Diffusely increased Tc-99m-MDP uptake in both kidneys

Patients with diffusely increased uptake in both kidneys (often referred to as "host kidneys") on Tc-99m-MDP bone imaging were evaluated. Among 2056 patients reviewed, this finding was seen in 13 patients (0.63%): four with liver cirrhosis, two with lung cancer, one each with primary hepatoma, Hodgkin's disease, malignant lymphoma, thyroid cancer, leukemia, sideroblastic anemia and diabetes mellitus. Renal vascular disease and iron overload are considered to be the major causes of this finding.

Cardiovascular reflexes and interrelationships between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity

Simultaneous recordings from vagal and sympathetic nerve fibers innervating the heart have enabled us to study relationships between activity in these two autonomic nerves. Our recent studies, as well as those of others, are reviewed with respect to tonic activity and reflex actions in these two autonomic efferents. Discharges of the two nerves in relation to blood pressure pulses and to respiratory cycles are reciprocal. During slower fluctuations of hemodynamic changes which occur spontaneously, such as during Mayer waves, a reciprocal relationship between activity in the two autonomic nerves is also observed. On the other hand, in reflex responses both reciprocal and non-reciprocal patterns of reactions produced by stimulations of the hypothalamus showed varied relationships between responses in the two autonomic outflows. The functional significance of the interrelationships of the activity pattern observed in vagal and sympathetic nerves is discussed with respect to control of cardiac functions.

Pathways between the nucleus tractus solitarius and neurosecretory neurons of the supraoptic nucleus: electrophysiological studies

In anesthetized cats recordings were made from hypothalamo-neurohypophysial neurons in a supraoptic nucleus (SON) of the hypothalamus. The region of the nucleus tractus solitarius in the medulla, identified electrophysiologically as the site of termination of the first relay neurons of the sinus and aortic nerves, was stimulated with single or short trains of pulses (2-3 at 200 Hz). Out of 133 SON neurons 67 were affected by such stimuli. In 14 cells (21% of 'responsive' neurons) the stimulus produced profound inhibition of SON neuron activity after a latency of 10-30 msec. In another 8 neurons (12%) the inhibitory effect was observed after a longer latency of over 100 msec. An increase in intensity of stimulus merely prolonged or increased the inhibitory effect without changing the response qualitatively. The other 45 (67%) SON neurons were excited by stimulation of the nucleus tractus solitarius. In a small proportion of these neurons (5 cells, 7%) the stimulus evoked discharges, even in spontaneously silent neurosecretory cells, after a latency of 10-20 msec with little fluctuation. In the remaining 40 neurons, i.e. 60% of the 'responsive' neurons, the excitatory effect was observed after a latency of 40-120 msec. Again, changes in intensity of stimulation did not alter the nature of this response. The results indicate that both 'fast' as well as 'slow' pathways between the nucleus tractus solitarius and SON neurons exist and impulses travelling through the latter pathway from the carotid sinus or aortic nerve affect the larger proportion of SON neurons.

Control of reciprocal and non-reciprocal action of vagal and sympathetic efferents: study of centrally induced reactions

The mechanism of control of reciprocal and non-reciprocal action between parasympathetic and sympathetic nerves was investigated. Simultaneous recordings were made from both vagal and sympathetic nerves innervating the heart of responses evoked by hypothalamic stimulation in chloralose-anesthetized dogs. Four patterns of responses could be elicited by repetitive stimulations of various sites within the hypothalamus: (1) A reciprocal pattern of cardiac vagal and sympathetic discharges accompanied by a rise in blood pressure, heart rate and a 2 to 8-fold increase in muscle blood flow. The vagal activity completely ceased, while sympathetic discharges were greatly augmented. These changes occurred quickly and often lasted throughout the stimulation, preventing baroreceptor reflex from breaking through. This pattern is similar to the cardiovascular component of the "defense reaction". (2) A reciprocal pattern of discharges accompanied by a depressor response and bradycardia; the vagal discharges increased while those of the sympathetic efferents decreased. (3) A non-reciprocal pattern of response in which activity of the two efferents increased. The blood pressure was elevated and heart rate decreased. (4) A non-reciprocal pattern of action of the two efferents in which discharges of both nerves were depressed; the blood pressure decreased and heart rate increased. Factors affecting these responses patterns were found to be: (a) secondarily occurring reflex responses due to baroreceptor activation or deactivation. These baroreceptor-related reactions always showed reciprocal changes between vagal and sympathetic nerve activity; (b) the level of tonic activity of the autonomic nerves, e.g. during a high level of tonic activity inhibitory action became less effective while the excitatory effect was greater. Thus central states maintaining influenced the pattern of reaction and the relationship between activity in these two efferent nerves. Single pulse stimulations of the hypothalamic regions from which different patterns were evoked, when stimulated repetitively, yielded patterns which were basically reciprocal and biphasic; in vagus efferents an inhibitory phase was followed by an excitation of tonic activity, while in sympathetic an excitation was followed by an inhibition. The degree and duration of these excitatory and inhibitory phases differed, depending on the site of stimulation, but only to a minor degree, and the basic pattern remained unchanged. The implication of these findings is that the hypothalamus can organized both reciprocal and non-reciprocal patterns of activity in the two autonomic limbs in response to varied afferent stimuli. Probably only subtle changes in the central states or influences on neurons of the autonomic system suffice to result in different response pattern. No pattern of response is fixed within the central control complex.

Determination of barbiturates in mouse tissues by high-performance liquid chromatography

Procedures for determining barbiturates in mouse tissues were investigated. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with mixtures of water and methanol as the mobile phase and muBondapak C18 as the stationary phase is superior to gas and thin-layer chromatography with respect to ease of sample preparation, accuracy, sensitivity and time required for analysis. The first step in the analysis, the extraction of barbiturates from tissues, was also investigated and good recoveries were achieved. The time courses of barbiturate concentrations in mouse brain, kidneys and liver after oral administration of barbiturate-beta-cyclodextrin complex to mice were determined by HPLC using UV detection at 210 nm.

Antigenicity of semisynthetic penicillin preparations to evoke systemic anaphylactic reactions in animal models

Four commercially available penicillin preparations (benzylpenicillin, aminobenzylpenicillin, carbenicillin and sulbenicillin) and two kinds of the new semisynthetic penicillin preparations (mezlocillin and piperacillin) evoked systemic anaphylactic reactions in guinea pigs immunized with one of the following penicillin-Ascaris extract (As) conjugates in aluminum hydroxide gel (alum), i.e., benzylpenicilloyl (BPO)-As, aminobenzylpenicilloyl (ABPO)-As, carbenicilloyl (CBPO)-As, sulbenicilloyl (SBPO)-As, mezlocillin-As conjugate (MEZ-As) and piperacillin-As conjugate (PIP-As). The tracheal chains prepared from the tracheas of the guinea pigs immunized with BPO-As, MEZ-As, or PIP-As revealed anaphylactic contractions in vitro on addition of benzylpenicillin, mezlocillin, or piperacillin preparations. These results indicated that the semisynthetic penicillin preparations as well as benzylpenicillin preparation have enough antigenicity to evoke systemic anaphylactic reactions in guinea pigs immunized with penicillin-As conjugate. Such guinea pigs seem to be suitable animals for investigations of penicillin allergy.

The mechanisms of differential control in the sympathetic system studied by hypothalamic stimulation

In an attempt to study the mechanisms of differential action observed in the autonomic nervous system, response patterns evoked in two sympathetic nerves by stimulation of the hypothalamus were investigated. Recordings were made from inferior cardiac and vertebral nerves (mainly vasoconstrictors of the forearm muscles), both originating from stellate ganglia, in chloralose anesthetized cats. Repetitive stimulation of various hypothalamic regions produced 4 types of responses often in single preparations: (1) a response in which differential action between cardiac and vertebral nerves was characterized by an increase in vertebral nerve activity and a decrease in cardiac nerve discharges; (2) a response in which the activities of these two nerves were opposite to that described above; (3) a generalized response of the two nerves; both vertebral and cardiac nerve activity being greatly augmented. This response was accompanied by a great increase in forearm blood flow and could be classified as a part of "defense reaction"; and (4) another type of generalized response in which augmented activity of both nerves was accompanied by a decrease in muscle blood flow. Stimulation of the same hypothalamic area with a single or a short train of pulses evoked in sympathetic neurons an excitation of a short duration, followed by a long-lasting "silent period". The magnitude and duration of these two phases of responses of cardiac and vertebral nerves differed, depending on the site of stimulation. Stimulation of certain hypothalamic points could affect discharges of the left and the right cardiac nerves differently in some animals. The mechanism of differential control in the sympathetic system and some conditions which alter this pattern was discussed.

Phospholipase A in the plasma membranes in ascites hepatomas and of normal livers in rat

Phospholipase A activities in plasma membranes (PMs), isolated from rat ascites hepatoma cells (AH 130, AH 130FN, AH 7974, and AH 7974F), were determined and compared with those in PMs isolated from normal rat livers (neonatal, resting adult, and regenerating adult livers). All the PMs had a hydrolyzing action on 1-acyl-2[14C]oleyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine but not on similarly labeled phosphatidylcholine. After hydrolysis, the radioactivity was recovered in both the lyso derivative and the free fatty acid produced. Thus, the presence of phospholipases A1 and A2 in the PMs, with an optimal pH around pH 9, was demonstrated. In all the hepatoma PMs, te phospholipase A2 activity was greatly reduced or almost lacking, whereas in the PMs from normal resting and growing livers strong phospholipase A2 activity was detected equally but with a specific activity higher than that of phospholipase A1. Triton X-100 treatment had an activating effect on phospholipase A1 but an inhibitory effect on phospholipase A2 of the resting liver PMs, while the same treatment was inhibitory for both the phospholipase A1 and A2, activities of the hepatoma PMs.

Lipid analysis of isolated plasma membranes of lymphoid cells in benign thymomas of Buffalo/Mna rats

Plasma membranes were isolated from lymphoid cells of benign thymomas obtained from inbred BUF/Mna rats (21 mo old) and from normal thymocytes obtained from young rats (7 wk old) of the same strain. The isolated plasma membranes were electron microscopically pure, and the specific activities of Na+, K+-ATPase, and 5'-nucleotidase were enhanced. The lipid compositions of the plasma membranes from these two sources were analyzed and compared. The cholesterol and plasmalogen contents of membranes from both sources were similar, but the phospholipid content of the benign thymoma lymphoid cell membranes was slightly lower than that of the normal thymocytes, resulting in a somewhat higher molar ratio of cholesterol to phospholipid. The plasma membranes of the thymoma lymphoid cells also exhibited a slightly higher microviscosity as measured with fluorescence polarization. No significant differences were observed in the phospholipid compositions of the two membrane preparations.

Lipids of plasma membranes from rat thymic lymphoid cells: deficiency of sphingomyelin

Plasma membranes were isolated from normal thymocytes of Wistar-King-A rats and from Moloney virus-induced rat thymic leukemias (RML11 and RML30 cells) using a simplified method developed by us. All the isolated plasma membranes were electron-microscopically pure and enriched in the specific activities of (Na+ + K+)-ATPase, Mg2+-ATPase and 5'-nucleotidase in comparison with those of the corresponding whole cell homogenates. These plasma membranes as well as the original cells were analyzed for phopholipid composition and contents of phospholipid, cholesterol and plasmalogen. There was no difference in the phospholipid composition among the three plasma membranes. However, all the plasma membranes were deficient in sphingomyelin, namely, 1.8% for the normal thymocytes, 2.2% for the RML11 cells and 1.9% for the RML30 cells as percentage of the total phospholipid phosphorus. The contents of phospholipid (mumol per mg protein), cholesterol (mumol per mg protein) and plasmalogen (mol% to phospholipid) of the plasma membranes from both lines of malignant cells were lower than those of the normal thymocyte membranes. The molar ratio of cholesterol to phospholipid of the malignant cell membranes was also lower than that of the normal membranes, because in the former membranes the degree of decrease in the cholesterol content was higher than that in phospholipid content.

Hygromycin and epihygromycin from a bacterium, Corynebacterium equi No. 2841

A newly isolated bacterium which produces antibacterial substances as below was taxonomically characterized and identified with Corynebacterium equi. The major antibiotic produced was determined to be hygromycin by direct comparison. The minor component, newly named epihygromycin was proved to be an epimer of hygromycin by spectrosocopic evidences and by chemical conversions. The presence of epihygromycin in the metabolites of Streptomyces noboritoensis (reported to be a hygromycin producer) was also observed.