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Biomedical subjects

G K Radda

Publications and source records attributed to G K Radda.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources

Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance studies of pig adrenal glands.

We have used phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance to study the secretion of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) from the medulla of perfused pig adrenal glands. The resonances of the nucleotide pools in the chromaffin granules and cytoplasm are clearly resolved and therefore the intragranular and cytoplasmic processes involving ATP can be monitored simultaneously in the gland during secretion. Secretion of nucleotide during a 3 h continuous stimulation by infusion of acetylcholine chloride was monitored by the decrease in intensity of the intragranular ATP resonances. Up to 40% of the total intragranular nucleotide was released under these conditions. The rate of secretion decreased with duration of stimulation. No significant changes in the steady-state levels of cytoplasmic ATP or in oxygen consumption were observed. The intragranular pH in ischaemic glands was 5.52 + 0.15, while in glands which had been perfused until their cytoplasmic nucleotide levels had recovered, the intragranular pH was 5.76 +/- 0.16. These results provide the first estimate of the internal pH of the chromaffin granules in intact perfused adrenal glands and show that no net acidification occurs in the presence of cytoplasmic ATP. However, the isolated chromaffin granule possesses a proton-pumping adenosine 5'-triphosphatase which, in the presence of a permeant counter-ion, such as chloride, acidifies the granule interior. It is, therefore, suggested that in the intact cell, the cytoplasmic concentration of permeant counter-ions is too low to allow electrically neutral proton accumulation in the granules.

Acetylcholine↗

Hypophosphataemic osteomalacia and myopathy: studies with nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

A patient with familial adult-onset hypophosphataemia, whose myopathy was closely related to the plasma phosphate concentration, was investigated by phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P n.m.r.) in vivo of the right flexor digitorum superficialis muscle. During hypophosphataemia induced by stopping oral phosphate a significant reduction in measured muscle strength occurred, but the ratios of the intramyocellular levels of phosphocreatine (PCr), adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and inorganic phosphate (Pi) remained unchanged at rest. During exercise these levels changed, as did the intramyocellular pH, but they did not differ from the pattern previously recorded in normal subjects. In four adults with inherited infantile-onset hypophosphataemia (vitamin D-resistant rickets, VDRR) without myopathy, the n.m.r. measurements were normal at rest and during exercise. In one patient with inherited hyperphosphataemia (tumoral calcinosis) the resting PCr: Pi ratio was significantly reduced.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Estimation of cellular pH gradients with 31P-NMR in intact rabbit renal tubular cells.

To determine intracellular pH gradients rabbit renal cortical tubular cells were prepared by collagenase separation, suspended in a Krebs-Ringer buffer solution, and gassed with 95% O2-5% CO2 in a special nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) probe. Renal tubular cellular pH was determined simultaneously from the distribution of 14C-dimethadione (DMO) (pHDMO) or the chemical shift of inorganic phosphate (pHNMR). Experiments were performed at different external pH values (pHe) ranging between 6.52 and 7.20. pHNMR, a measure of cytoplasmic pH, changed by an amount equal to the change in pHe. pHDMO, however, a measure of cytoplasmic plus mitochondrial pH, changed less than pHe as the latter increased. pHDMO, higher than pHNMR at low pHe, became equal to pHNMR at higher pHe values. By use of assumed mitochondrial volumes of 30-40% mitochondrial pH was calculated from pHDMO and pHNMR. Mitochondrial pH remained relatively constant over the entire pHe range studied. Since cytoplasmic pH fell as pHe was lowered, the transmitochondrial pH gradient increased at low pHE values. These findings suggest that the transmitochondrial pH gradient may be important in regulating metabolism.

Animals↗

Examination of the energetics of aging skeletal muscle using nuclear magnetic resonance.

Human skeletal muscle has been studied in vivo by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance. Young adult subjects were compared with healthy elderly subjects aged 70-80 years. Intracellular pH and concentrations of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), phosphocreatine and inorganic phosphate were measured. At rest, no differences were found between the two age groups. Aerobic dynamic exercise resulted in a similar reduction of phosphocreatine in both groups while the ATP concentration did not change. The pH fall in exercise was not significantly different in the elderly and younger subjects. The time to resynthesize ATP in the recovery period as measured by the time to replete phosphocreatine was also not different in the two groups. The results suggest that the aging process does not affect the metabolic ability of human skeletal muscle to respond to exercise and that changes found in muscle of the elderly are not due to alterations in energy production.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

The temperature dependence of creatine kinase fluxes in the rat heart.

A 31P nuclear magnetic resonance saturation transfer method was used to measure the temperature dependence of creatine kinase-catalysed fluxes in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts. A decrease in temperature from 37 to 4 degrees C lowered the observed steady-state fluxes by about 80%. These data were used in conjunction with calculated changes in substrate concentrations with temperature to estimate the activation energy for creatine kinase in situ. The apparent activation energy of 42 kJ/mol agrees reasonably well with the range of literature values for the enzyme in vitro. This demonstrates that the reaction is not diffusion-limited in situ and that extraction and dilution of the enzyme for study in vitro does not alter fundamental kinetic properties of the enzyme exhibited in the intact tissue.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

A protective effect of insulin on reperfusing the ischaemic rat heart shown using 31P-NMR.

The effect on the recovery of mechanical function, ATP, phosphocreatine, Pi and pH of various lengths of total global ischaemia in the insulin-treated, perfused rat heart has been studied using 31P-NMR. Insulin-treated hearts recovered stable mechanical function after 18 min ischaemia when their intracellular pH was 6.0 and 70% of the pre-ischaemic ATP remained. Hearts perfused without insulin fail to recover after 18 min ischaemia, having an intracellular pH of 6.3 and 40% of ATP remaining (Bailey, I.A., Seymour, A.-M.L. and Radda, G.K. (1981) Biochim, Biophys. Acta 637, 1-7). Thus, ATP maintenance in ischaemia is more important to recovery on reperfusion than is maintaining intracellular pH. The importance of this observation in devising biochemical strategies for the clinical protection of the myocardium is discussed.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Plasmodium yoelii: blood oxygen and brain function in the infected mouse.

The carriage of oxygen by the blood and the in vivo response of the brain were investigated in mice infected with a lethal strain of Plasmodium yoelii. All mice with parasitaemia exceeding 70% were severely anaemic (Hb 3.5 +/- 1.8 g/dl; mean +/- 1 SD), acidotic (blood pH 7.04 +/- 0.06) and hypoglycaemic (blood glucose 0.6 +/- 0.76 mumol/ml). The oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve (ODC) of blood from heavily infected mice was shifted right as compared to controls, but the increase in p50 was less than expected from the accompanying acidosis. The reduced shift right was due to a decrease in the 2,3-DPG/Hb ratio in infected animals (0.72 +/- 0.12, n = 17 vs 1.10 +/- 0.09, n = 12 in controls). Despite the severity of terminal infection, the cerebral pH and the relative steady-state concentrations of PCr, ATP and Pi measured in vivo by nuclear magnetic resonance (31P NMR) were normal. Alterations in brain energy status and pH cannot account for cerebral signs or death in this proposed mouse model of cerebral malaria.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

The myotoxicity of bupivacaine, a 31P n.m.r. investigation.

Phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance (n.m.r.) spectroscopy is a recently introduced method for the non-invasive study of muscle biochemistry. It was shown in the rat that an intramuscular injection of the drug resulted in degeneration that was reflected spectroscopically in a progressive decrease in the intracellular concentrations of phosphocreatine and adenosine triphosphate without a corresponding rise in that of inorganic phosphate. Furthermore, ATP was depleted in the presence of significant levels of phosphocreatine. As regeneration occurred spectra returned to normal and this was complete by day 10. No such spectroscopic effects were demonstrated in man following the use of bupivacaine in an intravenous regional anaesthetic. It is suggested that further studies in man are required before this drug can be administered intramuscularly with confidence.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Nuclear magnetic resonance techniques in medicine.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques are now finding exciting new noninvasive applications in medicine. There are two major approaches. The first is as an analytical technique using 31P NMR spectroscopy for the identification and quantitation of the more abundant phosphate metabolites in various tissues. Changes in the levels of these metabolites and in intracellular cytoplasmic pH can be followed in various ischemic and hypoxic conditions to monitor metabolic response to stress situations and to diagnose inborn errors of metabolism. The second major approach is an entirely different application of NMR techniques and uses 1H, the nucleus most abundant in biological tissues, largely in water and fats, to produce NMR images of any section of the body. By applying non-uniform magnetic fields across a section of the body, hydrogen nuclei in different elemental volumes in the section are tagged with different frequencies and their signals can be processed to give an image of the section. In contrast to computed tomographic scanning, NMR has particularly powerful application in the imaging of soft tissues.

Animals↗

Bioenergetics of intact human muscle. A 31P nuclear magnetic resonance study.

The metabolic state of human muscle in various functional states has been investigated by the non-invasive technique of 31P nuclear magnetic resonance. The concentrations of phosphocreatine, ATP and inorganic phosphate as well as intracellular pH in the flexor digitorum superficialis have been measured during rest, dynamic exercise and recovery from exercise. The observed relationship between phosphocreatine utilization and decrease in intracellular pH during aerobic exercise indicates that lactate production only becomes significant after more than 60% of the phosphocreatine is used up. Surprisingly intracellular pH may reach as low a value as 5.9 to 6.1, indicating that phosphofructokinase is still partially active at pH 6.0. There is no metabolic recovery if the muscle is made ischaemic following exercise, implying that glycolysis is switched off as soon as exercise is stopped. Lactic acidosis is not the cause of this and presumably Ca2+ is needed to maintain the activation of phosphorylase kinase. The time-course of phosphocreatine recovery after exercise reflects the rate of oxidative metabolism, while pH recovery probably represents H+ ion export from the muscle cell. The dynamics of metabolic changes can now be observed with a time resolution of 10 to 60 seconds and thus disturbances in energy metabolism can be readily detected in several pathological states.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

A 31P-NMR saturation transfer study of the regulation of creatine kinase in the rat heart.

(1) 31P nuclear magnetic resonance was used to measure the creatine kinase-catalysed fluxes in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts consuming oxygen at different rates and using either of two exogenous substrates (11 mM glucose or 5 mM acetate). (2) Fluxes in the direction of ATP synthesis were between 3.5-12-times the steady-state rates of ATP utilization (estimated from rates of O2-consumption), demonstrating that the reaction is sufficiently rapid to maintain the cytosolic reactants near their equilibrium concentrations. (3) Under all conditions studied, the cytosolic free [ADP] was primarily responsible for regulating the creatine kinase fluxes. The enzyme displayed a Km for cytosolic ADP of 35 microM and an apparent Vmax of 5.5 mM/s in the intact tissue. (4) Although the reaction is maintained in an overall steady-state, the measured ratio of the forward flux (ATP synthesis) to the reverse flux (phosphocreatine synthesis) was significantly greater than unity under some conditions. It is proposed that this discrepancy may be a consequence of participation of ATP in reactions other than the PCr in equilibrium ATP or ATP in equilibrium ADP + Pi interconversions specifically considered in the analysis. (5) The results support the view that creatine kinase functions primarily to maintain low cytosolic concentrations of ADP during transient periods in which energy utilization exceeds production.

Animals↗

A 31P-NMR study of some metabolic and functional effects of the inotropic agents epinephrine and ouabain, and the ionophore R02-2985 (X537A) in the isolated, perfused rat heart.

1. Some metabolic effects of increased mechanical activity by the Langendorff-perfused rat heart have been characterized using 31P-NMR. Mechanical activity was increased by infusion of ouabain (0.9-7.0.10(-5) M), the ionophore R02-2985 (1.10(-5) M) or epinephrine (5.10(-8) M). 2. Similar metabolic changes accompanied infusion of each of the positive inotropic agents into hearts perfused with buffer containing 11 mM glucose as the substrate. In each case phosphocreatine concentrations decreased. During the period of epinephrine infusion the phosphocreatine began to recover its original concentration, although there were no significant changes in mechanical activity. 3. Comparisons of the metabolic changes accompanying the positive inotropic and chronotropic effects of epinephrine were made between hearts perfused with either glucose (11 mM), acetate (5 mM) or lactate (5 mM). A time-dependent decrease in phosphocreatine concentrations also accompanied infusion of epinephrine into hearts perfused with lactate as the sole exogenous substrate, but no statistically significant metabolite changes were observed after identical epinephrine infusions with acetate as the substrate. 4. Calculations of the concentration of free ADP assuming equilibrium in the creatine phosphokinase reaction allows estimation of the cytosolic phosphate potential ([ATP]/[ADP][Pi]), which appears to be dependent on the number of factors, including the nature of the exogenous substrate and the level of mechanical activity. 5. Thus, we conclude that there is no general correlation between the phosphate potential and the mitochondrial respiratory rate in the perfused rat heart.

Animals↗

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of forearm muscle in Duchenne dystrophy.

The forearms of six patients with Duchenne dystrophy were examined by the painless and non-invasive technique of high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The phosphorus spectrum was abnormal in that the ratios of phosphocreatine to adenosine triphosphate and to inorganic phosphate were reduced. Absolute quantification under the conditions of this experiment was not possible but it was probable that in dystrophy the concentration of phosphocreatine in muscle was appreciably reduced. A signal in the phosphodiester region of the spectrum was recorded consistently in patients with dystrophy but not in controls. The intracellular pH of the muscle in the dystrophic patients was abnormally alkaline. The clinical application of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy remains to be proved, but it appears to be a promising non-invasive technique for investigating biochemical abnormalities of muscle disease.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗