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Biomedical subjects

K Kosugi

Publications and source records attributed to K Kosugi.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Development of stable film test for rapid estimation of blood or plasma 3-hydroxybutyrate.

A film test for the rapid detection of plasma/serum 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-OHB) has been developed. The film contains NAD, nitro blue tetrazolium, 3-OHB dehydrogenase, and diaphorase, and the surface is coated with modified biomembrane and can detect 50-1500 microM 3-OHB within 2-3 min. One drop or 50 microliters of plasma/serum or blood is applied to the film, and the violet color is read via reflectance meter after 2 min. Plasma/serum samples greater than 1500 microM 3-OHB can be measured by dilution with saline. In blood with 40% hematocrit, the color developed is 50% less than with plasma/serum, and this was adjusted in the reflectance meter. A good correlation (r = 0.99) was observed between results with automated and film methods and between visual methods and reflectance meter. In insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, all 3 subjects with positive ketonuria (+ +), 8 of 12 subjects with mild ketonuria (+), and 7 of 25 subjects without ketonuria exhibited elevation of 3-OHB in blood greater than 200 microM. The results indicate that 3-OHB film is valuable not only in the emergency room for the differential diagnosis between ketoacidotic and nonketotic hypersomolar coma but also as a marker for insulin dependency, energy dependency on fatty acid compared with glucose, and metabolic control of diabetes.

3-Hydroxybutyric Acid↗

Sex differences in blood constituents of rats following tail suspension.

Tail suspension was utilized to study sex differences in the effects of hypokinesia on blood constituents of rats. Twelve male and twelve female rats were used. After four weeks of exposure to tail suspension or non-treatment, the rats were laparotomized under ether anesthesia and blood samples were obtained. Biochemical tests on the blood samples were then performed immediately. Hematocrit and serum iron were also estimated. The results were as follows: 1) The same tendencies were noted in blood constituents between male and female rats in the control group and the tail suspension group. 2) The average levels of blood albumin, creatinine, uric acid, glucose, triglyceride, serum iron and hemoglobin in the tail suspension group were lower than those in the control group, especially in male rats.

Animals↗

Increased plasma plant sterol levels in heterozygotes with sitosterolemia and xanthomatosis.

Plasma sterol levels in a family of sitosterolemia and xanthomatosis were determined by a high performance liquid chromatography. Three affected siblings manifested marked xanthomatosis including subcutaneous soft tissues and generalized atherosclerosis. Two other siblings as well as children of the patients did not show such clinical symptoms and signs. Plasma levels of cholesterol, sitosterol, campesterol, and cholestanol in three affected subjects were 190 +/- 18.5, 25.9 +/- 11.6, 16.1 +/- 7.8, 1.84 +/- 0.92 mg/dl (mean +/- SD), respectively. Four daughters of the affected subjects, who should be considered as obligatory heterozygotes, showed moderately increased levels of these sterols (195 +/- 41.7, 1.33 +/- 0.44, 1.56 +/- 0.69, 0.80 +/- 0.28 mg/dl), which were significantly higher than those of normal subjects. Treatment with cholestyramine had little effect on the increased plasma plant sterol levels, but markedly decreased plasma cholestanol concentrations in two affected siblings. This report presents the clinical features of the patients with sitosterolemia and xanthomatosis and also demonstrates that heterozygotes with this disorder have increased plasma levels of plant sterols as well as cholestanol, and suggests that this rare disease might be inherited as an autosomal co-dominant trait in certain cases. The data also indicate that cholestyramine administration was not effective in this family for treatment of sitosterolemia.

Adult↗

Chronically streptozocin-diabetic monkey does not closely mimic human diabetic neuropathy.

In order to evaluate the value of diabetic Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscatus) as an animal model for studying the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy, morphological examinations were performed on myelinated nerve fibers and endoneurial microvessels at three levels of the lower limb nerve in eight streptozocin (STZ)-diabetic monkeys with the duration of diabetes up to 36 months and in four roughly age-matched control monkeys using a computer-assisted image analyzer. Nerve fiber loss was not found, although a tendency for nerve fiber atrophy was found in diabetic monkeys. Endoneurial microvessels did not show either endothelial or pericyte proliferation or basement membrane thickening. The results suggest that chronically STZ-diabetic Japanese monkeys with the duration of diabetes up to 36 months might be useful for studying diabetic axonopathy, but do not closely mimic the nerve pathology found in human diabetic neuropathy.

Animals↗

Toxicity of oxidized low-density lipoprotein to cultured fibroblasts is selective for S phase of the cell cycle.

Oxidized LDL (o-LDL) is toxic to a variety of cultured cells. Preliminary results suggested that susceptibility is enhanced by cell proliferation. As a step toward determining the mechanism of cytotoxicity, we chose to identify the cell cycle phase(s) during which exposure of cultured human fibroblasts to o-LDL leads to death. Cytochalasin B, which blocks cell migration and proliferation, and irradiation, which prevents mitosis but not migration, both blocked cytotoxicity. Colchicine, which arrests cells in mitosis but does not inhibit DNA synthesis, did not block cytotoxicity. Treatment of cells with hydroxyurea, which blocks cells prior to S phase, prevented cell death. Addition of o-LDL to cells immediately after S phase allowed mitosis without death. The above results coupled with results using cells synchronized by three different means indicate that cell death is selective for proliferating cells and occurs after exposure to o-LDL during S phase. Understanding the mechanism of o-LDL-induced death may have implications for tissue damage in vivo in the numerous instances of pathology in which oxidized lipoproteins or lipids are present.

Cell Cycle↗

Study of insulin response to oral glucose load after acute and chronic glycemic control in type 2 diabetic subjects.

To investigate whether correction of fasting hyperglycemia per se improves the insulin secretion in type 2 diabetic subjects, plasma insulin response to 75 g oral glucose load has been studied after acute and chronic normalization of fasting plasma glucose levels in 7 overt type 2 diabetic subjects. For the acute normalization of elevated fasting plasma glucose levels, an artificial endocrine pancreas was employed. Although fasting plasma glucose concentrations were normalized before the oral glucose challenge, insulin response to oral glucose was not improved compared to those without normalization of fasting plasma glucose levels. After 1-3 month control of hyperglycemia, the insulin response to glucose in the subjects was significantly improved compared to those without treatments. Results indicate that chronic metabolic control is essential for the improvement of insulin response to glucose in type 2 diabetic subjects, and also suggest that the impaired insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes is not due to hyperglycemia per se, but due to the metabolic derangements which lead to chronic hyperglycemia.

Adult↗

Determinants in the pathways followed by the carbons of acetone in their conversion to glucose.

[2-14C]Acetone was infused into rats that were fed or fasted. Each was infused with either a trace quantity of acetone or a large quantity that resulted in a blood concentration of acetone of at least 4 mM. The distribution of 14C in the carbons of glucose from each rat was determined. Two of the rats were given acetone in their drinking water and one was diabetic. Whether a rat was chronically exposed to acetone, fed or fasted, normal or diabetic, if given the trace dose, over 80% of the 14C in the glucose it formed was in carbons 1, 2, 5, and 6 of the glucose. If a rat was given the large dose, about 50% was in carbons 3 and 4. Thus, the major determinant of the pathways followed by acetone when it is metabolized is its concentration and not the prior dietary state of the animal or its previous exposure to acetone. Incorporation into carbons 1, 2, 5, and 6 occurs in the conversion of the carbons of [2-14C]lactate into glucose, whereas incorporation into carbons 3 and 4 occurs in the conversion of the carbons of [1-14C]acetate into glucose. Therefore, at high acetone concentration, the pathway that has been proposed for acetone's metabolism via acetate predominates, and via acetate there can be no net synthesis of glucose from acetone. When rats were given cyanamide and then the large dose of acetone, 74% of the 14C in the glucose they formed was in carbons 3 and 4 of the glucoses. Thus, the relative contribution of the pathway to lactate, or its metabolic equivalent, that has been proposed appears to be lessened by the administration of an aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor.

Acetates↗

A suppressive role of c-kinase for the stimulation of hepatic ketogenesis by glucagon and epinephrine.

The regulatory mechanism of hepatic palmitate oxidation into ketone bodies by c-kinase has been studied in isolated hepatocytes. Glucagon and epinephrine stimulated [U-14C]palmitate oxidation to ketone bodies by 60 and 25% as early as at 1 h. The stimulatory effects were almost totally prevented by the simultaneous presence of vasopressin, phorbol 12-tetradecanoate 13-acetate (TPA), or diacylglycerol (1-oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol). When hepatocytes were treated with glucagon or epinephrine, carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT), a key regulatory enzyme of palmitate oxidation, was activated. This hormone-induced activation of CPT was not observed in the presence of TPA. These observations suggest that c-kinase inhibits glucagon- or epinephrine-stimulated palmitate oxidation to ketone bodies, and that this inhibition may be mediated through a covalent modification of CPT.

Animals↗

Pathways of acetone's metabolism in the rat.

Distributions of 14C were different from those of 13C in glucoses formed by livers of rats in diabetic ketosis and perfused with [2-14C]acetone and [2-13C]lactate. There was 32-73% of the 14C and 8-12% of the 13C in carbons 3 and 4 of the glucoses with the remaining 14C and 13C distributed about equally in the other carbons. Incorporations of 14C from [2-14C]acetone (14-39%) also exceeded those from [2-14C]pyruvate (8-10%) into carbons 3 and 4 of glucoses formed by hepatocytes from rats fed acetone or fasted. [2-14C]Acetone and [2-14C]pyruvate were infused into rats that were fed, fasted, given acetone in their drinking water, or in diabetic ketosis. Thirty-seven to 52% of the 14C in the glucoses formed was in their carbons 3 and 4 when the acetone was infused and 8 to 14% when the pyruvate was infused. [1,3-14C]Hydroxybutyrate was formed by the rats in diabetic ketosis given [2-14C]acetone. It is concluded that acetone is metabolized in rats to a large extent by a pathway in which lactate or its metabolic equivalent is not an intermediate and that pathway is via acetyl-CoA. via acetyl-CoA.

Acetone↗

The nature of the pentose pathway in liver.

[2-14C]Glucose, [3,4-14C]glucose, [5-14C]glucose, [4,5,6-14C]glucose, and [1-14C]ribose were perfused through livers of rats. The rats were fed or fasted and refed. In one experiment the liver perfused was regenerating and in another phenazine methosulfate was in the perfusate. Perfusion was for 30 or 90 min. Glucose from each perfusate and liver glucose-6-P and glycogen were isolated, purified, and degraded. The distributions of 14C in the carbons of the glucoses from the glycogens are similar to the distributions from the glucose 6-phosphates. The distributions of 14C are in accord with metabolism of glucose by the classical pentose pathway and not by the L-type pathway that has been proposed to function in liver.

Animals↗

Quantitative estimation of the pathways followed in the conversion to glycogen of glucose administered to the fasted rat.

When [6-3H,6-14C]glucose was given in glucose loads to fasted rats, the average 3H/14C ratios in the glycogens deposited in their livers, relative to that in the glucoses administered, were 0.85 and 0.88. When [3-3H,3-14C]lactate was given in trace quantity along with unlabeled glucose loads, the average 3H/14C ratio in the glycogens deposited was 0.08. This indicates that a major fraction of the carbons of the glucose loads was converted to liver glycogen without first being converted to lactate. When [3-3H,6-14C]glucose was given in glucose loads, the 3H/14C ratios in the glycogens deposited averaged 0.44. This indicates that a significant amount of H bound to carbon 3, but not carbon 6, of glucose is removed within liver in the conversion of the carbons of the glucose to glycogen. This can occur in the pentose cycle and by cycling of glucose-6-P via triose phosphates: glucose----glucose-6-P----triose phosphates----glucose-6-P----glycogen. The contributions of these pathways were estimated by giving glucose loads labeled with [1-14C]glucose, [2-14C]glucose, [5-14C]glucose, and [6-14C]glucose and degrading the glucoses obtained by hydrolyzing the glycogens that deposited. Only a few per cent of the glucose carbons deposited in glycogen were deposited in liver via glucose-6-P conversion to triose phosphates. Between 4 and 9% of the glucose utilized by the liver was utilized in the pentose cycle. While these are relatively small percentages, since three NADP3H molecules are formed from each molecule of [3-3H]glucose-6-P utilized in the cycle, a major portion of the difference between the ratios obtained with [3-3H]glucose and with [6-3H]glucose is attributable to metabolism in the pentose cycle. Because 3H of [3-3H]glucose is extensively removed during the conversion of the glucose to glycogen within liver the extent of incorporation of the 3H into liver glycogen is not the measure of glucose's metabolism in other tissues before its carbons are deposited in liver glycogen. The distributions of 14C from the 14C-labeled glucoses into the carbons of the liver glycogens mean that at a minimum about 30% of the carbons of the glucose deposited in the glycogen were first converted to lactate or its metabolic equivalent.

Acetyl Coenzyme A↗

Reciprocal changes of insulin and glucagon receptors in primary cultured hepatocytes.

The specific [125I]insulin binding to primary cultured hepatocytes was significantly greater than that to freshly isolated hepatocytes. Low affinity insulin binding sites in cultured cells were 6-fold greater in number than those of freshly isolated cells without a significant change in high affinity sites. However, both sensitivity (insulin concentration for half maximum stimulation) and responsiveness (% of increase above the basal level) to insulin for the stimulation of ODC activity were similar for isolated and cultured cells indicating an important role of high affinity sites in the insulin action. On the other hand, the specific [125I]glucagon binding to cultured cells was significantly decreased. Low affinity glucagon binding sites in cultured cells decreased by about 50% in cultured cells without a significant change in high affinity sites. Both sensitivity and responsiveness to glucagon for the stimulation of ketogenesis from palmitate also decreased as compared with those of isolated cells, indicating an important role of low affinity sites in the glucagon action. These results indicate that insulin and glucagon receptors were reciprocally changed in cultured cells, as compared with isolated cells.

Animals↗

Ketone bodies as markers for type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes and their value in the monitoring of diabetic control.

Serum levels of acetoacetate, 3-hydroxybutyrate and the 3-hydroxybutyrate/acetoacetate ratio were determined in Type 1 (insulin-dependent) and Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients by a new sensitive method. Efforts were made to differentiate Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes by serum levels of ketone bodies and to determine whether their measurement is a useful way of monitoring diabetic control. In Type 2 diabetes, serum levels of total ketone bodies did not exceed 2.0 mmol/l even if the patients were untreated or poorly controlled. In Type 1 diabetic subjects, treated with once or twice daily injections of insulin, morning serum levels of acetoacetate, 3-hydroxybutyrate and total ketone bodies were significantly elevated by four-, ten- and sevenfold, respectively. In Type 2 diabetic subjects treated with diet or sulphonylureas, serum levels of 3-hydroxybutyrate were highest before breakfast, next highest before dinner and decreased after each meal. The changes were roughly inversely proportional to serum insulin levels. In addition, insulin treatment normalized fasting serum levels of ketone bodies better than diet or sulphonylurea treatment. Acetoacetate was also significantly increased in both types of diabetes to a lesser extent, but no apparent diurnal rhythm was observed. Determination of serum levels of ketone bodies is useful for the diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes (those with total ketone bodies greater than 2 mmol/l) and for detecting insufficient insulin therapy.

Acetoacetates↗

Insulin sensitivity in pancreatitis, liver diseases, steroid treatment and hyperthyroidism assessed by glucose, insulin and somatostatin infusion.

In order to assess insulin sensitivity for glucose utilization in the other type of diabetes, insulin sensitivity tests were performed in subjects with pancreatitis, liver disease, steroid treatment and hyperthyroidism. Insulin sensitivity for glucose utilization decreased in subjects with liver disease, steroid treatment and hyperthyroidism irrespective of the presence or absence of glucose intolerance. Hyperinsulinism was associated in most of the subjects with liver disease and steroid treatment, but even in normo-insulinemic subjects, insulin insensitivity was observed. Obesity was associated with only 2 cases in both pancreatitis and liver diseases and therefore was excluded as a major cause for insulin insensitivity in subjects studied. In subjects with pancreatitis, insulin sensitivity was not significantly decreased. It is to be noted that 4 out of 5 subjects with diabetic OGTT (oral glucose tolerance test) exhibited normal insulin sensitivity. The results indicate that in pancreatitis, tissue insulin sensitivity for glucose metabolism is not altered and therefore can be used as a marker to differentiate the other type of diabetes due to pancreatitis from type 1 or 2 diabetes. Although hyperinsulinemia may be attributable to insulin insensitivity in subjects studied at least in part, steroid and thyroid hormone are thought to act directly antagonistically with insulin for glucose metabolism.

Adult↗

Development of early lesions of microangiopathy in chronically diabetic monkeys.

A chronic diabetic state was produced in Macaca fuscatus , and these diabetic monkeys were kept without insulin treatment for up to 25 mo. The metabolic derangements were characterized by hyperglycemia, insulinopenia, hyperglucagonemia, ketonemia, and hyperlipidemia. Significant thickening of the capillary basement membrane of the gastrocnemius muscle was observed in the chronically diabetic monkeys, and became obvious in the course of diabetic state; 732 +/- 35 A in controls, 750 +/- 58 A in diabetic monkeys with duration of 4 mo, and 1165 +/- 112 A in those with duration of more than 11 mo. In addition to duration of the diabetic state, severity of hyperglycemia is also thought to play an important role in the capillary basement membrane thickening judging from the fact that diabetic monkeys with constant hyperglycemia showed a greater membrane thickening. Ultrastructural alterations, such as significant thickening of glomerular basement membrane and increase of mesangial matrix, were observed in kidney as well. These results indicate that diabetic microangiopathy has been produced by metabolic derangements characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, insulinopenia, and hyperlipidemia.

Animals↗