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Biomedical subjects

M Lang

Publications and source records attributed to M Lang.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

Changes of granulopoiesis during and after adjuvant chemotherapy of breast cancer.

Adjuvant chemotherapy allows a study of the effects of cytotoxic drugs on natural human haematopoiesis. We describe serial studies of granulopoiesis performed during and after intermittent adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer (adriamycin plus cyclophosphamide, given for six courses at monthly intervals). After drug administration, a sequential wave of depletion and regeneration through successive granulopoietic compartments was observed. With repeated chemotherapy, moderate neutropenia developed, and the blood CFU-C pool size became progressively reduced. After the sixth chemotherapeutic course, granulopoietic regeneration was delayed. Following discontinuation of chemotherapy, a long-lasting (greater than 200 d) reduction of the blood CFU-C pool size, together with neutropenia and reduction of marrow segmented neutrophils, was observed, suggesting a defect of granulopoiesis with persistent granulopoietic hypoplasia. In patients with expected long survival, residual bone marrow damage should be added to the list of potential late side effects of cytotoxic drug therapy.

Bone Marrow↗

Dietary cholesterol-induced enhancement of hepatic biotransformation rate in male rats.

Male rats were fed a cholesterol-free diet for 5 weeks, followed by a 2% cholesterol diet for 4 weeks. Another group of rats was continuously fed a cholesterol-free diet. A third group was fed standard pelllets during the whole experiment. Hepatic microsomal protein and cholesterol contents and drug-metabolizing enzyme activities were measured. The cholesterol-rich diet increased microsomal protein content and this increase disappeared after trypsin digestion of microsomal membranes. Microsomal cholesterol content was enhanced three-fold by cholesterol feeding. Cytochrome P-450 concentration, NADPH cytochrome c reductase and aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activities showed only minor changes following cholesterol feeding. The p-nitroanisole O-demethylase and ethoxycoumarin deethylase activities were doubled by cholesterol in comparison to cholesterol-free diet. Trypsin digestion activated the UDP-glucuronosyltransferase enzyme eight- to ten-fold on a protein basis. Trypsin treatment increased the cholesterol activation of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase when compared to the activity in native microsomes. The data suggest that dietary cholesterol regulates the cholesterol content of microsomal membranes. The activities of drug-metabolizing enzymes are also altered, possibly due to the compositional changes of the membranes.

Animals↗

Regulation of hepatic drug metabolism by elaidic and linoleic acids in rats.

Elaidic and linoleic acids were administered at doses of 40 and 200 mg/kg i.p. every second day for 4 weeks to rats fed a fat-free diet. The fatty acids had only a slight effect on the weight gain of the animals. The amount of microsomal protein was slightly decreased with the higher dose of linoleic acid. The higher dose level of both fatty acids decreased the microsomal phospholipid content. The relative amounts of microsomal phospholipid fatty acids were also altered due to fatty acid administration. The activity of microsomal NADPH cytochrome c reductase and microsomal cytochrome P-450 contents were decreased by the higher dose of linoleic acid. The hepatic aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase and p-nitroanisole O-demethylase activities decreased in fatty acid-treated rats. The UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activity was also lowered after the fatty acid administration. The results suggest that fatty acid-induced changes in the activities of drug-metabolizing enzymes may be due to the microenvironmental changes of membrane-bound enzymes.

Animals↗

Inhibition of thyroidal cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase by thyroid hormone.

Bovine thyroid cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase was purified by DEAE-Sephadex and Sephadex G-200 chromatography. This preparation showed a 240-fold increase in specific activity over the initial 20,000 x g supernatant with histone as substrate and 1 micronM cyclic AMP in the assay mixture. In the presence of 2.5 X 10(-5)M L-triiodothyronine (T3), protein kinase activity was significantly reduced; 50% inhibition was achieved at 1 X 10(-4) M. Tests of diverse thyroid hormone analogs showed that T3 and its derivatives were more potent inhibitors than T4 and its derivatives which, in turn, were more potent than thyronine or diiodothyronine. Mono- and diiodotyrosine, tyrosine, and iodide were without effect. Triiodothyronine did not inhibit kidney, spleen, or lung protein kinase activity. The magnitude of the inhibition was the same whether or not cyclic AMP (1 micronM) was present in the incubation mixture, suggesting an effect on the catalytic, rather than the regulatory subunit of the enzyme. The inhibition of protein kinase by thyroid hormone was not influenced by Mg++ concentration but was overcome in a competitive manner by increasing ATP concentration. Increasing the histone concentration did not modify the inhibition. Although these studies suggest a novel cellular control mechanism, the high thyroid hormone concentrations required and the lack of concordance between inhibitory effects and biologic activity of the analogs tested precludes assumption of physiologic relevance.

Animals↗

Dietary cholesterol caused modification in the structure and function of rat hepatic microsomes, studied by fluorescent probes.

A 4% cholesterol diet fed to rats for four weeks was found to increase the phospholipid and cholesterol contents and the activities of drug metabolizing enzymes in rat liver microsomes. Microsomes from rats on a high cholesterol diet were able to enhance the fluorescence of membrane bound 1-anilinonaphthalene 8-sulphonate (1,8-ANS) and ethidium bromide more than microsomes from rats on a standard diet. In the case of 1,8-ANS, the enhanced fluorescence was found to be due to the increased affinity of the molecules for microsomes. In the case of ethidium bromide the fluorescence increased partly because of the larger amount of binding sites and partly because of the enhanced quantum yield of the molecules. P-nitrophenol was found to compete with 1,8-ANS for the same binding sites in microsomes. On the other hand, 1,8-ANS lowered the rate of drug metabolism when present in the incubation mixture. In vitro treatments of microsomes with trypsin, phospholipase A or digitonin altered the binding properties of 1,8-ANS and ethidium bromide to microsomes. It is concluede that the binding sites of 1,8-ANS in microsomes are important for the activity of drug-metabolizing enzymes. The mechanisms of dietary cholesterol in enhancing the drug metabolism and the role of microsomal phospholipids in regulating the activity of drug-metabolizing enzymes are discussed.

Anilino Naphthalenesulfonates↗

Modifications of drug metabolism by disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate. I. Mixed-function oxygenase.

Disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate were administered to rats for 4 days alone (300 mg/kg, daily, per os) or in combination with phenobarbital (80 mg/kg, daily, i.p.), in order to observe the effects of these compounds on the microsomal membrane components and on the mixed-function oxygenase system. Both disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate increased the liver to body weight ratio, and the total hepatic protein content. Disulfiram significantly increased also the microsomal protein and phospholipid contents. Diethyldithiocarbamate and disulfiram partially prevented the increase of microsomal protein and phospholipid contents caused by phenobarbital. Disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate decreased the amount of cytochrome P-450 and P-420, and the activity of p-nitroanisole O-demethylase. These changes were more pronounced after diethyldithiocarbamate than after disulfiram treatment. On the contrary, the activity of NADPH-cytochrome c reductase was enhanced only by disulfiram. The induction by phenobarbital of cytochrome P-450 and p-nitrosanisole O-demethylase was partially prevented on concomitant treatment with disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate. These compounds. however, had an additive effect with phenobarbital in enhancing the microsomal NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activity.

Animals↗

Modifications of drug metabolism by disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate. II. D-Glucuronic acid pathway.

Hepatic enzymes connected with the formation and metabolism of free D-glucuronic acid were affected in rats after treatment with disulfiram or diethyldithiocarbamate (300 mg/kg, intragastrically, per day, 4 X). The activities of UDPglucose dehydrogenase, UDPglucuronic acid pyrophosphatase, UDPglucuronosyltransferase and L-gulonate dehydrogenase were enhanced, while those of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, beta-glucuronidase and D-glucuronolactone dehydrogenase were inhibited. These changes were more pronounced with disulfiram than diethyldithiocarbamate. Treatment with phenobarbital (80 mg/kg, i.p., per day, 4 X) enhanced UDP glucuronosyl-transferase, but brought about different effects on the other enzymes. Concurrent administration of phenobarbital with disulfiram or diethyldithiocarbamate led to potentiation or antagonism of the primary effects of each compound when given alone. The results suggest that activation of the D-glucuronic acid pathway may proceed in various ways, and that it is not necessarily followed by a simultaneous induction of the microsomal mixed-function oxygenase activity.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗

Antenatal sex determination in Macaca arctoides.

Transabdominal amniocentesis was performed on 11 Macaca arctoides, between the 10th and 20th weeks of gestation, for the purpose of antenatal sex determination. The technique employing Y-chromatin fluorescence was unsuccessful in predicting sex, but the sexes were differentiated with complete accuracy by examining amniotic cells stained by a modified Papanicolaou technique. Of the cells from male fetuses, fewer than 10% contained X-chromatin (Barr bodies); of those from females, more than 45% contained X-chromatin.

Amniocentesis↗

Further characterization of bovine thyroid prostaglandin synthase.

1. Prostaglandin synthase activity (EC 1.14.99.1) was demonstrated in bovine thyroid homogenates. 2. The synthase was characterized and shares many characteristics of the well-studied seminal vesicle enzyme and can be inhibited by indomethacin and eicosa-5,8,11,14-tetraynoic acid. 3. The enzyme is localized in the microsomal fraction and is probably associated with the plasma membranes. 4. Thyrotropin, but no other hormone tested, increased the activity of the enzyme when added to a microsomal fraction obtained from bovine thyroid. This effect is tissue-specific since thyrotropin has no effect on bovine seminal esicle or lung prostaglandin synthase. 5. Thyrotropin, cyclic AMP and the phosphodiesterase inhibitors, theophylline and quazodine increase enzyme activity when preincubated with bovine thyroid slices. 6. EDTA, when included in the pre-incubation mixture, enhances the thyrotropin effect on the enzyme but not the cyclic AMP, theophylline, or quazodine augmentation of enzyme activity in bovine thyroid slices. This suggests that phospholipase A is involved in the thyrotropin stimulation of prostaglandin formation.

5,8,11,14-Eicosatetraynoic Acid↗

Enhancement of hepatic drug biotransformation rate by polychlorinated biphenyls in rats fed cholesterol-rich diet.

A combined effect of cholesterol and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on the microsomal drug hydroxylation and glucuronidation in the liver of the rat was studied. PCBs, Clophen A-50 and A-60, having an average chlorination degree of 50 and 60% affect the structure of microsomal membranes. It was found that Clophen A-60 increased the binding of trypsin- and digitonin-sensitive proteins to the membranes. Also it was found that PCBs enhanced the phsopholipid content of microsomes. PCBs increased the activity of hepatic NADPH cytochrome c reductase about 1.5-fold. Aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity doubled with Clophen A-50 and quadrupled with Clophen A-60. Hepatic UDPglucuronosyltransferase activity was doubled with both PCBs. The enhancement in hepatic aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase and in UDPglucuronosyltransferase was found to be lower in the presence of high cholesterol level in the diet when compared to earlier results. This is supposed to be due to the membraneous effects of cholesterol.

Animals↗

Inducibility of mucosal drug-metabolizing enzymes of rats fed on a cholesterol-rich diet by polychlorinated biphenyl, 3-methylcholanthrene and phenobarbitone.

The results show that a cholesterol-rich diet changes the composition of mucosal membranes. A high cholesterol diet increases mucosal cholesterol and phospholipid contents. Cholesterol enhanced mucosal NADPH cytochrome c reductase and aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activities as well as mucosal UDP glucuronosyltransferase activity. When phenobarbitone or Clophen A 50 or 60 were administered intraperitoneally to cholesterol-fed rats, the hydroxylation and glucuronidation activities decreased to a lower level. 3-Methylcholanthrene was, however, able to maintain or increase mucosal hydroxylative enzymes and UDP glucuronosyltransferase. These results indicate that the drug-metabolizing enzymes of the intestinal mucosa behave very differently from those in the liver. Diet apparently has a regulatory effect on the induction of drug-metabolizing enzymes because only a very potent inducer, 3-methylcholanthrene, was able to maintain and even induce mucosal drug-metabolizing enzymes in rats fed on a high cholesterol diet, possibly through changes in the microenvironment of enzymes caused by cholesterol.

Animals↗