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Biomedical subjects

G L Snider

Publications and source records attributed to G L Snider.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Covalently linking a peptidyl carbamate elastase inhibitor to a hydrophilic polymer increases its effectiveness in preventing emphysema and secretory cell metaplasia in the hamster.

A peptidyl carbamate, p-nitrophenyl N-(succinyl-L-alanyl-L-alanyl-L-prolyl-methyl)-N-isopropylcarbamate++ + (PCI) was tested for its ability to inhibit the elastolytic activity of human neutrophil elastase (HNE) and to prevent HNE-induced emphysema and secretory cell metaplasia in the hamster. In vitro, 50% of the elastolytic activity of 10 micrograms of HNE was inhibited by 0.9 micrograms of PCI, a molar ratio of PCI to HNE of 4.5. Bronchoalveolar lavage of hamsters receiving PCI intratracheally showed a rapid decrease in HNE inhibitory activity (4 min for 50% decrease), suggesting rapid clearance, binding, or inactivation of the PCI. Instillation of 300 micrograms of HNE combined with 100, 500, or 3,000 micrograms PCI, a 16-, 83-, and 503-fold molar excess of PCI, respectively (molar ratios of 17, 84, and 504), suppressed HNE-induced lung hemorrhage, but it did not moderate HNE-induced emphysema despite the large molar excess of inhibitor. When PCI was covalently bound to a linear hydrophilic polymer of alpha,beta-poly[N(2-hydroxyethyl)-D,L-aspartamide], producing a polymer-bound carbamate inhibitor (PPCI) of HNE, the time for a 50% decrease of PPCI functional activity from the hamster lung lavage was 421 min. Instillation of 100 micrograms of PPCI 1 h before instillation of 300 micrograms HNE resulted in significant amelioration of emphysema; 900 micrograms of PPCI was required to obtain amelioration of bronchial secretory cell metaplasia. The larger dose of PPCI also provided significant amelioration of emphysema when the interval between PPCI and HNE administration was 8 h.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Parker B. Francis Lecture. Animal models of chronic airways injury.

Airways SCM is induced by a wide variety of noxious agents that perturb but do not kill the epithelial cells. Discharge of mucus soon after first exposure to a noxious agent is frequently observed, but discharge of mucus may or may not be followed by development of SCM. Treatment with steroidal and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents protects against development of SCM in some models, such as tobacco smoke-induced SCM, but not in others, such as enzyme-induced SCM. In general, SCM regresses slowly or not at all spontaneously. Recovery of some models, such as tobacco smoke-induced SCM, is hastened by nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents. Experimental protection against induction of enzyme-induced SCM by secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor, which is secreted by airways secretory cells, suggests that such protection may be the in vivo role of that antiprotease. The response of the airways to injury is heterogeneous, with patterns of response of the secretory cells varying according to agent, species, and longitudinal localization of epithelial cells in the airways. The longitudinal heterogeneity of response of secretory epithelial cells to injury is summarized in Table 1. Anatomic heterogeneity of epithelial cells may make a minor contribution to longitudinal variation in response of secretory cells to injury. Molecular heterogeneity of the cellular milieu seems the more likely explanation for this variation in cellular response.

Animals↗

Reversible pancreatic elastase-induced bronchial secretory cell metaplasia in the rat.

Porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) causes irreversible secretory cell metaplasia (SCM) in the intrapulmonary bronchi of hamsters. To determine whether this lesion can be induced in another rodent species, PPE was transorally instilled into the lungs of anesthetized rats. Saline-treated rats served as controls. Animals were killed 1 week, 3 weeks and 3 months after enzyme treatment and the lungs were inflation-fixed with 4% formalin/1% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M Na cacodylate buffer at pH 7.4. Transverse sections from 3 intrapulmonary airway levels were embedded in paraffin and in glycol methacrylate. The secretory cell index (SCI) was determined from PAS-stained paraffin sections using a standardized scale of 0 to 4. There were no significant differences between SCI values of PPE-treated rats and saline-treated controls at any time point. Secretory cells in methacrylate sections were subclassified into S1, S2 and S3 cells on the basis of increasing amounts of PAS-positive intracellular granules. At one week, there was no effect of PPE on airway level I secretory cells, but significant increases in numbers of S2 and S3 cells were seen in level II and in S3 cells in level III. At 3 weeks, the number of S1 cells were increased in level I and S2 and S3 cells were increased in level III; level II secretory cells were unaffected. Level III secretory cells had returned to normal by 3 months. There were no significant differences between treatment groups in the total number of secretory cells (S1 + S2 + S3) at any airway level or time point examined.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Administration, Oral↗

Putative role of neutrophil elastase in the pathogenesis of emphysema.

Emphysema in humans takes several different forms: centrilobular, panacinar, paraseptal, and airspace enlargement with fibrosis. The varying morphologic and background features of these forms of emphysema suggest that they differ in pathogenesis. Elastic fiber rupture and fraying are a feature of emphysema. Experimental emphysema may be induced by human neutrophil elastase and other elastolytic enzymes but not by nonelastolytic proteases. Disruption of elastic fibers also appears to be the underlying feature of lathyrogen-induced airspace enlargement and of the emphysema in the blotchy mouse. However, there is no evidence of elastic fiber destruction in cadmium-induced airspace enlargement with fibrosis or in emphysema associated with hyperoxia or severe starvation. Thus, elastic fiber disruption is not common to all forms of experimental emphysema. We posit that airspace enlargement may be a stereotyped response of the lungs to different injuries. Emphysema can be induced in experimental animals by repeated induction of pulmonary neutrophilia. However, the evidence for involvement of neutrophil elastase in human emphysema is not clear: there are studies using a variety of approaches that weigh on both sides of the question. There is also in vitro evidence that alveolar macrophages can degrade elastin or elastic fibers with which they are in contact by means of a metalloelastase or the cooperative action of plasminogen activator and an acid cysteine protease. We conclude that the pathogenesis of emphysema is complex. Neutrophil elastase likely plays a major role in the development of some forms of emphysema, but our understanding of the interactions between the alveolar walls and neutrophils is still fragmentary.

Animals↗

The do-not-resuscitate order. Ethical and legal imperative or medical decision?

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), widely used in United States hospitals, results in long-term survival that averages about 15%. The patient has the ethical and legal right to reject CPR. Avoidance of CPR when death is anticipated, or when the patient does not wish resuscitation, requires the writing of a do-not-resuscitate order. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation has the risks of trauma, residual impairment if incompletely successful, and prolongation of dying. Like any other medical treatment, CPR should only be administered if it is expected to confer lasting benefit to the patient. If CPR does not offer even a modicum of lasting benefit, it is not medically appropriate to administer the treatment, and the physician may write a do-not-resuscitate order. The rationale for writing the order should be documented, and the patient and family should be informed of the treatment decision. Hospital regulations regarding the writing of DNR orders should reflect this approach. Experience to date indicates that there is minimal risk of malpractice or criminal action in relation to writing do-not-resuscitate orders.

Beneficence↗

Measurement of urinary desmosine by isotope dilution and high performance liquid chromatography. Correlation between elastase-induced air-space enlargement in the hamster and elevation of urinary desmosine.

The accuracy of methods employed to measure the elastin-specific crosslinks, desmosine (DES) and isodesmosine (IDES), has been called into question because contaminants in the urine may cause elevated values. In the present study urine samples were spiked with a known amount of [14C]DES and refluxed in 6 N HCl. Sephadex G-15 chromatography of the hydrolyzed urine employed to remove contaminants. DES and IDES were quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as well as by amino acid analysis. The amount of isotope recovered was used to determine losses during the overall procedure and the isotope dilution to calculate the amounts of endogenous DES and IDES originally present in the urine. Because similar values were obtained by both methods, the more rapid HPLC method was used for all succeeding analyses. In one experiment, the DES amounts in urine collected from hamsters for 3 days after intratracheal treatment with human neutrophil elastase (300 micrograms) or porcine pancreatic elastase (300 micrograms) were 0.212 +/- 0.012 (mean +/- SEM, two measurements on a single pool) and 0.816 +/- 0.005 (two measurements) microgram per hamster per day, respectively. Urine from control hamsters had a mean value of 0.074 +/- 0.008 (eight measurements) microgram per hamster per day. The HNE- and PPE-treated hamsters had mean linear intercept values of 119 and 159% of control values, respectively, giving a positive correlation between increase in airspace size and elevation of urinary DES.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Flurbiprofen does not affect elastase-induced bronchial secretory cell metaplasia in hamsters.

The anti-inflammatory drug flurbiprofen speeds the repair of cigarette smoke-induced bronchial secretory cell metaplasia (SCM) in rats. We tested whether flurbiprofen would prevent or mitigate the development of elastase-induced bronchial SCM in hamsters. Twice daily injections of flurbiprofen (4 or 6 mg.kg-1.day-1) were begun immediately after intertracheal instillation of porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) or its vehicle, saline. At 3 wks, the bronchi of these animals were compared to those of animals receiving PPE or saline. PPE-treated hamsters, with or without flurbiprofen, developed moderate to severe SCM. Control hamsters had normal airways. Flurbiprofen had no effect on the neutrophilic pulmonary infiltrate seen 2 h after PPE instillation. We conclude that the development of elastase-induced SCM in hamsters is not affected by a flurbiprofen regimen begun directly after elastase instillation. The pathogenesis of this lesion may involve factors which are insensitive to flurbiprofen or which trigger the lesion immediately upon exposure to the enzyme.

Animals↗

Induction and exacerbation of emphysema in hamsters with human neutrophil elastase inactivated reversibly by a peptide boronic acid.

In solution, MeO-Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-D,L-boro-Val pinacol ester (Boroval) is a highly effective but reversible inhibitor of both porcine pancreatic elastase and human neutrophil elastase (HNE) (50% inhibition with a 1.5 M ratio of Boroval to elastase). Boroval has been shown to prevent porcine-pancreatic-elastase-induced emphysema in hamsters. But with HNE-induced emphysema in hamsters, pretreatment with as much as a 170-fold M excess of Boroval, given intratracheally 1 h before 0.3 mg HNE, did not prevent emphysema. Indeed, lung volumes were larger after Boroval pretreatment than after HNE alone. Emphysema was also induced by instilling HNE that had been mixed with and inactivated by a 41-fold M excess of Boroval (a molar ratio of 42). When 0.25 or 0.5 mg of HNE were given mixed with a 41-fold M excess of Boroval, the emphysema was much more severe with the 0.5 mg dose. Two hours after instillation of 0.3 mg HNE inactivated with a 34-fold M excess of Boroval, bronchoalveolar lavage contained elastolytic activity but no evidence of hemorrhage. In contrast, hemorrhage was severe in hamsters that had been instilled with 0.3 mg HNE alone. We conclude that Boroval can enhance HNE-induced emphysema. We postulate that Boroval suppresses HNE-induced hemorrhage and the resultant influx of plasma protease inhibitors; the HNE-Boroval complex is transported into the alveolar interstitium, followed by dissociation of the inhibitor from the active site of HNE. Because of its small size, free Boroval is rapidly cleared, and the reactivated HNE attacks elastic fibers, giving rise to emphysema.

Animals↗

Cell kinetics of normal adult hamster bronchial epithelium in the steady state.

To establish the progenitor role of bronchial epithelial cells in the steady state, we undertook a quantitative autoradiographic study in normal hamsters. Groups of 7 hamsters were killed 1 h and 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 14 d after an intraperitoneal injection of [3H]thymidine (2 microCi/g body wt). Autoradiograms were prepared from 861 Epon sections, 2 microns thick, of left intrapulmonary hilar bronchi. Epithelial cells were classified into 1 of 7 categories: basal-1 (B1) and basal-2 (B2), depending on nuclear height; secretory cells denoted as S1 with zero to 4 granules, S2 with 5 or more granules with intervening cytoplasm, and S3 with abundant granules completely filling the cytoplasm; ciliated (C); and indeterminate (IN). Mean silver grain counts decreased significantly over time only for B1 cells (P less than 0.05), with a cell cycle time of 20.6 d and a DNA synthetic time of 7.5 h. Labeled cells, 1 h after thymidine injection, comprised 30.5% S1, 27.8% B1, 22.8% B2, 6.8% IN, 6.4% S2, 5.7% C, and 0% S3 cells. Labeling indices of individual cell categories (LIc), at 1 h after labeling, were highest for B1 followed by B2 cells, reflecting their proliferative intensity. Labeling index of all epithelial cells combined did not change with time, indicating that there was no major cell death or label dilution. The LIc decreased significantly over time only for B1 and B2 cells (P less than 0.001 and P less than 0.002, respectively).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Lectin cytochemistry reveals differences between hamster trachea and bronchus in the composition of epithelial surface glycoconjugates and in the response of secretory cells to neutrophil elastase.

Hamsters exposed to an intratracheal instillation of human neutrophil elastase (HNE) accumulate an abnormally high number of secretory granules in bronchial but not tracheal epithelial cells. We employed lectin cytochemistry to investigate possible differences in the epithelial cell surface glycoconjugate layer in trachea compared to bronchus which might explain the regional dissimilarity in response to HNE. Portions of glutaraldehyde-fixed trachea and bronchi were incubated in one of several ferritin-labeled lectins prior to embedding for transmission electron microscopy. Lectins from Ricinus communis, Helix pomatia, and Triticum vulgaris bound to the surface of tracheal secretory cells in moderate to profuse amounts, while most bronchial secretory cells showed little or no label with these lectins. Gold-labeled Helix pomatia agglutinin (HPA), a lectin specific for secretory cells, showed a decrease in surface binding to all tracheal secretory cell types within 2 h of HNE instillation, compared to saline controls. In contrast, the majority of bronchial secretory cells showed an HNE-induced increase in surface label from extremely low levels in saline controls. The low levels of lectin binding to bronchial cells, in contrast to the trachea, may indicate the lack of a protective surface glycoconjugate coat, thus explaining the vulnerability of these cells to HNE. The rise in number of accessible HPA binding sites on the surface of bronchial secretory cells exposed to HNE may represent an important event in the pathologic accumulation of secretory granules by these cells.

Animals↗

The specific treatment of emphysema.

Cigarette smoking is the major risk factor for development of emphysema. Many people are unable to stop smoking despite skilled support. The elastase-antielastase imbalance hypothesis for the pathogenesis of emphysema suggests that treatment with a supplemental elastase inhibitor might prevent development of emphysema in susceptible people. Many elastase inhibitors have been developed. Poorly soluble inhibitors do not prevent emphysema when tested in an animal model of elastase-induced emphysema. Irreversible inhibitors are effective in a dose-response manner. Reversible but tight-binding large molecular weight inhibitors, which clear slowly from the lungs, are effective in vivo. Small molecular weight, reversible inhibitors prevent haemorrhage after human neutrophil elastase instillation into the lungs but may potentiate emphysema. Only 15% of long-term smokers are susceptible to the development of emphysema. Susceptible smokers can be identified by the development of airflow obstruction. An outcome study of efficacy of elastase inhibitor therapy would be prohibitively expensive. However, a study of the process of development of elastase-induced emphysema is feasible. Measurement of alterations in elastase load of the lungs, elastase derived fibrinopeptides, circulating elastin peptides and urinary desmosines could be used for this purpose.

Animals↗

Recombinant human secretory leukocyte-protease inhibitor: in vitro properties, and amelioration of human neutrophil elastase-induced emphysema and secretory cell metaplasia in the hamster.

Studies were undertaken to evaluate the in vitro properties of recombinant human secretory leukocyte-protease inhibitor (rSLPI) that had been made in Escherichia coli in an inactive form and refolded, and to determine whether emphysema and bronchial secretory cell metaplasia, induced in hamsters by intratracheal treatment with human neutrophil elastase (HNE), could be amelio-rated by prior intratracheal instillation of rSLPI. Chromatographic studies indicated that 3H-rSLPI formed a 1:1 complex with HNE. Blockage of the active site of HNE by a covalently bound tetrapeptide chloromethyl ketone reduced complex formation with 3H-rSLPI by more than 98%. Incubation of 3H-rSLPI-HNE complex with alpha 1-protease inhibitor for 3 hours at 37 degrees C decreased the amount of complex compared with incubation in the presence of bovine serum albumin (70% vs 27% dissociated). The calculated dissociation rate constant was 1.1 x 10(-4) sec-1, indicating a 1.8 hour dissociation half-life. Dissociated 3H-rSLPI retained its ability to recombine with HNE. rSLPI was as effective at inhibiting HNE released from stimulated neutrophils as 3H-rSLPI was at inhibiting purified HNE. Intratracheal pretreatment of hamsters with 3000 micrograms of rSLPI as long as 8 hours before the intratracheal instillation of 250 micrograms of HNE, resulted in significant protection against induction of emphysema and secretory cell metaplasia. One and 4 hours after instillation of rSLPI, 59% and 44%, respectively, of the initial functional activity was recovered in lung lavage supernatant, indicating a half-life of approximately 2 hours.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗