[Enzymatic determination of serum glycerophosphatides, using phospholipase C (author's transl)]

A simple method is described for the determination of serum glycerophosphatides, with the exception of lyso-phosphatide. Two determinations are necessary. The usual "triglyceride" determination is performed on native serum, and a further determination is performed after incubation of the serum with phospholipase C. Glycerophosphatides are hydrolysed to diglycerides and phosphorylcholine by phospholipase C. The resulting diglycerides are determined in addition to the mono-, di-, triglycerides and free glycerol of the native serum. The difference between the two glyceride determinations corresponds to the concentration of glycerophosphatides. Involvement of glycerophosphatides in blood coagulation and their increased levels in certain liver illnesses are two reasons for the importance of the present method. Compared with the usual method of measuring phospholipid phosphorus, the present method involves considerably less work, and, as a fully enzymatic method, it has a higher specificity.

[Content of nicotinamide coenzymes, metabolites and the NAD-dependent dehydrogenase activity in the blood in arteriosclerosis]

Study of the key mechanisms, metabolism regulators, showed that in the blood of patients with atherosclerosis the NAD/NAD . N ratio decreases by 59.8% and the NAD+ concentration by 44%, while the NAD . N content increases by 56.7%. In the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide system there is a general tendency tomards accumulation:the concentration of NADP+ grows by 218.6% and that of NADP . N by 12.9%. A marked increase in the content of incompletely oxidized products is determined: lactic acid by 37.4%, alpha-glycerophosphate by 49.8%, dihydroxyacetone phosphate by 155%, oxaloacetate by 131% in the presence of lactate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase activation. The detected changes are evidence of tissue energy debt in atherosclerosis, they reflect the character of metabolic acidosis formation and point to the presence of conditions for intensified liposynthesis.

Studies in normal pregnancy. III. Fatty acid composition of serum phosphoglycerides and cholesterol esters

Metabolic and hormonal influences on liver lipid synthesis are reflected in the relative fatty acid composition of serum lecithin. Thus, a successive decrease in essential fatty acids (EFA), i.e. n-6 fatty acids, during pregnancy would indicate an incipient EFA deficiency at the time of delivery. Furthermore, reciprocal changes in linoleic and arachidonic acids during the 1st trimester with an increase in arachidonic acid would suggest an enhancement of the Greenbeg Pathway (Pathway II) in lecithin synthesis presumably caused by estrogen influence. During the 2nd and 3rd trimester, reciprocal changes in lecithin content of palmitic and stearic acids are similar to changes appearing under cholestasis. It is furthermore suggested that variations in the utilization of linoleic acid in cholesterol esters (expressed as cholesterol ester 18:2/lecithin 18:2) might reflect changes in plasma cholesterol esterification by the enzyme lecithin-cholesterol-acyl-transferase (LCAT). Then, in late pregnancy, in relation to a subclinical cholestatic liver engagement, LCAT activity would increase as judged from this ratio as well as the increased linoleic acid in cholesterol esters.

A path analysis of the causal relationships between red cell glycolytic intermediates, ADP and ATP in sickle cell anemia

The statistical relationships among the glycolytic intermediates (GI)) of the Embden-Meyerhof pathway, adenine nucleotides (ANs) and various hematological measures were estimated for 34 sickle cell anemia patients. Heterogeneity in linear and quadratic regressions of hemoglobin and hematocrit, both singly and jointly, on the GI and AN variables implied 1) that any single formula to standardize optical density measures of the GIs and ANs on a per gram hemoglobin or per liter cell water basis would not uniformly remove hemoglobin and hematocrit effects: 2) that ignoring significant hematological effects could bias the estimates of correlation among GIs and ANs; and 3) that hemoglobin and hematocrit measures do not reflect the same source of variability. The correlations among the GIs and ANs, after adjustment for hematological variability, were analyzed by path analysis to determine which of five proposed path models for cause and effect relationships were compatible with the data. AMP had a greater influence on ADP (coefficient of determination (CD) = 23%) than all the GIs together, while G6P and ADP influenced ATP variability the most (CD = 33% and 12%). The contributions of unknown factors to ADP and ATP variability were large for all models (CD = 56--77%) possibly due to stress of sickle cell disease. The path model with AMP and the four GIs (G6P, F6P, FDP, DHAP) influencing ADP variation, and the same GIs and ADP influencing ATP was the model most compatible with the data.

Treatment of oral estramustine phosphate (Estracyt) in prostatic carcinoma: influences on lipid and carbohydrate metabolism

Estramustine phosphate (Estracyt), a combination of estradiol and nitrogen mustard given to males with prostatic carcinoma, had the same effect on serum lipids, lipoproteins, and serum phosphoglyceride fatty acid composition as ethynyl estradiol (Etivex). The characteristic effects on serum lipids caused by both drugs, i.e., a reduction in serum cholesterol and an increase in serum phospholipids, were apparently expressions for reduced low density lipoproteins and increased alpha-lipoproteins. Serum lecithin fatty acid composition revealed during the administration of both drugs a characteristic increase in palmitic acid (16:0) and a decrease in stearic acid (18:0), interpreted as evidence for a cholestatic, although subclinical, liver involvement. Similar changes have earlier been revealed in women given ethynyl estradiol; however, the increase in serum triglycerides and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol in young women was not duplicated in aged males with prostatic carcinoma. Furthermore, in aged males, the administration of these estrogens did not change carbohydrate metabolism but did produce an increase in adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase.

[Adaptive metabolic disorders in erythrocytes during shock]

In patients with shock the metabolic activity of the red blood cells was studied following separation according to cell-age by density layer centrifugation using Stractan II-Urografin solutions. Metabolic acidosis in patients with cardiogenic shock (n = 8) and with postoperative shock (n = 7) induced a pronounced fall in 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) levels and in adenosine triphosphate (ATP), in contrast to a raised lactate-pyruvate ratio. 2,3-DPG values were higher than normal in patients with hypoglycemic shock (n = 12), whereas further measured substrate levels were markedly decreased. The levels of these compounds of the red blood cells revealed a significant difference in the hemolysates derived from cells separated according to cell-age. The shock syndrome was also observed in patients suffering from severe congestive heart failure (n = 10) who received dopamine (300 mug/min) for its known action in improving hemodynamics and renal function. Following drug administration for 150 min a clinical improvement was associated with a change of extent and pattern of the red blood cell metabolic disorder.