A novel mechanism for vasoconstrictor action of 8-isoprostaglandin F2 alpha on retinal vessels.

Using a video-imaging technique, we characterized the effects of 8-isoprostaglandin F2 alpha (8-iso-PGF2 alpha) on retinal vasculature from piglets. 8-Iso-PGF2 alpha potently contracted (EC50 = 5.9 +/- 0.

Myoblast transplantation in non-dystrophic dog.

Dog myoblasts obtained from muscle biopsies were infected in vitro with a defective retroviral vector containing a cytoplasmic beta-galactosidase (beta-Gal) gene. These myoblasts were initially transplanted in the irradiated muscles of SCID mice and beta-Gal positive muscle fibers were observed. beta-Gal myoblasts were also transplanted back either in the donor dogs (autotransplantation model) or in unrelated recipient dogs (allotransplantation model).

Evidence of mdx mouse skeletal muscle fragility in vivo by eccentric running exercise.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is an X-linked devastating disease due to the lack of expression of a functional dystrophin. Unfortunately, the dystrophin-deficient mdx mouse model does not present clinical signs of dystrophy before the age of 18 months, and the role of dystrophin in fiber integrity is not fully understood. The fragility of the skeletal muscle fibers was investigated in transgenic mice expressing beta-galactosidase under the control of a muscle specific promoter.

Calretinin-immunoreactive neurons in the human thalamus.

The distribution of the calcium-binding protein calretinin in the thalamus of normal human individuals was studied with immunohistochemistry. Calretinin immunoreactivity was weak in the geniculate bodies and in nuclei of the ventral and posterior groups, moderate in the reticular nucleus and in nuclei of the anterior, medial, and lateral groups, and strong in nuclei of the midline group and anterior intralaminar nuclei. The mediodorsal nucleus was unique among thalamic nuclei because it contained a wide variety of intensely immunostained perikarya embedded in a moderately-labelled neuropil.

Anti-inflammatory effect of transforming growth factor-beta1 in myoblast transplantation.

Background: The inflammatory reaction that occurs during the 5 days after transplantation led at 3 days to the death of 70% of injected myoblasts. Use of anti-inflammatory agents appeared to be a possible way to increase myoblast survival. The application of gene transfer techniques to cell transplantation offers the potential for the prevention of inflammatory reaction.

Evaluation of clinician and machine performance in the assessment of low back pain.

Study Design: A prospective blind study to test and compare the performance of clinicians (evaluators) with that of an automated machine (the Spinoscope) in conducting an examination on randomly designated simulators/dissimulators and honest subjects to assess acute benign low back pain.

Objectives: To test the impact of reported pain and history on the clinical examination and to compare the ability of clinicians and the machine to recognize normal findings in a controlled group of subjects with and without benign low back pain.

Background: The literature raises serious questions regarding the efficacy of the clinical examination for patients with low back pain.

Stable polarization of peripheral blood T cells towards type 1 or type 2 phenotype after polyclonal activation.

Polarization of T lymphocytes towards type 1 (T1) or type 2 (T2) subsets producing a distinct array of cytokines plays a role in several diseases and could be used for therapeutic intervention. Bearing this purpose in mind, we have established suitable in vitro conditions to drive resting polyclonal human T cells towards stable T1 or T2 polarization profiles. Unselected peripheral lymphocytes from normal donors were primed with soluble anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody in the presence of selected sets of recombinant (r) human cytokines.

Transcriptional regulation of pre-pro-endothelin-1 gene by glucocorticoids in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Endothelin is a potent vasoactive peptide involved in the maintenance of vascular tone and in pathophysiological states. Endothelin-1 synthesis is controlled at the transcriptional level. We report that glucocorticoids increase the pre-pro-endothelin-1 gene transcription rate in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Identification of the phosphorylation sites of cytosolic phospholipase A2 in agonist-stimulated human platelets and HeLa cells.

The present study identifies the phosphorylation sites of the 85-kDa cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) in human platelets and HeLa cells. Tryptic digests of 32P-phosphorylated and -immunoprecipitated cPLA2 were analyzed by microbore high performance liquid chromatography and two-dimensional phosphopeptide mapping against synthetic phosphopeptide standards. Thrombin stimulated significant phosphorylation of platelet cPLA2 at two sites, Ser-505 and Ser-727.

Transplantation of myoblasts from a transgenic mouse overexpressing dystrophin prduced only a relatively small increase of dystrophin-positive membrane.

Myoblast cultures from normal and Tg-MDA (transgenic mouse overexpressing dystrophin 50-fold) mice were transplanted into dystrophin-deficient mdx mouse muscles. Four weeks after transplantation, dystrophin-positive fibers were observed four times more frequently in cross sections of muscles injected with Tg-MDA. Myoblasts from Tg-MDA mice also expressing the beta-gal transgene (Tg-MDA/beta-gal) and myoblasts from beta-gal transgenic mice containing one normal dystrophin gene (normal/beta-gal) were also transplanted into mdx mouse muscles.

Introns enable the polyomavirus middle and small T antigens to stimulate the growth of primary rat embryo fibroblasts.

We constructed spliceable vectors that separately encode polyomavirus MT and ST. The addition of an intron enables MT to transform and to immortalize more efficiently and ST to transiently stimulate the growth of primary rat embryo fibroblasts.

Response of premature infants with severe respiratory failure to inhaled nitric oxide. Preemie NO Collaborative Group.

Elevated pulmonary vascular resistance is seen in premature infants with severe respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Inhaled nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to decrease pulmonary vascular resistance and to improve oxygenation in some patients with respiratory failure. The purpose of this study was to determine whether premature infants with severe RDS would respond to inhaled NO with an improvement in oxygenation.

Transforming growth factor-beta1 is a potent inhibitor of glutathione synthesis in the lung epithelial cell line A549: transcriptional effect on the GSH rate-limiting enzyme gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase.

Glutathione (GSH) is an essential antioxidant tripeptide that protects mammalian cells against oxidants and xenobiotics. Patients with fibrotic lung disorders have very low levels of GSH in their alveolar epithelial lining fluid (ELF), whereas transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta is overexpressed in their alveolar epithelial cells. We observed that TGF-beta1 increased susceptibility of the human alveolar epithelial cell line A549 to H2O2-mediated cytotoxicity (P < 0.

Cellular mechanisms involved during oxytocin-induced prostaglandin F2alpha production in endometrial epithelial cells in vitro: role of cyclooxygenase-2.

PGs are important regulators of reproductive processes. At the time ofluteolysis in vivo, PGF2alpha is produced by endometrial cells, in response to oxytocin (OT). The mechanism by which OT induces the release of PGF2alpha remains to be defined.

IFN-tau increases PGE2 production and COX-2 gene expression in the bovine endometrium in vitro.

Prostaglandins (PGs) are well known for their role in reproductive processes. At the time of pregnancy recognition, PGF2alpha is luteolytic and PGE2 may be antiluteolytic and luteotropic. During the preimplantation period, interferon-tau (IFN-tau) is produced by the conceptus and plays a crucial role in maternal recognition of pregnancy in domestic ruminants.

Prevention by anti-LFA-1 of acute myoblast death following transplantation.

Myoblast transplantation is a potential treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. One of the problems possibly responsible for the limited success of clinical trials is the rapid death of the myoblasts after transplantation. To investigate this problem, myoblasts expressing beta-galactosidase were injected in the tibialis anterior muscles of mice.

A multicenter randomized masked comparison trial of synthetic surfactant versus calf lung surfactant extract in the prevention of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of a synthetic surfactant (Exosurf Neonatal, Burroughs Wellcome Co) and a surfactant extract of calf lung lavage (Infasurf, IND #27,169, ONY, Inc) in the prevention of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS).

Design And Setting: Ten-center randomized masked comparison trial.

Patients: Premature infants (n = 871) <29 weeks gestational age by best obstetric estimate.

The impact of inefficient clinical diagnosis on the cost of managing low back pain.

The clinical examination remains the pivotal factor in evaluating low back pain (LBP) for decisions concerning compensation and rehabilitation. Many practitioners believe it to be highly reliable, even though existing literature does not support this belief. Not only are there no data supporting the efficacy of clinical diagnosis for LBP, but also published data underscore its many inherent weaknesses.

The related cytokines interleukin-13 and interleukin-4 are distinguished by differential production and differential effects on T lymphocytes.

We have compared the production of the related cytokines IL-13 and IL-4 by T lymphocytes, and the effects of the two cytokines on these cells. IL-13 and IL-4 production differ in a number of respects. IL-13 is produced at higher levels than IL-4 by activated T lymphocytes, and its accumulation in the culture medium can be more prolonged, corresponding partly to differential mRNA accumulation and partly to a preferential depletion of IL-4 from the culture medium.

Alexithymia in chronic pain patients.

Prior studies of alexithymia in chronic pain patients have used unvalidated alexithymia measures or have not controlled for treatment-seeking status. In this study, we compared 30 patients with chronic pain and patients seeking treatment for two other problems: nicotine dependence (n = 32) or moderate obesity (n = 25). Alexithymia was assessed with the well-validated Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) and also with the Alexithymia Provoked Response Questionnaire (APRQ).

Role of non-major histocompatibility complex antigens in the rejection of transplanted myoblasts.

Myoblasts obtained from donors histoincompatible for several non-major histocompatibility complex antigens (i.e., including minor histocompatibility antigens) and from syngeneic donors were transplanted without any immunosuppression into the muscles of male dystrophic C57BL/10J mdx/mdx mice.

Control of inflammatory damage by anti-LFA-1: increase success of myoblast transplantation.

Myoblast transplantation is a potential treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. This article confirms by experiments in mice that one problem that has limited the success of clinical trials of this procedure is a rapid (within 3 days) inflammatory reaction which kills most of the injected myoblasts. The death of the transplanted myoblasts can be prevented by treating the host with a mAb against LFA-1.