Biomedical subjects

O H Lowry

Publications and source records attributed to O H Lowry.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1987

Enzymatic assays for 2-deoxyglucose and 2-deoxyglucose 6-phosphate.

Methods for 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) and 2-deoxyglucose 6-phosphate (DG6P) are described which are based on the fact that DG6P is oxidized by glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), but at a rate 1000-fold slower than for glucose 6-phosphate, whereas hexokinase phosphorylates 2DG and glucose at comparable rates. Therefore, by adding the two enzymes in a suitable order, and in appropriate concentrations, 2DG, glucose, DG6P, and glucose 6-P can all be separately measured. To avoid a side reaction from the use of a high level of G6PDH, when measuring DG6P, glucose is first removed with glucose oxidase plus aldose reductase.

Brain Chemistry↗

PubMed1987

Effect of Duchenne muscular dystrophy on enzymes of energy metabolism in individual muscle fibers.

Individual muscle fibers from patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy at an early stage in their disease, and from apparently normal boys of similar age, were analyzed for 13 enzymes of energy metabolism. This approach avoided the serious problems with muscle homogenate assays from increases in nonparenchymal components and permitted assessment of disease changes in different fiber types. Some enzymes of glycogenolysis (phosphorylase, phosphoglucomutase, and pyruvate kinase) were decreased in dystrophic fibers of all types. Phosphofructokinase was decreased in presumptive type II fibers. Lactate dehydrogenase was increased in type I fibers and essentially unchanged in type II. Phosphoglucoisomerase was near normal. Two enzymes of glucose metabolism not involved in glycogenolysis, hexokinase and glycogen synthase, were near normal, but a third, fructose bisphosphatase, was sharply reduced. Two enzymes of oxidative metabolism, citrate synthase, and beta-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase, were unchanged or increased. Two enzymes of high energy phosphate transfer, creatine kinase and adenylokinase, were only marginally affected. The net result is to leave the type II fibers, which normally exert the greatest force, with a severe deficit in the glycogenolytic enzyme machinery to maintain that force.

Adenylate Kinase↗

PubMed1987

Change in energy reserves in different segments of the nephron during brief ischemia.

Rat kidneys were made ischemic for 5 to 120 seconds. Segments of individual nephrons were dissected from freeze dried sections and analyzed for ATP, phosphocreatine, glycogen, glucose, glucose-6-phosphate, lactate and creatine kinase. ATP fell most rapidly in proximal convoluted and straight tubules (PCT, PST) and distal convoluted tubules (DCT), and most slowly in glomerulus and papilla. Phosphocreatine levels ranged fivefold and was highest in DCT, where it approached that of brain. Creatine kinase ranged 100-fold with lowest level in PCT, where the ischemic fall in phosphocreatine was so slow as to suggest a function other than that of an energy reserve. Glycogen varied tenfold from modest levels in distal segments to very low levels in PST, and was not used rapidly in any segment. Glucose consumption and lactate production were most rapid in distal portions. High-energy phosphate consumption for the first 7.5 seconds of ischemia, calculated from these data, indicates roughly-equal energy metabolism in proximal and distal segments, with lower levels in papilla, and especially in glomerulus. The absolute values suggest that the in vivo metabolic rate of the nephron continued almost unabated for 5 or 10 seconds of ischemia.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed1987

Progressive metabolite changes in individual human muscle fibers with increasing work rates.

Muscle biopsies were obtained from vastus lateralis muscles of four volunteers exercising at increasing work rates on a bicycle ergometer. Samples were taken at rest (t1), after a work load 23% below the blood lactate threshold (t2), 23% above this threshold (t3), and at exhaustion (t4). Individual muscle fibers were typed by their lactate dehydrogenase and adenylokinase levels and assayed for lactate, glucose-6-phosphate, and malate, (which preliminary data indicated to be the most responsive to increased activity) as well as ATP and phosphocreatine. The results in three of the four cases indicated that by the time of the t2 sample, almost all fibers, regardless of type, had been recruited. Additionally, there were no major differences in lactate concentration between type 1 and 2 fibers from muscle samples taken at t1, t2, and t3. It is concluded that in a muscle with fast-twitch glycolytic and slow-twitch oxidative fibers, all fibers share in the contraction to a substantial degree, even at moderate work loads, and that both the type 1 and 2 fibers contribute significantly to the initial rise in blood lactate during a graded exercise task. Metabolite responses in type 2 fibers differed in certain respects among the four participants. This is attributed to differences in their training backgrounds and consequent differences in type 2 fiber oxidative enzyme levels.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed1986

Isozymes of phosphorylase kinase in rabbit skeletal muscle. Functional implications of differences in phosphorylase kinase and phosphorylase activities in individual muscle fibers.

Immunological and microanalytical methods were used to investigate the two isozymes of phosphorylase kinase, enzyme w and enzyme r, in psoas major and tibialis anterior muscles. Peptide mapping experiments indicated that the alpha subunit of enzyme w and alpha' subunit of enzyme r were structurally very similar. Both subunits were completely immunoprecipitated from muscle extracts with an antibody specific for the beta subunit of the kinase, indicating that alpha and alpha' subunits are completely assembled with beta subunits in adult muscle fibers. The relative amounts of enzymes w and r in single fibers were determined from amounts of alpha and alpha' subunits, which were detected by immunoblotting. Phosphorylase kinase and phosphorylase activities were measured in the same fibers, as well as in individual fibers from diaphragm and soleus muscles. Slow oxidative fibers were found to contain low levels of enzyme r, but almost no enzyme w. Considerably more enzyme r was present in fast oxidative-glycolytic fibers. Fast glycolytic fibers contained the most enzyme w, and the highest levels of enzyme r were found in a subgroup of such fibers. Interestingly, more than half of the fast glycolytic fibers analyzed contained both isozymes. In these fibers phosphorylase was positively correlated with enzyme w, but negatively correlated with enzyme r. Total kinase activity ranged 30-fold from the highest in one of the psoas fibers to the lowest in one of the soleus fibers and was closely correlated with the phosphorylase levels. In psoas and soleus fibers, calculated absolute maximal rates for phosphorylase b to a conversion varied almost 2,500-fold.

Animals↗

PubMed1986

Different operating conditions affect risk of hepatitis B virus infection at two residential institutions for the mentally disabled.

The prevalence of hepatitis B virus markers was determined in two residential institutions for the mentally disabled which exhibited major differences in operating policies. Eighty per cent of 91 clients and 16% of 92 employees at institution A had positive tests for hepatitis B virus markers, including two staff members and one client with serologic evidence of recent infection (immunoglobulin M antibody to hepatitis B core antigen). In contrast, 34% of 395 clients and 8% of 294 workers at institution B were positive for hepatitis B virus markers, and none of the staff demonstrated evidence of recent infection. The observed differences in seroprevalence were likely to have been influenced by substantial disparities in living conditions, staff-to-client ratios in critical areas, and level of employee experience. In addition to significant institutional differences, seroprevalence was associated with severity of mental retardation in clients and duration of employment in staff. This study emphasizes the importance of local policies in the prevention of hepatitis B virus infection at residential institutions for the mentally disabled.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1986

Energy metabolism of skeletal muscle biopsies stimulated anaerobically without load in vitro.

This study was made to test the validity of a simple biopsy technique for assessing the metabolic capacity of skeletal muscle. The biopsy is stimulated under mineral oil without attachment, i.e., without load or tension, then freeze-clamped and assayed for ATP, phosphocreatine, glucose 6-phosphate, and lactate. The mineral oil creates a closed anaerobic system. Background studies demonstrated in the absence of a load, metabolic changes with stimulation were little affected by cutting the fibers to obtain the biopsy; and high-energy phosphate (approximately P) consumption during a brief tetanus was not much lower than that for an isometric tetanus. Individual fast-twitch oxidative-glycolytic (IIA) and fast-twitch glycolytic (IIB) fibers obtained from the freeze-clamped biopsy showed distinct differences in approximately P consumption and metabolic changes. The results indicate that this technique could be useful for studies of normal and pathological human muscle.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed1986

Chronic stimulation of mammalian muscle: changes in enzymes of six metabolic pathways.

Twenty-one enzymes of different metabolic systems were measured in the rabbit fast-twitch tibialis anterior (TA) muscle after electrical stimulation (10 Hz, 24 h/day) for 1 day to 10 wk. Nine analytical methods are either new, (3-oxoacid CoA-transferase, branched-chain-amino-acid aminotransferase, carnitine acetyltransferase, thiolase), improved (glutamate dehydrogenase, glycogen synthase, adenylic acid deaminase), or specially adapted (hexokinase, phosphoglucomutase). The activities (based on protein) of 12 mitochondrial or partly mitochondrial enzymes were lower in control TA than in control (slow) soleus (30-84% of soleus level). After 2 wk, 11 of these had surpassed the control soleus level. Maximal increases (3- to 14-fold) occurred after 2-5 wk, and thereafter six of the enzymes declined, whereas the other five maintained or increased their levels. Five glycolytic and two high-energy phosphate transfer enzymes, originally much higher in control TA than in control soleus, decreased gradually to levels at 8-10 wk only 27-123% higher than in soleus. Noncollagen protein concentration dropped 46%, explained largely by a sixfold increase in extracellular (chloride) space and a modest increase in collagen. The data constitute strong evidence for coordinate regulation of (mainly cytosolic) enzymes of glycolysis, glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis, and high-energy phosphate transfer. Changes in the (mainly mitochondrial) enzymes of oxidative metabolism were more divergent, partly because of a hitherto undescribed secondary phase in the metabolic response. This phase may reflect a lower energy consumption in muscles adapted to continuous activity.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed1986

Chronic stimulation of mammalian muscle: enzyme changes in individual fibers.

Single fibers of rabbit fast-twitch tibialis anterior (TA) muscles were analyzed after continuous low-frequency stimulation for up to 8 wk. After 2-5 wk, every fiber showed higher levels of citrate synthase, hexokinase, and 3-oxoacid CoA-transferase than any control fiber; in some cases these levels were 2-10 times higher (well above any found even in the control soleus, a slow-twitch muscle). Average levels of malate dehydrogenase and alanine transaminase also rose dramatically, but peak single fiber levels were not much above the highest in controls. These differential effects confirm at the single fiber level that chronic stimulation can alter mitochondrial composition. Lactate dehydrogenase, fructose-bisphosphatase, and adenylate kinase declined to levels far below those of any control TA fiber, and, in the case of fructose-bisphosphatase, to within the activity range of control soleus fibers. According to their staining reaction for myofibrillar ATPase, TA fibers were initially 23% type IIA, and 74% type IIB, but by 5 wk these had been converted to a mixture of type I, IIA, and IIC fibers. At 5 wk, levels of lactate dehydrogenase, adenylate kinase, and malate dehydrogenase were characteristic of their (new) ATPase type, but 3-oxoacid CoA transferase had increased to levels 6-15 times higher than in control fibers of the same type.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed1985

A method for branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase activity in microgram and nanogram tissue samples.

A method for branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase is described which is based on running the reaction in the reverse of the usual direction with glutamate and alpha-ketoisocaproate as substrates. The alpha-ketoglutarate generated is reduced with glutamate dehydrogenase and NADH. For sensitivity in the nanomole range, the NAD+ generated is measured directly by converting to the highly fluorescent strong alkali product. For smaller samples, down to the 0.2- to 2-pmol range, the NAD+ is amplified by enzymatic cycling.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

Branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase along the rabbit and rat nephron.

The activity of branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.42) is reported for four or five different segments of the rat and rabbit nephron as well as for patches from the papilla. In the rat the levels ranged 40-fold, from a high in the thick ascending limb of Henle to a low in the proximal convoluted tubule. The peak activity is far above that reported for most other parts of the body. Maximum activity was located also in the thick ascending limb in the rabbit, but the level was only one-third as high as in the rat. It is postulated that ammonia liberated by this amino transferase, in cooperation with glutamate dehydrogenase, could diffuse readily into the adjacent proximal straight tubule where all of the renal glutamine synthase and the highest level of alanine aminotransferase are located. Thus alanine and glutamine could be produced when the ammonia was not needed to neutralize excess acidity.

Amino Acids, Branched-Chain↗

PubMed1985

Distribution of guanine deaminase in mouse brain.

Guanine deaminase was measured in nearly 100 different areas of mouse brain. The levels are relatively high in all parts of the telencephalon, both gray and white. It is especially active in parts of the olfactory tubercle and amygdala. Levels in the diencephalon range from low to as high as in the telencephalon. Brain areas caudal to the diencephalon, including all parts of the cerebellum, are almost uniformly below the level of detection. The enzyme is also virtually absent from the retina. The extreme range of concentration suggests that guanine deaminase might play a role in the metabolism of a neuroeffector.

Aminohydrolases↗

PubMed1985

Distribution of glucose-1,6-bisphosphate and IMP-activated glucose bisphosphatase in brain and retina.

The activity of glucose-1,6-bisphosphatase and the level of its substrate were measured in 16 gray areas and four fiber areas of mouse brain and 10 layers or sublayers of monkey retina. Because of the low activity of the enzyme and the small sample sizes, it was necessary to develop a method with two different amplification steps (overall amplification about 10(6]. The enzyme ranged in activity 100-fold from a low in monkey retina photoreceptor cells to a high in the pyramidal layer of the hippocampus. However, in gray areas of the brain proper the range was only about fourfold. This, together with its requirement for IMP, suggests that the enzyme has a widespread metabolic function related to states of increased neuronal activity. Glucose-1,6-bisphosphate levels varied from 80 to 960 mu mol/kg dry weight in different areas of mouse brain and from 44 to 200 mu mol/kg dry weight in different layers of monkey retina. In general, the glucose bisphosphate levels correlated positively with the bisphosphatase activities; however, the three areas with the highest enzyme concentrations did not fit this pattern.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

Enzymes and metabolites of glycogen metabolism in canine cardiac Purkinje fibers.

Canine Purkinje fibers were isolated by microdissection and analyzed for four enzymes of glycogen metabolism and eight related metabolites. Purkinje fiber glycogen levels were very high, confirming earlier reports. Glycogen synthesizing enzymes, glycogen synthase and UDP glucose pyrophosphorylase, were on the average 47 and 70% higher, respectively, in Purkinje fibers than in myocardium. Phosphorylase activity was approximately equal in the two tissue types, and phosphoglucomutase was 31% lower in Purkinje fibers. The metabolites of glycogen 6-phosphate were all higher in Purkinje fibers (P less than 0.001), but glucose 1,6-bisphosphate was lower by 50%. Phosphocreatine and ATP remained high in Purkinje fibers during 2 min of ischemia, while the phosphocreatine level in myocardium was falling by 75%. The results of this study suggest that the high glycogen synthetic capability, high precursor levels, and overall lower metabolic rate in Purkinje fibers compared with myocardium may explain the much higher glycogen levels.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed1985

Effects of detraining on responses to submaximal exercise.

Seven endurance-trained subjects were studied 12, 21, 56, and 84 days after cessation of training. Heart rate, ventilation, respiratory exchange ratio, and blood lactate concentration during submaximal exercise of the same absolute intensity increased (P less than 0.05) progressively during the first 56 days of detraining, after which a stabilization occurred. These changes paralleled a 40% decline (P less than 0.001) in mitochondrial enzyme activity levels and a 21% increase in total lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity (P less than 0.05) in trained skeletal muscle. After 84 days of detraining, the experimental subjects' muscle mitochondrial enzyme levels were still 50% above, and LDH activity was 22% below, sedentary control levels. The blood lactate threshold of the detrained subjects occurred at higher absolute and relative (i.e., 75 +/- 2% vs. 62 +/- 3% of maximal O2 uptake) exercise intensities in the subjects after 84 days of detraining than in untrained controls (P less than 0.05). Thus it appears that a portion of the adaptation to prolonged and intense endurance training that is responsible for the higher lactate threshold in the trained state persists for a long time (greater than 85 days) after training is stopped.

Blood Glucose↗

PubMed1984

Uptake of exogenous aspartate into circumventricular organs but not other regions of adult mouse brain.

Adult mice were treated intraperitoneally with aspartate (Asp) at one of several doses (0.47-3.75 mmol/kg) and 30 min later given a subcutaneous Asp injection at the same dose. This treatment regimen resulted in steady state blood Asp elevations, a given dose producing the same degree of elevation at both 30 and 60 min. The lowest and highest doses, respectively, produced four-fold and 55-fold elevations of serum Asp. In selected circumventricular organ (CVO) regions of brain which lack blood brain barriers, tissue Asp levels rose 1.5 and 3 times above control values following the lowest and highest doses, respectively, whereas tissue Asp remained unchanged in non-CVO brain regions. Thus, even very moderate Asp dosing causes marked increases in CVO Asp. In order to analyze the pattern of Asp uptake into CVO, Asp was assayed in numerous subdivisions of each CVO, and maps were constructed which reflected microregional concentration differences. The pattern of Asp distribution suggests that Asp enters brain via fenestrated capillaries serving certain portions of CVO and then spreads into adjacent brain tissue. In separate experiments, we administered a single high dose of Asp (15 mmol/kg) to both adult and infant mice and measured Asp in serum and select brain regions 60 min later. Asp concentrations in serum and CVO (but not other brain regions) rose markedly at both ages but the increases were greater in serum and therefore also in CVO of infants.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aging↗

PubMed1984

Distribution of three enzymes of gamma-aminobutyric acid metabolism in monkey retina.

The distributions of glutamate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.15), gamma-aminobutyric acid transaminase (EC 2.6.1.19), and succinate semialdehyde dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.24) were determined in monkey retina. The decarboxylase was almost restricted to the inner plexiform layer. The transaminase was also highest in this layer, but activities were 40% as high in the adjacent third of the inner nuclear layer and in the ganglion cell and fiber layers. Succinate semialdehyde dehydrogenase was distributed very differently. Although it also showed a peak of activity in the inner plexiform layer, there was a second equal peak in the photoreceptor inner segment layer and a smaller peak in the outer plexiform layer, regions where both gamma-aminobutyric acid transaminase and glutamate decarboxylase were essentially absent.

4-Aminobutyrate Transaminase↗

PubMed1984

Distribution of glycine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, glutamate decarboxylase, and gamma-aminobutyric acid transaminase in rabbit and mudpuppy retinas.

The distributions of glycine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.15), and GABA transaminase (EC 2.6.1.19) were determined in rabbit and mudpuppy retinas. In both species, peak levels of the amino acids and the enzymes occurred in the inner plexiform layer. Glutamate decarboxylase was almost entirely confined to the inner plexiform layer. Determinations were also made of the GABA content of 107 individual putative amacrine cell somas from mudpuppy retina. About 30% of those somas were found to have high endogenous GABA levels.

4-Aminobutyrate Transaminase↗