Preliminary studies on the mucus secretion of the wood wasp, Sirex noctilio F. I. Physicochemical and biochemical properties

The major component of S. noctilio mucus appears to be a protein-polysaccharide complex with probable molecular weight in the range 60000-100000. In aqueous solution the macromolecule undergoes slow spontaneous disaggregation to yield dialysable subunits of molecular weight 2000-6000 which retain all the physiological activity of the whole mucus. More rapid disaggregation is brought about by treatment of solutions with moderate concentrations of NaCl, KC1 OR CaCl2, or by heating. The native mucus contains amylase, esterase, phenoloxidase and proteolytic enzyme activities, and it is suggested that these enzymes may be responsible, at least in part, for the "natural" disaggregation process.

Methylation artifacts in the gas chromatography of serum extracts. Competitive suppression with trimethyl-d9 anilinium hydroxide

In the course of the identification of drugs in body fluids by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry we have observed the appearance of N-methyl derivatives of certain compounds such as phenobarbital and diphenylhydantoin, especially in extracts of serum. With the aid of deuterium labelled phenobarbital it could, however, be shown that the N-methyl derivatives are not endogenous metabolites but artifacts generated upon injection of the serum extract into the gas chromatograph. Conversely, derivatization with trimethyl-d9 anilinium hydroxide (TMAH-d9) demonstrated the absence of any undeuterated methyl derivative and this reagent should be useful for the detection of endogenous N-methyl derivative which would, of course, remain undetected when using unlabelled TMAH in the course of the conventional methylation technique. There are good indications that lecithin is the methylating agent in serum responsible for the formation of these artifacts.

Preliminary Studies on the Mucus Secretion of the Wood Wasp, Sirex Noctilio F. I. Physicochemical and Biochemical Properties

The major component of S. noctilio mucus appears to be a protein-polysaccharide complex with probable molecular weight in the range 60000-100000. In aqueous solution the macromolecule undergoes slow spontaneous disaggregation to yield dialysable subunits of molecular weight 2000-6000 which retain all the physiological activity of the whole mucus. More rapid disaggregation is brought about by treatment of solutions with moderate concentrations of NaC!, KCI or CaCI2 , or by heating. The native mucus contains amylase, esterase, phenoloxidase and proteolytic enzyme activities, and it is suggested that these enzymes may be responsible, at least in part, for the 'natural' disaggregation process.

Metabolites of phencyclidine

The results of the animal experiment demonstrate that oxidative hydroxylation is the major mode of metabolism of phencyclidine. It is evident that this process takes place in all three rings of the molecule. Hydroxylation of the piperidyl moiety probably also accounts for the formation of the N-dealkylated metabolites. Metabolism of phencyclidine in humans appears, at least in part, to be similar to that in the rat. Hydroxylation is still the principal mode in the case of humans though of a lesser extent. Metabolites hydroxylated in the phenyl moiety as well as dihydroxy derivatives of phencyclidine have so far not been observed in humans. Furthermore, most of the monohydroxy metabolites exist as conjugates in the human urine. It should also be pointed out that no metabolites have yet been detected in human blood samples.