A sequential injection analysis/chemiluminescent plant tissue-based biosensor system for the determination of diamine

In this paper, a new chemiluminescent plant tissue-based biosensor for diamine detection was presented by employing sequential injection analysis (SIA), which facilitates precise fluidic handling and lower consumption of sample and reagents. Pea-seedling tissue acted as the molecular recognition element and was packed in a mini-PTFE column and further incorporated in the SIA system. The analysis of diamines, such as putrescine and cadaverine, is based on an enzymatic conversion which takes place in the plant tissue column to produce hydrogen peroxide. The formed hydrogen peroxide was detected by a chemiluminescence reaction involving luminol and Co(2+). Under the optimal conditions, the linear calibration graphs were obtained within 0.2-80 microM (putrescine) and 0.5-100 microM (cadaverine). The detection limits of 0.03 and 0.06 microM were achieved for putrescine and cadaverine, respectively, along with the relative standard deviations of 2.14% and 3.08% (n=11) and a sampling frequency of 40 h(-1). The present biosensor has been used for the analysis of diamine in fish samples with an acceptable accuracy.

Experimental production of gastric dilation and its association with osmoregulatory stress and biogenic amines in chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum)

Chinook salmon smolt in fresh water fed a commercial diet known to produce minimal gastric dilation and air sacculitis (GDAS) were randomly assigned to four experimental tanks with flow-through sea water. All four groups were acclimatized to sea water for 3 weeks and fed a diet of minced fresh seafood. After 3 weeks the groups were fed either; seafood as before, a different commercial pelleted diet associated with the development of GDAS on farms, or either diet supplemented with 500 mg L(-1) putrescine, 300 mg L(-1) cadaverine and 250 mg L(-1) tyramine. Gastric dilation was produced in fish fed the commercial diet for 1 month but not by feeding a diet of minced seafood. The addition of putrescine, cadaverine and tyramine to either diet had no significant effect on the development of gastric dilation. Fish fed the commercial diet had significantly (P < 0.0001) wider weight-adjusted stomach widths, less prominent longitudinal stomach folds (P < 0.0001) and lower (P < 0.0001) stomach-width ratios than fish fed the fresh seafood diet. There was no significant difference in serum osmolality or sodium concentration between fish from groups with or without gastric dilation or fed biogenic amines.

The role of tissue transglutaminase (transglutaminase type II) for the intestinal manifestations of murine semi-allogenic graft-versus-host disease

The intestinal manifestation of acute murine semi-allogenic graft-versus-host (GvH) disease is characterized by the occurrence of lymphocytic infiltrates in the lamina propria, by crypt hyperplasia and villous atrophy. In a histological respect, this animal model resembles human celiac disease. Tissue transglutaminase (tTG) (transglutaminase type II) has been identified to be the major B cell autoantigen in celiac disease. Furthermore, tissue transglutaminase has been implicated to be involved in its pathogenesis. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether tissue transglutaminase is expressed in the intestines of GvH animals and whether its inhibition has any effect on the intestinal histology. Sera of patients with celiac disease and anti-tTG antibodies were purified. These antibodies were used for immuno-histochemistry of jejunal cryosection from GvH and syngenic control animals at day 6 after lymphocyte transfer. Furthermore, GvH mice were treated with antitTG antibodies and with the inhibitor of tissue transglutaminase monodansyl-cadaverine. The effect of this treatment on the development of crypt hyperplasia and villous atrophy were examined by light microscopy of hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) stained jejunal paraffin sections. We found a strong subepithelial expression of tissue transglutaminase in GvH animals but not in syngenic control mice. The localization of tTG seemed to be associated with the extracellular matrix (ECM). However, neither the treatment of GvH animals with anti-tTG antibodies nor the application of mono-dansyl-cadaverine prevented the development of crypt hyperplasia and villous atrophy. Similar to the situation in human celiac disease tissue, transglutaminase is highly expressed in the intestine of animals undergoing a semi-allogenic graft-versus-host reaction. However, this enzyme is probably not involved in the development of crypt hyperplasia and villous atrophy in this animal model.

Effects of biogenic amines on growth and the incidence of proventricular lesions in broiler chickens

Biogenic amines have been implicated in a malabsorption syndrome characterized by decreases in feed efficiency and enlargement of the proventriculus. Two studies were conducted to determine the effects of two common biogenic amines, histamine (HIS) and cadaverine (CAD), on broiler growth and the incidence of pathologies associated with proventriculitis. In the first experiment, broiler chicks were fed diets containing 0, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2% HIS, and in the second experiment chicks were fed diets containing 0, 0.1, and 0.2% HIS, 0.1% CAD, or a combination of 0.1% HIS and 0.1% CAD. Histamine at 0.1 and 0.2% or the combination of HIS and CAD (0.1% each) reduced body weight and feed conversion at 21 d of age. Histamine (0.2%) or the combination of 0.1% HIS and 0.1% CAD increased the circumference of the gastric isthmus 14 and 16%, respectively, and the relative weight of the proventriculus by 21 and 36%, respectively. Histamine and CAD increased the total number, incidence, and severity of gizzard erosion and proventricular ulcers (plaques), and decreased the prominence of gastric papillae by 9 to 108%, depending on the lesion and level of biogenic amine. Dietary HIS (0.2%) increased putrescine by 91% and spermidine by 41% in proventriculus, and dietary CAD increased tissue CAD to detectable levels. Analysis of 49 commercially available, animal by-product feedstuffs suggests that if biogenic amines were the singular cause of proventriculitis, the current industry levels of dietary animal protein (5 to 10%) would not compromise growth performance.

Conversion of orally administered 2-n.pentylaminoacetamide into glycinamide and glycine in the rat brain

Male Sprague Dawley albino rats were treated orally with 2-n.pentylaminoacetamide (10 to 100 mg/kg b.wt). This oral administration provoked a dose-related and time-dependent accumulation of glycinamide in forebrain, cerebellum, and medulla, and to increased levels of glycine in the three brain areas, and of serine in medulla. In kidney, liver and plasma, the accumulation of glycinamide was lower and there was no increase in glycine and serine levels. With a dose of 100 mg/kg b.wt, 28% of the drug were eliminated unchanged and 16% as glycinamide, in urines collected for 24 h. In all tissues examined, 2-n.pentylaminoacetamide and glycinamide levels peaked at 1 h and were nil again after 24 h, the ratio of 2-n.pentylaminoacetamide over glycinamide decreasing more rapidly in brain than in kidney and liver. Contrasting with the effects of 2-n.pentylaminoacetamide, the oral administration of glycinamide (66 mg/b.wt) led, 2 hours later, to similar low rises of glycinamide in plasma and brain. In another control experiment, the intraperitoneal injection of a large dose of glycine (450 mg/kg b.wt) provoked, 30 min later, modest rises of glycine levels in the central nervous system that merely reflected a contamination by plasma glycine.