Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Allsop.
The Family Practitioner Committee has a broad ombudsman function, writes Judy Allsop, a former medical service committee lay member and senior lecturer in social policy, Polytechnic of the South Bank. She discusses the way PFCs deal with complaints against GPs and highlights some of the problems faced by complainants and the medical service committees.
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(1) This communication reports the amidophosphoribosyltransferase (PRPP-At; EC2.4.2.14), hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT; EC2.4.2.7) and adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT; EC2.4.2.8) activities and the phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP) content of rat brain at different stages of development. The results are not age-related in the foetal and neonatal animals and the data for whole brain homogenates are similar to the average results for the individual regions of the brain at the same stage of development. (2) The enzyme activities and PRPP content are similar in the different regions of the rat central nervous system. PRPP-At has the lowest activity of the 3 enzymes studied and this decreases gradually from birth until 8 weeks. HPRT is the most active of the three enzymes, its activity increases markedly between birth and the end of the third week of life. The time course of these changes shows only minor differences between the regions of the brain studied. The ratio of HPRT activity to PRPP-At activity increases from age 1 week in all parts of the rat brain. (3) The APRT activities in rat brain are intermediate between those of PRPP-At and HPRT and essentially steady except for a decrease in the cerebellum during the first 3 weeks of life. (4) The PRPP concentrations in rat brain decrease between birth and the end of the 3rd week of life. (5) The systemic tissues examined have PRPP-At, HPRT and APRT activities. The relationship between the activities of the different enzymes appears to be characteristic of the tissue concerned. (6) Correlating the observed time course of the changes in the ratio of hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase activity to amidophosphoribosyltransferase activity in the rat with other workers' data on changes in the rate of DNA accretion in human brain during development indicates that the main increase in this ratio is after the major bursts of neuroblast and neuroglia proliferation. We suggest that the neurological dysfunction in the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome is due to lack of a purine derivative with a physiological or neuropharmacological function, rather than to an effect of the biochemical lesion on brain morphogenesis.
Hyperuricaemia in Down's syndrome is unreleated to the activity of phosphoribosylamidotransfrease, which catalyses the activity of the first specific step on the purine biosynthetic pathway, and to the activity of hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase and phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase, abnormalities of which are known to be associated with hyperuricaemia. Immunological studies involving serum immunoglobulins, natural E. coli antibodies, test immunization with pneumococcal polysaccharide type III (PnPS), in vitro lymphocyte transformation to mitogens, and pokeweed mitogen (PWM) induced immunoglobulin production showed no difference between hyperuricaemic or normouricaemic Down's patients and institutionalized controls. The Down's patients had higher serum IgA, IgG and IgE, and some also produced more immunoglobulin in PWM-stimulated lymphocyte cultures when compared to normal healthy controls. However, both patients with Down's syndrome and the institutionalized controls had significantly lower responses to PnPs than normal healthy controls. The only deficiency confined to the Down's patients was a signficant depression in delayed hypersensitivity to dinitrochlorobenzene. These findings indicate that the in vivo abnormality of depressed cellular and humoral immunity in Down's patients is not paralleled by in vitro function as measured by PHA lymphocyte transformation and immunoglobulin production by PWM-stimulated lymphocytes. There is also no apparent link between a putative defect in purine metabolism in Down's patients and any immunological abnormalities.
1. Hypoxanthine--guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) activity was measured in erythrocyte haemolysates and quadriceps muscle extracts of normal and dystrophic 129 ReJ and C57 BL/6J mice with [8(-14)C]hypoxanthine as substrate and 5-phosphorylribose 1-pyrophosphate as a ribose 5-phosphate donor. [8(-14)C]Inosine monophosphate formed was separated by high-voltage electrophoresis and radioactivity was measured by liquid-scintillation counting. 2. In erythrocyte haemolysates, HGPRT activity was similar in normal and dystrophic C57 BL/6J mice but was significantly higher in dystrophic than in normal 129 ReJ mice. Elevated enzyme activity was observed only in mice that were clinically severely affected. 3. In muscle homogenates, HGPRT activity was significantly higher in dystrophic than in normal animals of both 129 ReJ and C57 BL/6J mice. Enzyme activity was not related to the severity of the disease. 4. It is suggested that changes in erythrocytes are secondary to the dystrophic process and that elevated HGPRT activity in skeletal muscle may be related to abnormal energy metabolism, possibly via the pentose monophosphate shunt.
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The mean activity of purine 5'-nucleotidase (E.C.3.1.3.5) in lymphocytes was significantly lower in patients with non-familial adult onset "variable" primary hypogammaglobulinaemia than in non-hypogammaglobulinaemic control subjects. These findings suggest that 5'-nucleotidase activity is necessary for normal lymphocyte function. This may be related to its role in facilitating the transfer of newly formed purines across cell membranes by converting them from nucleotides to nucleosides. This enzyme defect may be a characteristic metabolic lesion in at least some of the patients; alternatively, it may be secondary to some other metabolic defect or plasma-membrane change.
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Two cases of parietal lobe tumours with contralateral muscle atrophy are discussed. Muscle biopsy demonstrated selective atrophy of Type II fibres. E.M.G. shows brief small polyphasic potentials. At autopsy in the second case no neurological lesion was found outside the brain, muscles and pyramidal tract.
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1. Methionine adenosyltransferase (ATP:L-methionine-S-adenosyl transferase, EC 2.5.1.6), cystathionine beta-synthase F1L-serine hydro-lyase (adding homocysteine), EC 4.2.1.22] and cystathionine gamma-lyase [L-cystathionine cysteine-lyase (deaminating), EC 4.4.1.1] activities were found only in the cytosol fraction of rat liver cells. None was found in the mitochondrial or endoplasmic reticulum fractions as judged by the distribution of marker enzymes on a density gradient after centrifugation of the cytoplasmic fraction of a liver homogenate, or in a preparation of liver cell nuclei. 2. Polymorphs, lymphocytes (with admixed monocytes) and mixed bone marrow white cells contained no methionine adenosyl transferase, cystathionine beta-synthase or cystathionine gamma-lyase activities. 3. The possible bearing of these results on the problem of abnormal cystine storage in cystinosis is briefly discussed.
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Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) activity was measured in red cells and in skeletal muscles of normal and Duchenne subjects. [8-14C] hypoxanthine was used as substrate, and 5-phospho-alpha-D-ribose 1-diphosphate (PRPP) was used as the ribose-5-phosphate donor. The [8-14C] inosine monophosphate (IMP) formed was separated by high-voltage electrophoresis, and radioactivity was measured by lipid scintillation counting. HGPRT activity in Duchenne and normal red-cell hemolysates was similar, but such activity was significantly higher in Duchenne than in normal muscle homogenates. Red cells of both normal and Duchenne subjects had significantly higher enzyme activity than did skeletal muscles. It is suggested that increased HGPRT activity may be involved in enhancing protein synthesis by increasing intracellular levels of purine ribonucleotides.
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