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M Burg

Publications and source records attributed to M Burg.

72 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Ion regulation in potassium-sensitive mutants of Paramecium tetraurelia.

Two recessive mutations of Paramecium tetraurelia confer sensitivity to potassium: While wild-type cells survive when up to 30 mM KCl is added to their growth medium, mutants cease to grow and die when levels of added KCl reach 20-25 mM. Similar sensitivities are seen to Rb+ and Cs+, but not to Na+. Swimming behavior of mutants is indistinguishable from wild type when placed in stimulating solutions containing Na+, K+, or Ba2+. Behavioral adaptation to low levels of K+ also is indistinguishable from wild type. Flame photometry reveals that one mutant is unable to keep out K+ and Na+ when those ions are at low levels in the medium. Both mutants have markedly lower internal Na+ than does wild type. Problems with K+ permeability account for the sensitivity of the one mutant to elevated external K+, but the basis of sensitivity in the other mutant is unclear. These mutants expand the range of ion regulation mutants in Paramecium and demonstrate that lesions in cellular ion regulation in this organism need not result in changes in swimming behavior.

Animals↗

Differentiated function in cultured epithelia derived from thick ascending limbs.

Medullary thick ascending limbs were dissected from rabbit kidney and cultured on thin collagen membranes. The collagen membranes were supported by a special device that limited the exposed surface area to a disk 1 mm in diameter. The cells usually proliferated to form a confluent epithelial monolayer covering the collagen membrane within 8-10 days. Transepithelial voltage was measured between bridges immersed in the solutions bathing the bottom of the collagen membrane and the apical (upper) surface of the epithelium. The voltage typically was oriented positive toward the apical surface and persisted for a few weeks. Furosemide but not amiloride reduced the voltage reversibly. Both the orientation of the voltage and its reduction by furosemide are characteristic of thick ascending limbs. Therefore, the observed voltage supports the identification of the epithelial cells in culture and is evidence of differentiated function.

Amiloride↗

Control of renal bicarbonate transport.

Single rabbit renal tubules were perfused in vitro to elucidate the factors that control bicarbonate transport. One factor studied was the preexisting acid-base status of the rabbits. Cortical collecting ducts from acidotic rabbits (given ammonium chloride) transported bicarbonate from lumen to bath. Collecting ducts from alkalotic rabbits (given sodium bicarbonate) transported bicarbonate in the opposite direction. Thus, bicarbonate transport by collecting ducts in vitro was conditioned by the preexisting state of the rabbit in vivo. In contrast, bicarbonate transport by proximal straight tubules and cortical thick ascending limbs was not affected by ammonium chloride or sodium bicarbonate given to the rabbits. Parathyroid hormone, the second factor studied, strongly inhibited bicarbonate absorption by proximal straight tubules.

Absorption↗

Bicarbonate transport by isolated perfused rabbit proximal convoluted tubules.

Proximal convoluted tubules were dissected from rabbit kidneys and perfused in vitro in order to investigate the relationship between the reabsorption of fluid and of bicarbonate. Bicarbonate was absorbed when it was initially present in the perfusate. At slow rates of perfusion the mean concentration of total CO2 was 9 mM in collected fluid with 25 mM bicarbonate in the bath. At faster rates of perfusion the mean rate of reabsorption was 13.6 pmol cm-1 tubule length s-1. Absorption of bicarbonate was inhibited to a large but not complete extent by elimination of sodium from the perfusate and bath or potassium from the bath, and by addition of ouabain. It was not inhibited by elimination of the organic solutes from the perfusate nor by elimination of chloride from the perfusate and bath. Considered with previous measurements of fluid absorption these results are consistent with the existence of a linked sodium-for-hydrogen ion exchange mechanism at the luminal border of the tubule cells, but there are other possibilities which are discussed. Additionally, the effect of acetazolamide was investigated. The drug virtually completely inhibited bicarbonate absorption and inhibited fluid absorption by 30-40%.

Acetazolamide↗

Renal tubular chloride transport and the mode of action of some diuretics.

The renal diluting segment (thick ascending limb of Henle's loop) reabsorbs sodium chloride in excess of water and is responsible for dilution of the urine as well as reabsorption of a large fraction of the salt present in the glomerular ultrafiltrate. There is active reabsorption of chloride, which causes the voltage to be positive in the tubule lumen. Most, if not all, of the sodium transport is passive, driven by the voltage. Three major diuretics (mersalyl, furosemide, and ethacrynic acid) act in the lumen of the diluting segment to inhibit active chloride transport, not sodium transport as previously believed. This specific action on chloride transport may explain how these drugs are able to inhibit salt transport in the kidney while having so little effect on the transport processes elsewhere in the body.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Organic solutes in fluid absorption by renal proximal convoluted tubules.

Proximal convoluted tubules were dissected from rabbit kidneys and perfused with artificial solutions in vitro. The effect of various organic solutes on rate of fluid absorption and transepithelial voltage was tested by removing solutes from or adding them to perfusate and/or bath. Omission of albumin from the bath caused rate of fluid absorption to descrease 33% without any change in voltage. Omission of glucose, lactate, alanine, and citrate from the bath had no effect. In contrast, when they were removed from perfusate, rate of fluid absorption fell by 45-75% (depending on whether they were replaced by NaCl or mannitol and NaCl), and voltage (normally negative in lymen) decreased to near zero. Adding glucose or alanine individually to perfusate caused a small increase in rate of fluid absorption and a relatively large increase in voltage. alpha-Methyl-D-glucoside and cycloleucine (which are transported but not metabolized) had effects similar to glucose and alanine, except that voltage changes were not as great. Phlorizin (10(-5) M in perfusate) had the same effect as removing glucose from perfusate. When glucose and alanine were added to perfusate, epithelial cell swelled significantly. Lactate and citrate also caused rate of fluid absorption to increase when they were added to perfusate, but they did not affect transepithelial voltage nor did they cause cells to swell significantly. Possible mechanisms of these effects and the role of organic solutes in fluid absorption by proximal convoluted tubules are discussed.

Alanine↗

Kidney.

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Acidosis↗

Amiloride-sensitive epithelial Na+ channels reconstituted into planar lipid bilayer membranes.

High resistance epithelia actively transport sodium from the luminal side to the blood. Aldosterone and vasopressin stimulate this sodium transport system; the diuretic drug amiloride inhibits it in a reversible fashion. The first step in the transepithelial transport of Na+ is the facilitated diffusion of Na+ across the apical membrane via Na+-specific, amiloride-sensitive channels. We report here the first direct measurements of single, amiloride-sensitive Na+ channel activity. The channel was isolated after incorporation of purified apical membrane vesicles from A6 cells into planar lipid bilayers. The channel had the following characteristics: single-channel conductance ranged from 4 to 80 pS at 200 mM NaCl; it was perfectly cation-selective; amiloride reduced the open-state conductance in a dose-dependent fashion when present in the cis compartment, and induced flickering when present in the trans chamber; channel conductance and gating were voltage-independent; and the Na+/K+ selectivity ratio of the channel was 2:1.

Amiloride↗

Day-to-day reproducibility of mental stress-induced abnormal left ventricular function response in patients with coronary artery disease and its relationship to autonomic activation.

BACKGROUND: Mental stress (MS) results in left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in approximately half of the patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD) and is an adverse prognostic sign. The reproducibility of various MS tasks in inducing LV dysfunction and its relationship to autonomic activation in patients with CAD are not known. We studied the reproducibility on different days of 3 commonly used MS tasks on LV ejection fraction (LVEF), heart rate, blood pressure, and rate-pressure product and the relationship of reproducibility to autonomic activation as determined by heart rate variability in patients with chronic stable angina. METHODS AND RESULTS: Ten patients with CAD and exercise-induced ischemia who had abnormal LVEF responses to at least one MS task from a battery of MS tasks (mental arithmetic, anger recall, and color Stroop test) while undergoing continuous ambulatory Holter and LV function monitoring underwent a second MS testing 4 to 8 weeks later, with no change in clinical status or cardiac medications in the interim. Autonomic tone was determined from indexes of heart rate variability (high frequency [HF] for parasympathetic activity and low frequency [LF] and low frequency/high frequency ratio [LF/HF] for sympathetic activity). MS tasks resulted in a small increase in heart rate (P <.0001), a modest increase in systolic blood pressure (P <.0001) and the rate-pressure product (P <.0001), and a small but statistically significant increase in LF (P <.002) and LF/HF (P <.0001), but no change in HF compared with baseline. These changes were highly reproducible over the 2 studies. With a fall in LVEF of 5% or greater considered as indicative of an MS-positive task, anger recall was the most effective and reproducible MS task in inducing LV dysfunction. MS-positive tasks were associated with a greater increase in systolic blood pressure (P =.005). Anger recall resulted in a trend toward a higher increase in systolic blood pressure (P =.08) than the other MS tasks. In MS tasks with inconsistent LVEF responses in the 2 studies (LV dysfunction present in one study but not in the other), there was significant parasympathetic withdrawal (P =.02) in MS-negative tasks but no difference in sympathetic activation. On the other hand, in MS tasks with consistent LV dysfunction on both occasions, there was no difference in parasympathetic or sympathetic activation. MS-positive tasks were not accompanied by chest pain or ST depression. CONCLUSIONS: Of the commonly used MS tasks, anger recall produces LV dysfunction with the highest frequency and is the most reproducible task when retested 4 to 8 weeks later in patients with CAD. These data are relevant for planning studies of the effects of therapeutic interventions on MS-induced LV dysfunction.

Aged↗

[Multifocal localization of tumors of Schwann cell origin].

Neurofibromatosis (disease of Von Recklinghausen) was considered to be a unique disease. Today, however, it is known that it consist of two clinically and genetically different diseases. Neurofibromatosis type 1 is a more frequent disease formerly known as peripheral, while neurofibromatosis type 2 (bilateral acoustic neurinoma) is significantly less frequent. In this case report we present a 30-year old female patient who had several tumours with the following localizations: 1. the pontocerebellar angulus; 2. the left foramen jugular; 3. the anterior part of the spinal canal; 4. the soft tissue of the neck; 5. falx cerebri. The tumor in the neck was removed completely by ENT surgeon while the others were partly removed by neurosurgeon. In this case report we described diagnostic and therapeutic problems in the treatment of this patient with the long-lasting hoarseness and difficult swallowing.

Adult↗