Occurrence of carnosine in skin of certain leptodactylid frogs

Zusammenfassung Carnosin, ein Dipeptid, das normalerweise nur in Vertebratenmuskeln vorkommt, wurde als einer der Hauptinhaltsstoffe in der Haut bestimmter Frösche identifiziert. In 9 Froscharten des GenusEleutherodactylus wurden 0.2 bis 1.2 mg Carnosin pro Gramm frischer Haut gefunden.     

Occurrence of an eledoisin-like polypeptide (physalaemin) in skin extracts ofPhysalaemus fuscumaculatus

Riassunto Gli estratti di pelle fresca o secca diPhysalaemus fuscumaculatus contengono una sostanza attiva di natura polipeptidica, laphysalaemina, dotata di potente azione ipotensiva e di intensa azione stimolante su alcuni muscoli lisci extravasali. La physalaemina è facilmente distinguibile, mediante saggi paralleli, da tutti gli altri polipeptidi biogeni finora noti, compresa la eledoisina che alla physalaemina s'accosta per parecchie delle sue azioni farmacologiche.

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Supported by grants from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma, and the Rockefeller Foundation, New York.     

Occurrence of new imidazolealkylamines (Spinaceamine and 6-Methylspinaceamine) in skin extracts ofLeptodactylus pentadactylus labyrinthicus

Riassunto Estratti di pelle diLeptodactylus pentadactylus labyrinthicus contengono elevati quantitativi di imidazolalchilamine, fra cui due derivati imidazo-c-piridinici finora ignoti in natura: la spinaceamina e la 6-metilspinaceamina.

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Supported by grants from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma, and the Rockefeller Foundation, New York.     

Occurrence of bradykinin-like substances in the amphibian skin

Riassunto Gli estrati di pelle di alcuni comuni anfibi nostrani (Rana esculenta, Rana temporaria) e, ancor più, di certi anfibi sudamericani del generePhyllomedusa contengono rilevanti quantitativi di polipeptidi bradichinino-simili. Negli estratti diPhyllomedusa sauvagi ne sono stati identificati almeno tre, a mezzo di una semplice cromatografia su colonna di allumina basica: polipeptide A, assai simile alla bradichinina per le sue proprietà farmacologiche; polipeptide B, dotato di prolungata ed intensa azione ipotensiva; polipeptide C, particolarmente attivo sull'ileo di cavia. Sono in corso ricerche dirette all'isolamento di questi polipeptidi e al chiarimento della loro struttura chimica.

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Supported by grants from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma, and the Rockefeller Foundation, New York.     

Glu(OMe)2-litorin,the second bombesin-like peptide occurring in methanol extracts of the skin of the Australian frogLitoria aurea

Summary The second bombesin-like peptide occurring in methanol extracts of the skin of the Australian frog Litoria aurea was isolated in a pure form and identified as Glu (OMe)²-litorin.Supported in part by grants from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma.     

Phylogenetic relationship of the Brasilian leptodactylid frog generaCraspedoglossa,Cycloramphus andZachaenus

Summary Based on immunological comparisons of the serum albumins ofCraspedoglossa andZachaenus with antisera to albumin of several species ofCycloramphus, it is concluded that morphological and biochemical evolutionary rates have not been comparable within the study group. Taken together, the morphological and biochemical information demonstrate that whileZachaenus is a genetic member of theCycloramphus lineage, it has attained generic status.This study was supported by NSF grant No. DEB78-23396, the Amazon Ecosystem Research Program, Smithsonian Institution, the Fluid Research Fund, Smithsonian Institution, and the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo.The authors gratefully acknowledge the following colleagues for their help in procuring frog samples: R.I. Crombie, M.C. Duchêne, F.I. McCullough, F.C. do Val and P.E. Vanzolini.     

Occurrence of phyllomedusin,a physalaemin-like decapeptide,in the skin ofPhyllomedusa bicolor

Riassunto Viene descritto l'isolamento e il chiarimento della struttura della phyllomedusina, decapeptide attivo della pelle dell'anfibio sudamericanoPhyllomedusa bicolor. La phyllomedusina è apparsa strutturalmente assai vicina alla eledoisina e alla fisalemina.

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Supported n part by grants from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma.     

Occurrence of Asn2, Leu5-caerulein in the skin of the african frog Hylambates maculatus

Summary The skin of the African frog, Hylambates maculatus, contains large amounts of a caerulein-like peptide, which has been identified as Asn², Leu⁵-caerulein. The cholecystokinetic activity of Hylambates-caerulein is very similar to that of caerulein.Supported in part by grants from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma, Italy.     

Occurrence of 3-methoxy octadecanoic acid in yeast lipid

Summary The fatty acid composition of a new strain of the yeastRhodotorula glutinis, grown in molasses, has been studied and found to contain palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids, and small amounts of other constituents. In addition, 3-methoxy octadecanoic acid has been shown to be present in the glycolipid fraction.Partly presented at the National Symposium on Natural Product Chemistry held on February 7–8, 1983 at Bose Institute, Calcutta (India).Acknowledgments. Authors are indebted to Prof. S.C. Bhattacharyya, and Prof. A.K. Barua, Department of Chemistry for providing facilities for this work.     

Occurrence of a physalaemin-like polypeptide (Uperolein) and other active polypeptides in the skin ofUperoleia rugosa

Riassunto Gli estratti metanolici della pelle diUperoleia rugosa, piccolo anfibio australiano, contengono, oltre ad eventuali costituenti attivi minori, due polipeptidi altamente attivi. Il primo è caratterizzato da una intensa azione stimolante sul colon e sull'utero di ratto; il secondo, per il quale viene proposto il nome diuperoleina, è dotato di potente azione ipotensiva nel cane e nel coniglio, di potente azione stimolante sul colon di coniglio e di potente azione scialagoga nel ratto. L'uperoleina è strettamente vicina da un punto di vista biologico, e presumibilmente anche chimico, alla eledoisina e alla fisalemina.     

Effect of crustacean eyestalk extracts on carbohydrate levels in the South Indian scorpionHeterometrus fulvipes (Koch)

Summary Injection of eyestalk extracts of freshwater crab and marine prawn caused elevation of haemolymph sugar level, and decrease in free sugar and glycogen levels, in the hepatopancreas of the scorpion.     

A New‐Keynesian DSGE model for forecasting the South African economy

This paper develops a New‐Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (NKDSGE) model for forecasting the growth rate of output, inflation, and the nominal short‐term interest rate (91 days Treasury Bill rate) for the South African economy. The model is estimated via maximum likelihood technique for quarterly data over the period of 1970:1–2000:4. Based on a recursive estimation using the Kalman filter algorithm, out‐of‐sample forecasts from the NKDSGE model are compared with forecasts generated from the classical and Bayesian variants of vector autoregression (VAR) models for the period 2001:1–2006:4. The results indicate that in terms of out‐of‐sample forecasting, the NKDSGE model outperforms both the classical and Bayesian VARs for inflation, but not for output growth and nominal short‐term interest rate. However, differences in RMSEs are not significant across the models. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Increased urinary excretion of cyclic nucleotides in X-linked hypophosphatemic (Hyp) mice

Summary Hyp mice, a model for human X-linked hypophosphatemia, had elevated urinary cyclic AMP, cyclic GMP, and magnesium excretion compared to normal mice. The data suggest a renal origin of the urinary cyclic nucleotides. No significant differences in plasma cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP were observed between genotypes.This work was supported in part by research grants from The Kroc Foundation and the NIH, RR-09016.     

Occurrence of retinal and 3-hydroxyretinal in a possible photoreceptor of the silkworm brain involved in photoperiodism

Summary Deficiency of dietary carotenoid and vitamin A caused an absence of photoperiodic response of diapause induction in the silkworm,Bombyx mori, and an addition of vitamin A to the diet restored the response. By high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) a possible photoperiodic receptor of the silkworm brain was found to contain both retinal and 3-hydroxyretinal which are chromophores of insect visual pigments. These pieces of evidence suggest that a retinoid protein might function in the photoperiodic response of the silkworm.