Differential effects of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonists administered as desensitizing or flare protocols on hormonal function in the luteal phase of hyperstimulated cycles

The incorporation of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) stimulation protocols has led to doubt about the quality of the subsequent luteal phase. The effects of two GnRHa stimulation protocols on luteal phase concentrations of oestradiol (E2), progesterone (P), luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) were compared with the standard clomiphene stimulation regimen. Subjects receiving clomiphene with human menopausal gonadotrophin (HMG, n = 377) showed essentially similar luteal phase P concentrations to those receiving leuprolide acetate/HMG as a desensitization protocol. Subjects receiving concomitant leuprolide and HMG from day 2 to utilize the flare effect of the GnRHa exhibited significantly lower P levels in the luteal phase compared to clomiphene/HMG and leuprolide desensitization protocols despite the addition of HCG support. This occurred despite equivalent E2 concentrations at the time of ovulation and identical numbers of oocytes recovered. LH concentrations in non-conception cycles were suppressed for at least 14 days in the luteal phase in both GnRHa protocols compared to clomiphene stimulation. Differences were less obvious in cycles where conception occurred suggesting that implantation may proceed more favourably when the luteal endocrinology was optimal. It is concluded that flare methods of GnRHa hyperstimulation are associated with significantly different luteal phases compared with clomiphene or desensitization protocols. It is proposed that the use of the flare type of stimulation may significantly influence the response of the granulosa cells to LH or HCG via gonadotrophin receptors or through altered post-receptor function.

Effects of ionic strength on endogenous nuclease activity in chelated and nonchelated chromatin

Calf thymus chromatin, isolated using a standard (low ionic strength, but nonchelating) isolation protocol, dialyzed against either Tris-PMSF or Tris-EDTA, was reconstituted in a high salt compacting buffer (COM) or a low salt dispersing buffer (DIS) prior to digestion with endogenous nucleases. A greater level of enzyme activity occurred when chromatin was in a condensed state (COM buffer) and not chelated prior to digestion. In contrast, chromatin chelated by dialysis against Tris-EDTA prior to digestion showed higher levels of enzyme activity in the dispersed state (DIS buffer). Nonchelated undigested chromatin contained 0.280 +/- 0.16 ug copper/mg DNA and and 0.305 +/+- 0.09 ug zinc/mg DNA. Chelation removed about 78% of copper per mg DNA and approximately 65% of zinc per mg DNA. In COM buffer after a 20 min digestion, the solubilized fraction was enriched in copper showing about 20 X more metal per mg DNA than nonchelated chromatin. Approximately the same amount of zinc was found in both chelated and nonchelated chromatin while there was less zinc in chelated chromatin solubilized in DIS buffer. Thus, chelation has important effects on the digestibility of chromatin and on the type of ionic environment that provides the most favorable conditions for endogenous nuclease activity.

Testing of local gamma-ray scatter fractions determined by spectral fitting

The spectral-fitting method of correction for gamma-ray Compton scattering within objects separates the unscattered and scattered components of locally measured energy spectra. Here, we employ a third-order polynomial for the scattering and an approximately constant fitting window. A scatter fraction, defined as total scattered over total unscattered counts within a 20% window, is calculated for each point in our Anger camera images. These scatter fractions are tested against those from Monte-Carlo simulation for 99mTc and against results from semiconductor detector measurements for 131I. A radioactive sphere at several locations within a non-radioactive cylinder and the inverse are imaged for the testing. For one case, reproducibility of the spectral-fitting scatter fraction as a function of the number of unscattered counts within the 20% acceptance window was also determined. With 99mTc, for all cases, the agreement between spectral fitting and the standard estimation method is within 16%. With 131I, for the 'hot' sphere at two locations, the agreement is within 21%. For the 'hot' sphere at the third location (off the cylinder axis towards the camera), the dependence of scatter fraction on transverse distance is good although the absolute values are too large. Scatter fraction reproducibility is within 10% for 1000 or more counts. Therefore, further testing of spectral fitting and initial application to realistic clinical images seem to be in order.

Resinless section immunogold electron microscopy of karyo-cytoskeletal frameworks of eukaryotic cells cultured in vitro. Absence of a salt-stable nuclear matrix from mouse plasmacytoma MPC-11 cells

The karyo-cytoskeleton of cells cultured in vitro was investigated employing resinless section immunogold electron microscopy. Cells were entrapped in low-melting agarose, sequentially extracted with various buffers and digested with nucleases to obtain karyo-cytoskeletal frameworks and reacted with specific primary and gold-conjugated secondary antibodies or gold-conjugated protein A to decorate structural elements of these frameworks. Following embedment of the gold-labeled residual cell structures in diethylene glycol distearate and their sectioning, the embedding material was removed with organic solvent and the sections were finally subjected to CO2 critical point drying. When this technique was applied to mouse skin fibroblasts (MSF), it revealed a dense and salt-stable intranuclear network of fibrogranular material. Antibodies directed against vimentin and lamin B detected a cytoplasmic meshwork of intermediate filaments (IFs) and a nuclear lamina, respectively; the latter, however, only after removal of chromatin from nuclei by nuclease digestion of DNA. Intranuclear filaments free of adhering globular material were morphologically very similar to cytoplasmic vimentin filaments. By contrast, mouse plasmacytoma MPC-11 cells lacking detectable amounts of cytoplasmic IF proteins and lamins A and C were devoid of a salt-stable internal nuclear matrix. The same holds true for MPC-11 cells that had been treated with the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate to induce vimentin synthesis and establish a cytoplasmically extended IF network. These findings were in accordance with the biochemical behavior of Triton X-100-treated MSF and MPC-11 cells and their appearance in immunofluorescence microscopy upon extraction with high ionic strength buffer. While the chromatin was quantitatively retained in the residual cell structures derived from MSF cells, in those obtained from MPC-11 cells the nuclear lamina was disrupted and the chromatin was released from the nuclei, suggesting that MPC-11 cells lack the salt-stable nuclear scaffold to which chromatin is normally anchored.

[Lateral cephalometry in Chinese population with esthetic face]

According to selections of both the public and the orthognathic surgeons, 100 lateral cephalograms were taken on the male and the female young adults with esthetic face and normal occlusion. Each X-Y coordinate value of 18 landmarks, 10 angular and 10 linear measurements, and 5 linear ratios were analysed. The features of the craniofacial structure of the hard tissue profile in the Chinese group with esthetic face were emphasized as follows. 1. The craniofacial structure of the esthetic group presents its typicality, which is accord with the basic principles of esthetics. 2. Great individual variation was found in the lower third of the face. 3. The profile patterns of the lower third face in the esthetic group become well-developed and chubby convexity which looks relatively straight. 4. The differences exist in the craniofacial skeleton structure between male and female.

Calcitonin gene-related peptide levels are elevated in patients with sepsis

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), an endogenous vasoactive peptide encoded by the calcitonin gene in nerve cells, is distributed throughout the cardiovascular system and is a potent vasodilator. Plasma levels of CGRP have been elevated in animal models with sepsis. This study was designed to determine whether plasma CGRP levels are elevated in patients with sepsis and perhaps contribute to the hyperdynamic cardiovascular state in sepsis. Plasma CGRP levels were obtained from normal healthy volunteers and from patients with sepsis. Volunteers were afebrile and had normal pulse and blood pressure. Patients with sepsis were selected according to the following criteria: (1) temperature higher than 38.5 degrees C, (2) white blood count greater than 14,000/ml, (3) positive blood culture of bacterial organisms, (4) hemodynamic parameters consistent with hyperdynamic sepsis, and (5) negative history of thyroid or other endocrine abnormalities. CGRP was extracted and assayed by radioimmunoassay for iodine 125-labeled human CGRP. In patients with sepsis, the cardiac index was 5.4 +/- 0.5 L/min/m2 (normal, 3.0); systemic vascular resistance was 7.1 +/- 0.5 mm Hg/L/min (normal, 16); oxygen delivery was 1496 +/- 137 ml/min (normal, 1000). Plasma CGRP levels were significantly elevated in the patients with sepsis, 14.9 +/- 3.2 pg/ml, compared to plasma CGRP levels in control volunteers, 2.0 +/- 0.3 pg/ml (p less than 0.0005). These elevated levels of CGRP may contribute to the decreased vascular resistance and increased cardiac output in the hyperdynamic septic state.

Diarrhoea surveillance in children aged under 5 years in a rural area of Hebei Province, China

A surveillance of diarrhoeal diseases in children aged under five years was carried out from March 1986 to February 1987 in a rural area of Hebei Province, China. Using a cluster sampling method, 270 study children were selected from 30 villages to represent a population of 105,405. Parents noted episodes of diarrhoea in children on a calender using a given definition of diarrhoea. The findings were verified by trained village doctors and were recorded monthly in the county Health and Anti-epidemic Stations. Stools of diarrhoea-affected children were examined to detect causal agents of diarrhoea, once in each of four seasons of the year. Of the 270 children, 218 (80.74%) suffered from one or more than one attacks of diarrhoea with a 95% confidence interval between 75.94% and 85.54%. There was no death due to diarrhoea. The diarrhoeal incidence in children of 3-4-year age group was significantly less than that in the children of less than 3 years (p less than 0.05). In the children with diarrhoea, the number of mean episodes was 3.15 per child/year, and the total mean course of suffering was 14 days per child/year. The ratio of diarrhoeal episodes in spring, summer, autumn, and winter was about 2.5:5:2:1. July was the month of highest occurrence of diarrhoea (146; 21.28% of all episodes). The epidemiological parameters of the disease declined with the growing age of the children, and there was no gender-specific preponderance in the number of episodes. During the whole year, 21.7% of the diarrhoeal episodes were due to bacterial pathogens, 4% of the episodes were due to rotavirus, and 3.65% episodes were associated with the detection of Trichomonas hominis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Alternative Shaker transcripts express either rapidly inactivating or noninactivating K+ channels

Two members of the Shaker K+ channel family designated ShA2 and ShD2 were characterized in the Xenopus oocyte expression system. The predicted amino acid sequences of ShA2 and ShD2 differ only in the amino terminus, which is located intracellularly according to the present topological model of K+ channels. The differing amino termini have profound effects on the electrophysiological and pharmacological properties of the K+ channel. Most markedly, the nature of the amino terminus determines whether the K+ channel mediates rapidly inactivating or noninactivating K+ currents. It also affects the 4-aminopyridine, tetraethylammonium, and charybdotoxin sensitivities of the K+ channels. These results suggest that the amino terminus of Shaker proteins affects K+ channel structures on both sides of the membrane.

Stimulatory effect of staphylococcal leukocidin on phosphoinositide metabolism in rabbit polymorphonuclear leukocytes

When rabbit polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) were incubated with staphylococcal leukocidin (F and S components) in the presence of 32Pi at 37 degrees C, incorporation of 32Pi into phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PIP) and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) occurred after a lag phase of 10 s and reached a maximal level at 60 s of 50- and 30-fold increase, respectively, compared with that of the control in the absence of the toxin. Whereas the amount of 32P radioactivity incorporated in PIP and PIP2 decreased to control levels in a few minutes, 32P incorporation into phosphatidic acid (PA) continuously increased over 3 min. These findings suggested an early activation of phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C in rabbit PMNs by leukocidin as shown by the rapid breakdown of PIP and PIP2 accompanied by the appearance of PA. The stimulatory effect of leukocidin on some enzymatic activities of the phosphatidylinositol pathway was further investigated by using PMN cell membrane preparations. In the presence of both the F and S components, enhanced 32P incorporation was observed not only in PIP2 and PA but also in PIP. While the F component mainly enhanced 32P incorporation into PIP2 and PA, the S component alone had no effect on 32P incorporation into PIP, PIP2, and PA. The F component alone enhanced conversion of PIP to [32P]PIP2 in the presence of unlabeled PIP and [gamma-32P]ATP, through the activation of PIP kinase. PIP kinase activity was potentiated by the addition of NAD and GTP. Subsequent formation of [32P]PA was also enhanced by the F component, resulting from activation of the phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C. These results suggested that the F component of staphylococcal leukocidin is responsible for the enhancement of phosphoinositide metabolism in rabbit PMN cell membranes.

Rat beta-galactoside alpha 2,6-sialyltransferase genomic organization: alternate promoters direct the synthesis of liver and kidney transcripts

The rat beta-galactoside alpha 2,6-sialytransferase gene is differentially utilized by liver and kidney in the generation of mRNAs that predict substantially divergent polypeptides. In order to determine the biosynthetic relationship between these sialyltransferase mRNA isoforms, genomic sequences were isolated and analysed. Five exons that span at least 40 kb of DNA carry the coding information for the liver beta-galactoside alpha 2,6-sialyltransferase protein. An additional exon contains only sequences for the 5'-untranslated leader of the liver mRNA. In contrast, the predominant kidney mRNAs from this gene share only three coding exons that specify the carboxyl terminal 42% of the liver sialyltransferase protein sequence. In addition, these kidney mRNAs contain information from two other exons that comprise the 5' divergent region of these transcripts. Primer extension and S1 nuclease protection analysis demonstrate that the hepatic and kidney specific mRNAs are transcriptionally initiated at different sites within the sialyltransferase gene. While the hepatic sialyltransferase mRNAs are transcribed from the first exon, the kidney transcripts are initiated from a site within the third intron. Genomic regions upstream of both transcriptional initiation sites can regulate expression of the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene in transiently transfected L cells. Together, the data implicate multiple promoters as a principle mechanism in the generation of kidney and liver gene product diversity in sialyltransferase expression.

H+/base transport in principal cells characterized by confocal fluorescence imaging

A dual-excitation inverted confocal laser-scanning microscope has been developed for measuring intracellular pH (pHi) using 2',7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5,6-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF) in individual cells in the isolated perfused cortical collecting tubule (CCT). This new microscope has superior depth discrimination, which eliminates the contribution of fluorescence information from cells outside the plane of focus. pHi was monitored in real time from a spot 0.55 microns in diameter within a single cell. Experiments were performed to examine the apical and basolateral membrane H+/base transport properties of single principal cells. The results indicate that principal cells possess a basolateral membrane Na(+)-independent Cl-/base exchanger, a Na(+)-H+ antiporter, and a Na+/base cotransporter. No evidence was found for an apical membrane Na(+)-independent Cl-/base exchanger. The data provide evidence for base efflux pathways in the principal cell and are compatible with the hypothesis that principal cells contribute importantly to H+/base transport in the CCT. The new methodology described in this report can be applied to other epithelia that are optically heterogeneous in the depth dimension.

[Clinical therapeutic effect of xifukang in 53 patients with silicosis]

Xifukang is a compound preparation of Chinese herbs consisting of Hanbane grugs mainly. Since 1987, the significant efficiency have been obtained in treatment of 53 patients suffering from silicosis by self-control study. The results indicated that the clinical manifestations including dyspnea, cough, sputum production, chest pain, weakness, etc. were markedly improved (P less than 0.01) and measurements of pulmonary function (FVC, FEV and MVV) significant enhanced (P less than 0.01). After treatment 20 cases roentgenogram exam showed that the lung's clarity and the limited emphysema were improved, the silicolic nodule and mass-mergence opacity of 3 cases lessened in some degree. By discussing the effect of Xifukang which might lower the collagen protein content of experimental silicosis of Wistar rats and improve pathomorphous. The authors concluded that the therapeutic mechanism of Xifukang could be the actions of this remedy on promoting blood circulation to eliminate blood stasis dredging microcirculation, increasing ventilation/perfusion (VA/Q), protecting dust-cells, resisting fibrosis, regulating immune function, enhancing lung clearance, postponing and preventing development of silicosis.

Phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis in castor bean endosperm : purification and properties of cytidine 5'-triphosphate:choline-phosphate cytidylyltransferase

Cytidine 5'-triphosphate:choline-phosphate cytidylyltransferase (EC 2.7.7.15) has been purified to near homogeneity (3350-fold) from castor bean (Ricinus communis L. var Hale) endosperm. The steps of purification included a differential solubilization of this enzyme with n-octyl beta-d-glucopyranoside (OGP) and column chromatography on sequential DEAE-sepharose, sepharose-6B, and second DEAE-sepharose columns. The uses of appropriate concentrations of the detergent, OGP, in each step were crucial to obtain the highly purified enzyme. The purified enzyme gave a single protein band on nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed one major protein band of 40 kilodaltons. Gel filtration chromatography indicated that native cytidylyltransferase was approximately 155 kilodaltons, suggesting that it exists naturally as a tetramer. The purified enzyme used methylethanolamine-phosphate as a substrate but not ethanolamine-phosphate and dimethylethanolamine-phosphate. ATP and other nucleotides tested showed little effect on the purified enzyme. The purified enzyme activity was stimulated by both phospholipids extracted from castor bean endosperm and phosphatidylcholineoleate vesicles.

[Factors influencing in vitro Lymphocyte transformation for screening immunomodulation drugs among crude herbal extracts]

When in vitro lymphocyte transformation test was used to investigate the immunologic effects of crude herbal extracts, false negative results of 3H-TdR uptake usually were obtained due to the high content of impurities, higher concentration of drugs or incomplete harvest of cells. Microscopic examination of cell growth to be additional index proved very useful because of being less interfered by factor mentioned above. Cell growth examination has high reliability, reproducibility, wider range of suitable drug concentration detectable (20-40 micrograms crude extract/well) and high objectivity of being capably examined by several observers for comparison. Therefore both 3H-TdR uptake and cell growth examination should be adopted for indications of this test to obtain accurate objective results. In case of increasing adhesion of cells with surfaces of plate wells by crude herbal extract it is necessary to elevate negative pressure (700 mmHg) and prolong the time of wash-suction (1.5-2 min) during cell harvesting.