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J Eisinger

Publications and source records attributed to J Eisinger.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Lead and wine. Eberhard Gockel and the colica Pictonum.

Thecolica Pictonum or colic of Poitou, under these and many other names, was a frequent, widespread, and deadly disease from Roman times until the eighteenth century. Its unique pathognomonic, notably a severe colic succeeded by paralysis and other central nervous system dysfunction, makes it possible to identify the disease with certainty as chronic lead disease, usually caused by the ingestion of lead-adulterated wines. The custom of sweetening and preserving sour wines with lead-containing additives is traced to the Romans. They had made the empirical discovery that sapa, a syrup prepared by concentrating must in a lead vessel, kept wine from spoiling and that it had, moreover, an agreeable flavour.Reports of outbreaks of the colica Pictonum appear in the medical literature from Roman times, but the correct aetiology of the disease was not discovered until the seventeenth century following a series of outbreaks in Southern Germany which were related to unfavourable climatic and political conditions. The connexion between the disease and prevailing methods for "correcting" wines was drawn in 1696 by Eberhard Gockel, then the city physician of Ulm. This achievement can be traced to his familiarity with Samuel Stockhausen's work on plumbism among miners and potters, as well as to the favourable epidemiological situation presented by Gockel's monastic patients. From the literary evidence assembled here and from experimental determinations of the lead content of sapa and similar concentrates, it is possible to estimate the lead levels and toxicity of wines from various eras. The levels range up to 80 mg/l and make it apparent that many wines were sufficiently toxic to account for the incidence and severity of the colica Pictonum. Explanations for the disastrous persistence of the colic of Poitou are discussed, as are the similarities between Gockel's approach and the methods of modern environmental medicine.

Colic↗
PubMed1982

Association of cytosol hemoglobin with the membrane in intact erythrocytes.

The problem of demonstrating hemoglobin binding to the erythrocyte membrane in intact cells was approached by observing the quenching of fluorescent membrane probes by hemoglobin as a function of pH. This quenching was studied by measuring fluorescence intensities and decay rates of membrane-bound donors by both right-angle and front-face fluorometry. The donors included 4,4'-bis(isothiocyano)-2,2'-stilbene disulfonate (DIDS) bound to the band 3 protein and 2-, 6-, and 12-(9-anthroyloxy(stearic acid (2-AS, 6-AS, and 12-AS) in the lipid portion of the membrane. The probe fluorescence is quenched progressively as the intracellular pH is decreased from 7.2 to 5.9 and does not depend on the oxygenation state. Since the fluorescence characteristic of the DIDS and x-AS probes in ghosts are independent of pH over this range, this quenching is due to the greater proximity of the donors and hemoglobin. Because hemoglobin binding to the band 3 protein in ghosts has previously been shown under conditions of low ionic strength and hemoglobin concentration, the present results were analyzed by a model in which a hemoglobin molecule is bound or in close proximity to a band 3 protein at pH 6. By using resonance energy transfer theory, we found the distance from DIDS to the bound hemoglobin to be approximately 4 A, which is within the range of distances measured between the DIDS binding site and the band 3 protein cytoplasmic sulfhydryl groups. Furthermore, the pH-dependent fluorescence quenching of 12-AS was stronger than that of 2-AS, showing that a cytoplasmic acceptor is involved and that the average distance between hemoglobin and these probes was greater than that for DIDS.

4,4'-Diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-Disulfonic Acid↗
PubMed1981

Fluorescence polarization study of human erythrocyte membranes with 1-phenyl-3-(2-naphthyl)-2-pyrazoline as orientational probe.

The emission and polarization spectra of 1-phenyl-3-(2-naphthyl)-2-pyrazoline (PNP) in various environments were studied. Compared to the widely used orientational membrane probe 1,6-diphenylhexatriene (DPH), PNP is five times less photolabile and since its fluorescence emission maximum is at longer wavelengths (lambda max approximately 445 nm), it is more suitable for use with intact erythrocytes. The limiting fluorescence anisotropy of PNP is 0.385. In erythrocyte ghosts, the steady-state emission anisotropy of PNP is a decreasing formation of wavelength and its temperature dependence parallels that of DPH, dropping from 0.298 at 2 degrees C to 0.185 at 38 degrees C when averaged between 420 and 470 nm.

Diphenylhexatriene↗
PubMed1980

A rapid fluorometric method for determining bilirubin levels and binding in the blood of neonates: comparisons with a diazo method and with 2-(4'-hydroxybenzene)azobenzoic acid dye binding.

A simple, rapid fluorometric method for determining the albumin-bound bilirubin concentration, total blood bilirubin concentration, and the bilirubin reserve-binding capacity of albumin was clinically evaluated using blood specimens from 79 neonates. This study showed that these bilirubin determinations, made by means of the Bell Laboratories hematofluorometer, correlated well with plasma bilirubin levels obtained by a diazotization (Jendrassik-Grof) method. Hematofluorometer reserve-binding capacities correlated very well with 2-(4'-hydroxybenzene)azobenzoic acid (HABA) dye reserve-binding capacities for specimens of artificially jaundiced adult blood. For specimens of neonatal blood the HABA dye reserve capacity was, on the average, higher than the hematofluorometer reserve-binding capacity, particularly for specimens from low-birth-weight babies (less than 2,000 gm). Comparison of HABA reserve capacity and hematofluorometer reserve capacity for high-birth-weight babies (greater than 2,000 gm) gave data very similar to those for adult blood specimens. The specific bilirubin-binding capacity of albumin was found to be greater for infants whose birth weight exceeded 2,000 gm than for the lower birth weight group. The total blood bilirubin concentration obtained by the hematofluorometer is shown to be significantly higher than the concentration of bilirubin bound to albumin, an indication of other important compartments of bilirubin in blood.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Rapid fluorometric assay of bilirubin and bilirubin binding capacity in blood of jaundiced neonates: comparisons with other methods.

The concentrations of total blood bilirubin, albumin-bound bilirubin, and the reserve and total bilirubin binding capacities of 35 neonatal blood samples (28 patients) were determined by automated front-face fluorometry ((hematofluorometer). These values were compared to results of diazo determinations, Sephadex gel filtration, and peroxidase-oxidation methods. Total blood bilirubin level by fluorometry agreed well with the total plasma bilirubin level by diazotization (r = .96, sigma = 1.7 mg/100 ml). Albumin-bound bilirubin concentrations by fluorometry also correlated well with diazo values (r = .95, sigma = 1.9 mg/100 ml) and were slightly lower than the total blood bilirubin concentrations. Values for total bilirubin binding capacity determined by fluorometry agreed well with results obtained for the same specimens by Sephadex gel filtration (n = 28, r = .97, sigma = 1.8 mg/100 ml) and by peroxidase-catalyzed oxidation (n = 25, r = .97, sigma = 1.7 mg/100 ml). The agreement among the results obtained by the three methods indicates a well-defined in vitro end point at which available primary or "tight" binding sites on albumin are saturated with bilirubin. In this clinical experience the coefficient of variation of results with the hematofluorometer was 8.4% for total blood bilirubin and 6.5% for total binding capacity. A comparison of "sick" with "well" infants revealed that the fraction of bilirubin not bound to albumin was significantly different for these two groups. The assays made with the hematofluorometer are quick (10 to 15 minutes) and require only a small quantity (approximately 150 microliters) of blood.

Bilirubin↗
PubMed1979

Living with lead.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Environmental Pollutants↗
PubMed1979

The orientational freedom of molecular probes. The orientation factor in intramolecular energy transfer.

The measurement of the efficiency of Förster long-range resonance energy transfer between donor (D) and acceptor (A) luminophores attached to the same macromolecular substrate can be used to estimate the D-A separation, R. If the D and A transition dipoles sample all orientations with respect to the substrate (the isotropic condition) in a time short compared with the transfer time (the dynamic averaging condition), the average orientation factor less than K2 greater than is 2/3. If the isotropic condition is not satisfied but the dynamic averaging condition is, upper and lower bounds for less than K2 greater than, and thus R, may be obtained from observed D and A depolarizations, and these limits may be further narrowed if the transfer depolarization is also known. This paper offers experimental protocols for obtaining this reorientational information and presents contour plots of less than K2 greater than min and less than K2 greater than max as functions of generally observable depolarizations. This permits an uncertainty to be assigned to the determined value of R. The details of the D and A reoreintational process need not be known, but the orientational distributions are assumed to have at least approximate axial symmetry with respect to a stationary substrate. Average depolarization factors are derived for various orientational distribution functions that demonstrate the effects of various mechanisms for reorientation of the luminophores. It is shown that in general the static averaging regime does not lend itself to determinations of R.

Energy Transfer↗
PubMed1978

Central nervous system dysfunction due to lead exposure.

Central nervous system dysfunction was investigated in workers at a secondary lead smelter by means of performance tests. Correlations between test scores and zinc protoporphyrin levels, a biological indicator of lead toxicity, are statistically significant. This correlation should prove to be useful in current efforts to evaluate effects of lead exposure.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Hemoglobin, serum iron, and zinc protoporphyrin in lead-exposed workers.

In a previous study of secondary lead smelter workers (males), a significant prevalence of low hemoglobin levels (less than 14 g/100 ml) was found; a statistically significant negative correlation between hemoglobin and zinc protoporphyrin was also detected. In the present study serum iron (Fe) levels and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) were included in the investigation of 111 secondary lead smelter workers and 37 nonexposed controls. The distribution and mean values of serum iron and TIBC were found to be in the normal range in the lead exposed workers; there was no significant difference when compared to the control population. There was no significant correlation between blood lead or zinc protoporphyrin and serum iron, TIBC and Fe/TIBC. A statistically significant negative correlation between hemoglobin and blood lead levels was found; the correlation between hemoglobin and zinc protoporphyrin reached a much higher level of significance. The results support the view that anemia (low hemoglobin levels) in lead exposed male workers is related to the heme synthesis inhibiting effects of lead, as reflected by elevated zinc protoporphyrin levels, and is not due to iron deficiency.

Adult↗