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Biomedical subjects

P Vanni

Publications and source records attributed to P Vanni.

79 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Enzymes of human cervical mucus: a comparative study on fertile and infertile mucus and on the endocervical epithelium.

We report a comparative study on protein and enzyme content of human periovulatory cervical mucus and endocervical epithelium. The salient results of our investigation are summarized in the following three points: 1) The method of taking of cervical mucus samples may markedly affect the results of protein and enzyme assays. It is warmly advisable to collect mucus samples from the endocervical canal. 2) Cervical mucus from women diagnosed as having cervical-factor infertility is oligoproteic and lacks some enzyme activities always present in normal cases. 3) Human cervical mucus and endocervical epithelium are very similar as for the enzyme distribution, but show quite different LDH-isoenzyme patterns. In the latter tissue, the H subunits constitute about 77 per cent of the whole LDH, suggesting that this enzyme here is functioning to produce pyruvate rather than lactate.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Changes in enzyme levels in human cervical mucus during the menstrual cycle.

Cervical mucus is a complex secretion produced by the endocervical epithelium. A comparative analysis of 30 enzymes was carried out on 15 women during their periovulatory period (days 10 to 16 of the menstrual cycle). Nine different enzymes were always found to be present in the cervical mucus. Changes in enzymatic activity were further studied in two of the women, one with a normal (27-day) and the other with a short (20-day) menstrual cycle. The data were compared with those for the same enzymes in the saliva of these two women. Each woman's ovulation time was determined through hormone measurements in urine and blood, as well as by recording basal body temperature and by Billing's method. Our results indicate that a maximum peak occurs for several enzymes during the periovulatory period.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Some molecular features of human cervical mucus.

1) The time preservation effect of the enzymatic activities present in human cervical mucus has been studied. 2) In order to protect the enzymatic activities of the mucus from bacterial impurities, the enzymes studied were assayed in presence of NaN3. 3) The effect of an acid pH likes present in the vagina was also studied: a low pH exerts a marked inhibition on mucus enzymes. 4) the use of nonionic detergents for mucus solubilization does not produce a marked increase of the enzymatic activities studied. 5) A NADP-dependent malate dehydrogenase in peri- and post-ovulatory period has been identified. 6) The presence in mucus of at least four lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes has been demonstrated and their absolute values determined.

Cervix Mucus↗
PubMedDate not supplied

On the stability of isocitrate lyase from Pinus pinea.

Isocitrate lyase is a key catalyst of the glyoxylate cycle. A feature of the enzyme from higher plants is the high instability, that causes innumerable problems in working for characterization of the enzyme. The present communication demonstrates that the optimal conditions for the storage of isocitrate lyase from Pinus pinea are: the use of a low temperature (possibly below -20 degrees C), the realization of a high endogenous protein concentration of the enzyme preparations, or, above all when long storage conservation is necessary, the preservation of the enzyme in dried form (acetone precipitation), under vacuum at 4 degrees C. The data reported in this paper seem to exclude, in the above studied conditions, a role for serine proteases in the destabilization of the enzyme. The thiol compounds are not determinant and no effect is obtained by adding exogenous proteins (serum albumin, beta-fructosidase).

Ammonium Sulfate↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Synthase activity of isocitrate lyase from Lupinus cotyledons.

This study describes a continuous optical method for assaying the synthase activity of isocitrate lyase. The enzyme used was purified from cotyledons of higher plant; also reported are some spectroscopic properties of the enzyme. Optimal conditions for the pH and the concentrations of substrates to be used in the test were studied. With the described method, there is a good proportionality between the measured activity and the concentration of the enzyme. With the method were determined the KmS for both substrates: glyoxylate and succinate. The values obtained are in close agreement with those previously reported.

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Is the salivary "ferning" a reliable index of the fertile period?

We found that the fern leaf crystallisation of human saliva is a non-specific phenomenon, independent on the action of estrogenic hormones. Salivary ferning can be obtained in practice during the whole menstrual cycle and occurs in the saliva of postclimateric, pregnant and prepuberal women. Even the saliva of male subjects gives invariably the ferning reaction. In conclusion, salivary ferning does not seem a reliable method to establish woman fertile period.

Crystallization↗