Activation of leukocytes and of the kallikrein-kinin system in patients with unstable angina pectoris

We investigated the leucocyte-elastase and the activity of the kallikrein system including kinin precursors and plasma inhibition levels in 14 patients with unstable angina pectoris (normal or only slightly elevated creatinine kinase levels; no transmural myocardial infarction) and compared them with 10 controls. Leucocyte-elastase levels and activity of the kallikrein system were significantly elevated in unstable angina pectoris. The bradykinin precursor high-molecular-weight kininogen was markedly decreased to 79 +/- 16% indicating kinin generation. Except for a slight decrease in the beta factor XIIa inhibition, we observed no abnormalities in the plasma kallikrein inhibition or in the antithrombin III levels in patients with unstable angina pectoris. The findings indicate a significant activation of the plasma kallikrein-kinin system, which is not associated with a considerable reduction in the plasma inhibitor levels. Kinin generation might influence vascular tone and leucocyte function and thus be involved in the pathophysiologic alterations occurring in patients with recurrent angina at rest.

Clivarin and other LMWHs in an ex vivo cardiopulmonary bypass model. Studies on contact activation

A large number of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) preparations are contending for superiority and their pharmacological properties need to be assessed. Thus experimental and clinical experience accumulated from one LMWH can only be extrapolated to a limited extent to another LMWH.

Gender differences in depression: perspectives from neuropsychology

Although there has been much productive research in neuropsychology on the topic of depression, rarely has the issue of gender differences been taken into consideration. It is not uncommon for researchers investigating the neuropsychological concomitants of depression to test only women, or far more women than men, making it impossible to examine the prospect that there might be differences between these two groups. This article is an attempt to integrate research from two areas of neuropsychology: (1) gender differences in neuropsychological functions and (2) neuropsychological functions in depression. Since so few studies have examined gender differences in depression and their relation to neuropsychological patterns, there will be few firm conclusions to be drawn. However, some speculations will be offered, and some suggestions outlined for potentially fruitful future research.

The prolonged activated clotting time (ACT) with aprotinin depends on the type of activator used for measurement

In cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) surgery high dose heparin is necessary to inhibit the clotting cascade which is activated through damage to the vessels (extrinsic pathway) as well as contact activation of the blood with the various artificial surfaces of the CPB machine (intrinsic pathway). In most European heart surgery centres, the fibrinolytic activation that always occurs in CPB due to contact activation is reduced by the proteinase inhibitor aprotinin. Monitoring of anticoagulation during CPB is performed with the activated whole blood clotting time (ACT). The two machines commonly used for this purpose, Hemotec and Hemochron, use different contact system activators, kaolin and celite. These activators displayed highly significant differences, in both in vitro tests (modified APTT with whole blood in a neutral coagulometer), and ACT in both machines where aprotinin and heparin were used, as well as with parallel measurements with the two machines with blood from patients undergoing CPB with high dose aprotinin therapy (P < 0.001). The Hemotec machine with kaolin as activator was not affected by aprotinin throughout surgery, while the Hemochron clotting times almost doubled as soon as aprotinin and heparin were combined. Our studies show that for the determination of ACT in CPB were high dose aprotinin therapy is used only ACT determinations with machines using kaolin as activator yield accurate results.

Influence of oral hygiene on elastase concentration of gingival crevicular fluid

PMN elastase concentration of gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) was investigated in 11 healthy volunteers before professional tooth cleaning and after a 5-week period of intensive oral hygiene. GCF was collected using filter paper strips and the enzyme concentration was evaluated by the ELISA-technique. Intensive daily oral hygiene led to a considerable improvement in the clinical indices and to a reduction in the concentration of elastase in GCF. Despite the changes in the oral hygiene status, functional elastase was still present in the samples at the end of the experiment. This could mean that even at clinically healthy sites there is a lack of alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor, the major serum protein inactivating PMN elastase.

Aprotinin in cardiopulmonary bypass--effects on the Hageman factor (FXII)--Kallikrein system and blood loss

Aprotinin has been used in our hospital in open heart surgery for almost 20 years and recently published studies have revealed a reduction in postoperative blood loss under this therapy. In the present study patients undergoing aorto-coronary bypass operations received either 20,000 KIU aprotinin/kg body weight (group 2) or 60,000 KIU aprotinin/kg body weight (group 3). Another group of patients without aprotinin served as a control (group 1) and postoperative bleeding was more pronounced in these patients compared with the other groups. In parallel, slight reductions in kallikrein-like activity were observed in patients treated with aprotinin. Furthermore, we have shown that the main inhibitor of the contact phase, C1-esterase-inhibitor, loses some of its activity against beta-FXIIa in the presence of heparin. Aprotinin was able to partly antagonize this phenomenon. All studies dealing with the effect of aprotinin in extracorporeal circulation demonstrate hyperfibrinolysis in untreated patients. Aprotinin is known to inhibit plasmin at low concentrations and thus reduced the postoperative bleeding tendency (group 2). In addition, plasma kallikrein is inhibited by high aprotinin concentrations and is responsible for a reduced activation of the contact phase system. This effect led to a further reduction in blood loss (group 3).

Biochemical Plant Responses to Ozone : II. Induction of Stilbene Biosynthesis in Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) Seedlings

Formation of the stilbenes pinosylvin and pinosylvin 3-methyl ether, as well as the activity of the biosynthetic enzyme stilbene synthase (pinosylvin-forming), were induced several hundred- to thousandfold in primary needles of 6-week-old pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings upon exposure to a single pulse of ozone of at least 0.15 microliters per liter. The seedlings required 4 hours of exposure as a minimum for the induction of stilbene biosynthesis when exposed to 0.2 microliters per liter ozone. Both stilbene synthase activity and stilbene accumulation increased with the duration of ozone treatment. The activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and the activity of chalcone synthase, a key enzyme of the flavonoid pathway that uses the same substrates as stilbene synthase, were also stimulated about twofold by ozone. Stilbene biosynthesis appears to represent the first example of a dose-dependent biochemical response to ozone in a conifer species and may serve as a useful biomarker to study stress impacts on pine trees.

Biochemical plant responses to ozone : I. Differential induction of polyamine and ethylene biosynthesis in tobacco

Polyamine metabolism was examined in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) exposed to a single ozone treatment (5 or 7 hours) and then postcultivated in pollutant-free air. The levels of free and conjugated putrescine were rapidly increased in the ozone-tolerant cultivar Bel B and remained high for 3 days. This accumulation was preceded by a transient rise of l-arginine decar-boxylase (ADC, EC 4.1.1.19) activity. The ozone-sensitive cultivar Bel W3 showed a rapid production of ethylene and high levels of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid after 1 to 2 hours of exposure. Induction of putrescine levels and ADC activity was weak in this cultivar and was observed when necrotic lesions developed. Leaf injury occurred in both lines when the molar ratio of putrescine to 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid or ethylene fell short of a certain threshold value. Monocaffeoyl-putrescine, an effective scavenger for oxyradicals, was detected in the apo-plastic fluid of the leaves of cv Bel B and increased upon exposure to ozone. This extracellular localization could allow scavenging of ozone-derived oxyradicals at the first site of their generation. Induction of either polyamine or ethylene pathways may represent a control mechanism for inhibition or promotion of lesion formation and thereby contribute to the disposition of plants for ozone tolerance.

'La douce indifférence' and mood in anorexia nervosa: neuropsychological correlates

1. Denial of illness, mood, eating attitudes, and the responses to visual-constructive tasks were assessed in eight right-handed female patients with restricting anorexia nervosa during the acute phase and following weight gain. 2. A lower body weight and more pronounced anorectic symptomatology were associated with increased left hemispheric activation. 3. Weight gain, greater awareness of negative affect, and overestimation of body parts were correlated with an increase in right hemispheric activation. 4. The results suggest a relationship between anorectic symptomatology and asymmetric brain activation.

FXII

The plasma protein FXII (Hageman factor) has been shown to be linked with the plasma defence systems of coagulation, fibrinolysis, kallikrein-kinin and complement. It can be activated by surface contact activation and in solution. Surface contact activation is a complex phenomenon involving negatively charged surfaces, FXII, high molecular weight kininogen and plasma kallikrein. Fluid-phase activation can be effected by a variety of serine proteases. In both types of activation the FXII zymogen is converted to active enzymes. FXII levels in plasma are low or undetectable in both inherited deficiencies and in a variety of clinical conditions. FXII levels can also be elevated in some clinical conditions. Although discovered as a clotting protein FXII appears to play an important role in the kallikrein-kinin and fibrinolytic systems and also has effects on cells. Recent studies suggest that therapeutic blockade of activation of FXII can be of benefit in certain clinical conditions.

Biochemical response of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) towards 14-month exposure to ozone and acid mist: part I--Effects on polyphenol and monoterpene metabolism

Three-year-old clonal Picea abies (L.) Karst. plants, grown either on a sandy (No. 1) or on a calcareous (No. 2) soil, were treated with ozone (100 microg m(-3) and peaks of up to 360 microg m(-3)) and acid mist (pH 3.0) over two vegetation periods. Needles of the current (1987) and previous (1986) year were analysed at the end of the experiment for biosynthetic enzymes and in vivo activity of the phenylpropanoid pathway, for products of polyphenol metabolism (clones 11 and 14), and for mono- and sesquiterpenes (clones 14 and 16). 1. Polyphenol metabolism. The activity of cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, an enzyme of the lignin pathway, was increased by the treatment by up to 83% in the needles of both age classes. Chalcone synthase was measured in mature tree material for the first time. This enzyme, as well as phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activities and the content of catechin, astringin, isorhapontin, picein and p-hydroxyacetophenone, exhibited no significant treatment-dependent differences. However, soil and age-class dependent differences occurred. Pulse-labelling experiments with l[U-(14)C]phenylalanine and [2-(14)C]acetate were carried out at four different stages of shoot development and showed label incorporation into (+)-catechin and proanthocyanidins. There was no effect of the ozone and acid mist treatment. 2. Monoterpenes. The content of needle terpenes was generally diminished by the ozone and acid mist treatment. Other factors tested, such as clone, needle age and soil, exerted a highly significant influence on the content of most of the needle monoterpenes.

Aesthetic preference and picture asymmetries

Previous research has shown that when right-handed subjects prefer one orientation of a picture over its mirror image, the more interesting or important content is on the right. Location of content, however, is only one of a number of possible asymmetric aspects of picture composition. To determine whether the relationship between aesthetic preference and cerebral asymmetry is affected by the interaction of different aspects of asymmetric information in a slide, the present study examined both asymmetry of content and asymmetry of motion. The results indicated that asymmetry of both content and motion combined to influence orientation preferences of right-but not left-handers. Thus, at least two asymmetric components of picture composition interact with brain organization to influence aesthetic judgements.