

Biochemical correlation of glycogen content and activity of some enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism in rat liver during early stages of carcinogenesis

The livers of rats treated for 12 weeks with N-nitrosomorpholine (80 mg/1 drinking water) were investigated on the day of carcinogen withdrawal (12 + 0 weeks) and 8 weeks after cessation of treatment (12 + 8 weeks). The glycogen content in relation to the DNA and protein content of the liver and the activities of glycogen synthetase, glycogen phosphorylase, glucose-6-phosphatase, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase were determined in the liver homogenates. The glycogen content of the livers was slightly elevated at both times investigated. Phosphorylase and synthetase activities showed no clear alterations in livers of treated animals as compared with controls. Glucose-6-phosphatase activity was significantly reduced at 12 + 0 weeks and returned to normal values at 12 + 8 weeks. The activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was unchanged at 12 + 0 weeks, but exhibited a significant increase at 12 + 8 weeks. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with staining of the gels by an assay specific for the glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase-catalysed reaction revealed the same pattern of active bands in treated and untreated animals but with higher activities in two bands originating from extracts of nitrosomorpholine-treated livers.

Single dose pharmacokinetics of fendiline in humans

Fendiline was administered intravenously (3 mg) and orally (50 mg and 75 mg) in a cross-over study to six healthy volunteers. The plasma levels of unchanged fendiline and of total radioactivity were measured. Fendiline was absorbed well and its concentration declined biexponentially with mean terminal half-lives of 20-35 h. Since the drug is extensively metabolized, only 12% of total radioactivity in plasma corresponded to fendiline in the case of intravenous administration as compared to less than 2% after oral administration. 56-65% of the administered dose are excreted via the urine and 18-25% with the feces within five days.

The dose dependence and sequential appearance of putative preneoplastic populations induced in the rat liver by stop experiments with N-nitrosomorpholine

Different doses of N-nitrosomorpholine (NNM) (80, 120, 160, 200 mg/l drinking water) were administered for various periods of time (1, 4, 7, 14, 20 weeks) to male Sprague-Dawley rats in order to investigate the dose dependence and sequential appearance of preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions in the liver. With all dose levels studied a sequence was established leading from clear cell and acidophilic cell glycogen storage foci through mixed cell foci and neoplastic nodules to hepatocellular carcinomas. The first appearance and frequency of the different lesions investigated proved dependent on dose of carcinogen administered. Morphometric analysis demonstrated that the rare small clear cell foci apparent after 7 weeks treatment with NNM increase in number and size with progression through the sequence to carcinomas without further administration of carcinogen. No evidence was found to suggest that pronounced focal populations were reversible upon cessation of NNM-treatment under the present experimental conditions.

Correlative histochemistry of some enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism in preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions in the rat liver

The livers from a total of 51 Sprague-Dawley rats treated with different doses of N-nitrosomorpholine (80-120 mg/l in the drinking water) for up to 14 weeks together with the livers of 28 control animals were histochemically investigated at the cessation of carcinogenic insult and at varying periods thereafter for their glycogen content, basophilia and activities of various enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism: glycogen synthetase, glycogen phosphorylase, glucose-6-phosphatase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. The enzymatic patterns of normal tissue, preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions were characterized and compared with reference to the morphologically defined stages of tumor development in the liver. The early appearing glycogen storing areas, localized in the peripheral and intermediate lobular regions, did not show significant changes in the histochemically demonstrable activities of the enzymes tested. After cessation of the carcinogen treatment the more pronounced glycogen storage foci which developed within the aforementioned regions of the liver acinus usually showed a reduction in the activities of phosphorylase and glucose-6-phosphatase while the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, a key enzyme for the pentose phosphate pathway, was increased. The mixed cell foci, neoplastic nodules and tumors which emerged at later stages were characterized by a progressive shift away from glycogen metabolism towards glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway, as indicated by an increase in glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activities. These changes in enzyme pattern are supportive of a developmental sequence leading from glycogen storage foci through mixed cell foci and neoplastic nodules to hepatocellular carcinomas.

The effect of clotrimazole and triadimefon on 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA-reductase-[EC 1.1.1.34]-activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Clotrimazole and triadimefon are known as potent inhibitors of ergosterol synthesis in pathogenic yeast and fungi, respectively. As their mode of action generally the inhibition of sterol desmethylation reactions is accepted. We report about a second effect, a "feed-back" inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl (HMG)-CoA-reductase by accumulation of ergosterol precursors. Addition of lanosterol to intact cells leads to an inhibition of HMG-CoA-reductase as well, but not to fungistatic effects. From the reported data the influences of clotrimazole and triadimefon have to be considered as an inhibition of desmethylation reactions involved in ergosterol synthesis of yeast and fungi with a concomitant decreased production of mevalonate.

A new histochemical method to assess and evaluate potential bone marrow damage from therapeutic substances

A new model is presented for assessing and evaluating the influence of bone-marrow-damaging substances in mice. Qualitative and quantitative results of histological, histochemical and enzyme histochemical studies facilitate the assessment of bone marrow damage in terms of extent and intensity. Bone marrow taken from the right femur of treated animals was embedded in renal tissue of controls for subsequent work-up in different techniques. From each of the experimental groups specimens from 10 animals were frozen in liquid nitrogen, specimens from another 10 animals were fixed in buffered formalin. Assessment and evaluation of changes was performed after the required histologic and histochemical staining (nucleic acid). Results were correlated with the cytology of bone marrow smears sampled from the left femur of each respective animal. Damage was visualized, in smear cytology or in histologic and histochemical preparations, and quantified by microphotometry and special staining for cytochrome oxidase activity.

Spectrophotometric Determination of Sulfites, Benzoates, Sorbates, Ascorbates, and Added Blood in Ground Beef: Collaborative Study

A method for the determination of sulfite, benzoate, sorbate, ascorbic acid, and added blood in ground beef reported previously was studied collaboratively. Eleven laboratories reported results on 18 samples analyzed for the preservatives plus 6 samples analyzed for added blood. Average recoveries for sulfite added at the 0.02 and 0.04% levels were 44.3 and 70.6%, respectively; average recoveries for benzoate at 0.02 and 0.05% were 83.5 and 85.9%; average recoveries for sorbate at 0.01 and 0.02% were 82.7 and 87.3%; average recoveries for ascorbic acid at 0.02 and 0.04% were 71.0 and 69.8%. Only 5 of the 11 collaborators reported accurate results on the 6 samples for added blood, and further study of this procedure is recommended. The preservative method has been adopted as official first action.

[Neoplastic and preneoplastic lesions in rats after oral administration of a single dose of N-nitrosomorpholine (author's transl)]

The administration of a single oral dose of 320 mg/kg body wt. N-nitrosomorpholine (NNM) to 62 Sprague-dawley rats resulted in neoplastic and preneoplastic changes in different organs, especially in liver and kidney. After a lag period of 4 weeks, nearly all experimental animals developed preneoplastic (clear cell, acidophilic, basophilic, mixed cell) foci of the liver parenchyma. Sporadically, small neoplastic nodules were found in the liver as early as 4 weeks after the beginning of the experiment. After a lag period of 1--2 years, 4 of 13 rats showed multiple neoplastic hepatic nodules and one animal a hepatocellular carcinoma. The bile ductules of some animals responded to the carcinogen by forming mucous cholangiofibroses and cystic cholangiomas. After long lag periods, large cholangiofibromas were found in two experimental animals. One or two years after application of the carcinogen, many animals developed epithelial (clear cell, acidophilic, chromophobic, basophilic, oncocytic) kidney tumors, often cystic. Pathologically changed (clear cell, chromophobic, basophilic, oncocytic) tubules are regarded as precursors of the epithelial tumors. The latered tubules appear for the first time at about half a year after application of the carcinogen. Apart from multiple cysts of the liver and kidneys some pancreatic cysts developed in two animals. In addition, two mesenchymal kidney tumors, one malignant neurinoma, two subcutaneous fibromas, one fibroadenoma, and one squamous cell carcinoma of the skin were observed.

A double-labelling radioassay for the determination of 5'-nucleotidase activity

For the determination of 5'-ribonucleotide phosphohydrolase (EC 3.1.3.5;5'-Nase) in rat liver, a radiochemical double-labelling assay was developed. [14C]-labelled AMP which is hydrolyzed to [14C]-adenosine by 5'-Nase activity is added to crude liver homogenates. After 30 min, the process is stopped and [2-3H]-adenosine added to estimate the loss of [14C]-adenosine during separation by ion exchange column chromatography. The enzymatic reaction was found to be linear in correlation with the enzyme content and the incubation time. The specificity of the reaction was evaluated by addition of beta-glycerophosphate which acts as a competitive inhibitor to eliminate the catalytic effect of non-specific phosphatases, and addition of alpha, beta-methylene adenosine 5'-diphosphate, a specific inhibitor of 5'-Nase; both cause an almost complete suppression of enzyme activity.

Cardiopulmonary adjustment and metabolic response to maximal and submaximal physical exercise of boys and girls at different stages of maturity

Cardiopulmonary and metabolic variables were investigated at maximal and submaximal bicycle ergometer exercises in 41 swimmers of both sexes, 8--18 years old. VO2 max and VO2 max . HR-1 were higher in boys than in girls and increased with maturity, while VO2 max. kg-1 and HVE were not influenced by this. The HV increased clearly during this growth period, the pubertal and postpubertal subjects showing 16 and 17% higher values for HV and HV . kg-1 than those reported in normal schoolchildren populations. During the submaximal exercise at 70% VO2 max the highest HR values were found in the prepubertal group, whilst the lowest were observed in the postpubertal subjects. These findings suggest that a given percentage of VO2 max as a reference unit, is more reliable than a certain HR to obtain comparable results in subjects with different ages. Blood samples were collected before, during, and after the submaximal exercise. Blood glucose and FFA did not differ in relation to the stages of maturity. During exercise, insulin decreased in prepubertal children, did not alter in pubertal adolescents, and increased in postpubertal subjects. The lactate concentration, during exercise, increased in relation to maturity. The same results were found for HGH, but no differences were found with regard to sex. Since the pattern of HGH secretion during exercise is similar to that found after arginine and insulin administration it is assumed that the same mechanism (i.e., sex hormones) triggers the HGH release.

The circadian rhythm of synthesis and catabolism of cholesterol

The circadian rhythms of HMG-CoA reductase and cholesterol-7 alpha-hydroxylase (low values, during light, rising in the evening with maximum at 12.00 p.m.) are investigated in rats under diverse conditions. Intragastral administration of cholestyramine (bile acid-absorbing resin) leads to an increased rhythm of both enzymes. Feeding of cholic acid (or cholesterol) reduces the activity of both enzymes (of HMG-CoA reductase and cholesterol-7 alpha-hydroxylase, respectively). In starved rats enzyme activity and time of day is proportional to the metabolism of a substrate.ies are lowered, too; a damped rhythm reappears after 24 h. A 20% fat diet (containing saturated fatty acids predominantly) markedly reduces the high values. Enzyme activities inhabited after thyroidectomy can be normalized by thyroxin substitution. Thyroxin administration in the normal remains without effect. Four-day insulin treatment of the normal inhibits cholesterol-7 alpha-hydroxylase, has no effect on HMG-CoA reductase. In the untreated diabetic rat cholesterol-7 alpha-hydroxylase is increased, HMG-CoA reductase significantly inhibited. Insulin treatment of the diabetic animal results in normalized values of HMG-CoA reductase whilst cholesterol-7 alpha-hydroxylase is nearly completely suppressed. The rate-limiting enzymes of cholesterol turnover are peripherally regulated by their products via a negative feedback. In contrast, hormones may have synergistic or opposite effects; thus they may represent means of higher regulation. All regulative possibilities discussed (except hypophysectomy) do modifiy the circadian rhythms. This cannot be demonstrated after hypophysectomy. After hypophysectomy circadian rhythms are not detectable any more. To get valid data about biochemical or pharmacological effects on these enzymes the circadian viriations have to be considered by measuring at different times of day (e.g. fat diet); for only the area of enzyme activit

[Development of an oral retard preparation of verapamil and absorption study in the anesthetized dog]

1. An oral retard preparation of verapamil (Isoptin retard) is described. The sustained release of the active compound from verapamil retard is obtained by mixing and pressing verapamil hydrochloride with sodium alginate. The proportion of active compound and physiologically indifferent additive may range between 1:1 and 1:2. 2. The determination of the in vitro release according to the half-change method shows that verapamil is completely released from the retard preparation only after 6 to 7 h; with conventional dragées more than 90% of the compound is dissolved already after 10 min. 3. In artificial gastric and intestinal juice (pH 1.4 and 7.5) similar times of release are found. 4. The in vitro results are supported by tests on the intestinal absorption in the anesthetized dog. In a ligated duodenum section verapamil is, 3 to 8 h after application, markedly more slowly released and absorbed from the retard preparation than from conventional dragées.