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Biomedical subjects

V J Cunningham

Publications and source records attributed to V J Cunningham.

87 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Effects of some chlorinated sugar derivatives on the hexose transport system of the blood/brain barrier.

The inhibition of D-glucose transport into brain by several hexose analogues has been investigated in adult anaesthetized rats. D-Glucose was transported with apparent Vmax. = 1.22 mumol/g per min, Km = 11.12 mM and Kd = 0.008 ml/g per min. 6-Chloro-6-deoxyglucose was transported with corresponding values of Vmax. = 1.33 mumol/g per min, Km = 5.5 mM and Kd = 0.0155 ml/g per min and inhibited D-glucose transport with apparent Ki = 3.01 mM. 6-Chloro-6-deoxymannose, 6-chloro-6-deoxygalactose and 6-tosyl-6-deoxygalactose also inhibited D-glucose transport, but 6-chloro-6-deoxyfructose was without effect. The results were consistent with a model for glucose transport at the blood/brain interface that involves a hydrophobic site on the transport protein at or near the 6-position of bound glucose.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

An interpretation of the intravenous glucose tolerance test in the light of recent findings on the kinetics of glucose and insulin in man.

1. A theoretical investigation of the intravenous glucose tolerance test has been carried out based on recent findings on the kinetics in man of insulin production, distribution, disposal and action, and of glucose turnover and distribution. 2. A good fit to published data on four groups of subjects required a scheme that includes two extravascular glucose spaces and separate venous, arterial and capillary volumes. The fit to the data was little affected by variations within the physiological range of venous and arterial volumes, cardiac output, glycosuria and the properties of the less-accessible glucose pool. 3. The only variables needed to account for the differences between the groups were kinsulin (a measure of the mean sensitivity of insulin-dependent tissues to insulin action) and the readily accessible glucose space. 4. Three published schemes for insulin kinetics were used. They were all consistent with the data and gave very similar relative values for kinsulin in the four groups. 5. It is shown that a rigorous interpretation of the test requires a knowledge of the hepatic response to the glucose load during the test. These effects are not well characterized in pathological states, e.g. diabetes and injury. Consequently conclusions about insulin resistance in these states drawn only from the test are doubtful.

Blood Glucose↗
PubMed1976

The effect of cobalt on the uptake of plasma iron by the liver.

1. After an intraperitoneal injection of 59Fe the recovery of radioactivity in the liver, but not in other tissues, was increased in cobalt-pretreated rats. There was no proportional increase in the radioactivity recovered from liver haem. 2. Rats were injected intravenously with serum containing protein-bound 59Fe and 125I-labelled albumin as a marker. At various times after injection the specific radioactivities of iron in plasma and of non-haem iron in liver were determined; corrections were applied for the content of plasma in samples of liver. In cobalt-pretreated rats there was a more rapid loss of 59Fe radioactivity from the plasma and a corresponding increase in the uptake of 59Fe into liver non-haem iron. 3. The results are discussed in relation to the possible sites of action of cobalt, and the possibility is considered that only a fraction of the liver non-haem iron may be involved.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

The binding of L-tryptophan to serum albumins in the presence of non-esterified fatty acids.

Bovine, human and rat serum albumins were defatted and palmitic acid, oleic acid and lauric acid added in various molar ratios. The binding of L-tryptophan to these albumins was measured at 20 degrees C in a 0.138 M salt solution at pH 7.4, by using an ultrafiltration technique, and analysed in terms of n, the number of available tryptophan-binding sites per albumin molecule, with apparent association constant, k. 2. n and k were 0.90 and 2.3x10(-4)M(minus-1) respectively for defatted bovine serum albumin and 0.87 and 9.7x10(-3)M(-minus-1) for human albumin. Addition of palmitic acid did not decrease n until the molar ratio, fatty acid/bovine albumin, approached and exceeded 2. The decrease in k was small and progressive. In contrast, lauric caused a marked decrease in n and k at ratios as low as 0.5. A similar distinction between the effects on n of palmitic acid and oleic acid and those of lauric acid was seen for human albumin. k for human albumin was not significantly affected by fatty acids under the conditions studied. 3. It is concluded that primary long-chain fatty acid sites interact only weakly with the tryptophan site on albumin and that inhibition of tryptophan binding occurs when secondary long-chain sites are occupied. Primary medium-chain fatty acid sites are distinct from primary long-chain sites but may be grouped with secondary long-chain sites. 4. The relationship between free and bound tryptophan in samples of rat plasma (Stoner et al., 1975) is discussed in terms of a similar but limited study of rat albumin.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

The effects of diet, lipolysis and limb ischaemia on the distribution of plasma tryptophan in the rat.

A non-linear relationship between the plasma non-esterified fatty acid concentration and the percentage of free plasma tryptophan was found in rats in different nutritional states, although non-esterified fatty acids are not the only factors determining the percentage of free tryptophan. This relationship was not seen in rats injured by limb ischaemia. The effect of drugs causing rapid increases in the plasma non-esterified fatty acid concentration was also studied. Isoprenaline decreased the total plasma tryptophan concentration. Dichloroisoprenaline caused a sustained increase in the plasma non-esterified fatty acid concentration which was accompanied by an increase in the concentration of free plasma tryptophan and followed by a fall in the concentration of total tryptophan. The loss of tryptophan from the plasma was attributed to an altered distribution of tryptophan in the extracellular space rather than to increased metabolism. This interpretation was supported by determinations of the irreversible disposal rate of plasma tryptophan which in uninjured rats was unaffected by the concentration of free plasma tryptophan. In the injured rats this rate was unaltered during limb ischaemia but was decreased after removal of the tourniquets; increased competition for tissue entry by other neutral amino acids and the fall in body temperature could be factors in this fall.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

The calculation of errors and the choice of sampling times in the determination of irreversible disposal rates in vivo by isotope experiments.

In well-known methods of estimating rates of irreversible disposal (utilization) in vivo the rates are calculated from the areas to infinity under specific radioactivity-time (S-t) or quantity-of-label-time (q-t) curves obtained by measurements on samples of plasma after intravenous injection of labelled substrate. The errors in the calculated rates are mostly those of the estimates of the areas. These errors are of two kinds: random, caused by the variances of the values of S or q, and systematic, caused by differences between the curves used to interpolate between these values and the true curves. A rigorous method is given for calculating the random errors from the variances of the values of S or q, and is applied to choosing the best times to sample the plasma from small animals from which few plasma samples can be taken. A procedure for estimating systematic errors is also given. Programs in BASIC language to carry out the calculations are deposited as Supplementary Publication SUP 50058 (5 pages) at the British Library (Lending Division), Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies can be obtained on the terms given in Biochem. J. (1975) 145, 5.

Isotopes↗
PubMed1975

Effects of a single exposure to carbon disulphide on the rate of urea production and on plasma free fatty acid and glucose concentrations in the rat.

The concentration of plasma free fatty acids in rats was significantly increased after a short period of exposure to inhalation of carbon disulphide (4 h, 2 mg/1). In contrast, after a longer period of exposure (15 h overnight, 2 mg/1) the concentration of plasma free fatty acid was significantly decreased despite a small hypoglycaemia. At the same time plasma urea concentration was significantly higher in CS2-treated rats. The total esterified fatty acid content of plasma was lower after exposure, but there was no change in plasma glycerol. Following an intragastric water load, no differences were observed in urine flow rate nor in renal clearances of urea and inulin between control and treated rats. It is concluded that the rate of urea production is significantly increased during acute CS2-intoxication, and it is suggested that two factors contribute to this effect: first, an increased breakdown of proteins with which CS2 or its metabolic products have reacted; and secondly an increased rate of utilization of plasma glucose associated with increased gluconeogenesis from amino acid precursors. It is further suggested that the stress effects of CS2 dominate in the short term before being overcome by a diminished sympathetic response. When rats were exposed to CS2 overnight without free access to water, the great vessel haematocrit was significantly lower than in corresponding controls. This was shown to be accounted for by differences in plasma volume. No such difference was observed when rats had free access to water during exposure. These effects probably reflect differing rates of water loss under mildly dehydrating conditions, but a direct effect of CS2 on the cardiovascular system is not excluded.

Animals↗
PubMed1973

The irreversible disposal rate of free fatty acids in the plasma of fed and starved rats.

1. The irreversible disposal rate coefficient for free fatty acids in the plasma of fed and starved rats was determined after a single intravenous injection of [1-(14)C]palmitic acid into each rat. The dose of labelled palmitic acid was given as a complex with (131)I-labelled albumin in rat serum. The total amount of [1-(14)C]palmitic acid remaining in the plasma was determined at short times after injection from the (14)C/(131)I ratio in the injected serum and in the collected plasma. The rate coefficient was determined from the area under the curve that describes the disappearance of [1-(14)C]palmitic acid with time from the plasma. Possible sources of error in these determinations are discussed. 2. The irreversible disposal rate coefficient was significantly higher in fed rats (2.07min(-1)) than in rats which had been starved for 24h (1.53min(-1)). The possible relationship between this difference and the processes whereby free fatty acids are removed from the plasma is discussed briefly. 3. An estimate of the irreversible disposal rate for free fatty acids in plasma was made from the concentration of free fatty acids in plasma and from the volume of distribution of (131)I-labelled albumin. The irreversible disposal rate was significantly lower in the fed state than in the starved.

Animals↗
PubMed1969

Clearing-factor lipase in adipose tissue. Distinction of different states of the enzyme and the possible role of the fat cell in the maintenance of tissue activity.

1. Incubation of intact epididymal adipose tissue from fed rats at 37 degrees in an albumin solution at pH7.4 in vitro results in rapid loss of clearing-factor lipase activity until a low activity, stable to prolonged incubation, is attained. The clearing-factor lipase activity of intact tissue from starved rats, which is initially much less than that of tissue from fed rats, is mainly stable to incubation at 37 degrees . 2. Much of the clearing-factor lipase activity of intact epididymal adipose tissue from fed rats is inactivated by collagenase. The enzyme activity of intact tissue from starved rats is not inactivated by collagenase. 3. The clearing-factor lipase activity of fat cells isolated from the epididymal adipose tissue of fed rats is stable to prolonged incubation at 37 degrees . It represents only a small proportion of the total activity of the intact tissue. In starved rats, the isolated fat cells contain a much higher proportion of the activity of the intact tissue. Their activity is also stable at 37 degrees . 4. Incubation of isolated fat cells in a serum-based medium leads to a progressive rise in clearing-factor lipase activity. Actinomycin increases the extent of this rise in activity. No rise in clearing-factor lipase activity occurs when stromal-vascular cells isolated from epididymal adipose tissue are incubated in the medium. 5. The findings indicate that less than 20% of the activity of intact adipose tissue from fed rats is retained when fat cells are isolated from the tissue by collagenase treatment. The activity that is lost could be that which normally functions in the uptake of triglyceride fatty acids by the tissue.

Adipose Tissue↗