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Biomedical subjects

B A Schwartz

Publications and source records attributed to B A Schwartz.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Protection against lethal hyperoxia by tracheal insufflation of erythrocytes: role of red cell glutathione.

Intact erythrocytes placed into the tracheobronchial tree of hyperoxic rats dramatically improved their chances for survival. Over 70 percent of the animals so treated survived more than 12 days during continuous exposure to 95 percent oxygen, whereas all of the control animals died within 96 hours. Lungs from erythrocyte-protected rats showed almost none of the morphologic damage suffered by untreated animals. Erythrocytes containing cyanomethemoglobin were as beneficial as normal erythrocytes, but cells in which glutathione was partially blocked were significantly less protective. Analogous results were obtained in vitro: 51Cr-labeled target cells released 70 to 90 percent of their label when exposed briefly to hydrogen peroxide or to toxic oxygen species generated by phorbol ester-stimulated neutrophils. Addition of intact erythrocytes decreased release by approximately 75 percent, but significantly less than this if red blood cell glutathione was partially blocked. These results suggest that insufflated erythrocytes, through their recyclable glutathione, protect rats from toxic oxygen species engendered by hyperoxia.

Animals

Cigarette smoking causes accumulation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in alveolar septum.

The polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) may play an important role in the pathogenesis of emphysema. Cigarette smoking is associated with the accumulation of PMN in the lung as determined by bronchoalveolar lavage. We enumerated alveolar wall PMN on histologic sections from lungs of humans and hamsters with and without cigarette smoke exposure. In human nonsmokers, there were 0.9 +/- 0.2 PMN/mm alveolar wall. In cigarette smokers without emphysema, there were 2.1 +/- 0.3 PMN/mm alveolar wall (p less than 0.01), and in cigarette smokers with emphysema, there were 2.4 +/- 0.7 PMN/alveolar wall (p less than 0.05). There were 1.7 +/- 0.3 PMN/mm alveolar wall in the lungs of hamsters unexposed to cigarette smoke compared with 3.1 +/- 0.3 PMN/mm alveolar wall in smoke-exposed hamsters (p less than 0.005). Although cigarette smoking causes PMN to accumulate within alveolar septa, the accumulation does not seem to be closely related to the development of emphysema. This suggests that additional or other factors are important in the pathogenesis of emphysema.

Aged

Protection against pulmonary oxygen toxicity in rats by the intratracheal administration of liposome-encapsulated superoxide dismutase or catalase.

To test the feasibility of using liposomes to deliver therapeutic agents to the lungs, the effect of liposome-encapsulated superoxide dismutase (SOD) or catalase on pulmonary oxygen toxicity was studied in rats. The SOD or catalase was encapsulated in negatively changed multilamellar liposomes and administered directly into the trachea of adult rats, which were subsequently exposed to hyperoxia (greater than 95% O2). Response to hyperoxia was examined by studying lung SOD and catalase activities, survival rates, and lung morphology. Rats receiving liposome-encapsulated SOD or catalase showed increased levels of enzyme activities in the lung homogenates compared with those in the control groups after 24 to 72 h of hyperoxic exposure. Elevated enzyme levels in the lungs of rats treated with liposome-encapsulated SOD or catalase were accompanied by a significant improvement in survival rates after 72 h of hyperoxic exposure and less lung injury than in the other control groups.

Animals

Lung T cells in hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

Monoclonal antibodies OKT3 (all T cells), OKT4 (T-helper/inducer), and OKT8 (T-suppressor/cytotoxic) were used to determine surface phenotypes of bronchoalveolar lavage and peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Similar studies were done in asymptomatic pigeon breeders, patients with sarcoidosis, and nonsmoking controls. Increased numbers of lavage T cells were found in patients with hypersensitivity pneumonitis and sarcoidosis and in asymptomatic pigeon breeders. The predominant T-cell subset in patients with hypersensitivity pneumonitis and in asymptomatic pigeon breeders was T8 +; in contrast, the predominant subset in those with sarcoidosis was T4 +. Peripheral blood T-cell subsets were normal in all groups. Thus, most lung T lymphocytes in chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis belong to the T8 + subset; the local cellular immune response in hypersensitivity pneumonitis and sarcoidosis are different; and the pattern of alveolitis, as determined by bronchoalveolar lavage, is not the sole determinant of lung impairment after exposure to hypersensitivity pneumonitis antigens.

Adult

Mycolic acids. A reinvestigation.

Mycolic acids derived from the cell walls of Mycobacterium bovis BCG, Mycobacterium bovis Bovinus I, Mycobacterium smegmatis, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv have been fractionated as their p-bromophenacyl esters by a two-step high performance liquid chromatographic procedure: 1) adsorption chromatography on 10-micrometer particle size silica gel, and 2) reverse phase partition chromatography on a 10-micrometer particle size support containing a C18 bonded phase. This procedure has resulted in the isolation of approximately 24 mycolic acids from each bacterium (very likely homologs of various mycolate types) instead of the two to four that have previously been described. The implication of these results on the previously determined structures of these fatty acids is discussed.

Molecular Weight

Proteins containing reductively aminated disaccharides: chemical and immunochemical characterization.

Synthetic glycoproteins can be prepared by reductive amination of proteins and reducing carbohydrates in the presence of sodium cyanoborohydride. The reaction proceeds readily in aqueous solution at pH 6--9 to give high degrees of substitution. The degree of substitution can be determined by amino acid analysis, as the 2 degrees amine linkage formed with the epsilon-amino groups of lysine is stable to acid-catalyzed protein hydrolysis conditions. Antisera have been obtained to bovine serum albumin conjugates containing reductively aminated cellobiose, lactose, and maltose. Preliminary experiments demonstrate that antiserum to the cellobiose-BSA conjugate is hapten-specific, and the structural features of the hapten recognized by the antibodies were established by hapten inhibition experiments. These studies demonstrate that antibodies recognize both the terminal beta-glucosyl and acyclic reduced glucosyl residues.

Amination

Cheyne-Stokes respiration and sleep: a diurnal polygraphic study.

Thirty-four adult patients with Cheyne-Stokes respiration provided 47 routine EEG records and 24 polygraphic afternoon records. These records were analysed and compared with those of 18 Pickwickian patients previously studied. The main points of difference between these two groups of patients were: the Cheyne-Stokes patients were older and their respiratory periodicity (RP) was not strictly sleep-linked; it could be observed in wakefulness as well as sleep (in that case opening and closing the eyes often did not interrupt the ongoing RP); it tended to disappear in REMS. The main points of resemblance were the frequent appearance of Cheyne-Stokes RP at sleep onset and the presence of occasional ineffective respiratory movements during the crescendo phase of RP in sleep.

Age Factors