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[Activity and subcellular distribution of lysosomal enzymes in acute pancreatitis induced by CDE diet in mice].

The aim of the present study was to analyze the activity and subcellular distribution of the lisosomal enzymes and the stability of the lisosomes in acute pancreatitis induced by CDE diet in mice. The activity and the latency of the catepsin-B1 enzymes, acid phosphatase, beta-hexosaminidase and beta-glucuronidase in normal pancreas and in pancreatitis induced by CDE diet were determined. The distribution of the acid phosphatase lisosomal marker was determined in subcellular fractions obtained by differential centrifugation. The activity of the catepsin-B1 enzyme increased 47% in the pancreas of mice with pancreatitis induced by CDE diet. The acid phosphatase activity was not modified and the beta-hexosaminidase and beta-glucuronidase was decreased. The specific activity of the acid phosphatase lisosomal marker also increased in the subcellular fraction containing the zimogene granules and decreased the latency (parameter indicative of lisosome stability) of all the lisosomal enzymes analyzed in the pancreatic homogenate. These results suggest that the lisosomal enzymes, specially the catepsin-B1, and the decrease in the stability of the lisosomes may play a role in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis.

Acid Phosphatase↗

Choline: essential for brain development and function.

Pregnancy and lactation are periods when maternal reserves of choline are depleted. At the same time, the availability of choline for normal development of brain is critical. Variations in choline intake by mothers influence memory performance in their offspring. The mechanisms for this potent effect of choline are not yet elucidated but may involve changes in acetylcholine synthesis, transmembrane signal transduction, or regulation of apoptosis. These observations are important for the obstetrician and pediatrician as they consider the ideal dietary intake for mothers and their children.

Acetylcholine↗

Sphingomyelin metabolism in rat liver after chronic dietary replacement of choline by N-aminodeanol.

Sphingomyelin (SM) is a structural element of cell membranes and lipoproteins, and participates in signal transduction. To determine whether a choline analog (N-amino-N,N-dimethylaminoethanol, N-aminodeanol, NADe) can be substituted for choline in the SM of liver, rats (male, Sprague-Dawley-derived) were fed a diet that was low in choline and methionine, and contained 35.5 mmol of NADe/kg. After 18 months, liver plasma membranes and microsomes contained 48.9 +/- 3.6 and 93.6 +/- 6.9 nmol/mg protein of phosphatidyl-NADe, respectively, and 3.2 +/- 0.2 and 3.5 +/- 0.1 nmol/mg protein of ceramide phospho-NADe. The SM content of microsomes from NADe-fed rats was about one-third lower than for the control, and phosphatidylcholine (PC) was reduced by < 10%; there was also a small decrease in PC, but not SM, in plasma membranes. In vitro assays of enzymes involved in SM metabolism found no change in PC:ceramide cholinephosphotransferase, but the NADe-fed animals had higher phosphatidylethanolamine:ceramide ethanolaminephosphotransferase activity, greater incorporation of methyl groups from [methyl-3H]-S-adenosyl methionine into SM, and a lower neutral sphingomyelinase activity. These results show that NADe-fed rats from considerable amounts of ceramide phospho- and phosphatidyl-NADe; however, liver plasma membranes retain relatively normal levels of PC and SM, perhaps due to increases in the de novo pathway for SM synthesis and decreases in SM turnover.

Animals↗

[Treatment of alkyl phosphate poisoning with purified serum cholinesterase (author's transl)].

A 26-years-old man injected himself intramuscularly with 3.75 gram of demeton methyl in an attempt to commit suicide. After 36 hours severe symptoms of poisoning developed with loss of consciousness and respiratory arrest. As symptomatic treatment failed to improve his condition has given injections of purified serum cholinesterase. This was followed by a rise in the cholin esterase levels and the increased activity was accompanied by a rapid and definite improvement in the clinical findings. The results clearly indicate the usefulness of this method of treatment. Transfusions of fresh blood to counteract the cholin esterase deficiency are inadvisable because of the risks of complications. Substitution therapy with serum cholinesterase must be accompanied by administration of large doses of atropine.

Adult↗

[Electronmicroscopic findings in the skeletal muscles of newborn swine with congenital splayleg].

Pathomorphological studies were taken of 104 muscle samples (including M. longissimus dorsi, adductor, semimembranaceus) obtained from 26 piglets, aged between one and three days and received from six stocks (large whites, land race, hybrids), which exhibited symptoms of congenital splayleg. Presence of myofibrillar hypoplasia or disseminated necrotisation of fibre was established by light microscopy. Some of the piglets, however, failed to exhibit substantive changes at all. Four types of fibre were differentiated by electron microscopy: (1) the normal type (with intact fibrils, plenty of lipids etc.), (2) the hypoplastic type (inhibition of protein synthesis, lack and immaturity of fibrils, disorder of paraplasmatic substances), (3) the dystrophic type (variable defects of fibrils, decay), (4) the primitive type (myoplastlike cell elements with precipitate fibrillogenesis). While those types were of variegated intramuscular occurrence, some predominance was established of dystrophic changes. Hence, spraddle-legged piglets seem to be afflicted with disorder of muscular development accompanied by signs of myopathy. Outbreak and intensity of clinical symptoms are believed to depend on exogenous factors.

Animals↗

Single versus multiple deficiencies of methionine, zinc, riboflavin, vitamin B-6 and choline elicit surprising growth responses in young chicks.

A soy-protein isolate diet that was deficient in methionine (Met), zinc (Zn), riboflavin, vitamin B-6 and choline for chick growth (Assay 1) was used to study individual or multiple deficiencies of several of these nutrients. In all cases, adding all three deficient nutrients together resulted in growth responses that were superior to those resulting from supplementation with any pairs of deficient nutrients. In Assay 2, single addition of Zn but not of methionine or riboflavin produced a growth response, but the combination of either Zn and Met or Zn and riboflavin resulted in growth responses that were greater than the response elicited by Zn alone. Assay 3 involved individual or multiple deficiencies of choline, riboflavin and vitamin B-6, and individual additions suggested that choline was first limiting. Choline + riboflavin supplementation, however, produced marked growth and gain:food responses that were far greater than those resulting from supplemental choline or riboflavin alone. Moreover, the growth response to a combination of choline + pyridoxine (PN) was also greater than that obtained from any of the three nutrients fed alone; even PN + riboflavin (in the absence of choline) produced responses greater than those observed with the unsupplemented negative-control diet. In Assay 4, chicks responded to individual additions of riboflavin, PN or Met, and in Assay 5, to either riboflavin or PN; all two-way combinations resulted in growth rates that were far greater than those occurring with any single addition. The data from these experiments show that unlike the situation with three deficient amino acids, the expected responses to first-, second- and third-limiting B-vitamins or deficient vitamins combined with deficient levels of Zn or Met do not follow the expected pattern of response to first-, further response to first- and second- and an even further response to first-, second- and third-limiting nutrients.

Animals↗

Rapid appearance of hypomethylated DNA in livers of rats fed cancer-promoting, methyl-deficient diets.

Prolonged intake of diets deficient in sources of methyl groups leads to development of hepatomas in rats and promotes chemical carcinogenesis in both rats and certain strains of mice. Since methylation of cytosine residues in regulatory regions can affect gene activity, several investigators have postulated that the effects of methyl-deficient diets on tumorigenesis result from the inability of cells to maintain normal patterns of DNA methylation. However, significant decreases in the 5-methylcytosine content of liver DNA have not been reported to occur until rats have consumed methyl-deficient diets for several months. To determine whether methyl-deficient diets have immediate effects on nucleic acid methylation, we assessed the degree to which hepatocyte DNA and tRNA were methylated in vivo, by measuring their ability to act as methyl acceptors in vitro. Hypomethylation of DNA and tRNA was detected within 1 week after rats were started on a diet deficient In methionine, choline, folic acid, and vitamin B12 and it persisted throughout the 4 weeks of study. A significant elevation in liver DNA synthesis occurred in parallel with increased hypomethylation of DNA. Chronic failure to fully methylate DNA that is newly synthesized in response to liver damage induced by methyl-deficient diets provides a feasible mechanism for changing patterns of DNA methylation. Our results indicate that such changes could occur rapidly enough to play a causal role in the cancer-promoting and, in some instances, cancer-inducing properties of the diet.

Animals↗

Ethanol and diet interactions in male rhesus monkeys.

Development of alcohol-related liver and other diseases appears to be modified by host and environmental factors that include diet and nutritional status, exposure to other drugs and toxins, and infection. The relative importance of alcohol toxicity and malnutrition in the induction of fatty liver and cirrhosis, the subject of this report, has been debated. Male rhesus (M mulatta) monkeys were fed purified liquid diets, adequate or marginally deficient in lipotropes (choline, methionine, and folate), containing ethanol to supply 40-50% of calories for 1.5-4.5 years. Controls, fed the diets with sucrose and fat isocalorically substituted for ethanol, grew well and were clinically normal. Ethanol-fed monkeys in both diet groups failed to gain weight and were slightly anemic, with mild derangements of serum electrolytes and small amounts of fat in their livers. None had fibrosis or cirrhosis until the severity of the lipotrope-deficiency was increased; then two of four deficient animals developed cirrhosis and one developed fibrosis. (The severe deficiency induced weight loss and fatty liver, but not fibrosis, in one of two controls.) We conclude that alcohol does not induce hepatic fibrosis or cirrhosis in rhesus monkeys fed a nutritionally complete diet, a result supported by studies in rats and another monkey, M radiata. Alcohol does induce cirrhosis when fed in combination with a lipotrope-deficient diet that is not, by itself, cirrhogenic.

Animals↗

Altered tRNA methylation in rats and mice fed lipotrope-deficient diets.

A diet that is deficient in methionine, choline, folic acid and vitamin B12 has been found to induce alterations rapidly in liver tRNA methylation in male Fischer rats. In vitro assays indicated that activity of N2-guanine tRNA methyltransferase II (NMG2) was increased to 150% of controls levels in 1 week and 300% of control levels after 2 weeks or longer on this diet. Incompletely methylated tRNA was isolated from livers of these same animals, indicating that there was impairment of methylation in vivo. The effects on liver tRNA methylation of this methyl-deficient diet were thus seen to mimic those of the liver carcinogen, ethionine, which also causes production of hypomethylated tRNA and increased activity of NMG2. The effect of the same diet on liver tRNA methyltransferase activity of C57BL/6J and C3H/HeJ inbred mice were also studied. Intake of the lipotrope-deficient diet induced elevation in activity of liver N2-guanine tRNA methyltransferase II activity in C57BL/6J mice, similar to that seen in rats. In contrast, the methyl-deficient diet had very little effect on the same enzyme activity in C3H/HeJ animals.

Animals↗

DNA methylation, cancer susceptibility, and nutrient interactions.

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mechanism of transcriptional control. DNA methylation plays an essential role in maintaining cellular function, and changes in methylation patterns may contribute to the development of cancer. Aberrant methylation of DNA (global hypomethylation accompanied by region-specific hypermethylation) is frequently found in tumor cells. Global hypomethylation can result in chromosome instability, and hypermethylation has been associated with the inaction of tumor suppressor genes. Preclinical and clinical studies suggest that part of the cancer-protective effects associated with several bioactive food components may relate to DNA methylation patterns. Dietary factors that are involved in one-carbon metabolism provide the most compelling data for the interaction of nutrients and DNA methylation because they influence the supply of methyl groups, and therefore the biochemical pathways of methylation processes. These nutrients include folate, vitamin B(12), vitamin B(6), methionine, and choline. However, looking at individual nutrients may be too simplistic. Dietary methyl (folate, choline, and methionine) deficiency in combination causes decreased tissue S-adeno-sylmethionine, global DNA hypomethylation, hepatic steatosis, cirrhosis, and ultimately hepatic tumorigenesis in rodents in the absence of carcinogen treatment. Other dietary components such as vitamin B(12), alcohol, and selenium may modify the response to inadequate dietary folate.

Animals↗

Obese and diabetic db/db mice develop marked liver fibrosis in a model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: role of short-form leptin receptors and osteopontin.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are associated with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but an obese/diabetic animal model that mimics human NASH remains undefined. We examined the induction of steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis in obese and type 2 diabetic db/db mice in a nutritional model of NASH and determined the relationship of the expressions of osteopontin (OPN) and leptin receptors to the pathogenesis of NASH. db/db mice and the corresponding lean and nondiabetic db/m mice were fed a diet deficient in methionine and choline (MCD diet) or control diet for 4 wk. Leptin-deficient obese and diabetic ob/ob mice fed similar diets were used for comparison. MCD diet-fed db/db mice exhibited significantly greater histological inflammation and higher serum alanine aminotransferase levels than db/m and ob/ob mice. Trichrome staining showed marked pericellular fibrosis in MCD diet-fed db/db mice but no significant fibrosis in db/m or ob/ob mice. Collagen I mRNA expression was increased 10-fold in db/db mice, 4-fold in db/m mice, and was unchanged in ob/ob mice. mRNA expressions of OPN, TNF-alpha, TGF-beta, and short-form leptin receptors (Ob-Ra) were significantly increased in db/db mice compared with db/m or ob/ob mice. Parallel increases in OPN and Ob-Ra protein levels were observed in db/db mice. Cultured hepatocytes expressed only Ob-Ra, and leptin stimulated OPN mRNA and protein expression in these cells. In conclusion, our results demonstrate the development of an obese/diabetic experimental model for NASH in db/db mice and suggest an important role for Ob-Ra and OPN in the pathogenesis of NASH.

Animals↗

The effect of choline and myo-inositol on liver and carcass fat levels in aerobically trained rats.

Choline and myo-inositol are dietary supplements ingested under the premise that they facilitate the burning of stored fat. Choline and myo-inositol have been shown to prevent abnormal or excessive liver accumulation of cholesterol and triglycerides in choline and myoinositol deficient rats. The current study was designed to determine whether the consumption of choline and myoinositol by non-deficient aerobically trained rats affects the percent liver and carcass fat. Nineteen rats were trained aerobically for ten weeks then randomly assigned to an experimental group fed choline and myo-inositol mixed with their chow, or a control group fed only chow. Rats were sacrificed after 24 more days of aerobic training. Percent carcass and liver fat were determined by a lipid extraction procedure. There was a significant difference in the percent liver fat between groups, with the experimental group having less fat (6.69 +/- 2.23 vs 9.22 +/- 2.91 percent fat; r = 0.05). Percent carcass fat was not significantly different. There was a significant difference in the amount of weight gained during the 24 days of treatment, with the experimental group gaining less weight (5.1 +/- 9.2 vs 11.8 +/- 3.1 g; r < 0.05). The lack of an effect on percent carcass fat indicates that choline plus myoinositol supplements do not reduce adipose tissue mass but can inhibit weight gain while decreasing liver fat.

Adipose Tissue↗

Regulation of choline sulphatase synthesis and activity in Aspergillus nidulans.

1. Choline O-sulphate is taken up from the growth medium to the same extent by sulphur-deficient and sulphur-sufficient mycelia of Aspergillus nidulans, but hydrolysis of the transported sulphate ester in vivo only occurs in the sulphur-deficient mycelia. 2. Choline sulphatase activity could not be detected in vitro in sulphur-sufficient mycelia of wild-type and sulphur mutants of A. nidulans, but after sulphur starvation all strains showed appreciable activity of this enzyme. 3. Optimum activity of choline sulphatase in an ultrasonically treated preparation of sulphur-deficient mycelia was at pH7.5. The optimum substrate concentration was in excess of 25mm and K(m) was 0.035m. The enzyme was completely inhibited by 10mm-SO(3) (2-), PO(4) (3-), CN(-) and cysteine. 4. Growth of sulphur-deficient mycelia on various sulphur sources resulted in a decrease of choline sulphatase activity in vitro. The decrease appeared to be due to a repression of choline sulphatase synthesis rather than to inhibition of activity. De-repression by growth on a sulphur-deficient medium was prevented by cycloheximide. Unlike the choline sulphatase of bacteria the fungal enzyme did not need to be substrate-induced. 5. By using sulphur mutants the identity of the co-repressor was limited to S(2)O(3) (2-), cysteine-S-sulphonate, cysteine or compounds derived directly from them. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the co-repressor is cysteine. 6. Inhibition of choline sulphatase activity in vivo was demonstrated with cysteine as the sulphur source for growth.

Aspergillus↗

Procarbazine carcinogenicity in methotrexate-treated or lipotrope-deficient male rats.

Procarbazine hydrochloride (PCZ), a chemotherapeutic agent used extensively to treat Hodgkins disease and other tumors, induces leukemia, lymphoma, mammary gland and other solid tumors in rodents and non-human primates and is strongly implicated as a leukemogen in humans. Lipotrope (choline and methionine) deficiency is a powerful potentiator of chemical carcinogenesis in liver and, under some conditions, in other tissues in rodents. Methotrexate (MTX), another commonly used chemotherapeutic agent, interferes with one-carbon metabolism and limits availability of lipotropes. Studies of PCZ carcinogenesis in lipotrope-deficient or MTX-treated male rats are reported, showing that both deficiency and MTX increased PCZ carcinogenicity in the mammary gland. In addition, PCZ was found to induce abnormalities of hepatic choline metabolism. Weanling male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed control (C) or lipotrope-deficient (D) diet. After 3 weeks, C and D rats were given PCZ, MTX, the two drugs together or 0.9% saline by i.p. injection. Doses were 0.2 or 0.5 mg MTX/kg or 25 mg PCZ/kg, given 2 or 3 days per week for 5 or 14 weeks. After 5 weeks of drug treatment livers were assayed for choline, phosphatidylcholine, phosphocholine (PCho), glycerophosphocholine and betaine. PCZ perturbed choline metabolism, increasing hepatic choline and PCho in deficient or MTX-treated rats and, to a smaller extent, in rats fed control diet. MTX markedly enhanced the effect of PCZ on choline metabolism. PCZ-induced mammary tumor incidence was increased 50-70% by lipotrope deficiency or by MTX. In PCZ-treated rats, cumulative probability of bearing a mammary tumor was significantly increased by lipotrope deficiency (P = 0.05), and was increased similarly but not significantly by MTX (P = 0.1). Cumulative tumor numbers per group in PCZ-treated rats were significantly greater in both deficient and MTX-treated rats compared to rats fed control diet (P less than 0.005). Incidences of leukemia, lymphoma and Zymbal's gland tumors induced by PCZ were not significantly altered by diet or MTX.

Animals↗

Molecular characterization of mutants affected in the osmoprotectant-dependent induction of phospholipase C in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1.

Production of the two phospholipases C (PLCs) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 is induced under conditions of phosphate limitation, or by the osmoprotectants choline or glycine betaine. Tn5 mutagenesis was performed on strain PAO1 to isolate mutants deficient in choline-dependent induction of PLC. Two mutants, Tn5T1 and Tn5G19, were identified which produce decreased levels of PLC in phosphate-replete media supplemented with choline. A total of 136 and 496 bp of flanking DNA from Tn5G19 and Tn5T1 was cloned by an inverse polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced. The DNA flanking the Tn5T1 insertion contains an open reading frame predicted to encode a peptide that is approx. 60% identical to the N-terminus of a previously identified protein (P35) of unknown function from Escherichia coli. The P35 gene, which is located in the nusA-infB operon in E. coll, was designated orp (osmoprotectant regulator of PLC). Haemolytic titres, total PlcH protein and beta-galactosidase activity expressed from a chromosomally inserted plcH-lacZ operon fusion were reduced in strain Tn5T1 in comparison with the parental strain (PAO1) carrying the same fusion. However, this mutant expressed several-fold higher levels of plcH message than strain PAO1 in the presence of choline, while the phosphate-starvation-dependent transcript of plcH could not be detected in this mutant. The defects in Tn5T1 are complemented by a DNA fragment, isolated from a genomic library of PAO1, that carries the orp gene. The deduced amino acid sequence of the DNA fragment cloned from Tn5G19 exhibits 84% identity with the betB gene product of E. coli that has betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase activity. This enzyme catalyses the conversion of betaine aldehyde to glycine-betaine. Unlike the parental strain, the Tn5G19 mutant could not utilize choline as a sole carbon, nitrogen and energy source, and it was deficient in betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase activity. Also, consistent with a disruption of betB in Tn5G19, choline inhibited growth of this strain in media containing 0.7 M NaCl, while glycine-betaine restores growth to wild-type levels. The defects in Tn5G19 are complemented by a DNA fragment from PAO1 that carries the betB gene. The orp gene is located between 0.6 to 6.6 min while betB is located between 10.5 to 12.5 min on the chromosome of PAO1.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Selective persistent reduction in choline acetyltransferase activity in basal forebrain of the rat after thyroid deficiency during early life.

The effect of thyroid deficiency on the activity of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT; the marker for cholinergic neurons) was studied in different parts of the rat brain at ages 5, 10, 15 and 25 days, and at day 130 following 102 days of rehabilitation. During normal development, the activity of ChAT increased in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and basal forebrain, and decreased in the cerebellum. Neonatal thyroid deficiency resulted in a marked retardation of the developmental patterns of the enzyme activity. In the hippocampus the effect diminished with age even during the period of thyroid hormone deprivation, while in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum the enzyme activity was restored to normal only after rehabilitation. In contrast, ChAT activity in the basal forebrain remained persistently reduced in comparison with controls. The results indicate that neonatal thyroid deficiency causes selective irreversible biological damage to subcortical cholinergic neurons.

Aging↗