[Effect of nimodipine on the contraction and the Ca influx of rat aorta]

The relaxant effect of nimodipine (Nim) on rat aorta was studied in vitro. Nim inhibited KCl-induced contraction (IC50 = 40 nmol/L) more potently than NE-induced contraction (IC50 = 20 mumol/L), but did as equipotently as KCl-induced 45Ca influx (IC50 = 30 nmol/L). There was a positive correlation between inhibiting the KCl-induced 45Ca influx and the contraction (r = 0.98). However, it inhibited the NE-induced 45Ca influx (IC50 = 60 nmol/L) more potently than the NE-induced contraction. Verapamil inhibited the 2 components of NE-induced contraction significantly, while Nim only inhibited the contraction evoked by extracellular Ca2+ influx significantly. Nim did not influence the 45Ca influx into resting cells of rat aorta. These results suggest that the relaxant effect of Nim on rat aorta may be closely related to the blockade of Ca2+ entry through both potential-dependent calcium channels (PDC) and receptor-operated calcium channels (ROC), while the action on PDC seems to play a more important role than that on ROC.

Investigation of an outbreak of adult diarrhea rotavirus in China

In 1987 an epidemic of diarrhea associated with adult diarrhea rotavirus (ADRV) occurred in Qinhuangdao City, China, affecting more than 200 persons and causing 2 deaths. The outbreak was introduced by a person returning from an epidemic area and was spread initially to his family members and subsequently to the entire community. Adults were at greater risk of diarrhea than children 0-4 y of age and, the duration of illness increased significantly with increasing age. ADRV was identified by ELISA and electron microscopy. The electropherotypes of all positive specimens were identical, consistent with the single point-source introduction of the virus. Seroconversion was detected in 6 of 7 ill persons with a blocking ELISA. Both asymptomatic infection and person-to-person spread identified in this epidemic suggest that current emphasis on preventing waterborne transmission may not control the introduction of ADRV into new areas. The predisposition of adults for more severe disease with ADRV is similar to the pattern observed with other enteric viruses such as the Norwalk agent and hepatitis A.

Seroepidemiology of adult diarrhea rotavirus in China, 1977 to 1987

In 1982, large outbreaks of diarrhea that were caused by group B adult diarrhea rotavirus (ADRV) occurred throughout the People's Republic of China. Until 1982, group B rotavirus had never been associated with disease in humans. To determine whether ADRV was a new virus introduced in 1982 or had been present before that time, we examined antibody titers of ADRV in gamma globulin (pooled immunoglobulin) pools that were prepared during 1977 to 1987 in four cities in the People's Republic of China (Shanghai, Lanzhou, Wuhan, and Chandu). ADRV antibodies were assayed by using a blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Antibodies were present in most Chinese gamma globulins tested, including those collected in Shanghai before the 1982 epidemic, and absent from American reference pools. The highest titers of antibody to ADRV (3,200) were found in gamma globulins collected in 1983 in Shanghai just after the epidemic, and these were fourfold higher than titers present in the preceding years. The quality of the gamma globulins stored for up to 12 years was tested by measuring levels of immunoglobulin G to group A rotavirus; these were equally high in gamma globulin pools prepared in the United States and in all samples from the People's Republic of China. Serum samples from patients from an outbreak of ADRV had elevated titers to ADRV 3 and 16 months after the onset of symptoms. These findings, as well as other epidemiologic findings on ADRV, suggest that the organism is an important and continuing cause of diarrhea in the People's Republic of China, was present before the first epidemic in 1982, and represents a risk to surrounding populations in Asia.

Purification and characterization of adult diarrhea rotavirus: identification of viral structural proteins

Adult diarrhea rotavirus (ADRV) is a newly identified strain of noncultivable human group B rotavirus that has been epidemic in the People's Republic of China since 1982. We have used sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western (immuno-) blot analysis to examine the viral proteins present in the outer and inner capsids of ADRV and compared these with the proteins of a group A rotavirus, SA11. EDTA treatment of double-shelled virions removed the outer capsid and resulted in the loss of three polypeptides of 64, 61, and 41, kilodaltons (kDa). Endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H digestion of double-shelled virions identified the 41-kDa polypeptide as a glycoprotein. CaCl2 treatment of single-shelled particles removed the inner capsid and resulted in the loss of one polypeptide with a molecular mass of 47 kDa. The remaining core particle had two major structural proteins of 136 and 113 kDa. All of the proteins visualized on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were antigenic by Western blot analysis when probed with convalescent-phase human and animal antisera. A 47-kDa polypeptide was most abundant and was strongly immunoreactive with human sera, animal sera raised against ADRV and against other group B animal rotaviruses (infectious diarrhea of infant rat virus, bovine and porcine group B rotavirus, and bovine enteric syncytial virus) and a monoclonal antibody prepared against infectious diarrhea of infant rat virus. This 47-kDa inner capsid polypeptide contains a common group B antigen and is similar to the VP6 of the group A rotaviruses. Human convalescent-phase sera also responded to a 41-kDa polypeptide of the outer capsid that seems similar to the VP7 of group A rotavirus. Other polypeptides have been given tentative designations on the basis of similarities to the control preparation of SA11, including a 136-kDa polypeptide designated VP1, a 113-kDa polypeptide designated VP2, 64- and 61-kDa polypeptides designated VP5 and VP5a, and several proteins in the 110- to 72-kDa range that may be VP3, VP4, or related proteins. The lack of cross-reactivity on Western blots between antisera to group A versus group B rotaviruses confirmed that these viruses are antigenically quite distinct.