Intestinal uptake and metabolism of auranofin, a new oral gold-based antiarthritis drug

Auranofin, 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-1-thio-beta-D-glucopyranosato-S-(triethy lphosphine)- gold(I), an experimental antiarthritis pharmaceutical, metabolized in contact with hamster or rat gut wall to yield the deacetylated form of the drug. This product, 1-thio-beta-D-glucopyranosato-S-(triethylphosphine)gold(I), passed through hamster or rat intestinal wall in an everted gut experiment. The metabolite was separated by high-performance liquid chromatography and characterized by retention time, chemical reactivity to yield a known product, and comparison to a synthetic sample of the metabolite.

Diagnostic value of creatine phosphokinase (CPK) isoenzymes in the absence of elevated total CPK

The value of creatine phosphokinase (CPK) isoenzymes, in the presence of normal total CPK, for assessing myocardial infarction is discussed. Forty-six patients in a coronary care unit were studied to ascertain the clinical usefulness of CPK isoenzymes for diagnosing myocardial infarction when the levels of total CPK were within normal range. The majority of patients studied had some cardiac abnormality on either ECG or x-ray examination. Approximately 50 percent of patients had chest pain, but only five of the 46 had a detectable CPK isoenzyme level on CPK electrophoresis. The results of this study suggest that CPK isoenzymes do not add anything of diagnostic value to the clinical picture if the total CPK is normal.

Regeneration of renal proximal tubules after mercuric chloride injury is accompanied by increased binding of aminoacyl-transfer ribonucleic acid

Homogenates of rat kidney cortex obtained 1,3 or 14 days after a single injection of HgCl2 were used to prepare the post-microsomal pH5 supernatant fraction. The activity of this fraction for peptide synthesis from [14C]phenylalanyl-tRNA was significantly increased at 1 and 3 days, at which time the proximal tubules are regenerating [Cuppage & Tate (1967) Am. J. Pathol. 51, 405-429]. This increased activity could not be attributed to a decreased inhibitory activity, but was due to an increased aminoacyl-tRNA binding, i.e. elongation-factor-1 activity, in the supernatant fraction.