Exploring the educational needs of patients with systemic vasculitis using the educational needs assessment tool.

Objectives: Knowledge and health literacy enable patients to monitor symptoms and disease impact. Educational needs have previously been explored in rheumatology, but scarcely for patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). The aim of the study was to assess the educational needs among patients with AAV using the educational needs assessment tool (ENAT).

Questioning the use of heart rate and dyspnea in the prescription of exercise in subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Purpose: This study examined the heart rate and dyspnea responses during constant submaximal lower limb endurance exercise in subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to determine the appropriateness of using target heart rate or dyspnea for the prescription of endurance exercise intensity.

Methods: The study participants were 15 men, ages 55 to 75 years, with stable moderate to severe COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 second, 38.7 +/- 15.

Effects of fructose on D-[6-3H]-glucose uptake and sorbitol metabolism of bovine retina in vitro.

In order to study the influence of fructose on sorbitol formation, bovine retinal tissue was incubated with different concentrations of glucose and fructose, and supplemented with tracer amounts of D-[6-3H]-glucose. Combining high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with radioactivity determinations allowed detection of sorbitol and fructose derived from glucose in the incubation medium. In addition, the total amount of sorbitol was measured with a sensitive bioluminescence method.

Bioluminescence analysis of NAD(P)H and NAD(P)+ preventing mutual interference by selective nucleotide destruction and enhanced specific light emission.

Improved bioluminescence analysis of pyridine nucleotides has been designed based on the fact that the luminescence intensity expresses the velocity of the light formation. The bacterial luciferase system is, in principle, composed of two reactions with two different velocities, one for energy supply by the oxidation of NAD(P)H and the other for the subsequent light generation. The rate setting can be arranged such that an emission maximum is produced 30 to 40 s after mixing the sample with the light-yielding solution, hence providing for a convenient analytical performance.

Influence of glucose, fructose and aldose reductase inhibition on retinal sorbitol metabolism.

The sorbitol shunt has been studied in bovine retinal tissue at incubation times from 1 to 24 h. It was shown that an elevated glucose concentration (22 mM) of the medium was accompanied by a slight increase in sorbitol content already after 3 h. At longer incubation times, but lower glucose concentration (11.

Analytical applications of bioluminescence--a matter of proper kinetic design and recording.

The way bioluminescence analysis employs photometric technique is illustrated in relation to the resulting demands on signal processing and detectability. The analytical reaction may be regarded as composed of a supply reaction providing the excited species followed by a decay reaction in which light is emitted. Bioluminescence analysis implies the recording of a velocity, hence rate regulation forms the basis of the development of an analytical set-up.

Design of coupled reactions for simplification of bioluminescence analysis.

Luminescence analysis may be applied to many substances by arranging a prior reaction producing a species entering the light-emitting reaction. Under favourable conditions the two consecutive reactions are carried out simultaneously as a one-step procedure. In a bioluminescence assay, luciferase stability is frequently a problem, making it desirable to develop analytical schemes where the analytical response becomes largely independent of any impaired luciferase activity.

Influence of sorbitol accumulation on growth and development of embryos cultured in elevated levels of glucose and fructose.

Day-9 rat embryos, cultured for 48 hours in 67 mmol/l D-glucose, showed impaired growth, increased malformation rate and elevated concentration of sorbitol compared to embryos cultured in medium without additional glucose supplement. Supplementing the high-glucose cultures with an aldose reductase inhibitor markedly decreased the sorbitol levels without affecting the malformations or the retarded growth of the embryos. Since embryos cultured in 6.

Sorbitol metabolism in retina studied in vitro.

A new method is described which allows study of the retinal sorbitol metabolism in vitro. Bovine retinal tissue was incubated in tissue culture medium for 24 h and after this time showed only small morphological changes. The sorbitol content doubled at a glucose level of 5.

Sorbitol metabolism in the retina, optic nerve, and sural nerve of diabetic rats treated with an aldose reductase inhibitor.

Sorbitol concentration has been measured in retina, optic, and sural nerve of normal, diabetic, and aldose reductase inhibitor-treated diabetic rats. The sural nerve displayed significantly higher sorbitol content than the retina and the optic nerve both in control animals and in diabetic animals. In the sural nerve the response to treatment with an aldose reductase inhibitor was more marked than in the two other tissues.

Sorbitol in aortic endothelium of diabetic rats.

Sorbitol metabolism of the endothelial cells of the aorta has been studied in normal and alloxan diabetic rats by the aid of a new time- and gradient governed elution method. In the normal rats the amount of sorbitol was small whereas in the diabetic animals the content was significantly increased (p less than 0.001).

The sorbitol shunt in the retina and the optic nerve of mice with inherited and STZ-induced diabetes.

Micromethods designed for studying the sorbitol shunt permitted studies of the retina and the optic nerve from mice. A significant accumulation of sorbitol was found in the retina of 5-months-old obese-hyper-glycaemic and severely STZ diabetic mice. The latter mice also showed increased sorbitol concentrations in the optic nerve.

A new approach to the biochemical pathology of the vascular system, using time governed laminar elution and bioluminescence analyses.

Endothelial cells which cover the inner wall of blood vessels were extracted for bioluminescence analyses of nucleotides and enzymes. The contaminating blood was removed by heparinization and rinsing with ammonium chloride. The content of the endothelial cells of the rat aorta was reached by time governed laminar elution, using a saponin solution to disrupt the cell membranes.

Quantification and gel electrophoretic analysis of proteins extracted from vascular endothelial cells.

The inner walls of tubular organs and body cavities are lined with a sheet composed of cells which control the passage through the walls and thus are of considerable physiological and biochemical interest. They are difficult to prepare but their content can be extracted and analysed, using laminar extraction and sensitive bioluminescence methods. This has been shown for the endothelial cells which line the interior of blood vessels.

Increased accumulation of sorbitol in offspring of manifest diabetic rats.

The effects of maternal diabetes on somatic development and activity of the polyol pathway were investigated during early and late gestation in a rat model for diabetic pregnancy. We studied embryo-fetal growth, mortality, and malformation rate in the offspring of nondiabetic rats and in the offspring of diabetic rats either treated with an aldose reductase inhibitor during gestation or left untreated. The numbers of embryo-fetal resorptions and malformations were significantly increased in the diabetic groups compared with the controls despite maternal treatment with the aldose reductase inhibitor.

Laminar elution of tubular organs for bioluminescence analysis of the interior cell layer.

Cells lining the interior of tubular organs are of considerable interest from physiological and pathological aspects but are very difficult to prepare for biochemical analyses. The contents of such cells can be extracted by infusion of a suitable detergent serving as a membrane destroyer. The tiny ureter of the rat has been used as experimental model.

Effects of glucose, leucine and adenosine on insulin release, 45Ca2+ net uptake, NADH/NAD ratios and oxygen consumption of islets isolated from fed and starved mice.

In order to elucidate further the effects of starvation on islet metabolism and insulin release, pancreatic islets of mice were isolated and incubated in the presence of various nutrient secretagogues. Starvation for 60 h completely blocked the insulin release in response to either 16.7 mM glucose or 10 mM leucine.

Single-step bioluminescence analyses of enzymes, using Cibacrone Blue chromatography for removal of interfering dehydrogenases.

To provide for bioluminescence measurements of the enzymatic activities of dehydrogenases, disturbing contaminants were removed from a bacterial luciferase extract by chromatography, using Blue Sepharose CL-6B, a cross-linked agarose to which Cibacrone Blue F3G-A is covalently attached. This compound has a strong affinity to the dinucleotide fold, which is a region in enzymes binding NAD(H) or NADP(H). In contrast to the absorbed dehydrogenases, both luciferase and oxidoreductase were easily eluted and appeared close to the main bulk of UV-absorbing but analytically less important material.

Potentialities of bioluminescence analyses in research on the pancreatic islets.

Progress in bioluminescence assay permits not only determinations of nucleotide and substrate concentrations, but also estimation of concentration shifts. The analyses can be extended to comprise Ca2+ since the Aequorea system is sensitive enough for applications in islet research. By connecting the bioluminometer to a microprocessor with a suitable readout device, it is possible to collect and evaluate large amounts of data which may be required in studies of concentration shifts.

Photokinetic microanalysis of NADP+, using bacterial luciferase.

Bioluminescence photokinetic assay of NADP+ is described, using the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase reaction for conversion to its reduced form and subsequent measurement of this with luciferase extracts of Vibria fisherii. the analyses were applied to the determination of the activity of minute amounts of glutathione reductase using NADP+ as measurable product and for nucleotide assay in cell samples of 0.5--10 microgram dry weight.

Adenine nucleotide concentrations in A2-cell rich and normal pancreatic islets of the guinea pig.

Adenine nucleotides were measured in normal and A2-cell rich pancreatic islets of guinea pigs in order to evaluate the bioenergetic properties of the islet cells. The islets were either freshly isolated or cultured for one week. Immediately after isolation the ATP concentration of the normal islets was not significantly different from that of the A2-cell rich islets.

Photokinetic microassay of adenylate kinase using the firefly luciferase reaction.

A new rapid photokinetic method is described for determining the activity of adenylate kinase (ATP:AMP phosphotranspherase, EC 2.7.4.