Biomedical subjects

M C Louzao

Publications and source records attributed to M C Louzao.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

Solid-phase radioreceptor assay for paralytic shellfish toxins.

Sodium channels obtained from rat brain membrane preparations were coated onto microtiter plates and used to develop a direct solid-phase binding assay. The tritiated sodium channel blocker saxitoxin ([3H]-saxitoxin; STX) was used to detect toxins in paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) by measuring the competitive displacement of other toxins. With this assay the amount of STX and tetrodotoxin needed to displace 50% of bound [3H]STX was 1.7 and 1.76 ng/ml for buffer samples, respectively. In the direct solid-phase binding assays, the PSP toxins were effectively bound to the rat brain membranes. The IC50 of this assay for different PSP toxin solutions obtained from mussels contaminated in red tides ranged from 0.03 to 0.30 ng/ml. Therefore, this assay represents a potentially useful method for the detection of toxin-contaminated mussels.

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PubMed1992

Effect of purification, theophylline and sodium fluoride on histamine release produced by antineoplastic drugs on rat mast cells. A distinctive mechanism of action for carboplatin.

The antineoplastic drugs, cytarabine, ifosfamide, vinorelbine, doxorubicin, asparaginase and carboplatin, elicit histamine release from rat pleural and peritoneal mast cells. Both cell populations do not show heterogeneity in their response to stimulation by any of these drugs, with the exception of cytarabine, which activates pleural mast cells at lower concentrations. When these cells are purified with Percoll, L-asparaginase, vinorelbine and cytarabine completely lose their capability of inducing histamine release in both cell populations, while the other drugs still show the same pattern of response as with unpurified cells. These results indicate that some membrane component crucial for the action of vinorelbine, L-asparaginase and cytarabine is lost during the purification procedure. Pretreatment of the cells with theophylline completely inhibits the response to cytarabine, ifosfamide, vinorelbine and asparaginase, and inhibits the response to doxorubicin by up to 75% only. Theophylline does not change the response to carboplatin. Sodium fluoride does not change the response to any of the drugs tested, with the exception of carboplatin, in which case a complete inhibition is observed. In conclusion, carboplatin activates rat mast cells through a completely different mechanism of action with respect to the other drugs studied.

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PubMed1992

Non-immunological release of histamine from rat mast cells elicited by antineoplastic agents.

We studied the histamine-releasing activity of several antineoplastic drugs on rat pleural and peritoneal mast cells. The drugs tested included the nitrogen mustards cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide, the nitrosourea carmustine, the triazene dacarbazine, the folic acid analogue methotrexate, the pyrimidine analogue cytarabine and fluorouracil, the vinca alkaloids vinblastine, vincristine and Vinorelbine, the epipodophyllotoxins etoposide and teniposide, and the enzyme L-asparaginase. Methotrexate, carmustine, fluorouracil, vinblastine and vincristine failed to elicit histamine release on rat mast cells. All of the other drugs evoked histamine release in both the presence and the absence of extracellular calcium, but ifosfamide, cytarabine and asparaginase induced a much lower release in the absence of this cation. The response elicited by cytarabine and etoposide was much higher in pleural than in peritoneal mast cells. These results indicate that some antineoplastic drugs may directly activate the release of histamine, which could contribute to some of their secondary effects.

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PubMed1992

Nonimmunological release of histamine from rat mast cells elicited by antineoplastic agents: effect of drug combinations.

We studied the release of histamine elicited by some antineoplastic drugs in rat pleural and peritoneal mast cells. The drugs tested included the antibiotic mitomycin; the anthracyclines daunorubicin, doxorubicin, and epirubicin; the glycopeptide bleomycin; the chromopeptide dactinomycin; the platinum coordination complexes carboplatin and cisplatin; and the anthracenedione mitoxantrone. Mitomycin and bleomycin failed to elicit any release of histamine, whereas all of the other drugs induced histamine release from either pleural or peritoneal mast cells, the release being independent of extracellular calcium. The results indicate that antineoplastic drugs activate histamine release in a manner similar to that shown by compound 48/80, which may contribute to some of their secondary effects.

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PubMed1992

Influence of protein kinase C, cAMP and phosphatase activity on histamine release produced by compound 48/80 and sodium fluoride on rat mast cells.

We have studied the effect of protein kinase C and protein kinase A activation, and phosphatase inhibition on two different stimuli with distinct mechanisms of action. The first stimulus is compound 48/80, and its action is mediated probably by a Gi-protein, while the other is sodium fluoride, which unspecifically activates G-proteins. We established a comparative study because the action of compound 48/80 is calcium-independent, while fluoride is strictly calcium-dependent. The activation of protein kinase C was attained with the phorbol esther 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, protein kinase A was activated by increasing cAMP levels with forskolin or rolipram, and the phosphatase activity was inhibited with okadaic acid (OA), which inhibits phosphatases type 1 and 2A. Our results show that OA enhances the response to fluoride and compound 48/80 in the absence of calcium, and we conclude that calcium has a negative feedback role on the cell response. Protein kinase A activation strongly inhibits the response to fluoride, and the results show a positive regulation of protein kinase C and a negative regulation of protein kinase A over fluoride response. As previously reported by other authors for the ionophore A23187, TPA notably potentiates the response to fluoride, which supports its possible modulatory role on extracellular calcium-dependent stimuli.

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PubMed1991

Lack of specific saxitoxin binding to rat mast cells.

We studied whether or not mast cells are endowed with specific sodium channels, by using tritiated saxitoxin which binds to site 1 of sodium channels on excitable tissues. Our results suggest that rat pleural and peritoneal mast cells lack specific sodium channels.

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PubMed1991

Changes in rat mast cell responses in sodium-free media. Lack of demonstrable sodium channel activity.

Exposure of rat mast cells to isotonic sucrose (employed as a sodium free medium) increased several-fold the sensitivity to calcium, which itself became a stimulus for exocytosis. Concentrations of the cation as low as 25 microM permitted maximal histamine release. Preincubation of cells in sucrose to allow sodium efflux before adding the ionophore A23187 led to a slower release of histamine. We postulate that sodium efflux can generate a membrane potential that causes the increased sensitivity to calcium and the delay in response after preincubation. The response to A23187 is somewhat unspecific since the ionophore can release histamine from internal calcium reservoirs. Saxitoxin or veratridine did not affect cell responses, so that sodium activity is not mediated through defined sodium channels.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

[Effect of isoproterenol on the liberation of histamine from rat lung mast cells].

Rat lung mast cells were stimulated with drugs with distinct mechanisms of action, namely concanavalin A, compound 48/80 ionophore A23187, in the presence of the beta adrenergic agonist (-)isoproterenol. Cells show a high response when they are stimulated with FNa-calcium. Isoproterenol does not inhibit histamine release induced by any stimuli, but enhances the response to concanavalin A and compound 48/80. Results point to the lack of beta activity on rat lung mast cells.

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