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Biomedical subjects

D B Rubin

Publications and source records attributed to D B Rubin.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Tumor-promoting phorbol esters inhibit monocyte adherence to endothelial cells.

Monocyte adherence to endothelial cells (EC) is an important event in the development of a monocytic inflammatory response, yet the effects of inflammatory mediators on monocyte adherence to EC are not well described. We compared the effects of phorbol esters known to activate protein kinase C, including phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDA), on monocyte adherence to bovine aortic EC. Human monocytes (purity 90 +/- 1% SE) were isolated by centrifugal elutriation to obtain monocytes not previously exposed to a surface. Kinetic studies revealed that 51Cr-labeled monocyte adherence to EC reached a plateau after a 45-min incubation. Concentrations of PMA between 10 and 1,000 ng/ml significantly decreased monocyte adherence to EC (26 +/- 10 and 35 +/- 8% decrease compared with control, respectively). Concentrations of PDA of 100 and 1,000 ng/ml had a similar inhibitory effect. In contrast, the chemotactic stimulus, zymosan-activated serum, significantly increased monocyte adherence (40 +/- 14% increase compared with control). Thus inflammatory stimuli have different effects on the adhesive interaction of monocytes to EC. This may provide a mechanism to selectively modulate monocyte egress from the circulation into extravascular inflammatory sites.

Animals↗

Endothelial cell subpopulations in vitro: cell volume, cell cycle, and radiosensitivity.

Vascular endothelial cells (EC) are important clinical targets of radiation and other forms of free radical/oxidant stresses. In this study, we found that the extent of endothelial damage may be determined by the different cytotoxic responses of EC subpopulations. The following characteristics of EC subpopulations were examined: 1) cell volume; 2) cell cycle position; and 3) cytotoxic indexes for both acute cell survival and proliferative capacity after irradiation (137Cs, gamma, 0-10 Gy). EC cultured from bovine aortas were separated by centrifugal elutriation into subpopulations of different cell volumes. Through flow cytometry, we found that cell volume was related to the cell cycle phase distribution. The smallest EC were distributed in G1 phase and the larger cells were distributed in either early S, middle S, or late S + G2M phases. Cell cycle phase at the time of irradiation was not associated with acute cell loss. However, distribution in the cell cycle did relate to cell survival based on proliferative capacity (P less than 0.01). The order of increasing radioresistance was cells in G1 (D0 = 110 cGy), early S (135 cGy), middle S (145 cGy), and late S + G2M phases (180 cGy). These findings 1) suggest an age-related response to radiation in a nonmalignant differentiated cell type and 2) demonstrate EC subpopulations in culture.

Animals↗

Cell cycle progression in irradiated endothelial cells cultured from bovine aorta.

Logarithmically growing endothelial cells from bovine aortas were exposed to single doses of 0-10 Gy of 60Co gamma rays, and cell cycle phase distribution and progression were examined by flow cytometry and autoradiography. In some experiments, cells were synchronized in the cell cycle with hydroxyurea (1 mM). Cell number in sham-irradiated control cultures doubled in approximately 24 h. Estimated cycle stage times for control cells were 14.4 h for G1 phase, 7.2 h for S phase, and 2.4 h for G2 + M phase. Irradiated cells demonstrated a reduced distribution at the G1/S phase border at 4 h, and an increased distribution in G2 + M phase at 24 h postirradiation. Autoradiographs of irradiated cells after continuous [3H]thymidine labeling indicated a block in G1 phase or at the G1/S-phase border. The duration of the block was dose dependent (2-3 min/cGy). Progression of the endothelial cells through S phase after removal of the hydroxyurea block also was retarded by irradiation, as demonstrated by increased distribution in early S phase and decreased distribution in late S phase. These results indicate that progression of asynchronous cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells through the DNA synthetic cycle is susceptible to radiation inhibition at specific sites in the cycle, resulting in redistribution and partial synchronization of the population. Thus aortic endothelial cells, diploid cells from a normal tissue, resemble many immortal cell types that have been examined in this regard in vitro.

Animals↗

Effects of irradiation on endothelial cell-polymorphonuclear leukocyte interactions.

Prominent early effects of irradiation include neutrophilic vasculitis and interstitial inflammation. To examine the role of the endothelium in these events, bovine aortic endothelial cells (EC) were irradiated (5 Gy) under ambient conditions followed by measurements of neutrophil chemotaxis toward conditioned media and adherence to EC. Neutrophil chemotactic activity increased at 4, 24, and 72 h in both the sham-treated (4.2 +/- 2.5, 15.2 +/- 4.8, and 20.0 +/- 2.7 microns, respectively) and irradiated EC-conditioned media (5.0 +/- 2.1, 18.7 +/- 4.5, and 24.1 +/- 3.4 microns, respectively), and the difference between them was significant at 72 h. The chemoattractant was trypsin sensitive, heat resistant, and chemotactic. It was not present in the EC sonicate. Adherence of neutrophils to EC that were irradiated 4 h earlier (19.3 +/- 4.2%) increased compared with controls (11.1 +/- 2.4%) and was similar to EC pretreated with zymosan-activated serum (22.0 +/- 4.0%), which is a potent inducer of adherence. Thus, following irradiation, bovine aortic EC have greater neutrophil chemotactic activity in their media and are more adherent to polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

Animals↗

Cell cycle changes and cytotoxicity in irradiated cultures of bovine aortic endothelial cells.

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of ionizing radiation on cell number, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, cell cycle distribution, [3H]thymidine incorporation, and autoradiographic labeling index in bovine aortic endothelial cells in vitro. Confluent endothelial monolayers were exposed to single doses of 0.5-10 Gy of 60Co gamma rays and were analyzed from 2 to 24 h postirradiation. Irradiated monolayers exhibited a time- and dose-dependent decrease in cell number, increase in LDH release, and redistribution of cells in the cell cycle. Cell cycle redistribution included an increase in the proportion of cells in S phase at 4 h after irradiation and a decrease in S phase at 24 h. The cells also exhibited a decrease in [3H]thymidine incorporation as early as 2 h after 5 Gy. This represented the most rapid radiation response observed in the present study. These data demonstrate that radiation cytotoxicity in confluent, plateau-phase endothelial monolayers is accompanied by changes in the cell cycle distribution of adherent cells, and that reduced [3H]thymidine incorporation is an early marker of radiation injury in this clinically important cell type.

Animals↗

Prostacyclin synthesis in irradiated endothelial cells cultured from bovine aorta.

Confluent monolayers of bovine aortic endothelial cells were examined 2-72 h after exposure to 0.5-5.0 Gy of 60Co gamma-rays. Accumulation of prostacyclin [PGI2, measured as 6-ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha (6-keto-PGF1 alpha)] in the culture media and PGI2 production stimulated by exogenous arachidonate were correlated with cell detachment and release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity. Platelet adherence to irradiated and control monolayers also was studied. There were simultaneous time- and dose-dependent increases in cell detachment and in the titers of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha and LDH activity in the culture medium. These changes were evident between 4 and 8 h after 5 Gy or at 24 h after 0.5 Gy. Four hours after 5 Gy, both adherent and detached endothelial cells showed a twofold increase in PGI2 production during a 15-min incubation with arachidonate (10 microM). However, by 72 h this increase was less significant. The accumulation of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha appeared to be related to cell destruction, but radiation also stimulated PGI2 synthesis independent of cell detachment. There was an increased platelet interaction with irradiated monolayers, as a result of platelet adherence to subendothelial matrix exposed after cell detachment. However, irradiation did not alter the nonadherent property of the endothelial cell surface toward platelets.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha↗

The bias due to incomplete matching.

Observational studies comparing groups of treated and control units are often used to estimate the effects caused by treatments. Matching is a method for sampling a large reservoir of potential controls to produce a control group of modest size that is ostensibly similar to the treated group. In practice, there is a trade-off between the desires to find matches for all treated units and to obtain matched treated-control pairs that are extremely similar to each other. We derive expressions for the bias in the average matched pair difference due to the failure to match all treated units--incomplete matching, and the failure to obtain exact matches--inexact matching. A practical example shows that the bias due to incomplete matching can be severe, and moreover, can be avoided entirely by using an appropriate multivariate nearest available matching algorithm, which, in the example, leaves only a small residual bias due to inexact matching.

Analysis of Variance↗

Isoelectric focusing and immunofixation of cerebrospinal fluid oligoclonal IgG in neurological disorders.

Coded samples of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 112 patients with a variety of neurologic disorders were investigated for oligoclonal IgG bands by isoelectric focusing followed by immunofixation. All 16 patients with probable multiple sclerosis had oligoclonal bands. All four patients with paraneoplastic syndromes having multifocal nervous system involvement also had bands, whereas five patients with lupus, three having multifocal nervous system involvement, did not show any oligoclonal bands in the CSF. This technique is highly sensitive in detecting bands in MS, whereas other disorders that produce demyelination showed various levels of sensitivity.

Antibodies↗

Subarachnoid hemorrhage precipitated by cocaine snorting.

We studied two cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage that occurred within several minutes of "snorting" cocaine. In one case the bleeding was from an anterior communicating artery aneurysm, and in the other case from an arteriovenous malformation in the temporoparietal region. To our knowledge, this hazard of cocaine abuse has not been previously reported.

Administration, Oral↗

Enzymatic responses to radiation in cultured vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells.

Confluent monolayers of bovine aortic endothelial and smooth muscle cells were exposed to 0-5.0 Gy of 60Co gamma rays. From 0 to 72 hr after irradiation, the monolayer and culture medium were analyzed for cell (nuclei) number, DNA and protein content, the activities of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and LDH isoenzyme profile. Irradiated endothelial cells exhibited a time- and dose-dependent increase in cell detachment, decreased DNA and protein content and reduced ACE active per attached cell, increased LDH and SOD activities per microgram of DNA, and increased LDH activity in the culture medium. The latter was accompanied by a shift from LDH 1 to LDH 4 and 5. The release of LDH activity, observed after 0.5 Gy, was the most sensitive endothelial response, and occurred independent of or preceding cell detachment. Vascular smooth muscle cells contained two to three times more SOD activity than did endothelial cells and exhibited no significant responses to 5.0 Gy.

Animals↗

Difficulties with regression analyses of age-adjusted rates.

A common type of observational study compares population rates in several regions having differing policies in an effort to assess the effects of those policies. In many studies, particularly in public health and epidemiology, age-adjusted rates are regressed on predictor variables to give a covariance-adjusted estimate of effect; this estimate is shown to be generally biased for the appropriate regression coefficient. For familiar models, the analysis of crude rates with age as a covariate can lead to unbiased estimates, and therefore can be preferable. Several other regression methods are also considered.

Age Factors↗

Effects of hyperoxia on biochemical indexes of pig aortic endothelial function.

To determine what biochemical indexes might be useful in measuring the endothelial response to hyperoxia in vitro we exposed endothelial cell monolayers (ECM) from pig aortas to either hyperoxic (95% O2:5% CO2, 1 atm) or control conditions (95% air:5% CO2) and made the following measurements: (a) DNA and protein contents remaining in the ECM; (b) lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in the medium; (c) the net uptake of rubidium (Rb+), adenine, and adenosine; and (d) cellular ATP and medium lactate. Twelve hours of hyperoxic exposure did not cause significant changes. After 24 or 48 h of hyperoxia, DNA and protein contents were decreased; LDH activity and the protein-to-DNA ratio were increased; adenosine uptake was decreased per ECM but was unchanged when corrected for culture DNA and protein contents. Adenine uptake was unaltered as were cellular ATP content and medium lactate concentration. The net Rb+ uptake-to-DNA ratio was increased after 24 h but not after 48 h of hyperoxia. The extent of the DNA and LDH changes indicated that the cellular disturbance caused by hyperoxia was progressive from 12 to 48 h. Presence of superoxide dismutase (250 U/ml) prevented both the increase of LDH activity and the decrease of protein after 48 h but did not affect the decrease of DNA. These results suggest that the cells remaining in the ECM after hyperoxia have normal biochemical function and may represent a subpopulation of cells more resistant to oxygen toxicity than the damaged cells.

Adenine↗

Oxygen toxicity in cultured aortic endothelium: selenium-induced partial protective effect.

The time course of biochemical changes related to cell loss and damage during exposure to 95% O2 [DNA and protein content of dishes, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release] was studied in postconfluent endothelial cells isolated from pig aorta, cultured in standard medium and in medium supplemented with 2 X 10(-7) M selenomethionine (Se-Met). A fourfold increase in glutathione peroxidase (G-Px) was the only major enzymatic Se-related effect under both normoxic and hyperoxic conditions, the other antioxidant enzymes being little or not at all affected by this treatment. The addition of Se-Met had a clearcut protective action against the cytotoxic effect of O2 as shown by measurements of DNA and protein content of Petri dishes and of LDH release. On the other hand, the most sensitive O2-related effect, namely the decrease in [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA, was not affected by Se-Met addition. These experiments suggest that some of the O2-related toxic effects (but not the inhibition of DNA synthesis) could be mediated by lipid peroxides, since they were, at least partly, prevented by a Se-Met-induced increase in G-Px activity.

Animals↗

Angiotensin-converting enzyme substrates hydrolyzed by fibroblasts and vascular endothelial cells.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE, E.C. 3.4.15.1) activity has been documented in eight cultures of fibroblasts with the ACE substrates benzoyl-phe-ala-pro and hippuryl-his-leu. Hydrolysis of these ACE substrates by fibroblasts is inhibited by SQ-14225 and SQ-20881, specific inhibitors of ACE activity, and by EDTA. However, ACE activity in seven of eight cultures of fibroblasts tested is less than ACE activity in two cultures of vascular endothelial cells. The rats of hydrolysis of benzoyl-phe-ala-pro by fibroblasts and by endothelial cells differ at high substrate concentrations; therefore, the ACE activity in fibroblasts may be due to either a different isoenzyme of ACE of a different accessibility to substrate. Production of angiotensin II from angiotensin I is documented in cultures of vascular endothelial cells but not in cultures of fibroblasts, however, angiotensin II is further degraded by fibroblasts and not by endothelial cells.

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors↗

Computational aspects of analysing random effects/longitudinal models.

Random effects and longitudinal models are becoming increasingly popular in the analysis of many types of data, including medical and biopharmaceutical, because of their richness and flexibility. They can be, however, difficult to fit using traditional statistical tools. Fortunately, there now exists a burgeoning collection of newer computational methods that can be applied to draw inferences with such models. This review attempts to provide an introduction to some of these techniques by describing them as extensions of the EM algorithm, currently a standard tool for the analysis of longitudinal and random effects models. For clarity of exposition, the extensions are classified into three types: large-sample iterative; large-sample simulation, and small-sample simulation.

Longitudinal Studies↗