Position of the Y-chromosome at somatic metaphase in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML)

Summary A random distribution of the Y-chromosome at somatic metaphase was found in 50 patients with Ph' positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Thus, it is concluded that the positive of the Y-chromosome at somatic metaphase does not appear to influence the loss from bone marrow cells.     

Storage of irradiated human blood; a source of error in quantitative chromosome analysis

Summary Human whole blood was irradiated with 2.5 Gy of 220 kVp X-rays and stored before culture with 9.7 M BrdU and 19.4 or 38.7 M BrdU for 0, 24, 48 and 72 h. The frequency of dicentrics and ring chromosomes was determined in cells staining as first division (M1) metaphases with the fluorescence plus Giemsa technique. Storage had no influence on the observed aberration yields in 44 h cultures containing 9.7 M BrdU. In 66 h cultures at 19.4 M BrdU the observed yields after 2 and 3 days' storage were significantly lower as compared to cultures from fresh blood. No storage effect was revealed in 66 h cultures containing 38.7 M BrdU. In cases where cytogenetic radiation dosimetry has to be carried out using blood samples which have been in transit for 2–3 days, the findings are of relevance for a correct determination of the chromosome damage in M1 cells.     

Bromocriptine-induced removal of endoplasmic membranes from prolactinoma cells

Summary Adenomatous prolactin cells lose 39% of their cytoplasm volume within 7 days after the beginning of bromocriptine treatment. A simultaneous reduction of the rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus occurs. Their membranes are removed by rapid transport along the secretory pathway to the cell surface and to lysosomal destruction.We thank Prof. E. del Pozo, Sandoz Ltd, Basle, for the generous gift of injectable bromocriptine, Prof. E.R. Weibel, Dept. of Anatomy, University of Bern, for his technical advice, Dr U. Helfenstein, Institute of Biostatistics, University of Zürich, for his help in the statistical evaluation of the results and the EMDO-Foundation, Zürich, for financial support.     

In vitro amiodarone protein binding and its interaction with warfarin

Summary The binding of amiodarone to human plasma protein and to bovine serum, albumin was studied by three different methods, ultracentrifugation, equilibrium dialysis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The fraction of amiodarone bound to plasma protein amounted to 96.3%. The changes in the binding properties of 1-anilino-naphthalene-8-sulfonate for bovine serum albumin using warfarin and amiodarone as independent inhibitors were analyzed in terms of binding site specificity. The findings indicated that amiodarone and warfarin have two different binding sites on bovine serum albumin, so a noncompetitive inhibition mechanism was indicated. On the basis of our data we cannot exclude other mechanisms of interaction besides direct displacement of one drug by another; nevertheless, metabolite interference between amiodarone and coagulation cofactors may better explain the enhancement of warfarin's pharmacological action in association with amiodarone.This work was partially funded by the CNR (National Research Council, Rome, Italy), Program on Clinical Pharmacology and Rare Diseases. The authors would like to thanks Drs E. Marzi and E. riva for their help.     

Studies on some enzymes of the toad (Bufo melanostictus) testis and their probable role at the time of fertilization

Summary Glycosidases like sialidase,-galactosidase, -L-fucosidase, N-acetyl hexosaminidase and proteases were detected in toad testis. Neuraminic acid aldolase activity was also detected. The enzyme activities were found to vary as production of spermatozoa varied. All enzymes, except N-acetyl glucosaminidase, were shown to decrease after injection of toad pituitary extract and they were also found to be absent from testis containing no spermatozoa. The glycosidases were found to act on toad oviduct jelly and they may therefore be involved in the degradation of the jelly after fertilization, into smaller bits, which may be utilized as nutrients by the fertilized zygote.Acknowledgment. We thank Prof. T.R. Ramaiah, Head of the Department of Biochemistry, University of Mysore, for his help. We also acknowledge the financial assistance of University Grants Commission to one of us (MS) and CSIR through a grant No. 9 (165)83/EMR-II to HSS. Please address all correspondence to H.S. Seshadri.     

Antidiuretic effects of oxytocin in the Brattleboro rat

Summary The antidiuretic activity of oxytocin (OT) was measured in Brattleboro rats with congenital diabetes insipidus. A dose dependent antidiuretic response was found in animals receiving chronic infusions of 0.1 g/h, 1.0 g/h, and 5 g/h of OT. OT infused at the rate of 5 g/h over a 7-day period completely reversed the symptoms of diabetes insipidus. The results support the concept that OT serves as a weak agonist of vasopressin at the level of the kidney and at pharmacological levels exhibits antidiuretic activity.     

Chemical attraction of the eastern yellowjacket,Vespula maculifrons (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Summary Workers and queens of the eastern yellowjacket,Vespula maculifrons, are attracted to the artificial long-range attractant pheromone of the predaceous pentatomid,Podisus maculiventris. A 11 mixture of linalool or -terpineol and (E)-2-hexenal is as attractive toV. maculifrons workers as the pheromone.We thank A.S. Menke of the Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA, for identifying the yellowjackets. Mention of a company name does not imply endorsement by the US Department of Agriculture.     

Selective protection of cells against X-irradiation. Isoproterenol protects only those cells that possesβ-adrenoreceptors

Summary In mixed culture of Chinese hamster fibroblatst, clone 431, and transformed murine L fibroblasts, clone B-82, isoproterenol was found to protect only 431 cells against ionizing radiation. It was shown that 431 cells, in contrast to B-82 cells, possess-adrenoreceptors, and the radioprotective effect of isoproterenol can be realized only if this agent interacts with-adrenoreceptors coupled with the cAMP system. Since malignization often causes the disappearance of-adrenergic and other hormone receptors, the combined culturing and irradiation of the cells studied can be regarded as a model of the growth of malignant cells (B-82) among normal tissue cells (431 cells) under conditions of radiation therapy. A possibility of selective protection against radiation damage of normal tissue cells, with retention of the former radiosensitivity of tumor cells, is discussed.     

Internal interactions within the human circadian system: the masking effect

Summary In the realm of human circadian rhythms, the masking effect is defined as the change in the course of deep body temperature induced by changes in the degree of physical activity, or by the alteration between sleep and wake. This effect is particularly obvious during internal desynchronization where the rhythms of deep body temperature, and the sleep-wake sleep-wake sleep cycle — i.e. one of the masking factors — run with different periods.Every sleep onset is accompanied by a rapid drop, and wake onset by a rapid rise in deep body temperature, each one with an overshoot of about 50% of the steady state variations. When rhythms are calculated, with the dominant temperature period as the screening period, exclusively from data obtained during sleep episodes, on the one hand, and from those obtained exclusively during wake, on the other, two average cycles emerge: the sleep temperature curve and the wake temperature curve. Both run in parallel but are separated by the masking effcct. As derived from many experiments, the mean masking effect amounts to 0.28±0.06°C. The masking effect also depends to some extent on the phase of the temperature rhtthm; it is larger than average around the temperature maximum and during the descending phase of the temperature cycle, where the alertness commonly is highest and the probability to sleep, in general, and the REM sleep propensity, in particular, are smaller than average. This also can be interpreted to indicate that the sleep temperature curve is phase advanced relative to the wake temperature curve; this, on the average, by 0.9±0.3 h.If the individually determined amount of masking is added to the temperature data obtained during sleep, or substracted from the temperature data obtained during wake, a temperature curve emerges that can be though of as being purified of the masking effect. Analyses of this artificial curve allow estimation of that part of the internal interactions uninfluenced by the masking effect. On the average, about half of the amount of interaction between the rhythm of sleep-wake and that of deep body temperature is explained by the masking effect, whereas the other half is oscillatory interaction. Both types of interaction are inherent and inseparable parts of the circadian clock mechanism, as can be deduced from model considerations.