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PubMed1994

Inhibition of tumor cell growth by low-boiling-point-saturated fatty acids isolated by molecular distillation and reversed phase liquid chromatography of hydrolysates of uncytotoxic wool grease secreted from sheep sebaceous gland.

We showed that massive growth of mouse Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells was not inhibited by wool grease secreted from the sheep sebaceous gland, whereas wool fatty acids separated by saponification of wool grease was growth-inhibitory. We then fractionated wool fatty acids into 9 fractions using molecular distillation (80-200 degrees C; 1 x 10(-2) mmHg) and found a marked antitumor activity in a low-boiling-point (< 80 degrees C) fraction (MW 200-300; C10-C20), which was further separated by reversed phase liquid chromatography on an octadecylisilica gel column, resulting in 5 fractions. The second most hydrophobic fraction (C8Si-4) obtained was the most growth-inhibitory to EAC cells cultured or implanted into mice, more marked than the antitumor glycopeptide bleomycin. C8Si-4 was suggested to be a mixture of a normal-chain C16-saturated fatty acid and two branched-chain kinds of saturated C16-iso- and C19-anteiso-fatty acids without hydroxyl groups according to gas chromatography-mass spectrographic analysis. Thus low-boiling-point saturated fatty acid moieties in some wool grease molecules were shown to become growth-inhibitory in vitro and in vivo only after released in the free acid form by esterolysis.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Studies of rifamycin production by Amycolatopsis mediterranei cells immobilized on glass wool.

Cells of Amycolatopsis mediterranei CBS 42575 were immobilized on glass wool for the production of rifamycins B and SV. Glass wool (CORNING type) of 8 microns in diameter has a better entrapment capacity for microbial cells of microorganism than the other types of glass wool used. The most suitable amount of glass wool was 0.8 g/50 ml. The best initial cell concentration used as inoculum was 40 mg cells/50 ml. Repeated batch production of rifamycins by immobilized cells on glass wool was carried out for 6 repeated batches. The results showed that reduction of batch time from 96 h to 48 h does not decrease rifamycin production by immobilized cells.

Actinobacteria↗
PubMed1991

Topographic changes in the optic disc in eyes with cotton-wool spots and primary open-angle glaucoma.

Changes in the topography of the optic disc in 26 eyes with cotton-wool spots displaying defects in the retinal nerve-fiber layer and in 31 eyes with early primary open-angle glaucoma showing a similar degree of such defects were studied by computer-assisted optic disc analyzer and then compared with 27 controls. Changes in the cup-to-disc ratio, cup volume, and ratio of rim area to disc area were not significant in eyes with cotton-wool spots. The quotient of cup volume divided by cup-to-disc ratio eyes with of primary open-angle glaucoma was greater than that in eyes with cotton-wool spots. For the detection of nerve loss in eyes with cotton-wool spots, the image analyzer, which identified the notches in the horizontally sectioned contour line of the cup, was more sensitive than stereoscopic detection of the notches in the rim (P less than 0.05). The image analyzer enabled the detection of slight nerve-fiber loss by examination of the contour line of the cup in eyes with cotton-wool spots.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Occurrence of pleural plaques in workers with exposure to mineral wool.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether occurrence of pleural plaques is associated with exposure to mineral wool. The occurrence of pleural plaques on routine chest radiographs of 933 persons employed in the mineral wool manufacturing industry and 865 referents was compared. Twelve men from the mineral wool industry had pleural plaques, as against three of the referents (P > 0.05). The occurrence of pleural plaques among men in the mineral wool industry was not associated with an increased exposure to mineral wool or with length of time between start of employment and time of chest radiograph. The results do not support the notion that inhalation of man-made mineral fibers causes pleural plaques. It must, however, be conceded--keeping in mind the limits imposed by the study size--that nor do they provide grounds for refutation of such a hypothesis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

[Cotton-wool spots as first ocular manifestation of giant cell arteritis].

INTRODUCTION: Giant cell arteritis is the most common vasculitis in the elderly. Visual loss is established as the most dreaded and irreversible complication of the disease, which makes giant cell arteritis an ophthalmic emergency. It is important to recognize its various ocular manifestations; isolated cotton wool spots are one of them. CASE REPORT: We describe a patient with constitutional symptoms and mild visual loss who was found to have giant cell arteritis. The ophthalmic examination was significant for only isolated cotton-wool spots. A delay in arm-to-retina circulation time was demonstrated by fluorescein angiography. Prompt treatment with corticosteroids led to preservation of vision and uneventful resolution of the cotton-wool spots. DISCUSSION: Common ophthalmologic presentations include anterior ischemic optic neuropathy or choroidal ischemia when short posterior ciliary arteries are involved, and central retinal artery occlusion. Retinal ischemia has also been recognized as a possible manifestation. Because the disease concerns medium-size and larger arteries, it cannot involve terminal retinal arterioles to produce cotton-wool spots. These are probably caused by platelet microembolization from the partially thrombosed regional arteries. CONCLUSION: Isolated cotton-wool spots can be an early ophthalmoscopic finding in giant cell arteritis and precede severe irreversible visual loss. Their detection is essential because it allows the ophthalmologist to establish a prompt treatment and preserve vision.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed1982

Mortality patterns of rock and slag mineral wool production workers: an epidemiological and environmental study.

An epidemiological and environmental study of rock and slag mineral wool production workers was undertaken at a plant that has been in operation since the early 1900s. Size characteristics of fibres produced by each process at the plant and data from industrial hygiene surveys were used to evaluate current and past exposures. These data suggest that the average historical airborne fibre concentration probably did not exceed 2.5 fibres/cc before 1935 and 1.0 fibre/cc after 1935. A retrospective cohort mortality study was designed to assess mortality patterns. Detailed occupational histories were compiled on all plant employees. All jobs in the plant were assigned to one of eight potential exposure categories to assess the extent and severity of mineral wool exposure and the effect of other significant exposures on employee mortality. Findings included an increase in the number of deaths due to cancer of the digestive system and non-malignant respiratory disease among workers who had over 20 years' exposure to mineral wool or who had survived 20 years since their first exposure to mineral wool. These findings are not inconsistent with those of Enterline's (Symposium on Biological Effects of Mineral Fibres, Lyon, France, September 1979) in the Thermal Insulation Manufacturers' Association's mortality study of men employed in four mineral wool plants.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Impact of exposure to insulation wool on lung function and cough in Swedish construction workers.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether application of insulation wool adversely affects lung volumes and increases the occurrence of symptoms of airway irritation. METHODS: Data from nationwide health check ups in 1981-93 of male construction workers born in 1955 or later were used to investigate cross sectional (n = 96,004) and longitudinal (n = 26,298) associations between lung volumes, vital capacity (VC), and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and exposure to insulation wool by combining a job exposure matrix (JEM) and self reported exposure. Data on 12 month prevalence of persistent cough not associated with the common cold was available for the period 1989-92. Potential confounding from smoking, exposure to asbestos, silica, and isocyanates, was considered in the analyses. RESULTS: For those in the highest exposure category (self reported duration of exposure of > or = 11 years, and high exposure according to the JEM) VC was on average 2.5 cl lower (95% CI -6.5 to 1.5) than in those with no exposure. The corresponding figures for FEV1 was -2.4 cl (95% CI -6.1 to 1.3). In the longitudinal analyses, the yearly change in VC between the first and last spirometry for those in the highest exposure category was 0.50 cl (95% CI -0.97 to 1.98) less than in the unexposed category. The corresponding figure for FEV1 was 0.89 cl (95% CI - 0.70 to 2.06). High exposure to insulation wool, asbestos, or silica, during the 12 months preceding the check up was associated with increased odds ratios (ORs) for persistent cough of the same magnitude as current smoking. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate no effects on VC or FEV1 from exposure to insulation wool. Recent exposure to insulation wool, asbestos, and silica was associated with an increased prevalence of persistent cough.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

The effect of asbestos and stone-wool fibres on some chemokines and redox system of pulmonary alveolar macrophages and pneumocytes type II.

The in vitro effect of stone-wool has been studied in primary cultures of pulmonary alveolar macrophages (AM) and type II pneumocytes (T2) by morphological, biochemical and immunological methods. UICC crocidolite was applied as a positive control. Although stone-wool brought about frustrated phagocytosis, it did not induce serious membrane damage, whereas crocidolite gave rise to very severe membrane alterations. Stone-wool significantly reduced the activity of Cu,Zn/superoxide dismutase (SOD) in alveolar macrophages and significantly decreased the activity of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) in pneumocytes type II. Crocidolite, on the other hand, decreased the activity of all enzymes (glutathione peroxidase - GSH-Px, glutathione reductase - GSH-Rd) of glutathione metabolism in alveolar macrophages. It decreased the activity of all enzymes in pneumocytes type II except for Cu,Zn/SOD. After exposure to stone-wool, the production of inflammatory proteins, macrophage chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inhibitory protein-1alpha (MIP-1alpha) increased in both cultured cells but did not reach the level induced by crocidolite. Although this study provided a useful insight in the toxicity of the stone-wool, we can not draw the conclusions how the intact pulmonary tissue may respond on the exposure to these fibres, exclusively based on the in vitro tests.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Application of proteomics for determining protein markers for wool quality traits.

The technique of two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) has been under investigation for its usefulness in identifying protein markers for wool quality traits in sheep. However, before this could be achieved, unique problems relating to the detection and quantitation of wool proteins needed to be overcome so that 2-DE protein maps could be examined using computational programs like Melanie II. Four protein staining regimes were examined. Colloidal Coomassie Blue G-250 was found to be superior to Coomassie Blue R-250 and gave satisfactory staining of all protein classes. Silver staining detects minor strings of keratinous proteins, but unfortunately it negatively stains intermediate filament proteins, the major high sulphur proteins (HSPs) and the high glycine tyrosine proteins and the latter two classes can only be seen by overstaining the background of the gel. In contrast, labeling reduced keratins with [14C]iodoacetamide, followed by autoradiography detection, results in a protein map with low background and all protein spots stained positively. 2-DE has been used to obtain wool protein maps of Lincoln/Merino chimeric sheep to examine wool originating from two genotypes grown with different crimp frequencies within the same fleece. Between fleece, variations have also been examined. Work to date suggests that several major HSPs may be associated with the fibre curvature trait known as crimp frequency. From matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectral mapping, one of these proteins has been identified as being from the B2A family from the HSP class.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Respiratory disorders and atopy in cotton, wool, and other textile mill workers in Denmark.

A cross-sectional study of respiratory disorders and atopy in Danish textile industry workers was conducted to survey respiratory symptoms throughout the textile industry, to estimate the association of these disorders with atopy, and to study dose-response relationships within the cotton industry. Workers at cotton mills, a wool mill, and a man-made fiber (MMF) mill were examined. Four hundred nine (90%) of the 445 workers participated in this survey, i.e., 253, 62, and 94 workers at the cotton mills, the wool mill, and the MMF mill, respectively. An interview designed to assess the prevalence of common respiratory and allergic symptoms was given to all workers willing to participate, and blood samples were drawn. Lung function measurements determined a baseline FEV1, FVC and the change in FEV1 and FVC during work hours on a Monday. The working environment was examined for dust, bacteria, endotoxins, and molds, and the exposure was estimated for each participant. The mean personal samples of airborne respirable dust and respirable endotoxin were highest in the cotton industry, i.e., 0.17-0.50 mg/m3 and 9.0-126 ng/m3 respectively, whereas mold spores were found in the highest concentrations in the wool mill: 280-791 colony-forming units (cfu)/m3. Only small concentrations of microorganisms were found in the MMF mill. The mean change in FEV1% and FVC% was greatest among atopic individuals in both cotton and wool industry and other textile industries although the differences were not significant. FEV1% and FVC% in the cotton workers were significantly associated with the cumulative exposure to respirable endotoxin. Byssinosis was diagnosed only in the cotton industry. We found a dose-response relationship between endotoxin exposure and byssinosis, and a significant association between A-1-A serum concentrations less than or equal to 35 mumol/liter and byssinosis, a finding we are further evaluating in subsequent studies.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Characterisation of wool intermediate filament proteins separated by micropreparative two-dimensional electrophoresis.

Wool intermediate filament proteins (IFP) are a subclass of the cytokeratins, a group of structural proteins which form intermediate filaments in many cell types. Post-translational modifications, such as phosphorylation, play an important role in the control of intermediate filament assembly. Two-dimensional electrophoresis has previously been used to study the IFP distribution in wools with different physical characteristics. Charge heterogeneity has been observed in Type I and Type II IFP. In a previous study, two-dimensional electrophoresis of alkaline phosphatase-treated wool protein extracts was used to show that Type II IFP are phosphorylated. To facilitate post-separation analysis, micropreparative two-dimensional electrophoresis was used to separate milligram quantities of wool protein. Direct phosphoamino acid analysis has confirmed the presence of phosphorylation on serine residues on Type II IFP, whose identity was confirmed by amino acid compositional analysis. The isoelectric points of Type I IFP are very similar and they do not separate completely on the commercially available pH 4-7 immobilized pH gradients (IPG) used in this study. In situ tryptic digestion followed by automated Edman sequencing of the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-separated peptides was used to confirm the identity of this group as Type I IFP. To improve the separation of the Type I IFP it will be necessary to use narrow range IPGs such as Immobiline DryPlates which are available from Pharmacia Biotech, in the pH ranges 4.2-4.9, 4.5-5.4, 5.0-6.0 and 5.6-6.6.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

The effect of oxidation or alkylation on the separation of wool keratin proteins by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

Comparative two-dimensional electrophoretic (2-DE) studies were performed over a time-course to examine the effect of oxidation or alkylation on the separation of wool keratin proteins. The effect of oxidation was followed by treating scoured wool fibres with increasing levels of hydrogen peroxide, ranging from 0-12 g/L, using conditions mimicking the industrial wool bleaching process. Peroxide treatment was found to have only a minor effect on the 2-DE separation of the intermediate filament protein (IFP) class. Conversely, peroxide treatment of the 24-28 kDa high sulphur protein (HSP) class, which contains up to 40 cysteine residues per protein, resulted in the gradual disappearance of the major HSP spots correlated with the appearance of a few discrete spots at lower isoelectric point (pI). This suggested that only a few specific cysteine residues were being oxidized to cysteic acid by treatment with hydrogen peroxide. Peroxide treatment also appeared to have affected a discrete number of cysteine residues among proteins in the high glycine-tyrosine protein (HGTP) class, reducing the intensity of the high pI spots, while correspondingly increasing the intensity of those at lower pI. In a separate study, wool proteins were alkylated with iodoacetamide (1 M, pH 8) for periods ranging from 10 min to 48 h. In contrast to treatment with peroxide, the pI values of the HSP spots were unaffected by alkylation, irrespective of the length of this treatment. Alkylation resulted in a shift to lower pI and a loss of resolution of individual spots in the Type I and II IFP trains, to the extent that after 24 h alkylation individual spots in these trains merged. In addition after 1 h the intensity of the high pI Type II IFPs decreased until they were no longer visible on the 2-DE map after 24 h. Similarly as alkylation time increased, the major, high pI HGTP spots decreased in intensity. In unison with their decrease, some of the lower pI spots increased in intensity, while new spots appeared at more acidic pIs. Mass spectral studies indicated that cysteine alkylation was relatively fast, with 70-95% of the cysteines in the keratin proteins being alkylated within the first 10 min, while in the case of the HGTPs there was evidence for noncysteine alkylation occurring within this period. Alkylation of proteins for periods of up to 6 h prior to electrofocusing is being promoted as a better alternative to the current 2-DE protocol of the inclusion of a reductant in the immobilized pH gradient rehydration solution. This study has clearly demonstrated that long alkylation times do not suit all protein types or classes.

Alkylating Agents↗
PubMed2006

New enzyme-based process direction to prevent wool shrinking without substantial tensile strength loss.

In this paper a new enzymatic process direction is described for obtaining machine washable wool with acceptable quality. In general, application of protease enzyme technology in wool processing results in considerable loss of tensile strength by diffusion of the enzyme into the interior of wool fibers. To overcome this disadvantage enzymatic activity has been more targeted to the outer surface of the scales by improving the susceptibility of the outer surface scale protein for proteolytic degradation. This has been realized by a pretreatment of wool with hydrogen peroxide at alkaline pH in the presence of high concentrations of salt.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Interactions of intermediate filament proteins from wool.

Filaments of wool are heteropolymers formed by interaction of type I and type II intermediate filament (IF) proteins. There are four proteins in each of these two classes. Interaction of the reduced wool IF proteins was studied by two-dimensional electrophoresis which showed that complexes between type I and type II proteins were formed in solution at urea concentrations below 6 M. Complex formation between the carboxymethyl derivatives of wool IF proteins was studied using a filter binding assay in which radio-labelled individual components were allowed to react under various conditions with SDS-PAGE separated components after transfer to nitrocellulose. The results suggested that (i) absolute type specificity of interaction was maintained, (ii) fine specificity, i.e. preferential reaction between specific components is observed, (iii) wool IF proteins (hard keratins) also react, with the same type specificity, with soft keratins isolated from cow snout, (iv) the initial step in the polymerization sequence that leads to filament formation yields heterodimers.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Neurogenic inflammation caused by wool fabric in the rat; possible mediation by substance P.

We have measured plasma extravasation in response to stimulation of the rat hind footpad with wool fabric. The stimulus was delivered using a constantly weighted disc of wool rotating at 4 revolutions per minute for 30 min on the base of blisters induced by vacuum. The protein content of prestimulated blister base perfusate was 38 +/- 2 micrograms/ml in a 30-min collection. With stimulation this increased to 80 +/- 10 micrograms/ml (P less than 0.001; Student's paired t-test). No increase in plasma extravasation was observed in adult animals pretreated as neonates with capsaicin indicating that the plasma extravasation observed was neurogenically mediated. Plasma extravasation was also observed with substance P added to the perfusate. The threshold for substance P-induced plasma extravasation was 2 X 10(-11) mol/30 min. These results suggest that neurogenic inflammation induced by the mechanical stimulus of wool fabric may be mediated by substance P. This reaction may be involved in wool-induced prickle and itch noted in some individuals.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Fabrication of wool keratin sponge scaffolds for long-term cell cultivation.

Wool keratin sponge scaffolds were fabricated by lyophilization of an aqueous wool keratin solution after controlled freezing. Freezing at -20 degrees C for 3 days was needed for the preparation of stable sponges, which did not show significant changes against heat treatment at 60 degrees C for several hours. Scanning electron microscopic observation revealed that the wool keratin sponges had a homogeneously porous microstructure, the pore size was approximately equal to 100 microm. At 1 h from seeding, the adhesion of cells was observed and at 1 day, cells spread on the sponge surface. Rapid cell growth on the sponge (doubling time: 29.0 h) was observed for at least 7 days, as well as on a commercially available plastic culture dish (doubling time: 27.4 h). At long-term (23-43 days) cultivation, cells were constantly counted to be approximately 4.2-7.4 million per sponge (1 cm in diameter). The maximum cell number was 7.4 million, approximately 37 times higher than on the same area dish. Living cells on the sponge were observed at 23-43 days by SEM observation and no abnormal morphology of the cells was observed. These results show that wool keratin sponges are useful scaffolds for long-term and high-density cell cultivation.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Monoclonal antibodies against merokeratin from sheep's wool.

Four monoclonal antibodies designated as AMK-6, AMK-10, AMK-16 and AMK-27, were raised against merokeratin prepared from sheep's wool, and their cross-reactivity to epithelial cytokeratins were examined using immunoblot analysis and immunohistochemistry. AMK-16 which was specific to merokeratin in immunoblot analysis, demonstrated specific immunohistochemical staining of wool fibers of the sheep's skin. The other 3 monoclonal antibodies (AMK-6, -10, and -27) showed cross-reactivity towards epithelial cytokeratins with several molecular weights when examined by immunoblot analysis. However, each immunohistochemical staining of the sheep's skin with these monoclonal antibodies appeared to be cell type-specific. These results indicate that merokeratin and certain epithelial cytokeratins share many antigenic epitopes in common, and these monoclonal antibodies against merokeratin from sheep wool will be useful for the analysis of wool-forming cell differentiation.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Experimental investigation into the incineration of wool scouring sludges in a novel rotating fluidised bed.

The main purpose of this research was to investigate the possibility of incineration of wool scouring sludges in a novel vertical axis rotating fluidized bed (RFB). A small-scale RFB was designed and constructed with an internal diameter (ID) of 200 mm and height of 50 mm to carry out the experiments. In phase one of the experiments, a cold test was conducted to investigate the fluidization performance of the RFB, which eventually led to the optimisation of the operating parameters, i.e., sand particle size, rotation speed and bed loading (bed thickness) which ensures complete fluidization and minimum particle elutriation. Sand particle size of 0.5 to 0.6 mm, rotation speed of 200 to 400 rpm and bed loading of 1 kg (equivalent to bed thickness of 27 mm) were found optimal. These information generated were useful for the second phase of the experiments, which was the hot test, in investigating the possibility of incinerating wool scouring sludges in the RFB. Nine wool sludges from different process routes generated from the wool scouring industries were analysed for their compositions. Most of these sludges were highly moist, had high volatile matter and high ash content with low level of fixed carbon. These characteristics made incineration difficult. Hence, the effect of varying the moisture content, rotation speed and sludge feed rate on the incineration of the three selected sludges were studied in the hot test. With 5% support methane, all sludges with a maximum moisture up to 70% as-received could be successfully burned in the RFB at rotating speeds of 200 and 300 rpm. The combustion was found to be intense with a high efficiency due to the good turbulence and mixing in the RFB. The combustion gases produced, i.e., CO, CO(2) and NO(x) were reasonably low due to the high combustion intensity and efficiency. To study the dynamics of the bed and freeboard region in the RFB, the velocity flow field was simulated using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to generate information of the flow pattern. The special advantages of swirling flow would benefit the gas combustion in the RFB. The experimental results obtained have suggested that the incineration was successful and the ash particles elutriated were fine due to the good mixing and turbulence in the RFB. This also reflects the RFB as an effective incinerator.

Animals↗