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Biomedical subjects

M Imai

Publications and source records attributed to M Imai.

At least 595 records · Page 33Linked to original sources
PubMed1977

Effect of bumetanide and furosemide on the thick ascending limb of Henle's loop of rabbits and rats perfused in vitro.

Direct effects of bumetanide and furosemide on the thick ascending limb of Henle's loop (TALH) were compared by using the isolated tubules of rabbits and rats perfused in vitro. Both drugs, applied to the lumen, reversibly suppressed the lumen positive potential (PDt) of the rabbit TALH. Bumetanide also suppressed the PDt in the absence of Na+ where the NaCl of the artificial solutions was replaced by choline chloride. The efflux of 36Cl was also reduced by the addition of bumetanide to the perfusate. The dose-response analysis disclosed that bumetanide was 14 times as potent as furosemide. The onset and duration of bumetanide action was significantly longer than that of furosemide. Bumetanide also suppressed the PDt of the rat TALH when it was added to the perfusate.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Escape synthesis of RNA polymerase subunits and termination factor rho following induction of prophage lambda in Escherichia coli.

Synthesis of RNA polymerase subunits and of transcription termination factor p was studied after thermoinduction of prophage lambdac1857 located at several unusual sites on the chromosome of Escherichia coli. When a lysogen carrying the prophage at the bfe gene was induced at 42 degrees C, the rate of synthesis of core polymerase subunits (alpha, beta and beta') rapidly decreased, followed by a marked increase after about 10 min. The latter increase was observed specifically in the "bfe lysogen" and not in any of the other lysogens tested. Similarly, the rate of synthesis of p factor increased appreciably in the induced ilv lysogen carrying the prophage at the ilv gene, and possibly in the bfe lysogen as well, but not in other lysogens examined. Taken together with other evidence, these results suggest that the enhanced syntheses of beta and beta' subunits of RNA polymerase and of p factor observerd represent "escape synthesis", resulting from the close linkage of the prophage genome to the respective structural genes. In contrast, omega factor synthesis was stimulated upon induction of any of the lysogens used without respect to the site of prophage location, suggesting the involvement of an entirely different mechanism.

Coliphages↗
PubMed1977

Effect of perfusion rate on the fluxes of water, sodium, chloride and urea across the proximal convoluted tubule.

Studies were undertaken to examine the mechanism whereby changes in intraluminal flow rates after reabsorption in the isolated perfused proximal tubule of the rabbit. All protocols employed the technique of in vitro perfusion of isolated segments of the proximal convoluted tubule. Stepwise elimination of d-glucose and l-alanine from an artifical perfusate stimulating ultrafiltrate decreased the unidirectional flux of sodium, transtubular potential difference, and net water absorption. Using isosmolal ultrafiltrate as the perfusate, net fluid reabsorption and the unidirectional lumen-to-bath flux of sodium and chloride decreased with a decrease in flow rate below 11 nl/min, but neither net fluid reabsorption nor the unidirectional fluxes of sodium and chloride increased further as the perfusion rate was increased above 11 nl/min. The unidirectional flux of 14C-urea was not affected by changes of perfusion rate from 1.6 to 44 nl/min. The dependence of net fluid reabsorption and unidirectional fluxes of sodium and chloride on flow rate per se, and not on intraluminal hydrostatic pressure or geometry, was established by demonstrating their decrease despite a rise in intraluminal pressure and inside diameter produced by counterpressure at the collecting end of the tubule, while flow was decreased. Ouabain decreased net fluid reabsorption to near zero at all flow rates, but ouabain had no effect on the flow-dependency of unidirectional sodium anf sodium was eliminated with a decrease in bicarbonate concentration and removal of d-glucose and l-alanine from the perfusate. Thus, the present studies demonstrate that net water and unidirectional sodium and chloride fluxes are flow-dependent. At flow rates somewhere below 11 nl/min, unidirectional fluxes decreased with decreasing perfusion rates; however, at perfusion rates greater than 11 nl/min, there was no further effect of perfusion rate on either net water absorption or the unidirectional fluxes of sodium or chloride. These effects may be partly mediated through the flow-dependent changes in the intraluminal concentration of bicarbonate, d-glucose, and 1-alanine.

Adsorption↗
PubMed1977

Isolation and characterization of conditional-lethal rho mutants of Escherichia coli.

Temperature-sensitive nitA (rho) mutants of E. coli were isolated; one of them was characterized as an amber mutant. These strains show the Nit phenotype (transcription of phage lambda DNA independent of the N gene) at low temperatures and are inviable at high temperatures. The mutated sites appear to be between cya and metE on the chromosome. Temperature-sensitive nitA bacteria not only permit leftward transcription of the lambda genome at a high rate in the absence of the lambda N protein, but also allow lambda growth at low temperatures. At high temperatures, phages lambda and T4 are incapable of normal development in these cells, while growth of T7 is not affected. The production of thermally unstable rho by the nitA temperature-sensitive mutant suggests that nitA is the structural gene for rho.

Anthranilate Synthase↗
PubMed1977

Hepatitis B e antigen and infectivity of hepatitis B virus.

For confirmation of the difference in the infectivity of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBS Ag)-positive serum according to differences in the e antigen system, four chimpanzees were inoculated with serum positive for hepatitis B e antigen (HBe Ag), and three chimpanzees were inoculated with serum positive for antibody to HBe Ag (anti-HBe). Since the infectivity titrations are not yet completed, the end infectivity titer of each serum is not known. All four chimpanzees given injections of 10(-1), 10(-4), or 10(-8) dilutions of HBe Ag-positive serum developed hepatitis B virus infection, whereas the one chimpanzee injected with undiluted anti-HBe-positive serum became infected, and other chimpanzees injected with diluted anti-HBe-positive sera did not. As judged from the length of the incubation period before appearance of HBS Ag in blood, there seemed to be a remarkable difference in infectivity between the HBe Ag-positive serum and the anti-HBe-positive serum; the former serum was 10(8) times more infectious than the latter.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

High prevalence of e antigen among healthy blood donors carrying hepatitis B surface antigen in Japan.

Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was detected by an immune adherence haemagglutination method in the serum samples of 292 voluntary, apparently healthy blood donors at four regional blood centres in Japan. Their serum samples were concentrated 3-fold and tested for e antigen (e Ag) and antibody to e (anti-e) by immunodiffusion. The e Ag was found in 41 samples (14.0%) and anti-e in 57 (18.6%). When 100 randomly selected serum samples containing HBsAg were tested as they were (unconcentrated), and at 3- and 5-fold concentrations, e Ag was detected in 3, 16 and 27, respectively, and anti-e in 10, 21 and 26. Subtypes of HBsAg were similar in carriers with e Ag and with anti-e. There is a high prevalence of e Ag in healthy individuals in Japan. There are also high rates of vertical transmission of hepatitis B virus from mothers to children, as well as a high incidence in the past of post-transfusion hepatitis. This is further evidence that e antigen is a marker for the infectivity of hepatitis B virus in carriers.

Blood Donors↗
PubMed1977

Function of the thin ascending limb of Henle of rats and hamsters perfused in vitro.

In order too examine whether there is species difference in the function of the thin ascending limb of Henle (tALH), segments isolated from rat and hamster kidneys were perfused in vitro and compared to results obtained by identical techniques from rabbits. The net water flux and the transtubular potential difference were not different from zero. The osmotic water permeability of the rat and hamster tALH was unmeasurably small. Isotopic and electrically determined permeabilities for Cl- and Na+ were quite high in both species, with Cl- being approximately twice as permeable as Na+. Urea permeability across the tALH of both species was moderate. Solute permeability to NaCl, urea, and raffinose (10(-5) cm sec-1) of the tALH of both species was determined by measuring changes in osmolality of the collected fluid when each solute was added to the bath at the same osmolality. They were 82.2, 38.3, and 6.9, respectively. The relative permeabilities to various ions were estimated from the deflection of the transtubular potential difference when NaCl in the bathing medium was replaced by various salts. The following sequence of permeabilities was obtained across the tALH from both the rat and hamster: Cl- greater than or equal to Br- greater than or equal to SCN- greater than or equal to I- greater than or equal to Na+ = K+ greater than Li+ greater than choline+ greater than or equal to HCO3- greater than acetate- greater than or equal to cyclamate-. These data indicate that membrane characteristics of the tALH of rats and hamsters are similar to the previously published values of rabbits. The conclusion is drawn that the principle of the passive equilibrating model of the countercurrent multiplication system is operative in other mammalian species besides the rabbit.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Determination of e antigen and antibody to e by means of passive hemagglutination method.

A simple and sensitive method was developed for the detection of e antigen and antibody to e (anti-e) by means of the passive hemagglutination (PHA) method. Sheep erythrocytes were fixed by glutraraldehyde and coated with either e antigen or anti-e which had been specifically purified from plasma of asymptomatic carriers of hepatitis B antigen by affinity column chromatography, and then by gel filtration on Sephadex G-200. A gain in specific activity of more than 2000-fold for e antigen and 100-fold for anti-e was achieved as compared with the original plasma pool which was used as the source for purification. The PHA method was at least 300 times more sensitive than the conventional immunodiffusion method both for e antigen and anti-e assays. When the PHA method was applied for neat serum samples of 80 asymptomatic carriers, e antigen was found in 21.3% and anti-e in 62.5%, at rates much higher than those determined by immunodiffusion for the identical serum samples at 3-fold concentration (16.3 and 30.0%, respectively).

Antibodies, Viral↗