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Biomedical subjects

B Cannon

Publications and source records attributed to B Cannon.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Effects of group therapy on parents of children with cancer.

Group therapy for parents of children with cancer has been suggested as a means of relieving stress. This quasi-experimental study sought to determine the effect of participation in a support group for parents of children aged 10 to 14 years with cancer. Parents completed the Wallston Health Locus of Control (HLOC) Scale and the Social Adjustment Scale-Self Report (SAS-SR) both before and following seven group sessions. Descriptive data were collected from the cotherapists' process log and the participants' evaluation. A significant t test score (P = .017) was obtained for the HLOC Scale questionnaire. The group process log showed recurrent themes of helplessness and powerlessness. The Parent Support Group Evaluation (PSGE) developed by the researchers, demonstrated satisfaction and revealed that school and community activities were considered the most helpful. Tentative conclusions support the value of such a group in providing a forum for the parents to discuss concerns and decrease their sense of isolation. However, more study is needed with a larger sample before definitive conclusions can be reached.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Cold-induced beta-adrenergic recruitment of lipoprotein lipase in brown fat is due to increased transcription.

The cellular basis for the cold-induced increase in lipoprotein lipase activity in rat brown adipose tissue was investigated. Rats were treated with inhibitory agents and either exposed to cold for 4 h or injected with isoprenaline. Lipoprotein lipase activity was followed in acetone-ether extracts of the tissue. Besides cold, both the beta-adrenergic agonist isoprenaline and the adenylate cyclase activator cholera toxin were able to increase lipoprotein lipase activity in the tissue. The protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide fully abolished this response; the half-life of lipoprotein lipase activity was both in control and in the cold-exposed state approximately 2 h. Also the mRNA synthesis inhibitor actinomycin D fully abolished the cold-, the isoprenaline-, and the cholera toxin-induced increases in lipoprotein lipase activity; the half-life of lipoprotein lipase mRNA was estimated to be 20-30 h. However, in animals returned to control conditions after a 4-h cold stress, the decline in activity corresponded to a half-life of only 4 h. It was concluded that the increase in lipoprotein lipase activity in the brown adipose tissue of cold-exposed rats is not due to an activation of preexisting enzyme nor due to an increased half-life of functional enzyme. Rather it is suggested that in brown adipose tissue the rate of lipoprotein lipase gene transcription is positively regulated by the cellular level of cAMP and that this increase in lipoprotein lipase mRNA leads directly to an increased rate of enzyme synthesis and hence to the increase in activity.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1987

Physiological activation of brown adipose tissue destabilizes thermogenin mRNA.

The amount of mRNA coding for the brown fat specific uncoupling protein thermogenin was followed in the brown adipose tissue of adult mice. As expected, cold exposure or norepinephrine injection caused an increase in the amount of thermogenin mRNA. However, contrary to expectation, the half-life of thermogenin mRNA was dramatically reduced, from about 18 h to about 3 h, when the mice were cold exposed. This destabilization of thermogenin mRNA was not related to the activity of protein synthesis. It was concluded that in brown adipose tissue an unusual mechanism operates which leads to a destabilization of thermogenin mRNA under the same physiological conditions which increase thermogenin gene expression.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed1987

Euthyroid status is essential for the perinatal increase in thermogenin mRNA in brown adipose tissue of rat pups.

The amount of mRNA coding for the brown-fat specific, uncoupling protein thermogenin was followed perinatally in fetuses and newborns from normal and hypothyroid rat dams. Although the growth of the fetuses and newborns was normal in the hypothyroid group, they had a lower amount of thermogenin mRNA already in-utero, and the dramatic postnatal increase in thermogenin mRNA was nearly completely abolished. It is concluded that the euthyroid state is essential for the regulation of the expression of the thermogenin gene.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1987

Apparent unmasking of [3H]GDP binding in rat brown-fat mitochondria is due to mitochondrial swelling.

The presence of and biochemical background for the so-called 'unmasking' phenomenon in rat brown-fat mitochondria was investigated (i.e. the apparent increase in [3H]GDP binding to the 'uncoupling' protein thermogenin, without a concomitant increase in the amount of the protein). It was found that an unmasking could be observed both 1 h after norepinephrine injection and after 1 h cold stress, provided that the rats were preacclimated to 28 degrees C. The unmasking could be observed both when a filtration method and when a centrifugation method for determination of [3H]GDP-binding capacity were used; however, the absolute values were higher with the filtration method. Based on observations of slower cytochrome-c oxidase sedimentation during centrifugation, the possibility that the matrix volume of brown-fat mitochondria isolated from warm-acclimated animals was smaller than that of cold-stressed animals was investigated with 3H2O. The cold stress increased the matrix volume from being nearly non-existent to about 1 microliter/mg. A preswelling procedure in an ionic medium could similarly increase the matrix volume in mitochondria from warm-acclimated animals but was without significant effect in the already swollen mitochondria from cold-stressed animals or from animals adapted to a lower temperature. In mitochondria from warm-acclimated animals, the ionic preswelling procedure was fully able to increase the apparent amount of GDP binding to that observed in mitochondria from cold-stressed animals, but it was practically without effect on GDP binding in mitochondria from cold-stressed animals or from animals acclimated to a lower temperature. It is concluded that the apparent 'unmasking' phenomenon, observed when the tissue is less activated than in normal control situations, is not (as hitherto anticipated) due to a specific change in thermogenin as such, but is a reflection of a general mitochondrial phenomenon.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1987

Hormone-sensitive lipase in brown adipose tissue: identification and effect of cold exposure.

Hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) in brown adipose tissue from mice was identified through immunoprecipitation with a polyclonal antibody (anti-HSL) towards rat white fat HSL and Western blotting. An 82 kDa polypeptide, slightly smaller than the rat white fat HSL 84 kDa subunit, was detected and its identity as HSL verified by inhibition properties. The HSL concentration per g tissue was several-fold higher in the mouse brown adipose tissue than in the rat white adipose tissue, but the specific activities per mg protein were similar. Cold-exposure (4 degrees C) of the mice for 24 h approximately doubled the HSL concentration but this increase parallelled the overall protein increase and did not reflect a specific effect on the HSL.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1987

Noradrenergic stimulation of mitochondriogenesis in brown adipocytes differentiating in culture.

The ability of adrenergic agents to promote the differentiation and especially the mitochondriogenesis of brown fat precursor cells, grown in culture, was investigated. These cells begin to differentiate during the days preceding confluence. We found here that, already during the early growth phase, the cultures (essentially precursor cells and preadipocytes at this stage) show increased cyclic AMP (cAMP) levels when acutely stimulated with norepinephrine (NE). The cultured cells were therefore chronically treated with NE up to the time of confluence, and their cytochrome-c oxidase activity was measured as an index of mitochondriogenesis. Chronic NE treatment resulted in an increased cytochrome-c oxidase activity of the cells at confluence. This effect was reproduced by selective activation of adenylate cyclase with cholera toxin, suggesting that the NE effect was exerted through an increase in cAMP. Ascorbate (added with NE as an antioxidant) had in itself a positive effect, both on final cell number and on cytochrome-c oxidase activity. It is concluded that NE, working through beta-adrenergic receptors, can stimulate mitochondriogenesis in brown fat cells through a direct effect on the cells, in accordance with the suggestion (based on in vivo experiments) that NE accelerates, rather than initiates, the differentiation process.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1987

Thermogenin amount and activity in hamster brown fat mitochondria: effect of cold acclimation.

To investigate the acclimation process in a hibernator, four different parameters of thermogenin amount and activity were investigated in brown adipose tissue mitochondria from cold-exposed and cold-acclimated Syrian hamsters. Hamsters, which are hibernators, have been considered to be "primed" for thermogenesis and thus not to show cold-acclimation effects, but here a significant increase in [3H]GDP-binding capacity was observed (from 0.5 nmol in control to 0.9 nmol GDP/mg in cold-acclimated hamsters), and this increase was paralleled by an increase in thermogenin antigen amount, as measured in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The transient nature of the effect of cold exposure on [3H]GDP binding, characteristically observed with rat mitochondria, was not observed with hamster mitochondria, and the increase in [3H]GDP binding occurred without a change in the dissociation constant (0.7 microM). The increase in thermogenin amount was paralleled by an increase both in GDP-sensitive Cl- permeability of the mitochondria and in GDP-sensitive respiration. It was established that it is the maximal activity of thermogenin that is rate limiting for thermogenesis in isolated mitochondria, provided that an optimal substrate is used (such as palmitoyl carnitine). Cold acclimation also increased the total amount of mitochondria in the tissue, leading totally to a sixfold increase in thermogenin content of the hamster. It is concluded that (contrary to the general view) hamsters show the expected physiological, pharmacological, and biochemical signs of cold acclimation (i.e., an increased capacity for nonshivering thermogenesis).

Acclimatization↗
PubMed1986

Beta-adrenergic stimulation of fatty acid release from brown fat cells differentiated in monolayer culture.

The ability of brown adipocytes differentiated in monolayer culture to respond to norepinephrine was investigated. It was found that fatty acid release in confluent brown adipocytes in monolayer culture was induced by norepinephrine, thus these cells were hormone-sensitive. After confluence, the rate of fatty acid release successively declined. The norepinephrine-stimulated fatty acid release was inhibited by propranolol, but not by phentolamine, indicating a mediation via beta-adrenergic receptors. It was concluded that there exist in the brown adipose tissue of nonfetal rats preadipocytes which possess the ability to express in culture a fully developed beta-adrenergic lipolytic response.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1986

alpha- and beta-adrenergic control of thermogenin mRNA expression in brown adipose tissue.

By the use of an earlier characterised cDNA clone, CIN-1, corresponding to a sequence of the mRNA coding for the brown-fat specific "uncoupling" protein, thermogenin, the amount of thermogenin mRNA found in the brown adipose tissue of mice was quantitatively investigated under different physiological and pharmacological conditions. It was found that a 4 hr cold stress led to a 7-fold increase in the amount of thermogenin mRNA; injection of norepinephrine had a significant but smaller effect. Most notably, isoprenaline (beta-agonist) and phenylephrine (alpha-agonist) had in themselves no effect, but when injected together were able to increase the mRNA level synergistically. In 4 hr cold-stressed mice, norepinephrine, isoprenaline and cholera toxin could all further potentiate the effect of the cold stress itself on the mRNA level. Insulin and the glucocorticoid dexamethasone both had weak stimulatory effects on the mRNA level. It is concluded that an increase in intracellular cAMP levels is a necessary and perhaps sufficient stimulus for the increase in thermogenin gene expression. However, at least under in vivo conditions, this increase requires stimulation of both alpha- and beta-adrenergic pathways.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1986

'Neuropeptide tyrosine' (NPY) is co-stored with noradrenaline in vascular but not in parenchymal sympathetic nerves of brown adipose tissue.

By using immunohistochemistry it is shown that both the parenchymal and vascular sympathetic innervation in the interscapular depot of brown adipose tissue in the rat contain the catecholamine-synthesizing enzyme tyrosine-hydroxylase (TH). In contrast, 'neuropeptide tyrosine' (NPY) is selectively present in the vascular sympathetic nerves of the tissue--but not in nerves around brown fat cells. This is consistent with the presence of two populations of neurons (containing either TH alone or TH plus NPY) in the stellate ganglion, which is the probable origin of the sympathetic nerves in the interscapular brown adipose tissue. Furthermore, the perivascular NPY-positive nerves in the brown adipose tissue disappeared after 6-hydroxydopamine treatment, demonstrating their noradrenergic nature. Taken together, these findings suggest that sympathetic nerves to blood vessels and brown fat cells represent two separate subpopulations of autonomic neurons.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1986

Increased respiration in skeletal muscle mitochondria from cold-acclimated ducklings: uncoupling effects of free fatty acids.

Intermyofibrillar mitochondria from skeletal muscle (m. gastrocnemius) and liver mitochondria were isolated from cold-acclimated (4 degrees C) or control (30 degrees C) 4-week old ducklings. The respiratory rate of isolated mitochondria, with Na-succinate as substrate, was followed polarographically at 25 degrees C in order to determine the basal respiratory rate, the rate of respiration in the presence of free fatty acids (FFA) (Na-palmitate), and the fully uncoupled rate, after addition of FCCP. The basal respiration (which in liver mitochondria was unaffected by acclimation to cold) was higher (+53%) in intermyofibrillar mitochondria from cold-acclimated ducklings than from controls, and the maximal FCCP-stimulated respiration was also increased (+98%) by acclimation to cold. FFA-stimulated respiration increased as a function of FFA concentration in both types of mitochondria. The increase in respiration due to FFA was about double in intermyofibrillar mitochondria from cold-acclimated ducklings than that of controls, but in liver mitochondria there was no increase due to cold. The membrane potential was estimated by the dye safranine in the absence or in the presence of FFA in the incubation medium. There were no significant differences in the basal membrane potential in the two groups and the addition of FFA led to the same depolarization in both groups. The significance of these alterations for acclimation to cold is discussed.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed1986

Partial protection against erucoyl-carnitine inhibition in hamster brown-adipose-tissue mitochondria is due to high CoA levels: a comparison with rat brown-adipose-tissue mitochondria.

Brown-adipose-tissue mitochondria isolated from golden hamsters were found to contain more CoA per mg protein than rat brown-fat mitochondria, and after incubation with erucoyl-carnitine, a higher free CoA level remained, than in rat mitochondria. In accordance with the suggestion (Alexson et al. (1985) Biochim. biophys. Acta 834, 149-158) that the inhibitory effect of erucoyl-carnitine on brown-fat mitochondrial respiration is entirely due to CoA sequestration, hamster mitochondria (with more CoA) were less sensitive to erucoyl inhibition than were rat mitochondria. Thus, increased mitochondrial CoA levels may augment the ability of animals to withstand the detrimental effects of a high erucoyl ester content of the diet.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1985

Inhibition of acetyl-carnitine oxidation in rat brown-adipose-tissue mitochondria by erucoyl-carnitine is due to sequestration of CoA.

The cause underlying the inhibitory effect of erucoyl-carnitine on acetyl-carnitine oxidation in rat brown-adipose-tissue mitochondria was investigated. The inhibition was shown to be of a noncompetitive nature, with an I50 of about 10 microM erucoyl-carnitine. Erucoyl-carnitine did not inhibit the respiratory chain or the citric acid cycle to a significant degree. Incubation of mitochondria with erucoyl-carnitine led to about 2/3 of all CoA being sequestered in the form of acid-insoluble esters (probably erucoyl-CoA). This sequestration had an apparent Km of about 10 microM. Erucoyl-carnitine also inhibited pyruvate oxidation with an I50 of about 10 microM. When added at this concentration, it also inhibited the oxidation of a wide variety of acyl-carnitines by about 50%, despite very different oxidation rates of these different acyl-carnitines. It was concluded that the inhibitory effect of erucoyl-carnitine on all CoA-dependent substrates could be adequately explained by the suggestion that erucoyl sequesters a significant fraction of mitochondrial matrix CoA as slowly metabolizable erucoyl-CoA esters. Possible physiological effects of this sequestration for brown adipose tissue thermogenesis are discussed.

Acetylcarnitine↗
PubMed1985

[3H]GDP binding and thermogenin amount in brown adipose tissue mitochondria from cold-exposed rats.

Brown fat mitochondria were isolated from cold-exposed and control rats, and their content of the brown-fat-specific 32-kDa "uncoupling" protein thermogenin determined both by the traditional [3H]GDP-binding method and by the recently developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In mitochondria isolated from both cold-acclimated (3 wk at 4 degrees C) and cold-exposed rats (24 h), an increase in thermogenin content was observable, both when estimated by the [3H]GDP-binding method and by the ELISA assay, and there was no statistically significant difference in the magnitude of these increases in the two methods. In 1 h cold-exposed rats there was no increase in [3H]GDP binding or in the ELISA reaction. When the amount of thermogenin was plotted against [3H]GDP binding in the different states, a relationship of 75,000 g thermogenin per mole GDP bound was obtained. Based on the resolution of these two methods, and under the three conditions investigated, it was concluded that there was no reason to postulate the existence of a "masked" form of thermogenin or of an "unmasking" process and that thermogenin in the mitochondria, as in the isolated state, has apparently one GDP binding site per dimer.

Adipose Tissue↗