Insect hormones in vertebrates: Anabolic effects of 20-hydroxyecdysone in Japanese quail

Ecdysteroids are hormones controlling cell proliferation, growth and the developmental cycles of insects and other invertebrates¹. They are occasionally present in various unrelated plants for no apparent reason; no phytohormonal function has yet been identified. In certain cases, ecdysteroids are accumulated to high levels in leaves, roots or seeds. Some ecdysteroid-containing plants have been known as medicinal plants for centuries. One of them,Leuzea carthamoides Iljin (Asteraceae), growing in Central Asia, contains 0.4% ecdysteroid in dry roots and 2% in seeds. A pharmacological preparation from this plant, Ecdisten, is already available as a commercial preparation for its anabolic, tonic and other effects, for medical use (review²). It remained problematic, however, whether ecdysteroids were truly responsible for these effects, becauseLeuzea contains a number of other biologically active compounds in addition to ecdysteroids. We extracted and purified ecdysteroids from the seeds ofLeuzea. With 6 g of 96% 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), we made a large-scale feeding assay with Japanese quail to find out whether ecdysteroid alone could duplicate the anabolic effects of the seeds. We found that the 96% ecdysteroid increased the mass of the developing quails in a dose-dependent manner, with the rate of increase proportional to the ecdysteroid content in the seeds; there was a 115% increase in living mass with 100 mg kg^–1 of pure 20E compared with 109.5% increase with 100–180 mg kg^–1 20E equivalents in the seeds. We conclude that the plethora of growth-promoting, vitamin-like effects induced in vertebrates byLeuzea is mediated by ecdysteroids.     

Changes in intracellular pH and cell volume during the early phase of DMSO-induced differentiation of friend erythroleukemia cells

Summary Changes in intracellular pH and water volume were measured after treatment of Friend erythroleukemia cells with 1.5% DMSO. It was found that a continuous decrease in pH_i occurred, beginning 1 h after induction and a decline in pH_i of 0.18 was measured after 9 h. In addition a decline in cellular water volume, of 12% only 15 min after induction, and 23% after 9 h, was observed.11 December 1986Acknowlegments. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Morphine eye-drops reduce homatropine induced mydriasis in man

Summary In 7 healthy volunteers 4% morphine eye-drops, when administered to one eye, caused a miosis limited to that eye. In 7 other healthy volunteers morphine was administered into one eye after bilateral instillation of 0.5% homatropine opthalmic drops; the eye treated with morphine and homatropine showed a mydriasis less intense than the other eye treated only with homatropine. It is suggested that topical morphine locally affects sympathetic function by inhibiting noradrenaline release into the iris neuromuscular junction.This work was partly supported by the CNR study group Pain Control. The authors wish to thank Dr Tendi of the Pharmacy of St. Maria Nuova Hospital, Florence, for the preparation of the eye-drops.     

Fatty acid profiles of major food sources of howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) in the neotropics

Wild howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) get most of their calories from carbohydrates (65%) and fats (18%) of native tropical plants, but little is known about their intake of individual fatty acids. The fatty acid composition of several natural food sources of howler monkeys collected in Panama was determined by gas-liquid chromatography. The predominant fatty acids were palmitic (30%), linoleic (23%), linoleic (23%), -linolenic (16%) and oleic (15%). Fatty acids with less than 16, and more than 18, carbon chains were uncommon (0–7%). Although total saturated fatty acids were high in some specific food sources (22–54% of total fatty acids and 8 energy %), most of the calories from fat in the animals' diets are derived from mono-and polyunsaturated fatty acids (9.75 energy %) All food sources had significant amounts of the -3 fatty acid, -linolenic acid (2.9 energy %). In terms of human diets, the howler monkey's fat consumption would not be considered atherogenic. Unless these animals show a particular adverse susceptibility to dietary fat, it is unlikely that their fat intake is the primary cause of the low, but significant, incidence of atherosclerosis that develops in these animals in the wild state.     

Physicochemical studies of indocyanine green (ICG): absorbance/concentration relationship,pH tolerance and assay precision in various solvents

Summary Indocyanine green (ICG) obeyed the Beer-Lambert law within the concentration range 1.25 g/ml–10.0g/ml in distilled water, methanol, dimethylformamide (DMF), 1.2-propanediol and aqueous buffers (pH 9.0), but only up to 7.5 g/ml in human bile and 0.5% human albumin, and only to 5.0 g/ml in human duodenal fluid. ICG was rapidly (<1 h) decomposed to a colorless derivative at pH<5 and >11, but remained relatively stable for 48 h at pH 8–10. ICG is an indicator and a weak acid with a pKa of 3.27. In bile stabilized with 25% methanol, the precision of the method (CV) is 5% and the accuracy is 106–127%.     

An improved method for calculating colony forming ability in soft agar with special reference to malignancy

Summary We examined the correlation between the tumorigenicity and the growth capacity in soft agar of various malignant cell lines. The colony forming rates were calculated in (a) 0%, (b) 0.15%, (c) 0.30%, and (d) 0.40% soft agar medium. An approximate value for the colony forming capacity, y, was then established for the formula (x=concentration of soft agar, f(x)=rate of appearance of colony forming cells with x% soft agar medium).We would like to thank Miss Kimiko Tabuchi for her expert technical assistance during the course of these investigations.     

The effect of dietary fibre on85Sr and47Ca absorption in infant rats

Summary The retention of bone-seeking radioisotopes⁸⁵Sr and⁴⁷Ca was about 20% lower in the femur of 6-day-old infant rats artificially fed on milk, milk supplemented with calcium and phosphorus, and milk supplemented with strontium when 6% cellulose type dietary fibre was added to the diet.Acknowledgments. This work was supported by a research grant from the Scientific Research Council of the Socialist Republic of Croatia. The authors wish to thank Mrs M. Buben, E. Herak, and K. Pribi for their technical assistance.     

Effect of air ionization on blood serotonin in vitro

Summary The effect of negative and positive air ionisation on siliconized blood serotonin was studied in vitro. The experiments showed that within 10 min positive ionisation increased serotonin levels in total blood (+40%), plasma (+90%), erythrocytes (+50%) and thrombocytes (+200%). On the other hand, negative ionization (10 min) lowered the serotonin content of total blood (–30%), plasma (–42.5%), erythrocytes (–41.7%) and thrombocytes (–72.3%), thus confirming the Krueger Effect in vitro.This research was generously supported by a grant from the Joint Research Fund of the Hebrew University and Hadassah, and Dr. and Mrs.Leonard Appleby of Palmbeach, Florida.Acknowledgment: Our thanks are due to Mr.B. Shalita, Mrs.Zippora Adar and Mrs.Olga Fradkin for devoted technical assistance.     

The instability of dietary iodine supply over time in an affluent society

In the Bernese region, where goiter was formerly endemic, alimentary salt has been supplemented by increasing amounts of potassium iodide (KI): 5, 10, 20 mg KI/kg in 1922, 1965 and 1980 respectively. Ioduria rose from <30 g I/g creatinine in 1920 to >100g I/g creatinine in the 1980s. In 1992 ioduria was estimated in 55 healthy volunteers (group A and individual B) and 234 thyroid carcinoma patients after thyroidectomy: hypothyroid patients with (C) and without thyroid remnants (D) and euthyroid patients on T4^** substitution (E). The arithmetic mean iodine excretion of the healthy volunteers in group A and individual B was found to be 87±40 g I/g creatinine. This is insufficient according to the recommendations of the WHO. In all groups, the iodine excretion reached the recommended level only in some members: 24% (A, B), 19% (C), 38% (D) and 81% (E).It was thought in the 1980s that in a formerly iodine-deficient society, iodinated salt would continue to provide an adequate supply of iodine. However, iodine intake in this affluent society has proved to be unstable. This can be attributed to modifications of eating habits, which include a reduction of total salt consumption, combined with a growing consumption of manufactured food of cosmopolitan origin, prepared using salt containing little or no iodine.     

Water compartments in the myelinated nerve. III. Pulsed NMR result

Summary 3 experimentally distinct transverse relaxation components of the water in frog sciatic nerve are obtained by Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill technique. The relative weights of these components: 29%; 50%; 21% fit well with water compartments in this tissue as revealed by previous methods.The previous communication in this series: V. Vasilescu, D.-G. Mârgineanu and Eva Katona, Experientia33, 192 (1977).     

Aplysianin-A,an antibacterial and antineoplastic glycoprotein in the albumen gland of a sea hare,Aplysia kurodai

Summary Aplysianin-A, an antibacterial and antineoplastic factor in the albumen gland of the sea hareAplysia kurodai, was isolated. It had a molecular weight of approximately 320 kD and consisted of subunits with a molecular weight of 85 kD. It contained 9.8% neutral sugar. Aplysianin A showed 50% inhibition ofBacillus subtilis growth at a concentration of 4 g protein/ml and 50% lysis of murine MM46 tumor cells at 14 ng protein/ml. A partial identity of antigenic specificity of the purified specimen with an antineoplastic factor fromAplysia eggs was observed in immunodiffusion tests.Acknowledgment. We are indebted to the staff of Fisheries Research Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tokyo, Maisaka, for the collection of sea hares.     

Momentum distribution for deuteron clusters in Li6

Zusammenfassung Die Impulsverteilung der Deuteronen-Cluster in Li⁶ wurde mittels eines einfachen Cluster-Modells mit Werten für Parameter vonPearlstein et al. berechnet. Die Rechnungsergebnisse werden mit Messergebnissen vonGarron et al. bei der Reaktion Li⁶ (p, pd) verglichen. Das einfache Cluster-Modell gibt brauchbare Resultate, wie das für die Impulsverteilungen der Protonen in Li⁶ teilweise der Fall war.     

Thermal effects from degranulation of mastcells in cutaneous mastocytosis

Summary Small biopsies of the skin were taken from patients with papulo-cutaneous mastocytosis. The mast cell tumours were then degranulated with compound 48/80 (250 g/ml in saline), and with a Sorption microcalorimeter, relatively strong exothermic reactions were measured, whereas normal skin showed only 1/10th the intensity. Disodium chromoglicate (1%) had no inhibitory effect on this thermal reaction.     

Increased erythrocyte permeability to Li and Na in the spontaneously hypertensive rat

Summary Red blood cells incubated in a physiological medium in which Li replaces Na (LiPSS) gain Li in exchange for Na and K. The rate of Li uptake is modestly but significantly increased in the spontaneously hypertensie rat (SHR) at 37°C and at 22°C. The slow rate of Na gain and K loss during cooling at 2°C was about doubled in unmodified whole blood samples from the SHR.This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the British Columbia Heart Foundation.     

Formation of gigantic mitochondria in hypoxic isolated perfused rat hearts

Zusammenfassung Herzen gesunder, erwachsener Ratten wurden mit Krebs-Henseleit-Bikarbonatlösung durchströmt (95% O₂5% CO₂). Bei künstlich herbeigeführter Hypoxie (95% N₂5% CO₂) erschienen die Herzmitochondrien innerhalb von 7 min bedeutend vergrössert und zu 25% miteinander verschmolzen.     

Behaviour of sodium-potassium-activated adenosine triphosphatase in rat kidney tissue by folic acid

Zusammenfassung Männliche Wistarratten zeigten nach i.v. Gabe von Folsäure einen Aktivitätsabfall der Enzyme, die in den aktiven Ionentransport eingreifen: (Na⁺K⁺) ATPase (60% gegenüber Kontrollen), ICDH (56%) und MDH (48%) und a.Ptase (66%).

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With technical assistance of Mrs. I.Bieder and Miss M.Kirstein.

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With the support of the Schweiz. Nationalfonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung No. 4809.     

Biochemical evidence for two types of noradrenaline storage particles in rabbit iris

Summary Centrifugation techniques were used to determine the subcellular distribution of noradrenaline (NA) and dopamine -hydroxylase (DH) in the rabbit iris. By application of isopycnic and differential gradient centrifugation methods 2 types of NA vesicles could be demonstrated. Of the total particle bound NA about 70% is associated with light and about 30% with heavy vesicles. For both types of vesicles the distribution of DH reflected that of NA.     

Hemolymph volume determination in the tomato fruitworm,Heliothis zea

Summary The hemolymph volume ofHeliothis zea larvae was determined by the amaranth dye method and found to vary from 28 to 288 l. It averaged 30.6% of b.wt, a value comparable to that obtained with C¹⁴ inulin. Amaranth became evenly distributed in the hemocoele in 3–5 min.     

Nachweis der Bisulfit-Addukte (α-Oxysulfonsäuren) von Carbonylverbindungen in den mit SO2 behandelten Erbsenkeimlingen

Summary The intoxication of 15-day-old green pea seedlings with 1% gaseous SO₂ causes an important concentration fall of some free ketoacids (pyruvic, oxalacetic, -ketoglutaric) and of glyceraldehyde in the roots and shoots. This fall is a consequence of the reaction of these carbonyl compounds with SO₂ in the plant tissue under the formation of bisulphite adducts (-hydroxysulfonic acids), which have been chemically proved and quantitatively estimated.     

Concurrent occurrence of elevated ketone body and depressed carnitine level in underfed guinea-pigs

Summary Food ingestion of male guinea-pigs was restricted to 10 g/day. Total carnitine content of liver of the underfed animals fell to 3.75 moles per liver (46.1% of control). Serum level of total carnitine was 35.0 nmoles/ml (64.4%) in the underfed animals while they developed high ketonemia, 384.2 nmoles/ml (555.2%). In restricted animals the carnitine levels also decreased in the muscles.