Oxygen consumption during the indole-3-acetic acid oxidation catalyzed by peroxidase. Effect of the enzyme/substrate ratio

Oxygen consumption during the oxidation of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) by peroxidase has been studied, in conditions of no limitation by oxygen. For different enzyme/substrate ratios the quotient O2 consumed/IAA oxidized shows rather small differences and it is always less than unity. During the reaction, however, the quotient undergoes important variations because oxygen uptake ceases long before the decarboxylation of IAA. The results are discussed in the light of previous proposed mechanisms.

Effects of enzyme/substrate ratio and of cofactors on the oxidation products of indole-3-acetic acid catalyzed by peroxidase

During the oxidation of indole-3-acetic acid catalyzed by peroxidase, the relative amounts of the products closely depends on the enzyme/substrate ratio. In the absence of cofactors, high enzyme/substrate ratio induces a rise in the level of indole-3-aldehyde and indole-3-methanol, and a drop in that of oxindoles. 2,4-dichlorophenol, although a very efficient cofactor, promotes inhibition of the oxidation after a few minutes, presumably through the formation of a phenol-derivative inhibitor. 2-4-dichlorophenol also inhibits the production of oxindoles at all stages. Both inhibitory effects are abolished by a low concentration of enzyme. Mn2+, itself a weak inhibitor, synergizes the catalytic effect of 2,4-dichlorophenol, perhaps by preventing the formation of the inhibitor. The results are discussed against more widely accepted mechanisms of indole-3-acetic acid oxidation.

A comparative study of serum total thyroxine estimation on unextracted serum by radioimmunoassay and by competitive protein binding

A rapid and precise radioimmunoassay (RIA) for serum total thyroxine (T4) on as little as 1-10 mul of unextracted serum is described. Results in hypothyroidism (overt and borderline), in euthyroid subjects in pregnant and oestrogen-medicated subjects, and in hyperthyroidism (overt and borderline) are compared with the results on the same sera by an established competitive protein binding technique (Ames' Tetralute) on unextracted serum from a different laboratory. The correlation between the two methods was excellent (r= 0.94) and no significant difference between overall appeared to measure total T4 Reliaby in sera containing only 1-3 or 2-6 nmol/1. Both methods predicted the clinical outcome in borderline hypothyroidism and borderline hyperthyroidism equally well and both gave normal results in T3-toxicosis. It is concluded that both techniques reliably measure total T4- RIA appears to have advantages of sensitivity and precision (especially in the hypothroid range), of simplicity, and of low cost.

Serum triiodothyronine in solitary autonomous nodules of the thyroid

Seventeen patients with solitary autonomous nodules of the thyroid were studied. Eight had clinical features of hyperthyroidism though in some the clinical manifestations were mild. The serum T3 concentration was elevated in all patients with hyperthyroidism but the serum T4 and free thyroxine index were within the normal range in five. All patients with hyperthyroidism subsequently responded to treatment. These findings suggest a high incidence of preferential T3 hypersecretion in hyperthyoidism associated with solitary autonomous thyroid nodule. A further nine patients with single autonomous nodules were clinically euthyroid with normal serum T3 and T4 concentrations and remained euthyroid from 6 to 24 months on serial review.

Hormonal pattern of relapse in hyperthyroidism

22 patients with Grave's disease were followed up for up to a year after antithyroid drug therapy was discontinued. Clinical assessment and serum T3, T4, and thyroid-stimulating-hormone (T.S.H.) estimations were done serially and simultaneously. Serum T3 or T4 concentrations may be elevated briefly in the first few weeks after antithyroid drugs are stopped, as a rebound effect not necessarily indicative of subsequent relapsf. Clinical relapse of hyperthyroidism with subsequent improvement on antithyroid drugs occurred in 13 patients. Of these 13, serum T3 concentrations became elevated before serum T4 concentrations in 5, thus predicting the subsequent development of clinical hyperthyroidism. In the remaining 8 patients who relapsed, serum T4 was elevated a month before the serum T3. Hyperthyroidism was diagnosed clinically after elevated serum T3 concentrations in 11 patients and at the same time in 2 patients. The mean period of "biochemical hyperthyroidism" in these 11 patients was 12 weeks, with a range of 1 to 56 weeks. During this period 9 of the 11 had minor clinical changes attributable to hyperthyroidism. It is concluded that serial estimations of serum T3 provide the most reliable method of monitoring relapse in hyperthyroidism.

Ecologic studies of Venezuelan encephalitis virus in Peru during 1970-1971

Venezuelan encephalitis (VE) virus has intermittently produced epidemics and equine epizootics on the dry Pacific coastal plain of Peru since at least the 1930's. However, evidence that the virus exists in the Amazon region of Peru to the east of the Andes mountains was not obtained until antibodies were found in human sera collected in 1965, and 10 strains of the virus were isolated in a forest near the city of Iquitos, Peru during February and March 1971. Eight strains came from mosquitoes and two from dead sentinel hamsters. Three hamsters exposed in forests near Iquitos developed VE virus antibodies suggesting that hamster-benign strains also exist there. Antibody tests of equine sera revealed no evidence that VE virus was actively cycling during the late 1950's or 1960's in southern coastal Peru, where equine epizootics had occurred in the 1930's and 1940's. In northern coastal Peru bordering Ecuador, antibodies were present in equine sera, presumably residual from the 1969 outbreak caused by subtype I virus, since neutralizing antibody titers were higher to subtype I virus than to subtypes III or IV. No VE virus was detected in this northern region during the dry season of 1970 by use of sentinel hamsters. The possibility is considered that VE epidemics and equine epizootics on the Pacific coast of Peru are caused by movements of virus in infected vertebrates traversing Andean passes or in infected vertebrates or mosquitoes carried in airplanes from the Amazon region.