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Biomedical subjects

E Aiello

Publications and source records attributed to E Aiello.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Spontaneous circadian fluctuations of prostate specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase serum activities in patients with prostatic cancer.

Spontaneous circadian variations of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), determined simultaneously by radioimmunoassay (RIA), were investigated by multiple sampling, over a 24-hour period, in 32 patients with prostatic cancer. In 29/32 patients (91%), the coefficient of variation of 24-hour values, for either marker, was greater than that of the RIA method at the same range of values; stage D patients showed the greatest spontaneous variability. Fluctuations around the mean of 24-hour values ranged from -65% to +85% for PAP, from -72% to +190% for PSA, occurring random and independently for each marker. Variability was about 20% greater for PSA than for PAP. The existence of spontaneous fluctuations should be considered in multiple marker evaluation of prostatic cancer patients.

Acid Phosphatase↗

Aging alterations in the modulation of central dopaminergic cilioinhibition by etorphine in the marine mussel, Mytilus edulis: decrease in the inhibition of presynaptic dopamine release.

1. This report further demonstrates that etorphine influences presynaptic dopamine release, which in turn centrally modulates peripheral cilioinhibition. 2. In older animals cilioinhibition has become enhanced due to a lack of responsiveness to endogenous opioids which results in greater dopamine release, causing a higher level of cilioinhibition as demonstrated by challenging the visceral ganglia with etorphine or destroying the dopaminergic component with 6-hydroxydopamine. 3. Only the central cilioinhibitory, not the peripheral inhibitory response, mechanism appears to be altered in older animals. Thus, the alteration appears in the central integrative mechanisms involved with regulating ciliary activity. 4. The KCl-stimulated release of dopamine is unaltered in both young and old organisms, whereas the opiate inhibition of the KCl-stimulated release of dopamine is reduced in older organisms. Thus, the aging-associated alteration is associated with a specific process. 5. The reduction of opioid influence and the resulting enhanced cilioinhibitory activity may make the organisms more susceptible to environmental stress.

Aging↗

An opioid mechanism modulates central and not peripheral dopaminergic control of ciliary activity in the marine mussel Mytilus edulis.

Opioid receptors and enkephalinergic neurons in the central nervous system of Mytilus edulis have been reported. Also known is that the lateral epithelium of the gill is innervated by serotonergic, cilioexcitatory neurons and dopaminergic, cilioinhibitory neurons. The aim of the present report is to look for an effect of opioid agonists on the nervous control of the lateral cilia. Dopamine applied to the cerebral ganglion inhibited the activity of lateral cilia in the gill. This effect was blocked by the application of several opioids to the visceral ganglion. The block was reversed by the application of naloxone to the visceral ganglion. Dopamine applied to the visceral ganglion also inhibited lateral ciliary activity as shown earlier. Opioids applied to the visceral ganglion partially blocked this effect but this was overcome by higher concentrations of dopamine. Preparations with low endogenous rates of ciliary beating were stimulated by the application of opioids to the visceral ganglion. Naloxone blocked this effect. Preparations with high endogenous rates of ciliary beating were inhibited by the application of naloxone to the visceral ganglion. Electrical stimulation of the cerebrovisceral connective produced excitatory and inhibitory effects depending on the rate of stimulation. Morphine applied to the visceral ganglion diminished the cilioinhibitory effects and enhanced the cilioexcitatory effects of electrical stimulation. Morphine applied to the gill had no effect on the cilioinhibitory action of dopamine applied to the visceral ganglion. There was no observable effect of opioids applied to the gill and no alteration in the cilioinhibitory effect of dopamine or the cilioexcitatory effect of serotonin applied directly to the gill in the presence of opioids. Specific opioid binding sites were found in the visceral ganglion but were not found in gill, palp, mantle, or visceral mass tissue. A dopamine-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity was again found in the visceral ganglion and the gill. Etorphine reduced the dopamine stimulation of cyclase in the ganglion but not in the gill. It is postulated that a cilioinhibitory, dopaminergic mechanism includes nerves running from the cerebral ganglion to the gill with synaptic transmission in the visceral ganglion that can be modulated by opioids.

Animals↗

Connective tissue in aging lung.

Collagen, elastin and structural glycoproteins were measured in 21 intact lungs taken at postmortem examination after sudden death from subjects aged from 15 to 83. The data were expressed as milligrams per cubic centimeter of lung peripheral parenchyma inflated and fixed at the standard pressure of 25 cm H2O to exclude the pitfall of referring to dried tissue weight. The volume/weight ratio of inflated dried lung parenchyma increased significantly with aging; likewise the collagen content decreased and so did the collagen/elastin ratio, while the elastin content did not show any significant correlation with age. The present findings indicate that biochemical, morphological and functional data on the senile lung agree well.

Adolescent↗

Cholinergic nerves stimulate mucociliary transport, ciliary activity, and mucus secretion in the frog palate.

Mucociliary transport, ciliary activity, and mucus secretion were studied in the palate of the frog Rana pipiens by direct observation, stroboscopic synchronization of ciliary beating, and histochemistry. Excised palates were studied in vitro, and intact palates were studied in vivo. Electrical stimulation of the glossopharyngeal nerve in vivo or of the palatine nerve in vitro stimulated all three activities. The effect was mimicked by acetylcholine and pilocarpine, enhanced by physostigmine, and blocked by atropine but unaffected by d-tubocurarine. Stimulation increased the number of cilia beating and their rate of beating, the number of goblet cells secreting and, for small acidic cells, the amount of mucus secreted, and the rate and extent of particle transport. The response to tactile stimulation was locally restricted in vitro but widespread in vivo. It was concluded that, although there is a low basal rate of mucus secretion and ciliary activity that is independent of nervous control, stimulation of these activities in the intact animal is mediated through the central nervous system and cholinergic nerves to the palate.

Acetylcholine↗

The calcium-dependent neuronal release of serotonin and its antagonism by lithium.

The cilio-excitatory serotonergic innervation of lateral gill cilia of Mytilus edulis was studied in vivo. Peripheral serotonin release was dependent on the external calcium concentration. Serotonin release was inhibited by autodialyzing calcium from the tissue or by increasing the calcium concentration in the medium, as determined by measuring ciliary activity stroboscopically and by biochemical and radioassays of serotonin. Lithium also inhibited serotonin release when added to the external bathing medium. Concomitantly, altering calcium concentrations altered the degree of inhibition of serotonin release caused by lithium. The study demonstrates that the terminal release of the monoamine serotonin is a calcium-dependent mechanism. The pharmacological effects of lithium in this system appear to be interrelated with the calcium-dependent releasing mechanism.

Animals↗

Neurophysiological correlates of the dopaminergic cilio-inhibitory mechanism of Mytilus edulis.

The neurophysiological regulation of gill ciliary activity by the CNS of the bivalve mollusc Mytilus edulis was studied by recording electrophysiological activity of the branchial nerve while simultaneously observing ciliary activity of the lateral ciliated cells of the gill by stroboscopic microscopy. The addition of dopamine to the visceral ganglion slowed and stopped ciliary activity by increasing the firing rate of the cilio-inhibitory dopaminergic neurones of the visceral ganglion which innervate the gill. This could be antagonized at the ganglion by pre-applications of ergonovine or methysergide, or by prior treatments of intact animals with the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine. The study confirms earlier work showing the inhibitory functioning of dopaminergic neurones of the CNS and demonstrates the manner in which they may exert their effects.

Action Potentials↗

Ciliary function of the frog oro-pharyngeal epithelium.

The palate epithelium of the frog was examined by scanning electron microscopy, light microscopy and high speed cine micrography. The cilia remain stationary for much of time in the end-of-effective stroke position. Each beat cycle begins with a forwardly-directed recovery stroke lasting about 60 ms, followed by an effective stroke towards the oesophagus lasting about 12 ms. Activity can often be correlated with the presence of mucus, which is carried as strands on the tips of the ciliary effective strokes whilst the recovery strokes move beneath the mucus. Coordination of ciliary activity was very variable; local antiplectic metachrony of the recovery strokes could almost always be seen, and on very active epithelia effective strokes were associated with approximately diaplectic waves (either to left or right), but any particular pattern of coordinated activity was transient and quickly transformed to another pattern. Beating and coordination of these short cilia were compared with those of cilia propelling water.

Animals↗

Dopaminergic agents: influence on serotonin in the molluscan nervous system.

Treatment of the mussel Mytilus edulis with 6-hydroxydopamine or with alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine decreased dopamine and increased serotonin in the nervous system. Treatment with dopamine decreased serotonin concentrations and prevented the effect of 6-hydroxydopamine. The serotonin concentration appears to be determined in part by the concentration of dopamine.

Animals↗

The metachronal wave of lateral cilia of Mytilus edulis.

The form of beat of cilia and the structure of the metachronal wave on the lateral gill epithelium of Mytulus edulis have been studied on living material by interference-contrast microscopy and stroboscopic illumination, and compared with the same features in rapid-fixed preparations studied by light microscopy and with the scanning electron microscope. The most striking finding is that the beat of the cilia is not planar, as previously assumed, but involves a sideways movement in the recovery stroke Previous reports on nonplanar ciliary beating from protozoan examples describe a planar effective stroke and a counterclockwise rotation in the recovery stroke; in this molluscan example there is a clockwise rotation in the recovery stroke The lateral inclination of the cilia in the recovery stroke is in the same direction as the propagation of the waves, and the orientation of cilia in the recovery stroke is thought to determine whether the waves move to the left or right of the direction of the effective stroke

Animals↗