Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

E L Smith

Publications and source records attributed to E L Smith.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

Spatial contrast sensitivity deficits in monkeys produced by optically induced anisometropia.

An anisometropia was simulated in infant rhesus monkeys by securing a high-powered minus lens (-10 D) in front of one eye. The anisometropia rearing procedure was initiated at 30 days of age and was continued for durations of 30, 60, or 90 days. Behavioral measurements of spatial contrast sensitivity obtained when the animals were 9 months of age indicated that the monkeys treated for 30 days had equal or nearly equal contrast sensitivities and cut-off spatial frequencies in the two eyes. The 30-day monkeys also demonstrated normal binocular summation for threshold stimuli. In contrast, the monkeys treated for either 60 or 90 days showed a significant reduction in contrast sensitivity in the defocused eyes for spatial frequencies greater than 1.0 cycles/deg and failed to show an improvement in contrast sensitivity under binocular viewing conditions. The cut-off spatial frequencies obtained at moderate luminance levels for the defocused eyes of the 60- and 90-day monkeys were slightly more than 1.0 octave lower than the cut-offs for the nondeprived eyes and, like humans with anisometropic amblyopia, the deficits in the spatial resolving capacity of the defocused eyes were observed over a large range of background luminances. The results indicate that the lens-reared monkey is a promising model for anisometropic amblyopia in humans.

Animals↗

Formation of cytochrome P-450 containing haem or cobalt-protoporphyrin in liver homogenates of rats treated with phenobarbital and allylisopropylacetamide.

The potent porphyrogen allylisopropylacetamide and related compounds decrease hepatic concentrations of cytochrome P-450. This decrease occurs particularly in phenobarbital-induced cytochrome P-450 and is caused by suicidal breakdown of the haem of cytochrome P-450. Quantitative rocket immunoelectrophoresis showed that the protein moiety of the major phenobarbital-inducible form of hepatic cytochrome P-450 was not diminished up to 1 h, but was markedly decreased (to 43% of that of the phenobarbital-treated control) at 20 h after allylisopropylacetamide treatment. In contrast, the concentration of total cytochrome P-450, measured spectrophotometrically, decreased to 30-40% of the control at both 1 and 20 h after allylisopropylacetamide. Cytochrome P-450-dependent demethylations of ethylmorphine and benzphetamine decreased to a similar extent. When liver homogenates from rats treated with allylisopropylacetamide 1 h before being killed were incubated with haem, functional holocytochrome P-450 could be reconstituted from the apoprotein. Incubation with haem increased spectrophotometrically measurable cytochrome P-450 to 69%, ethylmorphine demethylase to 64% and benzphetamine demethylase to 93% of the activities in rats treated with phenobarbital alone. At 20 h after allylisopropylacetamide treatment, however, little or no reconstitution of cytochrome P-450 occurred after incubation with haem. When liver homogenates were incubated with cobalt and protoporphyrin, and microsomal proteins were then subjected to polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, cobalt-protoporphyrin was found specifically associated with proteins of Mr 50 000-53 000. When homogenates from rats given allylisopropylacetamide for 1 h or 20 h were compared, it was found that the extent of this association was higher in livers from the rats containing more apocytochrome P-450, suggesting that cobalt-protoporphyrin had associated with the apocytochrome. The data provide insight into the association of haem with the protein moiety of cytochrome P-450 and factors affecting breakdown of this protein.

Acetamides↗

Aminopyrine and biphenyl metabolism in cultured hepatocytes. Induction by alcohols.

Exposure of cultured chick embryo hepatocytes to ethanol, isobutanol, or isopentanol, the predominant alcohols present in commercial alcoholic beverages, resulted in increased metabolism of aminopyrine or biphenyl by the intact cells. The increases correlated with induction of cytochrome P-450. Hydroxylation of biphenyl at the 4-position was preferentially increased in cells pretreated with either the alcohols or propylisopropylacetamide, a barbiturate-like inducer of cytochrome P-450. In contrast, exposure of the cells to 3,4,3',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl, a planar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon inducer of P-450, resulted in preferential increased hydroxylation at the 2- and 3-positions of biphenyl.

Alcohols↗

A familial paracentric inversion: a short review of the current status.

We present here a familial case of a paracentric inversion in man with a short review of the literature. A paracentric inversion of chromosome 10(q11q26) was found in the amniocytes drawn for advanced maternal age. The presence of the inversion was investigated in 35 family members in three generations. No recombinants were recognized. The significance of these data for appropriate genetic counselling and possible reproductive risks is discussed.

Adult↗

Bone involution decrease in exercising middle-aged women.

Physical activity is an important stimulus in the prevention of bone involution. Bilateral bone mineral mass and width of the radius, ulna, and humerus were measured by single photon absorptiometry on 200 women between the ages of 35 and 65 over a 3-4 year period. Two groups were formed: 80 in a control group and 120 in a physical activity group exercising 45 min/day, 3 days/week. The control and physical activity groups were similar in age, height, weight, and level of physical fitness at the beginning of the study. The control group lost bone mineral mass at a rate similar to that of the general population. The left radius bone mineral declined 2.44% per year. Similar rates of decline were observed in the other bones measured. The physical activity group increased in fitness by 13% in the first year of the study. The bone mineral mass of the exercise group declined the first year and then increased; thereby the bone mineral data for the exercise group was analyzed in two sets. During the first year of the program, a decline of 3.77% in bone mineral mass of the left radius, a significantly greater loss than that of the control group, was observed. Decline rates were similar in the other bones measured. In the second and third years, bone mineral mass of the left radius increased by 1.39% per year, and the rate of change was significantly different from that of the control group. There were similar increases in the other bones measured. The data from this study support the importance of physical activity in the prevention of bone mineral loss in the aging female.

Aging↗

Behavioral measurements of accommodative amplitude in rhesus monkeys.

The extent of voluntary accommodation was investigated behaviorally in two young rhesus monkeys and an adult human using a modified minus-lens technique. Specifically, contrast sensitivity for a high spatial frequency grating was determined as a function of spectacle lens power. Accommodative amplitudes derived from contrast sensitivity vs lens power functions indicate that young monkeys have at least 17 to 18 D of voluntary accommodation and that the accommodative amplitudes of monkeys are larger than those of equivalent-aged humans.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

A two-year dietary survey of middle-aged women: repeated dietary records as a measure of usual intake.

A two-year survey of the dietary consumption and supplement use patterns of adult women was conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Participants were asked to record their diet on two randomly selected days per month over a two-year period. Each subject filled out an average of 19 records a year, for an overall 71% return rate. Because of the sampling design, it was possible to estimate each woman's "usual" or average daily dietary and total intake (diet plus supplements) of 15 nutrients. Many women were consuming usual amounts of energy, calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamin B-6, and, especially, zinc and total folate that were 30% to 50% below recommended levels. It was also found that the women generally took vitamin/mineral supplements for nutrients already adequately supplied in the diet. Low nutrient intakes may have been due, in part, to underreporting of food intakes.

Adult↗

Effects of enucleation of the nondeprived eye on stimulus deprivation amblyopia in monkeys.

The effects of enucleation of the nondeprived eye on the visual function of the deprived eye were studied in two rhesus monkeys reared with long-term lid suture. The lids of one eye of each monkey were surgically fused at the age of approximately 1 month. The lids were opened at ages 19 months and 22 months, and the nondeprived eyes were enucleated at age 57 months. Three measures of visual function (spatial modulation sensitivity, temporal modulation sensitivity, and increment-threshold spectral sensitivity) were determined for the nondeprived and deprived eyes before enucleation and for the deprived eyes during a 9-month period following enucleation. Neither the spatial nor temporal modulation sensitivity measurements showed significant recovery of visual function. The postenucleation spectral sensitivity data showed some recovery of sensitivity over the long wavelength region of the spectrum during the first 3 months, but there was no further recovery over the next 6 months. Therefore, the results of the experiments show that enucleation of the nondeprived eye of monkeys with severe stimulus deprivation amblyopia does not result in a significant functional improvement of the deprived eye.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

Permanent alterations in muscarinic receptors and pupil size produced by chronic atropinization in kittens.

Chronic mydriasis was induced in six kittens (four monocular, two binocular) and two adult cats (both monocular) by the daily topical application of atropine. Both the kittens and the adult cats were atropinized for a 13-week period with the treatment regimen beginning at the time of eye opening for the kittens. Pupil size measurements, obtained 1 year after the atropinization were discontinued, revealed that, although the pupils of the adult cats were normal, the pupils of the kittens' treated eyes were consistently smaller than pupils in control eyes. The status of the muscarinic receptors in the kittens' irides was investigated using 3H-QNB binding assays. In comparison with iris muscle homogenates from the control eyes, those from the treated eyes demonstrated an eightfold increase in the number of receptor binding sites. The results indicate that pupil size can be altered permanently by chronic mydriasis initiated early in the life of a kitten and that the permanent change in pupil size may result, in part, from a type of permanent supersensitivity response in the muscle following chronic blockade of muscarinic transmission by atropine.

Age Factors↗

Stereoblind monkeys have few binocular neurons.

Infant monkeys wore prisms before their eyes, lost binocular neurons from their visual cortex, and were stereoblind to dynamic random dot stereograms. Three years later, the authors recorded from 880 neurons of the V1 and V2 visual cortex and found only 22% binocular neurons as compared with 81% for normal monkeys. These results demonstrate, for the first time in the same subjects, the strong association between cortical binocular neurons and primate stereopsis; show that congenital binocular neurons, once lost, do not recover even with extensive binocular visual experience; and stress the vulnerability of the primate binocular system to abnormal early visual experiences.

Age Factors↗

Binocular properties of lateral suprasylvian cortex are not affected by neonatal corpus callosum section.

The lateral suprasylvian cortex (LS) was physiologically examined in cats with neonatal section of the posterior corpus callosum (CC) at 2 or 3 weeks after birth. All receptive field properties of the LS cells, including ocular dominance, were found to be normal, despite a reduction in binocular activation in area 17 in the 2 week CC cats. Therefore, binocular activation of LS cells is not dependent on callosal input at any age, nor is it dependent on normal levels of binocular activation of striate cortex.

Animals↗

Optically induced strabismus results in visual field losses in cats.

Kittens were reared using goggles containing a prism that simulated a convergent strabismus. A bilateral loss of 30 degrees of the contralateral monocular visual field resulted, indicating that the components of the visual pathways representing the nasal visual field are more sensitive to spatially conflicting visual inputs than the components representing the temporal field. Differences in the extent of binocular visual fields occurred, with alternating fixators demonstrating a full field and unilateral fixators demonstrating a binocular field reduction ipsilateral to the deviating eye.

Animals↗

Spatial dissociation of visual inputs alters the origin of the corpus callosum.

The distribution of the origin of corpus callosum neurons was investigated in cats reared with an optically induced strabismus by applying horseradish peroxidase (HRP) to severed callosal axons. These animals demonstrated an enlargement of the region of callosal connectivity compared to normal cats. Bilaterally there was an expanded efferent zone, with callosal cell bodies widely distributed in area 17, extending down the medial bank of the lateral gyrus halfway to the fundus of the splenial sulcus. This suggests that rearing a cat with visual spatial dissociation requires additional communication between the hemispheres in the form of increased callosal connections between cortical regions representing more peripheral portions of the visual field.

Animals↗

Oblique effects, vertical effects and meridional amblyopia in monkeys.

Orientation anisotropies were investigated for monkeys with normal visual acuity and for monkeys with experimentally induced amblyopia. It was found that the majority of control monkeys showed a normal oblique effect if any existing refractive errors were carefully corrected, but a few of the control monkeys had a meridional amblyopia, i.e., an orientation anisotropy in which the grating orientation for the greatest and lowest contrast sensitivities were correlated with the principal meridians of an astigmatic refractive error even when the refractive error was corrected. For monkeys with strabismic amblyopia caused by a surgically induced divergent strabismus, the orientation anisotropies showed a vertical effect in which contrast sensitivity was lower for vertically oriented gratings than for horizontally oriented gratings. However, monkeys with the same degree of amblyopia resulting from experimental procedures that did not involve a misalignment of the visual axes showed orientation anisotropies that corresponded to the usual oblique effect.

Amblyopia↗

Behavioral studies on the effect of abnormal early visual experience in monkeys: spatial modulation sensitivity.

Spatial modulation sensitivity functions have been investigated by behavioral methods in two monkeys reared with normal visual experience and 12 monkeys reared with abnormal, early visual experience. Experimental treatments were initiated when the animals were approximately one month of age. Two monkeys were each treated with one of the following procedures: (1) long-term monocular lid suture, (2) short-term monocular lid suture, (3) surgically induced esotropia, (4) surgically induced exotropia, (5) optical dissociation of binocular vision with ophthalmic prisms, or (6) chronic monocular cycloplegia. The results of the studies showed a severe loss of contrast sensitivity of the treated eyes compared to the control eyes for monkeys reared with monocular lid suture or surgically induced esotropia. Surgically induced exotropia resulted in a moderate reduction in sensitivity of the deviated eye while optical dissociation resulted in a mild reduction in sensitivity of one eye compared to the other. One of the two monkeys reared for seven months with chronic monocular cycloplegia had a relative reduction in contrast sensitivity of the treated eye, but the other monkey had equal sensitivities in the two eyes. However, binocular summation experiments showed that even though the relative difference between the monocular sensitivities was small or absent for the monkeys reared with optical dissociation or chronic monocular cycloplegia, none of them demonstrated binocular vision in these experiments.

Amblyopia↗

Behavioral studies on the effect of abnormal early visual experience in monkeys: temporal modulation sensitivity.

Temporal modulation sensitivity functions were investigated by behavioral methods in two monkeys reared with normal visual experience and 12 monkeys reared with abnormal early visual experience. Experimental treatments were initiated when the animals were approximately one month of age. Two monkeys were each treated with one of the following procedures: (1) long-term monocular lid suture, (2) short-term monocular lid suture, (3) surgically induced esotropia, (4) surgically induced exotropia, (5) optical dissociation of binocular vision with ophthalmic prisms, or (6) chronic monocular cycloplegia. The temporal modulation sensitivity functions for uniform field flicker for both eyes of the control subjects and for the untreated eyes of the experimental subjects were similar to functions for humans measured on the same apparatus using the same behavioral procedures. All eight of the monkeys preconditioned by lid suture or surgically induced strabismus showed reduced sensitivity at all temporal frequencies with the difference between the experimental and control eyes being larger for the high than low temporal frequencies. The monkeys reared with optical dissociation of binocular vision or chronic monocular cycloplegia showed equal temporal modulation sensitivities of the two eyes, but failed to show binocular summation. It was concluded from these studies that abnormal early visual experience in monkeys results in deficiencies in the processing of both spatial and temporal information, but the differences between the treated and untreated eyes were usually greater in the spatial domain than the temporal domain.

Amblyopia↗