Effects of platelet-activating factor on rat mesenteric microcirculation

The actions of platelet-activating factor (PAF) on rat mesenteric microcirculation were studied by laser Doppler microscopy in vivo. PAF 0.2 -0.6 micrograms/kg iv produced a dose-related decrease in the blood flow velocity and an increase in the diameters of the mesenteric arterioles and venules. These responses were completely reversed by pretreatment with PAF receptor antagonist SRI 63441. The results suggest that PAF may be a mediator of microcirculatory disturbances in the disease conditions associated with excessive PAF release.

Phospholipase A2-induced lung edema and its mechanism in isolated perfused guinea pig lung

Lung injury induced by phospholipase A2 (PLA2, 0.046 IU/ml perfusate) was studied in a continuous weighing system of isolated perfused guinea pig lungs. The results revealed that lung weight increased progressively during the 30-min perfusion of PLA2. No change of pulmonary arterial pressure was observed in the same period. Albumin permeability-surface area product, lung index, lung water content, exudate from pleura, and angiotensin-converting-enzyme activity increased significantly at the end of 30 min PLA2 perfusion. p-Bromophenacyl bromide, a PLA2 inhibitor, may block the above changes nearly completely. The effects of inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (indomethacin, IM), lipoxygenase (diethylcarbamaxine, DE), and platelet-activating factor (SRI 63-441) on PLA2-induced lung injury were also studied. We found: (1) PLA2 may induce high permeability lung edema. The role of endothelial injury in the permeability change remains to be further investigated. (2) DE ameliorated lung injury significantly within 10 min of PLA2 treatment but showed no effect after 15 min. IM ameliorated lung injury during the whole experimental period. SRI 63-441 had no effect. It is suggested that PLA2 may damage lung by inducing products of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase besides its direct effect.

[Effect of an extract from the cauline of Piper kadsura ohwi on endotoxin-induced hypotension and lung injury in rats]

Arterial hypotension and high-permeability pulmonary edema were induced by intravenous injection of platelet activating factor (PAF) or endotoxin in rats. Pre-treatment with extract from the Cauline of Piper kadsura attenuated endotoxin-induced hypotension and lung injury, which may result from the PAF antagonistic effect of Piper kadsura.

Effect of tetrandrine on micronucleus formation and sister-chromatid exchange in both in vitro and in vivo assays

The genotoxicity of tetrandrine, a drug potentially useful for the treatment of silicosis, was studied using the micronucleus and the sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) assay systems. Cultured Chinese hamster lung (V79) cells were used for the in vitro micronucleus and sister-chromatid exchange studies. Mouse bone marrow was used for the in vivo micronucleus assay and mouse spleen cells for the in vivo/in vitro sister-chromatid exchange analysis. The results show that SCE levels in V79 and in spleen cells were significantly elevated by treatment with tetrandrine at doses above 0.08 mg/ml and 100 mg/kg bw, respectively. Increased tetradrine-induced SCE in vitro was metabolic activation dependent. Tetrandrine failed to induce micronuclei at any of the doses tested. A decrease of replicative index with an increase in the concentration of tetrandrine was found both in vitro and in vivo. These results indicate that tetrandrine is a weak indirect-acting genotoxicant.

[Internal carotid arterial BCNU perfusion in the treatment of cerebral glioma]

From May 1984 to 1987, 19 patients of cerebral glioma were treated by internal carotid intra-arterial BCNU perfusion. Trans-carotid artery or transfemoral catheterization were performed in these patients. The single dosage was 100 mg/m2 and repeated every 4-6 weeks. 12 patients received more than two courses of perfusion and had follow-up study. Previously partial resection of the tumor underwent in 10 cases and also receiving radiation therapy in 6 of them. The remaining 2 patients only biopsy were performed. There was no mortality. But severe complications occurred in two patients, one loss of vision on the injected side and the other contralateral hemiplegia. The result of chemotherapy were defined as "complete response" in two patients, "partial response" in five, "no change" in three and deterioration of disease in two. The authors concluded that internal carotid intra-arterial BCNU chemotherapy is effective, my be used as an adjunctive treatment of cerebral gliomas.

Enhancing effect of tetrandrine on sister-chromatid exchanges induced by mitomycin C and cigarette-smoke condensate in mammalian cells

The enhancing effect of tetrandrine, an antisilicosis, antitumor and antiinflammatory drug, on the genotoxic activity of two known mutagens, mitomycin C (MMC) and cigarette-smoke condensate (CSC), has been studied using cultured Chinese hamster lung (V79) cells. The sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) was used as genetic endpoint to measure genotoxicity. One-day cultured cells were exposed to the test chemicals for 3 h with or without metabolic activation. The results show that the frequencies of SCE induced by MMC or CSC were enhanced by tetrandrine. The percent of enhancement was dependent on the concentration of tetrandrine.

Shedding of GD2 ganglioside by human neuroblastoma

Substantial concentrations of the cell-surface glycosphingolipid, the disialoganglioside GD2, are uniformly present in human neuroblastoma tumors. This ganglioside can also be detected in the plasma of patients with neuroblastoma by direct thin-layer chromatographic analysis. Among 32 neuroblastoma patients in all clinical stages studied prior to the initiation of treatment, 27 (84%) showed measurably elevated plasma concentrations of GD2 (greater than or equal to 50 pmol/ml). The mean level (545 +/- 108 pmol/ml) was more than 50 times the normal plasma GD2 concentration of less than or equal to 10 pmol/ml. Circulating GD2 was not detected in the plasma of patients with the related, more differentiated tumors, ganglioneuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma, indicating an association of the shedding of this ganglioside with the undifferentiated phenotype. Circulating GD2 diminished in patients in response to therapy, and reappeared in patients whose disease recurred. The results suggest that the sequential determination of circulating GD2 will be of value in monitoring individual patients with neuroblastoma.

The observation of some biological characteristics of transformed cells induced by MNNG in vitro

The early passage diploid Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cells were treated with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). The treated cells proliferated rapidly; the doubling times shortened; colonies appeared in solid agar medium and transformed foci formed in tissue culture. All of these phenomena suggest that malignant transformation of SHE cell has occurred. Faster cell division rate and multipolar mitosis were demonstrated by time-lapse cinemicrography and scanning electron microscopy. Multipolar mitosis can occur in two forms: direct division and indirect division. The transformed cells were more abundant in microvilli, the number of which increased in accordance with the degree of malignancy. In comparison with the controls, the transformed cells expressed a greater tritiated thymidine incorporation, greater DNA contents and more chromosomes, but no difference in nuclear area. The determination of amino acid changes in media due to the growth of transformed cells showed that the decrease in arginine and increase in ornithine are significant. The results of allogenic animal inoculation suggest that the transformed cells can be characterized into several different stages in the process of transformation.

Expression of GD2 ganglioside by untreated primary human neuroblastomas

Primary neuroblastomas obtained before therapy from 36 patients were studied to determine the frequency of tumors expressing a specific glycosphingolipid, GD2 ganglioside. Total tissue gangliosides were purified by a new partition method, quantitated, and analyzed by high-performance thin-layer chromatography. All 36 neuroblastoma tumors, representing all clinical stages, contained GD2 ganglioside. The mean relative and absolute concentrations of GD2 were substantial (12% of the total tissue gangliosides and 50 nmol/g of tissue) and were independent of the clinical stage of the tumor. In contrast, 6 samples of related but more differentiated tumors (ganglioneuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma) had little or no detectable GD2 (less than or equal to 1.5% of total gangliosides and less than or equal to 4 nmol/g of tissue). These results suggest that GD2 is a sensitive marker for neuroblastoma tissue and may be an excellent target antigen for immunotherapy of this tumor.

Frequency of erythrocyte pyruvate kinase deficiency in Chinese infants

The incidence of deficiency of the enzyme pyruvate kinase (PK) in Chinese infants was determined. Both the standard assay of erythrocyte pyruvate kinase enzyme activity and a fluorescent screening test (standardized) were used. The results of these two tests were compared. Of 1,159 infant cord blood samples studied, 26 (or 2.2%) had abnormally low levels of PK activity using the screening test, as did 24 of the samples tested by the enzyme assay. The results indicate that the frequency of a defective PK gene in the population of Guangzhou is significantly lower (p less than .05) than the previously reported defective gene frequency of 3.4% in Hong Kong. They also demonstrate the critical importance of standardization of the screening test, if most accurate estimates of gene frequency are to be derived by using this test.

Detection of a tumour-associated ganglioside in plasma of patients with neuroblastoma

An abnormal circulating ganglioside was found in patients with neuroblastoma. This ganglioside appeared as a single band by resorcinol-HCl staining of thin-layer chromatograms of purified total gangliosides isolated from as little as 1 ml of patient plasma. It is a major ganglioside of neuroblastoma tumour tissue and was present (250-1500 pmol lipid-bound sialic acid/ml) in the plasma of five patients with widespread neuroblastoma. In contrast, the ganglioside was not detected (less than 50 pmol/ml) in plasma samples of six patients in complete remission, nor in plasma samples of seventeen healthy children and adults. Measurement of this circulating tumour-associated ganglioside should be clinically useful in neuroblastoma, offering a new approach to the detection of tumour and the evaluation of therapy.