Morphine-3-hemisuccinate was synthesized by reaction of morphine with succinic anhydride. This compound was conjugated to bovine serum albumin by the mixed anhydride method, and the degree of conjugation was determined by base hydrolysis of the conjugate, extraction, and measurement of free morphine. An average of 6.5 molecules of morphine were conjugated to each molecule of protein. Eleven rabbits immunized with varying doses of the conjugate were producing antibody 8 weeks later, as determined by a modification of the ammonium sulfate method, which measures primary binding of antigen by antibody.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Neurotrophic factors and Alzheimer's disease.

Defects in essential trophic interactions represent one possible explanation for the systems degenerations that occur in Alzheimer's as well as other neurodegenerative diseases. Since a multiplicity of neural pathways are affected in Alzheimer's disease, it is likely that more than one neurotrophic factor may be implicated. Through modern approaches in cell and molecular biology, it may be possible to identify such factors and to more precisely study their role in both sustaining neural connections, and in diseases involving those connections.

Alzheimer Disease↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Distant angiogenesis in a patient with glioblastoma multiforme.

The case of a 42-year-old man with a cerebral glioblastoma multiforme associated with marked neovascularization of the arachnoid of the brain stem and spinal cord is reported. All of the neurological symptoms and signs were referrable to the glioblastoma and resultant craniotomies. The arachnoid contained a proliferation of well differentiated blood vessels. This neovascularization occurred in the absence of local tumor or inflammation. We suggest that the neovascularization resulted from release of a tumor angiogenesis factor into the cerebrospinal fluid.

Angiogenesis Inducing Agents↗