Substrate dependence of the mitochondrial energy status in the isolated working rat heart.
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Publications and source records attributed to K Clarke.
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A study of lyophilized plasma calibrants in correcting for coagulometer effects on International Normalized Ratios (INR) has been conducted in an international survey. Prothrombin times were performed with the calibrants on 2 "common" thromboplastins and in-house thromboplastins in 3 brands of coagulometer at 37 centers. The International Sensitivity Indices (ISI) of 95 local systems with the calibrants were derived. The "true" INR of 10 test plasmas from warfarin-treated patients were established centrally using thromboplastin International Reference Preparations (IRP). International Normalized Ratios of these plasmas for each center were calculated using both the manufacturers' stated and the local ISI. The mean deviation of the 95 systems from the "true" INR of the warfarin plasmas was +14.4% with the manufacturers' ISI, but reduced to +1.04% with the local ISI. Local ISI determination with the calibrants avoids many of the difficulties of conventional thromboplastin calibrations. Plasmas from patients on warfarin and parallel manual PT with thromboplastin IRP are not required.
The comparative value of lyophilized artificially depleted plasmas and plasmas from warfarin-treated patients in local (thromboplastin/coagulometer) system International Sensitivity Indices (ISI) determination has been studied at 39 centers in an international collaborative study. At each center, both types of plasmas were tested with two common thromboplastins (low ISI RecombiPlasTin and high ISI OBT), and in-house reagents using three brands of coagulometers. In 95 local systems, they was agreement. With both thromboplastins, coagulometers lowered the ISI from the manual or stated ISI with all systems. Differences between the two types of lyophilized plasmas with the two common thromboplastins were not of clinical importance. Artificially depleted plasmas are easier to obtain in sufficient volumes than plasma from warfarin-treated patients, and more easily provide the wide range of INR values required for reliable local ISI calibration. The agreement between the two types of lyophilized calibrant is reassuring.
Addition of insulin or a physiological ratio of ketone bodies to buffer with 10 mM glucose increased efficiency (hydraulic work/energy from O2 consumed) of working rat heart by 25%, and the two in combination increased efficiency by 36%. These additions increased the content of acetyl CoA by 9- to 18-fold, increased the contents of metabolites of the first third of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle 2- to 5-fold, and decreased succinate, oxaloacetate, and aspartate 2- to 3-fold. Succinyl CoA, fumarate, and malate were essentially unchanged. The changes in content of TCA metabolites resulted from a reduction of the free mitochondrial NAD couple by 2- to 10-fold and oxidation of the mitochondrial coenzyme Q couple by 2- to 4-fold. Cytosolic pH, measured using 31P-NMR spectra, was invariant at about 7.0. The total intracellular bicarbonate indicated an increase in mitochondrial pH from 7.1 with glucose to 7.2, 7.5 and 7.4 with insulin, ketones, and the combination, respectively. The decrease in Eh7 of the mitochondrial NAD couple, Eh7NAD+/NADH, from -280 to -300 mV and the increase in Eh7 of the coenzyme Q couple, Eh7Q/QH2, from -4 to +12 mV was equivalent to an increase from -53 kJ to -60 kJ/2 mol e in the reaction catalyzed by the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase multienzyme complex (EC 1.6.5.3). The increase in the redox energy of the mitochondrial cofactor couples paralleled the increase in the free energy of cytosolic ATP hydrolysis, delta GATP. The potential of the mitochondrial relative to the cytosolic phases, Emito/cyto, calculated from delta GATP and delta pH on the assumption of a 4 H+ transfer for each ATP synthesized, was -143 mV during perfusion with glucose or glucose plus insulin, and decreased to -120 mV on addition of ketones. Viewed in this light, the moderate ketosis characteristic of prolonged fasting or type II diabetes appears to be an elegant compensation for the defects in mitochondrial energy transduction associated with acute insulin deficiency or mitochondrial senescence.
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OBJECTIVES: Insulin resistance in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue often accompanies hypertension; however, it has not been shown that heart muscle is similarly affected. The aims of this study were to determine whether basal and insulin-stimulated glucose transport and glucose transporter mRNA content are altered in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) heart. METHODS: Hearts from 16-18-month-old SHRs were compared to their normotensive (WKY) controls. The accumulation of 2-deoxyglucose-6-phosphate (2DG6P), detected using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, was used to assess glucose uptake before and during insulin stimulation in the isolated perfused heart. The mRNA levels of both the insulin-sensitive glucose transporter (GLUT-4) and the transporter responsible for basal glucose uptake (GLUT-1) were quantified by Northern blot analysis. RESULTS: The hypertensive rat hearts exhibited hypertrophy in that the heart/body weight ratio was increased by 59%. In these hearts, the basal rate of glucose uptake was 3-fold greater and hexokinase activity was 1.6 fold greater than that of the control rat hearts. On exposure to insulin, accumulation of 2DG6P increased 5-fold in the control hearts, but only 1.4-fold in the SHR hearts. Thus, in the presence of insulin, the rate of glucose uptake by the hypertensive rat heart was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced, being 82% of control. GLUT-4 mRNA content was decreased was no significant difference in the GLUT-1 mRNA content. CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated insulin resistance in the hypertrophied heart of the hypertensive rat that may have a molecular basis in a lower GLUT-4 content.
The successful use of granulocyte transfusions in a patient undergoing volunteer unrelated donor BMT for very severe aplastic anemia complicated by presumed fungal infection is described. Granulocytes were obtained by leukapheresis of normal volunteer donors stimulated by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. The yields of granulocytes obtained by this method were sufficient to produce sustained neutrophil increments in the recipient throughout the transplant course. In vitro studies indicated that granulocytes were functionally normal, a finding which was supported clinically by the rapid resolution of infection, even in the setting of immunosuppression post-transplantation. This demonstrated the potential value of granulocyte transfusions in high-risk BMT.
CD4 is a T lymphocyte receptor for major histocompatibility complex class II antigens. It is referred to as coreceptor because it synergizes with the T cell receptor for antigen when both receptors become engaged simultaneously. We show here in mice that when engaged by antibody independently of the T cell antigen receptor, CD4 induces T cells to undergo apoptosis. Several features of this process were identified. The expression of an intact Fas protein is a requirement for CD4-mediated T cell death. Mice homozygous for the lpr mutation which are defective in the expression of Fas and in their ability to delete lymphocytes apoptotically fail to delete anti-CD4-reactive T cells. Sessile anti-CD4-reactive T cells leave their homing environment in lymphoid organs and modulate their cell surface molecules, e.g. CD2, CD3, CD4. A massive influx of lymphoid cells with null-cell phenotype occurs in the blood where they begin to reexpress cell surface markers. With their arrival in the circulation, anti-CD4-reactive T cells develop features of DNA degradation typical of apoptosis. More than one third of the circulating lymphoid cells show apoptotic features 7-8 h after anti-CD4 injection. Their frequency declines subsequently presumably due to their physical disintegration via shedding of apoptotic bodies and phagocytosis. Our data show that when not obliged to the activation process by the antigen receptor, CD4 can mediate deletion signals. Thus, besides functioning as coreceptor with the antigen receptor, CD4 has a function of its own in facilitating the induction of apoptosis.
To quantify metabolite and cation concentrations using NMR spectroscopy, the volumes of intracellular and extracellular spaces must be known. We describe a simple 31P NMR spectroscopic method that employs dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) as a marker of total water space and phenylphosphonate (PPA) as a marker of extracellular space to determine intracellular and extracellular space volumes in the isolated, perfused rat heart. In vivo and in vitro radiolabel studies were used to verify this method. The difference between the total and extracellular water spaces, determined as milliliters/heart, gave the intracellular volume and allowed direct calculation of myocardial creatine phosphate, ATP, and inorganic phosphate concentrations, which were 13.4 mM, 10.1 mM, and 3.4 mM, respectively, for the glucose-perfused rat heart. The extracellular volume decreased by 84% in hearts subjected to 28 min total, global ischemia and increased by 15% during reperfusion. The method described allows the determination of intracellular energy metabolite concentrations in perfused rat heart directly from a single, fully relaxed 31P NMR spectrum.
Fluxes of orthophosphate (Pi) across the sarcolemma may be important in myocardial metabolism, yet little is known of these in the intact heart. We used 31P NMR spectroscopy to measure net Pi fluxes from changes in the concentrations of Pi, phosphocreatine (PCr), ATP and "total phosphate" ([TP] = [PCr] + 3[ATP] + [Pi]) in the isolated perfused rat heart in response to a change in extracellular [Pi] from 2 mM to 0 mM. [Pi] decreased to 62% of control with a half-time of 6 min, while [TP] decreased with initial rate 20 mM/h, a measure of net Pi efflux. As [PCr] decreased to 83% of control, phosphorylation potential remained constant. Contractile function was unaffected. Reperfusion with 2 mM Pi reversed all changes, causing net Pi influx at 26 mM/h. Analysed according to a model of net Pi flux, these imply a sarcolemmal permeability rate constant of 13 per h. Insulin in the 2 mM Pi perfusion buffer caused a transient decrease in intracellular [Pi] to 59% of control, while [TP] increased, giving a net Pi influx of 12 mM/h and a permeability constant of 12 per h. [PCr] increased by 28% over 34 min. Thus, insulin caused Pi influx by stimulating Pi incorporation into organic phosphates, transiently decreasing intracellular [Pi] and increasing the outside-to-inside [Pi] gradient. The response to 0 mM and 2 mM Pi perfusion was unaffected by insulin. We conclude that Pi fluxes across the sarcolemma are substantial and may have implications for Pi-free tissue perfusion and clinical hypophosphataemia.
Evaluation is critical to the development and successful integration of knowledge-based systems into their application environment. This is of particular importance in the medical domain--not only for reasons of safety and correctness, but also to reinforce the users' confidence in these systems. In this paper we describe an iterative, four-phased development evaluation cycle covering the following areas: (i) early prototype development, (ii) validity of the system, (iii) functionality of the system, and (iv) impact of the system.
The objective was to study the 1-month outcome of patients who had a low probability ventilation/perfusion lung scan using Technegas radioaerosol as the inhalational agent and who did not receive anticoagulation. One hundred consecutive patients with suspected pulmonary embolism were studied retrospectively. Their Technegas lung scans were classified by two blinded and independent nuclear medicine physicians and the medical records of all patients with a low probability scan were reviewed. One hundred inpatients (42 males and 58 females) with a mean age of 63 years were studied. The three most common clinical presentations leading to lung scintigraphy were unexplained dyspnoea (30 cases), unexplained dyspnoea with pleuritic chest pain (26 cases) and pleuritic chest pain only (15 cases). Nine patients had been judged by their managing medical team to have a high clinical probability of true pulmonary embolism, 32 had an intermediate probability clinical presentation and 59 a low clinical probability of pulmonary embolism. None of the 100 patients experienced further episodes of suspected or proven pulmonary embolism during the follow-up period. Six patients died. In none of them was pulmonary embolism either the cause of or a major contributing factor to death. The finding of a low probability scan using Technegas as the ventilation scintigram agent of choice describes a group of patients who, even in the absence of therapeutic anticoagulation, have a favourable 1-month outcome free of either true or suspected clinical pulmonary embolism. Invasive, pulmonary angiography-based diagnostic strategies may not be needed in this group of patients.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between insulin and vascular risk factors in a healthy male population at high risk of ischaemic heart disease. DESIGN: Computer-generated random number selection of subjects. SETTING: A suburban general practice population (total practice population 4500) in Northern Ireland. SUBJECTS: Four hundred male subjects, aged 35-65 years, were randomly selected with 273 responding. INTERVENTION: At interview, each subject completed a questionnaire, had blood pressure measured and a 12-lead ECG recorded. The next morning, fasting blood samples were taken and a timed overnight urine collection for the albumin excretion rate was returned. RESULTS: To exclude the confounding effects of other variables on insulin concentrations, a healthy nonobese, nondiabetic, normotensive group with no history of ischaemic heart disease, no family history of diabetes and not taking drugs was identified (n = 120). Within this group there was a significant correlation between insulin and triglyceride (r = 0.30; P < 0.05), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (r = 0.24; P < 0.05) and glucose (r = 0.30; P < 0.05). A group with higher insulin levels (n = 22) were compared to a group with lower insulin levels (n = 22). Serum triglyceride was higher (1.29 +/- 0.1 vs. 1.00 +/- 0.08 mmol L-1; P < 0.05), HDL cholesterol was lower (1.26 +/- 0.06 vs. 1.50 +/- 0.09 mmol L-1; P < 0.05) and plasma glucose higher (5.2 +/- 0.1 vs. 4.9 +/- 0.1 mmol L-1; P < 0.05) in the group with higher insulin levels. CONCLUSIONS: There is a relationship between insulin and triglyceride, HDL cholesterol and glucose but not blood pressure, cholesterol or low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in a healthy population at high risk of ischaemic heart disease.
The utilisation of laboratory services for patient diagnosis and management involves many steps with both clinical and laboratory components. The clinical components include the decision to order a test, interpretation of the test results and actions taken on the basis of the results. The laboratory components on the other hand include receipt of the request, specimen collection, preparation and analysis, result entry, test result validation and verification and reporting of the results. In this paper, which is part of the OpenLabs project, we concentrate on the post-analytical applications which include interpretation and reporting of the laboratory results to the users in primary care and in high dependency care units. The final objective of the work described is to develop generic modules which can be integrated both with an Open laboratory information system architecture and existing laboratory information processing environment.
OBJECTIVE: To determine if a relation exists between paternal exposure to relatively high levels of radiation in the Scottish nuclear industry and the risk of leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is subsequently conceived children. DESIGN: Matched case-control study with three controls for each case. SETTING: The whole of Scotland. SUBJECTS: The fathers of 1024 children with leukaemia and 237 children with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosed in Scotland below the age of 25 among those born in Scotland since nuclear operations began (in 1958) and the fathers of 3783 randomly chosen controls. The fathers of 80 children with leukaemia and 16 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in north Cumbria were also covered since some workers at one Scottish nuclear site live over the border in that area. Details of all fathers were then matched against records of the nuclear industry. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Paternal preconceptional radiation exposures, particularly relatively high levels, both lifetime and in the six and three months before conception. RESULTS: No significant excess was observed in any subgroup and there was no significant trend: fathers of three controls but no cases were exposed to lifetime preconceptional levels of 100 mSv or greater (Fisher's exact p value 0.84). In the six months before conception, fathers of two cases and three controls received 10 mSv or more, odds ratio 2.3 (95% confidence interval 0.31 to 17.24). In the three months before conception the fathers of one case and two controls received 5 mSv or more, odds ratio 1.7 (0.10 to 30.76). The results for leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma combined were similar. CONCLUSIONS: No significant excess of leukaemia or of leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was found at any radiation level in any preconceptional period.
OBJECTIVE: To determine if any excess of childhood leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was associated with certain striking examples of population mixing in rural Scotland produced by the North Sea oil industry. DESIGN: Details were traced for over 30,000 workers involved in the construction of the large oil terminals in the Shetland and Orkney islands in northern Scotland or employed offshore. Home addresses of the 17,160 Scottish residents were postcoded, integrated with census data, and then classified as urban or rural. Rural postcode sectors, ranked by proportion of oil workers, were grouped into three categories with similar numbers of children but contrasting densities of oil workers. The incidence of leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was examined in these rural (and also in urban) categories in the periods 1974-8, 1979-83 and 1984-8. SETTING: Scotland. SUBJECTS: Young people below age 25. RESULTS: A significant excess of leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was found in 1979-83 in the group of rural home areas with the largest proportion of oil workers, following closely on large increases in the workforce. The area near the Dounreay nuclear installation, where an excess of leukaemia is already well known, was within the rural high oil category. CONCLUSION: The findings support the infection hypothesis that population mixing can increase the incidence of childhood leukaemia in rural areas. They also suggest that the recent excess in the Dounreay-Thurso area is due to population mixing linked to the oil industry, promoted by certain unusual local demographic factors.
OBJECTIVE: To provide an overview of the current approaches to management of renovascular disease. DATA SOURCES: A literature review was performed and key references are provided relating to diagnostic tests, particularly captopril renography and renal duplex scanning. Options for treatment are reviewed from published series to December 1991. We also draw on the experience of our own Unit. STUDY SELECTION: Data and opinions from five general reviews of renovascular disease, 10 articles on diagnostic tests and five articles relating to therapeutic approaches are summarised. CONCLUSION: There is no simple screening test for renovascular hypertension that can be applied to an unselected population of hypertensive subjects. The diagnosis depends on judicious use of non-invasive screening tests in those subjects in whom one suspects, on clinical grounds, that there may be an underlying renovascular lesion. Captopril renography and duplex scanning of renal arteries are the most reliable non-invasive screening tests. A team approach with collaboration of hypertension specialist/vascular physician, vascular surgeon and experienced interventional radiologist is important for rational management and we would emphasise the importance of audit procedures.