Patenting human beings: do sub-human creatures deserve constitutional protection?

The availability of patents for genetically altered animals raises questions about the patentability of human beings. Genetic research will produce beings who fall halfway between what we currently think of as "animal" and "human." It is unclear on which side of the legal line these creatures will fall.

Neonatal androgen maintains sexually dimorphic muscles in the absence of innervation.

We examined the site of androgen action in maintaining the sexually dimorphic spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB) and its target perineal muscles, the bulbocavernosus (BC) and levator ani (LA), in rats. To determine whether androgen action on SNB motoneurons is crucial for BC/LA survival, we removed SNB cells in newborn female rats by lumbosacral spinalectomy, administered testosterone propionate (TP) on days 1 and 3 of life, and examined for the presence of BC/LA muscles in adulthood. BC/LA muscles were present in all TP-treated spinalectomized females, and staining of these muscles with alpha-bungarotoxin or for acetylcholinesterase showed no evidence of cholinergic innervation.

Ascorbate-2-phosphate in red cell preservation. Clinical trials and active components.

A red cell additive solution (AS-005) containing ascorbate-2-phosphate (AsP) to maintain 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, plus adenine, phosphate, and mannitol to retain viability and reduce hemolysis, was evaluated by human clinical trials. A crossover design was used with another additive solution (Nutricel AS-3, Cutter Laboratories) serving as the control for each donor. Each additive solution was evaluated at 35 and 42 days of storage.

Reduction of activities of superoxide dismutase but not of glutathione peroxidase in rat brain regions following decapitation ischemia.

Effects of complete ischemia on levels of antioxidative enzymes including copper-zinc (CuZn) superoxide dismutase (SOD), manganese (Mn)-SOD, and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were studied in rat brain regions at 30 and 60 min following decapitation. CuZn-SOD activities were significantly decreased in cerebral cortex and hippocampus at both time points whereas the enzyme activities were decreased at 60 min in cerebellum and caudate areas. The reduction of Mn-SOD activities followed the same pattern of CuZn-SOD in various brain regions.

Sensory innervation of white adipose tissue.

The presumption that sensory information does not arise from white adipose tissue was reevaluated using the neuroanatomical tracer, "true blue." Fluorescent cell bodies were observed in dorsal root ganglia of rats after tracer was implanted into inguinal or dorsal subcutaneous fat depots. Sensory information from adipose tissue may play an important role in the regulation of regional and total body fat mass.

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of ascorbate-2-phosphate, adenine and hypoxanthine in stored human blood.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure was developed to assay for adenine, hypoxanthine, and ascorbate-2-phosphate in both red blood cells and plasma. The samples were diluted and filtered through Centriflo filter cones to remove most of the blood proteins before injection onto the column. The application of the technique to an experimental blood preservation study is illustrated.

Protective effects of liposome-entrapped superoxide dismutase on posttraumatic brain edema.

Oxygen-derived free radicals and membrane lipid peroxidation have been postulated to be involved in brain edema and cell death, secondary to ischemia and traumatic injury. Using a model of brain edema induced by cold-induced injury, we have demonstrated an early elevation of superoxide radicals followed by permeability changes in the blood-brain barrier and development of edema in injured brain. Intravenous injection of liposome-entrapped copper-zinc-superoxide dismutase 5 minutes before the injury-enhanced entry of the enzyme into endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier of injured brain reduced the brain level of superoxide radicals and ameliorated blood-brain barrier permeability changes and brain edema.

Regional brain superoxide dismutase activity is altered differently by heat in warm and cool mice.

The significant regional variation in brain superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was similar in mice from both warm and cool cohorts. Mice in the cool cohort generally had higher SOD activity, which varied significantly with body temperature in striatum and in preoptic area of the hypothalamus. Changes in SOD activity following heating were revealed only when warm and cool cohorts were analysed separately.

The familial transmission of bipolar illness.

As part of the National Institute of Mental Health Collaborative Program on the Psychobiology of Depression study, data were collected on 2225 first-degree relatives of 612 probands. We analyzed 187 families of bipolar patients (149 probands with a diagnosis of bipolar I disorder and 38 with a diagnosis of schizoaffective, manic subtype). Using traditional genetic methods, the morbid risk of bipolar illness in relatives was found to be 5.

Diethylstilbestrol counteracts barbiturate narcosis and hypothermia in male mice.

Treatment with DES one hour prior to pentobarbital injection resulted in diminution of the narcotic sleep and hypothermia usually found after pentobarbital (50 mg/kg 1) injection in male mice. The effect was biphasic: significantly countered relative to saline pretreated controls at low (.001-.

Effects of exogenous phospholipases on brain membrane phospholipid perturbation, (Na(+) + K(+))-ATPase activity and cellular swelling of brain slices.

Rat brain membranes were incubated with bee venom phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) or phospholipase C (PLC) from Clostridium perfringens. PLA(2) caused a significant increase in free polyunsaturated fatty acids concomitant with membrane phospholipid degradation as monitored by HPLC and by gas chromatography. Equal concentrations of PLC had a much lesser effect than PLA(2).

Arachidonic acid inhibits uptake of glutamate and glutamine but not of GABA in cultured cerebellar granule cells.

The effects of arachidonic acid (20:4) on the uptake of glutamate were studied in primary cultures of cerebellar granule cells and were compared to cortical neurons and astrocytes. At a dose of 0.005 mM, the glutamate uptake was significantly inhibited in cerebellar granule cells.