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Use of a soluble tetrazolium/formazan assay for chicken cells.

We evaluated a soluble tetrazolium/formazan assay using 2,3-bis(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-5-[(phenylamino)-carbonyl ]-2H- tetrazolium hydroxide (XTT) for chicken cell growth. Fifty microliter of solution containing 1 mg/ml of XTT and 0.025 mM phenazine methosulfate was added to the cells in a well of 96-well microplate. After 4 hr incubation at 37 degrees C, the absorbance was measured at 490 nm. Under this condition, absorbances were well correlated with cell number of Marek's disease tumor cells and chicken embryo fibroblasts. Proliferation of chicken lymphocytes stimulated with mitogens was also effectively measured. The formazan of XTT is water-soluble and can be quantitated in culture medium without the necessity for extraction with organic solvents. Thus XTT assay is simple and useful for the quantity assay with chicken cells.

Animals↗

Partial urethral obstruction enhances NADPH-diaphorase activity in the monkey (Macaca fascicularis) bladder: light and electron microscopic studies.

The effect of partially obstructing the urethra on the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) activity in neurons of the intramural ganglia of the monkey (Macaca fascicularis) bladder was examined by light and electron microscopy. Partial urethral ligation was done in adult male monkeys. The animals were sacrificed 2, 4 weeks after partial urethral obstruction. This was compared to controls (normal and sham operated). Urethral obstructed animals were observed to have increased urinary frequency and decreased urinary flow rate. Two weeks after urethral obstruction, the overall NADPH-d activity in the intramural ganglia of the bladder base was enhanced compared to control animals. The frequency of intensely stained NADPH-d positive neurons was increased compared to the control animals. About one-third of intensely stained NADPH-d positive neurons appeared to undergo degenerative changes. At 4 weeks after urethral obstruction, a wide occurrence of NADPH-d positive neurons in advanced stages of degeneration in the bladder base was observed. Cellular debris was strewn among normal looking ganglion cells and along the nerve processes. The proportion of intensely stained NADPH-d positive neurons was relatively lower than the controls. The total number of NADPH-d positive neurons and the nerve fibres in the entire bladder was significantly reduced when compared to control animals. Electron microscopy showed some NADPH-d activity in intramural ganglion cells in 2 weeks after partial urethral obstruction. NADPH-d reaction product (formazan) was deposited on the membranes of the rough endoplasmic reticulum, and the outer membranes of some mitochondria in the intramural neuron. At 4 weeks after urethral obstruction, NADPH-d was present in the membrane of the mitochondria and some mitochondria appeared swollen with disrupted cristae. Present results show that NADPH-d activity in neurons of the intramural ganglia of the monkey (Macaca fascicularis) urinary bladder was increased after two weeks and reduced after 4 weeks of partial urethral obstruction. It is speculated that the increased NADPH-d activity associated with partial urethral obstruction would lead to neuronal damage and death, which may contribute to detrusor overactivity. However, it warrants further investigation to understand the mechanism of neuronal cell death after partial urethral obstruction.

Animals↗

Nucleation-dependent polymerization is an essential component of amyloid-mediated neuronal cell death.

Accumulating evidence suggests that amyloid protein aggregation is pathogenic in many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. However, the mechanisms by which protein aggregation mediates cellular dysfunction and overt cell death are unknown. Recent reports have focused on the potential role of amyloid oligomers or protofibrils as a neurotoxic form of amyloid-beta (Abeta) and related amyloid aggregates. Here we describe studies indicating that overt neuronal cell death mediated by Abeta(1-40) is critically dependent on ongoing Abeta(1-40) polymerization and is not mediated by a single stable species of neurotoxic aggregate. The extent and rate of neuronal cell death can be controlled by conditions that alter the rate of Abeta polymerization. The results presented here indicate that protofibrils and oligomeric forms of Abeta most likely generate neuronal cell death through a nucleation-dependent process rather than acting as direct neurotoxic ligands. These findings bring into question the use of the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide formazan assay (MTT assay) as a reporter of Abeta-mediated neuronal cell death and suggest that diffusible Abeta protofibrils and oligomers more likely mediate subtle alterations of synaptic function and long-term potentiation rather than overt neuronal cell death. These results have been extended to Abeta(1-42), the non-Abeta component of Alzheimer's disease amyloid plaques, and human amylin, suggesting that nucleation-dependent polymerization is a common mechanism of amyloid-mediated neuronal cell death. Our findings indicate that ongoing amyloid fibrillogenesis may be an essential mechanistic process underlying the pathogenesis associated with protein aggregation in amyloid disorders.

Amyloid↗

Comparative metabolism of spermatozoa from subfertile Delaware and Wyandotte roosters.

Sperm metabolism was determined via reduction of 2-(p-iodophenyl)-3-(p-nitrophenyl)-5-phenyl tetrazolium chloride (INT) to formazan. When the reaction mixture contained cyanide, which blocks cytochrome oxidase and thus maximizes intermediate electron transfer to INT, and calcium which stimulates fowl sperm motility, the metabolic capacity of spermatozoa from subfertile Delaware and Wyandotte roosters was 90 and 63% of that of spermatozoa from fertile Leghorn roosters. When the assay was performed at 40 degrees C without calcium or cyanide, no difference in metabolism was observed between Delaware and Leghorn spermatozoa (P greater than 0.05). However, the metabolism of Wyandotte spermatozoa was 66% of that observed with Delaware or Leghorn spermatozoa. These results provide further evidence that heritable subfertility in Delaware and Wyandotte roosters is attributable to distinct sperm defects.

Animals↗

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) induce chemical and structural changes on human insulin in vitro, including alterations in its immunoreactivity.

Oxidative stress occurs when the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) exceeds the endogenous antioxidant defense. Peroxidations induced by ROS are the key of chemical and structural modifications of biomolecules including circulating proteins. To elucidate the effect of ROS on circulating proteins and considering the presence of oxidative stress in Diabetes Mellitus, the effects of ROS, in vitro, on human insulin were studied. We utilized the Fenton reaction for free hydroxyl radical (HO*) generation in presence of human recombinant insulin measuring chemical changes on its molecular structure. The induced changes in insulin were: a) significant increase on absorbance (280 nm) due to phenylalanine hydroxylation (0.023 +/- 0.007 to 0.13 +/- 0.07). b) Peroxidation products formed on amino acids side branches (peroxyl and alcohoxyl group); measured as increased capacity of reduce nitroblue of tetrazolium (NBT) to formazan (0.007 +/- 0.007 to 0.06 +/- 0.02). c) Increased concentration of free carbonyl groups (8.8 +/- 8.7 to 45.6 +/- 20.2 pmoles dinitrophenylhidrazones/nmol insulin) with lost of secondary structure, and d) Modification of epithopes decreasing the insulin antigen-antibody reactivity measured as a decrease in insulin concentration by RIA. In conclusion, the radical hydroxyl in vitro is able to induce molecular modifications on insulin.

Carbon↗

Radical intermediates in the redox reactions of tetrazolium salts in aprotic solvents (cyclovoltammetric, EPR and UV-VIS study).

Tetrazolium Blue (TBCl2) and Nitrotetrazolium Blue (NTBCl2) cathodically reduced in non aqueous solvents form radicals with the center of unpaired electron on the tetrazolyl ring (TBH., NTBH.) as detected by EPR spectroscopy. After prolonged reduction, formazans (TBH2, NTBH2) are formed and are then further reduced to the nitro-centered anion radical (from NTBH2) and the azogroup-centered anion radical (from TBH2). The first cathodic peak in the cyclovoltammetric study in the region from -0.3 to -0.6 V vs. SCE (saturated calomel electrode) is irreversible and indicates an adsorption and diffusion process on the platinum and mercury electrodes. Formation of TBH+ and NTBH+ is assumed. The second peak, in the region from -0.8 to -1.3 V vs. SCE, is nearly reversible and coupled with the formation of TBH. and NTBH. radicals. UV-VIS spectra measured during the reduction show isosbestic points at the conversions: TB++-->TBH+, NTB++-->NTBH+; further, TBH+-->TBH2 and NTBH+-->NTBH2. The characteristic colours of the solutions observed can be used to characterise the reduction state of tetrazolium salts.

Electrochemistry↗

The selenoorganic compound ebselen suppresses liver injury induced by Propionibacterium acnes and lipopolysaccharide in rats.

Ebselen (2-phenyl-1,2-benzoisoselenazol-3[2H]-one) is a selenoorganic compound containing selenium that has various pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. Kupffer cells, residual hepatic macrophages, play an important role in the development of liver injury by producing free radicals and cytokines. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether ebselen suppresses macrophage-associated liver injury in rats. In vivo, we examined the effects of ebselen on liver injury, induced by Propionibacterium acnes and lipopolysaccharide (P. acnes-LPS), in rats where hepatic macrophages are considered to be primarily involved in injury development. Ebselen administration reduced the incidence of death following hepatic failure by P. acnes-LPS (82% vs. 20%, p<0.05). Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase, at 5 h after LPS administration, were significantly lower in the ebselen-treated group than in the control group (202.4+/-100.3 IU/l vs. 558.4+/-146.4 IU/l, p<0.05). Histological evidence of injury, such as necrosis, hemorrhage, and degeneration, was also suppressed by ebselen. Further, to assess the mechanisms involved, we investigated the production of cytokines and superoxide anions produced by activated hepatic macrophages in vivo. Serum levels of TNF alpha, interleukin-18 (IL-18)/IFN gamma-inducing factor (IGIF), and interferon gamma (IFN gamma) at 1 h after LPS administration were significantly lower in the ebselen-treated group. Formazan depositions, which were generated by the perfusion of the liver with nitroblue tetrazolium, were also observed less frequently in the ebselen treated group, suggesting a suppression in the release of superoxide anion from activated hepatic macrophages. In addition, we examined the effects of ebselen on cytokine production and mRNA expression, in vitro, using rat primary Kupffer cell culture. Ebselen also inhibited TNF alpha production and mRNA expression in vitro. These data imply that ebselen suppresses liver injury by inhibiting the production and/or release of proinflammatory cytokines and superoxide from activated hepatic macrophages. These data also suggest that ebselen is potent in the prevention of hepatic injury, such as endotoxemia, where hepatic macrophage activation has been implicated.

Alanine Transaminase↗

Role of the L-arginine/nitric oxide pathway in ischaemic/reoxygenation injury of the human myocardium.

The role of the L-arginine/nitric oxide (NO) pathway in myocardial ischaemic/reperfusion injury remains controversial in experimental animal models. The aim of the present studies was to investigate the role of this pathway in the human myocardium. Myocardial specimens from right atrial appendages of patients undergoing elective coronary bypass graft surgery were incubated in crystalloid buffer at 37 degrees C and subjected to 120 min of simulated ischaemia followed by 120 min of reoxygenation. Tested drugs were added 15 min before ischaemia, and maintained during ischaemia and throughout reoxygenation. Ischaemia resulted in severe myocardial damage, as assessed by the leakage of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) into the incubation medium and by the capacity of the tissue to reduce 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) to formazan product. L-Arginine (10 mM), a precursor of NO, significantly decreased LDH leakage (from 9.0+/-0.6 to 5.3+/-0.3 units/g wet wt; P<0.05), but had no effect on MTT reduction or oxygen consumption. D-Arginine (10 mM), N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; 0.5 mM), an NO synthase inhibitor, and S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (at 1, 100, 500 and 1000 microM), an NO donor, had no significant effects on the measured indices, and L-NAME did not reverse the protection afforded by L-arginine against LDH leakage. In addition, the formation of nitrotyrosine was not influenced by ischaemia/reoxygenation alone or by the agents investigated. In conclusion, these data suggest that L-arginine affords modest protection against ischaemic/reoxygenation injury of the human myocardium, an action that is NO-independent, and that NO metabolism does not play a significant role in this model.

Analysis of Variance↗

Dehydrogenase activity of liver parenchyma in mice exposed to arsenic in drinking water.

The effect of arsenic administered in drinking water in the form of sodium arsenite in concentrations of 5,50 and 250 mg As-3+/1 on dehydrogenase activity (DHA) of liver parenchyma homogenate of exposed mice was studied. After an exposure lasting 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 days, 8--10 exposed mice and 5--10 animals of the control series were studied at each interval. DHA was determined by means of tetrazolium chloride reduction to formazan whose quantity was assessed spectrophotometrically after extraction with butanol. At a concentration of 5 mg A3+/1 a moderate increase in DHA was observed which was replaced by a moderate decrease at the following intervals. At a concentration of 250 mg A3+/1 a deep decrease in DHA (p smaller than 0.05) was recorded which did not return to values compararable with those of the control series in spite of its fluctuating increase in the course of exposure. At a concentration of 50 mg A3+/1 in drinking water ensuring the supply of doses which induce an increase in the tolerance to arsenic a decrease in DHA was found only at the first exposure interval. DHA is thus substantially less altered in comparison with the metabolic consumption of oxygen (MCO) under the same conditions. This finding signifies that MCO is a more sensitive indicator of arsenic exposure than DHA in the used arrangement of the experiment.

Animals↗

[Antibodies labelled with dyes their application in diagnosis].

Antibodies labelled with some disperse dyes, colored polymers, fluoro- and chemiluminescence, formazan, colloidal gold and selenium are reviewed. An application of the labelled antibodies in commercially available diagnostic home tests is presented.

Antibodies↗

A modified Ce/Mg-BCIP-NBT formazan/indigoblue technique for demonstration of non-specific alkaline phosphatase activity.

The wide ranged structurally variability of formazans and their accessibility for auxiliary additives as redoxmediators or metals provide an easy tunable chromogenic visualization technique. We present here an improved nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl phosphate (BCIP) method which is superior to the classical McGadey's procedure regarding proper precipitation and localization as well as sensitivity. Different metal additives as well as the overall reaction course modifying additives (redox mediators, chelating additives, buffer) were optimized.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

[H2 receptor mediates the protective effect of histamine against the cellular edema and viability reduction induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation in rat hippocampal slices].

AIM: To determine the effect of histamine on ischemia-induced cellular edema and viability reduction in rat hippocampal slices, and the involved subtypes of histamine receptor in this effect. METHODS: In vitro ischemic injury of hippocampal slices was induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD). The slice injury was determined by real-timely measuring the changes of light transmittance (LT) for the cellular edema in CA1 region of the hippocampal slice, and by detecting the product of 2, 3, 5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC), formazan, for the slice viability. The effect of histamine at various concentrations on the slice injury was observed, and the blockage by antagonists of histamine receptors was also investigated. RESULTS: Histamine (0.01-10 micromol x L(-1)) inhibited the peak value of LT during OGD in hippocampal slices and improved the reduced viability after OGD. Diphenhydramine (0.1-10 micromol x L(-1)), an H1 receptor antagonist, did not affect the effect of histamine, while cimetidine (0.1-10 micromol x L(-1)), an H2 receptor antagonist, partly abolished the protective effect of histamine. CONCLUSION: Histamine protects hippocampal slices against ischemia-induced cellular edema and viability reduction; this effect might be mediated via, at least partly, H2 receptor.

Animals↗

A highly sensitive quantitative bioassay for human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor.

Based on the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) dependency of a newly established human myeloid cell line GM/SO, we developed a highly specific and sensitive bioassay for human GM-CSF. The presence of bioactive GM-CSF could be determined by measuring the formazan concentration produced from MTT by the cells that survived and proliferated in the presence of either natural or recombinant human GM-CSF. With this assay we were able to quantify the level of GM-CSF in two human sera as well as in conditioned media from human bladder cell carcinoma cell line 5637, a human fibroblast line, and phytohemagglutinin-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The sensitivity of the assay allows measurement of concentrations of GM-CSF as low as 0.1 U/ml.

Biological Assay↗

[The differential indicator method of determining the areas of ischemia and necrosis in experimental myocardial infarct in rats].

Valid method for estimation of relationship between ischemic and infarct sizes was elaborated. The method is based on separate determination of Evans blue and formazan in injured and intact areas of myocardium for later calculation of myocardial ischemic and necrotic zones. The procedure ensures high level of accuracy and reproducibility of experimental data because of intrinsic control.

Animals↗

[TTC-reducing activity of alveolar macrophages under the influence of halothane and nitrous oxide (author's transl)].

In order to study the influence of two inhalational anaesthetics on metabolic activity of macrophages, we exposed alveolar macrophages (AM) from guinea pigs to both nitrous oxide (N2O) and halothane-N2O in vitro. We examined the enzymatic activity, which is bound to an intact metabolic phase, by application of the triphenyltetrazolium-chloride test (TTC-test). The content of the enzymatically to formazan reduced TTC was measured spectro-photometrically. Incubation of AM for 60 min in 1 to 4 percent halothane vaporized in air produced only a minimal, statistically insignificant depression of TTC reduction activity (TTC-RA). Halothane plus N2O-O2 (80:20) caused a statistically significant depression of TTC-RA. The reponse is graded in relation to the halothane dose. Exposure to monoanaesthesia with N2O also resulted in reduction of metabolic activity. These data demonstrate that inhalational anaesthetics inhibit the capability of AM to reduce TTC.

Animals↗

The development of an eluted stain bioassay (ESTA) for human growth hormone.

The basic characteristics of MTT-formazan production by both quiescent Nb2 cells and those activated by fetal calf serum or human growth hormone (hGH) are described. These characteristics are exploited for the development of an MTT-ESTA bioassay for purified preparations of lactogens such as growth hormone. The resulting in vitro bioassay is sensitive and precise, with a detection limit of about 0.05 mU hGH/l (19 ng/l) and a within-assay imprecision of 2.5% in the presence of 0.3 mU hGH/l (114 ng/l). When utilizing quiescent Nb2 cells for bioassays, large magnitudes of response are observed. The major component of the response is clearly derived from metabolic activation of the cells, rather than increased cell proliferation. The response was abolished by anti-human growth hormone. Delayed addition of the latter demonstrated that the presence of the hormone is required for the entire 96 h of the recommended bioassay incubation period to obtain the maximum response. At high doses, the dose-response relationship reaches a prolonged plateau which covers 4 orders of magnitude of incremental hormone concentrations. A decline in response is observed at the highest dose tested, 10(6) mU hGH/l (385 mg/l). This auto-inhibition is consistent with recent reports of a reduction in response due to stoichiometric blockade of sequential receptor dimerisation which is crucial for activation of both somatogenic and lactogenic receptors by hGH.

Animals↗

Nonspecific alkaline phosphatase activity can be responsible for staining of NADPH-diaphorase activity in certain non-neural cells.

The NADPH-diaphorase (NADPH-d) reaction is frequently used to visualize the diaphorase activity of nitric oxide synthase (NOS). However, this tetrazolium salt procedure can be of limited specificity at sites where non-specific alkaline phosphatase (alP) and NADHd activity co-exist. This is shown in the present paper using methods of catalytic histochemistry for these three enzymes and levamisole as alP inhibitor for certain mouse tissues. In the urothelium, portio, vaginal and endometrial epithelium as well as in some smooth muscle cells alP hydrolyzes NADPH to NADH which in turn serves as substrate for NADHd leading to false-positive formazan production. To exclude this possibility, it is recommended always to include levamisole in the incubation medium if the NADPHd activity of NOS has to be investigated.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗