Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R C Morris.
A case of Wuchereria bancrofti filariasis was recently seen in a Haitian immigrant in Charleston, SC. The Caribbean area is a known endemic focus for this organism. With the increased numbers of immigrants from that area, it is likely that other such cases will be seen in the US.
The metabolic pathogenesis of the complex renal tubular dysfunction of type II renal tubular acidosis and Fanconi's syndrome (RTA II/FS) acutely induced by maleic acid could depend on the occurrence of a positive feedback loop in cells of the proximal renal tubule: impaired mitochondrial oxidation----increased glucose uptake----increased formation and concentration of phosphorylated glycolytic intermediates----limitation on availability of cellular inorganic phosphate----more severely impaired mitochondrial oxidative metabolism. To test this hypothesis we intravenously administered maleic acid both alone and after initiating intravenously administered neutral sodium phosphate, sodium sulfate, or sodium chloride to 10 unanesthetized trained female dogs undergoing water diuresis. We made the following observations: 1) Administration of maleic acid alone predictably induced dose-dependent increments in urine flow (V) and in renal clearance of HCO3-, Na+, K+, and alpha-aminonitrogen and a pronounced increase in the renal clearance and excretion of citrate. 2) Prior phosphate loading, which increased the plasma concentration of phosphate from 2.5 +/- 0.20 to 11.3 +/- 2 mg/dl: a) attenuated the increment in renal clearance of HCO3- by one-half even though the filtered load of bicarbonate was higher by 37%, owing to the higher values of both GFR and plasma bicarbonate concentration that obtained with phosphate loading; b) prevented the increment in renal clearance and excretion of alpha-aminonitrogen; c) significantly attenuated the increments in V and renal clearance of K+; but d) did not affect the increment in renal clearance and excretion of citrate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
We asked this question: Under normal or near-normal metabolic conditions, does the prevailing normal or near-normal vitamin D status dampen the activity of 25-hydroxyvitamin-D3-1 alpha-hydroxylase (1 alpha-hydroxylase) such that it determines not only its "basal" activity but also its responsiveness to stimulation by increased circulating concentrations of parathyroid hormone (PTH)? To answer this question, we measured the activity of 1 alpha-hydroxylase in chicks, with and without administration of PTH, immediately before and during deprivation of vitamin D. Before deprivation of vitamin D, 1 alpha-hydroxylase activity increased only slightly with administration of PTH. With deprivation of vitamin D for 5 and 10 d, while the plasma concentrations of calcium and phosphorus persisted normal and unchanged, 1 alpha-hydroxylase activity not only increased progressively but also became sharply and increasingly responsive to stimulation by administration of PTH. But after 15 d of vitamin D deprivation, and the supervention of hypocalcemia, 1 alpha-hydroxylase activity was not further increased by the administration of PTH. With deprivation of vitamin D, the progressive increase in 1 alpha-hydroxylase correlated inversely with circulating levels of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25-[OH]2D), and the decreasing calcemic response to PTH correlated inversely with the responsiveness of 1 alpha-hydroxylase to PTH (in chicks deprived of vitamin D for 1-10 d). These results demonstrate that: under normal metabolic conditions, the normal vitamin D status regulates the activity of 1 alpha-hydroxylase so as to dampen both its "basal" activity and its responsiveness to stimulation by PTH; and vitamin D deprivation insufficient to cause hypocalcemia enhances both the "basal" activity of 1 alpha-hydroxylase and its responsiveness to stimulation by PTH. The results suggest that the normal dampening of 1 alpha-hydroxylase and both of the demonstrated enhancements of its activity are mediated by normal and reduced levels of circulating 1,25-(OH)2D, respectively. The finding that PTH fails to further stimulate 1 alpha-hydroxylase when vitamin D deprivation is sufficient in duration to cause hypocalcemia confirms the findings of other investigators and again demonstrates that observations made during abnormal metabolic circumstances may bear little on the physiologic regulation of 1 alpha-hydroxylase under normal or near-normal metabolic circumstances.
The serum concentrations of many hormones exhibit regular circadian rhythms. To determine if the serum concentration of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25-(OH)2D], undergoes periodic changes during the day, we measured the serum concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D every 30 min for 28 h in five normal men. Serum concentrations and urinary excretion rates of calcium (Ca) and inorganic phosphate (Pi) also were measured. The results indicate that the serum concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D does not undergo any large fluctuations during the day, but, rather, is maintained within approximately 20% of its overall 24-h mean. In two of five men, part of the observed daily variation could be attributed to a low amplitude (less than or equal to 10%) circadian rhythm, with the mean acrophase occurring at 1645 h. The previously reported circadian rhythms in serum concentration and urinary excretion rates of Ca and Pi were confirmed. Although the rhythmic changes in serum 1,25-(OH)2D in two subjects were not correlated with the diurnal changes in the serum concentrations of Ca or Pi, a significant negative correlation (r = 0.61; P less than 0.001) was found between the circulating concentrations of Ca and Pi.
The hyperparathyroidism characteristic of patients with moderate renal insufficiency could be caused by decreases in the plasma concentration of ionized calcium (Ca++) evoked by: (a) recurring increases in the plasma concentration of inorganic phosphorus that may be detectable only in the post-prandial period; (b) a reversible, phosphorus-mediated suppression of renal 25-hydroxyvitamin D-1 alpha-hydroxylase that decreases the plasma concentration of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25-(OH)2D) enough to decrease both gut absorption and bone resorption of Ca++; (c) both of these. In a group of eight children with moderate renal insufficiency, mean glomerular filtration rate (GFR) 45 +/- 4 (SE) ml/min per 1.73 M2, ages 6-17 yr, we tested these hypotheses by determining the effect of short term (5 d) restriction and supplementation of dietary intake of phosphorus on the plasma concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D, the serum concentrations of immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (iPTH) and phosphorus, and the fractional renal excretion of phosphorus ( FEPi ). When dietary phosphorus was normal, 1.2 g/d, the serum concentrations of phosphorus throughout the day were not greater than those of normal control children, and the serum concentrations of carboxyl-terminal iPTH (C-iPTH) were greater, 59 +/- 9 vs. 17 +/- 3 mu leq/ml, and unchanging; the serum concentration of intact-iPTH was also greater, 198 +/- 14 vs. 119 +/- 8 pg/ml. The plasma concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D was lower than that of age-matched controls, 27 +/- 3 vs. 36 +/- 2 pg/ml (P less than 0.01). When dietary phosphorus was restricted to 0.35 g/d, the plasma concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D increased by 60% to a mean value not different from that of normal controls, while serum concentrations of C-iPTH and intact-iPTH decreased by 25%, the latter concentration to a mean value not different from that of controls. FEPi decreased from 31 to 9%. When dietary phosphorus was supplemented to 2.4 g/d, the plasma concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D decreased 32%, while those of C-iPTH and intact-iPTH increased by 131 and 45%, respectively; FEPi increased from 27 to 53%. Plasma concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D remained normal and unchanged, and GFR did not change when dietary phosphorus was manipulated. The data demonstrate that in children with moderate renal insufficiency: (a) A normal dietary intake of phosphorus in attended by a decreased circulating concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D and an increased concentration of iPTH, but not by recurring increases in the serum concentration of phosphorus at any time of the day; (b) Dietary phosphorus is, however, a major determinant of the circulating concentrations of both 1,25-(OH)2D and iPTH, which vary inversely and directly, respectively, with dietary intake of phosphorus, and increase and decrease, respectively, to normal values when phosphorus is restricted for 5 d; (c) Restriction and supplementation of dietary phosphorus induces changes in the serum concentration of iPTH that correlate strongly but inversely with those induced in the plasma concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D (r = -0.88, P < 0.001); and (d) The physiologic responsiveness of the renal tubule to changes in dietary phosphorus is to a substantial extent intact. The data provide support for the second hypothesis stated.
Oral sodium bicarbonate is used to treat metabolic acidosis in patients with renal tubular acidosis. Since infants and young children are unable to swallow tablets, those affected must ingest sodium bicarbonate in a powder or liquid form. Pharmacy-weighed sodium bicarbonate is expensive and inconvenient to obtain; some pharmacists are reluctant to provide it. We determined that the sodium bicarbonate contained in 8-oz boxes of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda was sufficiently constant in weight that, dissolved in water to a given volume, it yielded a quantitatively acceptable therapeutic solution of sodium bicarbonate at a cost of approximately 3 percent of that of pharmacy-weighed sodium bicarbonate. Grocery store baking soda can be a safe, economical, and convenient source of sodium bicarbonate for the treatment of chronic metabolic acidosis in infants and young children.
In uninephrectomized rats given desoxycorticosterone (DOC) and a fixed amount of dietary sodium, we sought to determine if the anionic component of the sodium salt consumed could be a pathogenetic determinant of the occurrence and maintenance of hypertension. After two weeks, mean arterial pressure (MAP) in rats given DOC and NaCl was significantly greater than in rats given DOC and NaHCO3, or NaCl without DOC. Replacing dietary NaCl with a near equimolar amount of NaHCO3 corrected the hypertension. Replacing dietary NaHCO3 with a near equimolar amount of NaCl induced hypertension. These findings could not be attributed to changes in caloric intake, weight gain, or external balances of sodium or potassium. These findings demonstrate that, in rats given DOC and a fixed amount of dietary sodium, the anionic component of the sodium salt consumed can determine the occurrence, progression, and reversal of hypertension.
The uninephrectomized rat given desoxycorticosterone (DOC) provides a classic model of "sodium-dependent" hypertension. In such rats, the extent to which a given dietary intake of sodium induced an increase in blood pressure depended on whether or not the anionic component of the sodium salt was chloride. With normal and high dietary intakes of sodium, sodium chloride induced increases in blood pressure much greater than that induced by approximately equimolar amounts of sodium bicarbonate, sodium ascorbate, or a combination of sodium bicarbonate and sodium ascorbate. A normal amount of dietary sodium chloride induced hypertension, whereas an equimolar amount of sodium bicarbonate did not increase blood pressure. This difference could not be attributed to differences in sodium or potassium balances, weight gain, or caloric intake. The DOC model of "sodium-dependent" hypertension might better be considered sodium chloride-dependent.
In two unrelated boys, 5.3 and 3.8 years of age with hereditary fructose intolerance, apparently isolated growth retardation (-2.71 S.D. and -2.40 S.D.) occurred after infancy, even though acute symptomatic fructose intoxication was prevented by restriction of dietary fructose. When more stringent restriction of dietary fructose was instituted (approximately 40 mg per kilogram of body weight per day), growth velocity increased from the 25th to the 97th percentile in one child and from well below the 3d to above the 75th percentile in the other. When restriction of dietary fructose was experimentally relaxed (from 10 to 250 mg per kilogram per day), neither boy had symptoms, hypoglycemia, or evidence of hepatic or renal dysfunction, but both had sustained hyperuricemia and hyperuricosuria and increases in the plasma concentration and urinary excretion of magnesium. We conclude that in patients with hereditary fructose intolerance, clinically important chronic fructose intoxication can occur after infancy without causing symptoms of acute fructose intoxication and can be expressed as an apparently isolated, reversible retardation of somatic growth with a continuing disorder of adenine nucleotide metabolism, characterized in part by recurrently increased rates of degradation of adenine nucleotides.
The syndrome of renal tubular acidosis has been categorized into three physiologic types that have different clinical findings and prognostic and therapeutic implications. We reviewed radiographs of the skeleton and kidneys in 92 patients (56 children and 36 adults) with renal tubular acidosis in order to determine whether the radiologic findings could be related to the type of syndrome. Forty-four patients had Type 1 renal tubular acidosis, 18 had Type 2, and 30 had Type 4. Evidence of skeletal abnormalities was uncommon (17 per cent) and was confined to patients who had the Type 2 disorder or azotemia. The children with Type 2 and skeletal abnormalities had rickets; the adults had osteopenia without pseudofractures. Nephrocalcinosis was evident in approximately one fourth of the group (29 per cent) and was restricted to patients with the Type 1 syndrome. In patients with Type 4, osteopenia was evident in 12 per cent, all of whom were azotemic. Our observations indicate that the radiographic manifestations of renal tubular acidosis are influenced by the physiologic type of renal tubular acidosis.
We measured the plasma concentration of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D) in 39 children comprising three groups; eight with moderate renal insufficiency (GFR of 25 to 50 ml/min/1.73 M2, seven of whom had tubulointerstitial disease), eight with severe renal insufficiency (on chronic hemodialysis), and 23 healthy control subjects. The mean plasma concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D was reduced by some 40% (P less than 0.002) in the children with moderate renal insufficiency, and by some 80% (P less than 0.001) in the children with severe renal insufficiency. In the children with moderate renal insufficiency, the reduced concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D was associated with increased serum concentrations of immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (iPTH) and reduced serum concentrations of 1,25-(OH)2D was associated with increased serum concentrations of immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (iPTH) and reduced serum concentrations of calcium and phosphorus. When analyzed over the range of renal function from normal through severely impaired, values of iPTH correlate inversely and significantly with those of 1,25-(OH)2D. Growth was impaired in four of the eight children with moderate renal insufficiency. The results of the current study suggest that in children with moderate renal insufficiency, a reduction in the renal synthesis and in the plasma concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D may be important pathogenetic events in disordered metabolism of calcium and phosphorus, including secondary hyperparathyroidism.
To investigate whether dysfunction of the proximal tubule underlies maleic acid-(MA) induced type II ("proximal") renal tubular acidosis (RTA II), we intravenously administered either MA or acetazolamide to eight conscious trained dogs undergoing water diuresis and examined the relationship between fractional solute-free water clearance (Ch2o/GFR), a measure of NaCl reabsorption in the post-proximal nephron, and either fractional urine flow (V/GFR), a measure of total solute rejected by the proximal tubule, or the sum of fractional excretion of Cl- and Ch2o/GFR [(Ccl + Ch2o)/GFR], a measure of proximally rejected solute that is potentially reabsorbable by the thick ascending limb. When MA or acetazolamide induced brisk bicarbonaturia at normal plasma bicarbonate concentrations: 1) V/GFR, (Ccl + Ch20)GFR, and Ch2o/GFR increased strikingly; 2) at any increment of Ch2o/GFR ws not; 3) the increments of V/GFR correlated positively with those of fractional excretion of bicarbonate (P less than 0.001); 4) during hyperchloremic acidosis, MA-induced bicarbonaturia was greatly attenuated; the increment in V/GFR was halved and approximated that in Ch20/GFR, which was unchanged; 5) when plasma bicarbonate was abruptly increased, bicarbonaturia increased strikingly and V/GFR increased further but Ch20/GFR and aminoaciduria did not. We conclude that MA induces a reduction in the net rate at which the proximal tubule reabsorbs HCO-3, Na+, and Cl-. This dysfunction underlies RTA II and evokes greatly increased reabsorption of Cl- and Na+ in the post-proximal tubule.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
A patient with renal acidosis developed unanticipated toxicity after ordinary doses of pseudoephedrine, prompting us to study renal determinants of its elimination. We presumed that our patient accumulated the drug because of her persistently alkaline urine, which would favor tubular resorption of this weak base (pKa = 9.4). We studied normal adults and children and one adult and one child with renal tubular acidosis. Increasing urine pH increased the serum elimination half-life from 1.9 to 21 hr. While urinary pH remained alkaline, renal excretion of pseudoephedrine and its metabolite, norpseudoephedrine, was directly correlated with the flow rate of urine in each subject. Both urine pH and flow are important determinants of the elimination of pseudoephedrine in man and could be critical determinants of unanticipated toxicity.
To test the hypothesis that in both the liver and renal cortex of the fructose-loaded rat, severity of depletion of inorganic phosphate (P(i)), and not the magnitude of accumulation of fructose-1-phosphate (F-1-P), determines the severity of the dose-dependent reduction of ATP, we intraperitoneally injected fed rats with fructose, 20 and 40 mumol/g, alone, and at the higher load, in combination with (a) sodium phosphate, 20 mumol/g, administered shortly beforehand or subsequently or, (b) adenosine, 2 mumol/g, administered beforehand. The following observations were made: (a) With fructose loading alone, at the higher load, both P(i) and total adenine nucleotides (TAN) were reduced by one third in the renal cortex and (as previously observed) by two thirds in the liver; and at either load, the reduction of ATP (and TAN) and the accumulation of F-1-P were less severe in the renal cortex than in the liver. (b) Prior phosphate loading largely prevented the reductions of ATP and TAN in the renal cortex and significantly attenuated them in the liver, yet doubled the renal cortical accumulation of F-1-P. (c) Adenosine loading substantially attenuated the reductions of ATP, TAN, and P(i) only in the renal cortex. (d) ATP varied directly with P(i) (P < 0.001, r = 0.98) in the domain of control and reduced values of P(i) taken from both liver and renal cortex. (e) As judged from tissue and plasma concentrations of fructose and glucose, and tissue concentrations of fructose-6-phosphate and glucose-6-phosphate, the rate at which the renal cortex and liver converted fructose to glucose was much lower at the higher fructose load. (f) Prior phosphate loading prevented this decrease in rate in the renal cortex and attenuated it in the liver; adenosine loading attenuated it only in the renal cortex. We conclude that in both the renal cortex of the fructose-loaded rat: (a) Depletion of P(i) is critical to the causation of the reductions in both ATP and TAN and, at the higher fructose load, of a decrease in the rate at which ATP is regenerated. (b) The severity of depletion of P(i) determines the severity of these disturbances. (c) By differentially mitigating the depletion of P(i), prior phosphate loading largely prevents these disturbances in the renal cortex, and attenuates them in the liver; and adenosine loading attenuates them only in the renal cortex. The findings provide some basis for the observation that in patients with hereditary fructose intolerance experimentally exposed to fructose, prior loading with sodium phosphate substantially attenuates the renal but not hepatic dysfunction.
Growth was evaluated in a group of 10 infants and children with familial or idiopathic classic renal tubular acidosis in whom alkali therapy was initiated at ages ranging from 8 days to 9.5 yr and administered at dosage schedules documented to sustain correction of acidosis in at least four prolonged observation periods on the Pediatric Clinical Research Ward. When alkali therapy was begun, six patients (four infants and two children) were stunted (height <2.5 SD below mean). Of the four who were not, two infants were too young (<2 wk of age) to have become stunted, and two children had been documented earlier to be nonacidotic. At the start of alkali therapy, the heights of the patients correlated inversely with the maximal possible duration of prior acidosis. WITH SUSTAINED ALKALI THERAPY: (a) each patient attained and maintained normal stature; (b) the mean height of the 10 patients increased from the 1.4+/-4 to the 37.0+/-33 percentile (of a normal age- and sex-matched population); (c) the mean height reached the 69th percentile in the eight patients whose heights could be analyzed according to parental prediction (Tanner technique); (d) the rate of growth increased two- to threefold, and normal heights were attained within 6 mo of initiating alkali therapy in the stunted infants and within 3 yr in the stunted children; (e) the height attained correlated inversely with the maximal possible duration of acidosis (before alkali therapy) only in those patients in whom alkali therapy was started after 6 mo of age, and not in those treated earlier. The amount of alkali required to sustain correction of acidosis increased substantially during the course of treatment in each patient. The maximal alkali requirement ranged from 4.8 to 14.1 meq/kg per day, and in each patient its amount was determined principally by the magnitude of renal bicarbonate wasting.
In four patients with renal hyperchloremic acidosis and hyperkalemia, hyporeninemic hypoaldosteronism and chronic renal insufficiency (glomerular filtration rates of 13, 31, 35 and 44 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), prolonged administration of fludrocortisone increased urinary potassium and net acid excretion, corrected hyperkalemia and substantially ameliorated acidosis. Except in the patient with the lowest glomerular filtration rate, the increased net acid excretion was due mostly to increased ammonium excretion. Urine pH decreased initially in each patient, but in the three patients with the highest filtration rates, it increased subsequently as ammonium excretion increased, indicating that renal ammonia production increased. Urinary ammonium excretion correlated inversely with serum potassium concentration and did not decrease on discontinuation of therapy if hyperkalemia was prevented from recurring. In patients with renal acidosis and hyporeninemic hypoaldosteronism, administration of mineralocorticoid hormone can augment both renal hydrogen-ion secretion and, by correction of hyperkalemia, renal ammonia production, and thereby ameliorate metabolic acidosis.