Biomedical subjects

H Fisher

Publications and source records attributed to H Fisher.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

PubMed1986

The effect of dried and fresh eggs on plasma cholesterol and atherosclerosis in chickens.

Oxidation products of cholesterol, which have been observed to be formed in powdered eggs and other dehydrated cholesterol-containing foods, have been suspected as the probable primary cause of atherosclerotic lesions. The feeding of powdered vs. fresh egg yolks to young male chickens up to 30 and 43 weeks of age, respectively, produced approximately the same increase in plasma cholesterol, liver fat, and liver cholesterol when compared to the feeding of a soybean-based cholesterol-free diet. Aortic atherosclerosis, however, was found to be more severe in a group of birds fed fresh egg yolks than in those fed powdered egg or the cholesterol-free diet. A previously demonstrated, enhanced feedback inhibition of cholesterol synthesis by oxidized cholesterol derivatives may at least partly explain these results.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

Differential response of muscle and gastric histidine decarboxylase to compound 48/80 and dietary calcium.

Previous work from this laboratory had indicated that in vivo, histidine decarboxylase (HDC) activity was stimulated by compound 48/80 in rat leg muscle, and that high dietary calcium had a stimulating effect on gastric HDC activity. In the present investigations the 48/80 effect was also observed in vitro in leg muscle extracts from rats, chicks, and guinea pigs. Compound 48/80 had no effect in vitro on histamine metabolism of gastric tissue homogenates in any of the animal species studied. A dietary effect of high calcium intake was noted in rat gastric tissue but not in rat leg muscle. In vitro addition of 48/80 and/or calcium had no stimulatory effect on bacterial HDC or on muscle carnosinase activity. These findings, in conjunction with a comparison of stomach and leg muscle mast cell populations, confirm an HDC stimulatory role for 48/80 in muscle, in addition to its histamine-releasing function from mast cells.

Animals↗

PubMed1984

Enhanced carnosine (beta-alanyl-L-histidine) breakdown and histamine metabolism following treatment with compound 48/80.

We have previously suggested that carnosine may serve as a reservoir for histidine to be used as a source of histamine in the trauma response of rats. In this study we report the effect of stimulation of histamine-forming capacity by compound 48/80 on muscle carnosinase (C'ASE) and histidine decarboxylase (HDC) activities as well as on muscle carnosine and histamine concentrations. Male rats (180 g) were injected i.p. with 5 mg/kg bw of compound 48/80 and C'ASE and HDC activities as well as carnosine, histidine and histamine concentrations were monitored over a 72 h period post-injection. This treatment resulted in an 120% increase in muscle HDC activity and an 110% increase in muscle histamine concentration at 15 min post-injection, followed by an 80% increase in muscle C'ASE activity at 1 h and a 100% reduction in muscle carnosine concentration at 24 h post-injection when compared to control animals injected with 0.9% saline. Histidine concentration was not affected by treatment. The time frame of response, a rapid increase in muscle HDC activity and in muscle histamine concentration followed by an increase in muscle C'ASE activity and a later decrease in muscle carnosine concentration, suggests that carnosine is hydrolysed to liberate histidine and that carnosine, as a reservoir for histidine, is mobilized to maintain a constant muscle concentration of histidine for histamine synthesis.

Animals↗

PubMed1984

Inguinal lymph node metastases from germ cell testicular tumors.

Between 1948 and 1982, 22 patients were seen with metastasis to the inguinal nodes from testicular germ cell tumors: 8 had a history of unilateral or bilateral orchiopexy with or without herniorrhaphy, 4 had nonsurgically corrected or uncorrected cryptorchidism, 9 had a history of herniorrhaphy, hydrocelectomy or transscrotal orchiectomy and 1 had no history of scrotal, iliac or inguinal surgery, or of tunica vaginalis or scrotal wall involvement by tumor. The histological type was pure seminoma in 5 patients, embryonal carcinoma in 7 and mixed tumor in 10. Treatment was individualized for tumor type and mode of presentation, and varied during the years according to the modalities available. At the time of this report 8 of 22 patients (36 per cent) are alive without evidence of disease from 2 to 29.5 years, 3 (16 per cent) have died without evidence of disease 10 to 17 years after treatment, 10 (45 per cent) have died of metastases 10 months to 6 years after treatment and 1 has been lost to followup. The over-all incidence of groin metastases from testicular carcinoma is low, even with a history of scrotal or inguinal surgery.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

A comparison of chromium-51 and iron-59 for estimating erythrocyte survival in the cat.

Erythrocyte survival studies were conducted on eight, normal, healthy, 1-year-old male specific-pathogen-free cats using both chromium-51 and iron-59 simultaneously. The chromium-51 procedure gave a half-life value of 11.1 +/- 0.9 days. This was considerably lower than would be expected on the basis of the experimentally determined iron-59 erythrocyte survival time of 51.2 +/- 14.9 days. The results of this study indicated that there was considerable loss of the chromium-51 label in the cat other than that from senescence alone. An analysis of the chromium-51 disappearance curve indicated that there were two exponential disappearance rates for the chromium-51 label and, in the absence of cell death, approximately 67% of the label was lost with a rate constant of 0.02 per day and 33% was lost with a rate constant of 0.1 per day. An equation is presented which models the loss of chromium-51 label which could be used to calculate erythrocyte survival from a chromium-51 disappearance curve. Blood volume measurements, hemograms, bone marrow differential results, and iron kinetic values also were determined and the results presented. While a reasonable approximation of the erythrocyte life span could be made by correcting the chromium-51 values for losses other than senescence, the iron-59 procedure would be the preferred method in cats.

Animals↗

PubMed1983

Progressive bulbar paralysis in childhood: a case report.

The case of a progressive bulbar paresis in a nine and a half year old child is reported. The first symptoms were present at birth; however, the subsequent evolution was very low. Lesion of the motor nuclei of the V, VII, IX, XII, cranial nerves was evident on electromyographic investigation. Damage to the acoustic brain stem pathway was documented by the brain stem evoked potentials although audiometry was normal. No other neuronal systems or districts appeared to be damaged. The case suggests Fazio-Londe disease, although the involvement (albeit partial) of the auditory pathways recalls Van Laere syndrome. This supports the view that motor neuron disease in infancy is not an autonomous entity but a variant in a wide spectrum of progressive neuronal diseases.

Audiometry↗

PubMed1983

Arginine utilization of young rats fed diets with simple versus complex carbohydrates.

We proposed that increasing dietary complex carbohydrates would, by increasing fecal nitrogen loss and thus decreasing urinary nitrogen and the need for urea synthesis, ameliorate the effects of arginine deficiency. Two experiments using male, weanling, Sprague-Dawley rats with ad libitum access to water and isocaloric, isonitrogenous, 19% L-amino acid diets were carried out to test this hypothesis. The first was performed in two identical blocks of a 4 X 4 factorial experiment each with six rats per group. Four levels of arginine were fed: 0.0, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2% of diet with four variations in dietary carbohydrates: sucrose alone, replacement of 2/3 of sucrose with dextrin, and 5 g of wheat bran or guar gum added to 100 g of the sucrose-based diets. Varying dietary carbohydrate quality did not influence growth of rats fed the 1.2% arginine diets, however, when added to the diet with 0.0 arginine, guar gum but not dextrin or wheat bran increased growth. This guar gum-induced weight increase was associated with partial reversal of arginine-deficiency-induced liver lipidosis and orotic aciduria and with higher fecal nitrogen and lower urinary nitrogen. The specificity of this guar gum effect was tested in a second experiment in which guar gum was added to diets containing 33% of the control level of arginine, histidine, leucine, methionine or phenylalanine. Only rats fed the diet deficient in arginine showed significant improvement in growth with added guar gum. We conclude that dietary guar gum but not dextrin or wheat bran, by increasing fecal nitrogen loss and decreasing the need for urea synthesis, partially ameliorates the effects of a low arginine intake. The practical application of feeding guar gum to alleviate certain ammonia-toxicity-related medical conditions is discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed1983

Gastric histamine metabolism and acid secretion in rats as influenced by diet and nutrient content.

Diets containing egg white, casein, menhaden fish meal, soy protein or wheat gluten were fed to rats to assess the impact of dietary protein (and other nutrients) on gastric functions. The menhaden fish meal group exhibited increases in stomach histidine decarboxylase (HDC) activity, histamine concentration, as well as acid secretion when compared with the control, casein group. When rats were fed amino acid-supplemented casein or fish meal diets to simulate each other's amino acid profile, a small increase in gastric HDC activity, histamine content and acid secretion was observed in comparison with the unsupplemented casein or fish meal groups. The high mineral content of menhaden fish meal (15%) was thought to be a potential inducing factor for gastric histamine metabolism and acid secretion. Adding fish meal ash to the casein diet or to a cod fillet diet elevated stomach HDC activity and histamine concentration significantly. Furthermore, when calcium (Ca) was added to the casein diet to simulate its high content in menhaden fish meal (7.8%), similar elevated levels of gastric histamine were obtained for the Ca-supplemented casein group as for the fish meal group. The role of Ca could be due to release of gastrin, which results in release of stomach histamine, or by facilitating mast cell histidine incorporation with subsequent histamine synthesis.

Animals↗

PubMed1983

Identification of a carrier by using Vi enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay serology in an outbreak of typhoid fever on an Indian reservation.

In May 1981 an outbreak of typhoid fever occurred in a small village on a southwestern United States Indian reservation. Five of the six culture-proven cases, but only 2 of 15 community, age-matched controls, had eaten food prepared for a party held in the village on 20 April (chi-square = 4.3; P less than 0.05). Food histories obtained from 16 persons who ate food at the party suggested that chicken with chili (P = 0.03) and potato salad (P = 0.09) were possible vehicles. Eleven adults who attended the party, 5 of whom helped prepare an implicated food, were studied with one or more stool cultures and serum for Vi antibody by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and hemagglutination techniques. All initial stool cultures were negative for Salmonella typhi; however, one subject, a 70-year-old female foodhandler, had a Vi antibody titer of 1:320 by ELISA. Subsequent cultures from this subject were positive for S. typhi. ELISA for Vi antibody directed the investigators to a single individual as the most probable carrier source and obviated the need for multiple fecal cultures from the other potential carriers identified by the epidemiological investigation.

Adult↗

PubMed1982

Carnosine, histidine, and wound healing.

The relationships among carnosine, histidine, and wound healing were examined in rats fed either 100% or 50% of the reported histidine required for growth. Animals fed the adequate amount of histidine grew more rapidly and more efficiently than did animals on the low-histidine diet. When the rats reached the experimental weight range of 165 to 180 gm, they were anesthetized and wounded with back skin incision; a polyvinylchloride sponge was implanted under the skin before closure of the wound. Seven days after wounding, the histidine-sufficient animals had greater regenerative skin-breaking strength, collagen deposition, and tissue concentrations of free histidine and carnosine. Histidine and carnosine treatment (1 mg/100 gm body weight/day intraperitoneally) for 7 days after wounding increased tissue free-histidine concentrations and brought skin-breaking strength and collagen deposition up to "normal" in the animals on the low-histidine diet but did not further improve healing in the histidine-sufficient animals. Treatment with carnosine was similar, but slightly better than treatment with histidine. The results suggest an interaction between carnosine and stress and implicate carnosine as a histidine reserve in relation to histamine synthesis during trauma.

Animals↗

PubMed1982

Histamine synthesis, imidazole dipeptides, and wound healing.

The relationships among anserine (beta-alanyl-1-methyl-L-histidine), carnosine (beta-alanyl-L-histidine), free histidine, and histamine metabolism were examined in rats wounded by dorsal skin incision. Following wounding, rats were treated with either a histamine liberator (compound 48/80) or a histidine decarboxylase inhibitor (4-imidazolyl-3-amino-2-butanone). The liberator greatly enhanced wounded skin-breaking strength and collagen deposition at the wound site, while the histidine decarboxylase inhibitor reduced skin-breaking strength and collagen deposition. In the second experiment of this study, histamine or histidine treatment was shown to prevent trauma-induced reductions of tissue carnosine but was less effective in ameliorating tissue anserine loss. The results illustrate an interaction between imidazole dipeptides and stress and suggest that carnosine acts as a histidine reserve in relation to histamine synthesis during trauma.

Animals↗

PubMed1981

Influence of dietary histidine on tissue histamine concentration, histidine decarboxylase and histamine methyltransferase activity in the rat.

Three-week-old male rats were fed for two weeks diets supplying inadequate, adequate, or excess amounts of histidine. After the 2-week feeding of the experimental diets, the rats were killed. Brain, gastrocnemius muscle, kidney and stomach were removed and analyzed for histamine and free-histidine as well as for the degradative enzyme, HMT, and the histamine-synthesizing enzyme HDC. The following results were obtained: As the levels of dietary histidine increased, (1) tissue concentrations of free-histidine and of histamine increased in all the tissues analyzed. (2) The increase of histamine was greatest in brain and stomach (5- and 4-fold, respectively), but less in kidney and muscle (2-fold). (3) HDC activity was not detected in muscle, but doubled from the lowest to the highest histidine intake in brain and increased almost 6-fold between the lowest and the highest histidine levels in stomach. (4) Kidney HDC decreased from the lowest to the two higher levels of dietary histidine. (5) HMT activity increased nominally in brain and not significantly in kidney; none was detected in either muscle or stomach. (6) Brain and kidney, tissues with considerable HMT activity, had almost no histamine. The increases in tissue histamine concentrations observed in the tissues analyzed generally reflected the changes and magnitudes of enzyme activities for HMT and HDC. The results in the rat differ in important ways from those previously observed in chickens as follows: (1) Histamine concentrations as a function in dietary histidine decreased in the chick. (2) Both HDC and HMT activities were present in chick muscle tissue. (3) HDC activity in chick stomach decreased sharply as a function of dietary histidine.

Animals↗

PubMed1981

Nitrogen retention, muscle creatine and orotic acid excretion in traumatized rats fed arginine and glycine enriched diets.

Male, Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to the trauma of laparotomy under sodium pentothal anesthesia. Apparent N retention (N intake - Urinary N) was studied when these rats were fed a 25% casein diet either unsupplemented or enriched with arginine plus glycine or with ornithine plus glycine. These amino acids occur in particularly high concentrations in skin and connective tissue and might, therefore, be required in greater amounts for tissue repair. In one experiment muscle creatine content and orotic acid excretion in the urine were determined. We found that laparotomy carried out under sodium pentothal anesthesia was a highly reproducible form of trauma which resulted in a significant decrease in apparent N retention. Supplementing a 25% casein based diet with arginine and glycine significantly improved apparent N retention both in untraumatized as well as in traumatized rats. Ornithine was less effective than arginine in improving apparent N retention. Urinary orotic acid excretion was significantly increased in rats fed the unsupplemented casein diet, regardless of the imposition of trauma. Muscle creatine content was significantly increased by the supplementation of the diet with arginine plus glycine. The beneficial effect of arginine-plus-glycine enrichment in traumatized rats does not appear to be due to an arginine deficit needed for the detoxification of ammonia from excess amino acids but may be related to creatine synthesis and turnover.

Amino Acids↗

PubMed1980