Elevation of ceramide in serum lipoproteins during acute phase response in humans and mice: role of serine-palmitoyl transferase.

Recent studies have indicated that ceramide generated in the liver is secreted into the bloodstream as component of very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL). This manuscript investigates the effect of host acute phase response to inflammation on lipoprotein ceramide levels. In humans, two different patterns of responses were found.

Depression of constitutive murine cytochromes P450 by staphylococcal enterotoxin B.

Most in vivo studies demonstrating decreased activities of hepatic cytochromes P450 with inflammation have used Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as the inflammatory stimulant. But products of Gram-positive bacteria, such as staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), also stimulate inflammatory mediators, albeit with a different pattern than LPS. Therefore, effects of SEB on the regulation of murine constitutive P450s were determined in this study and compared with those of LPS.

The effect of endotoxin administration on the pharmacokinetics of chlorzoxazone in humans.

Objective: Inflammation induced by Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide alters the clearance of several hepatically eliminated drugs. Extensive rat liver research has shown CYP2E1 down-regulation after lipopolysaccharide administration. To further investigate this phenomenon in humans, lipopolysaccharide was administered to healthy male volunteers and chlorzoxazone was used as a CYP2E1 probe drug.

Endotoxin depresses hepatic cytochrome P450-mediated drug metabolism in women.

Aims: In men, the inflammatory response to intravenous endotoxin depresses apparent oral clearances of antipyrine, hexobarbitone, and theophylline. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there might be gender differences in the regulation of hepatic cytochromes P450.

Methods: Experiments were carried out in seven healthy women volunteers (ages 19-51, median 22 years).

[Functional criteria for the differentiation of leukemic cells. II. The fungicidal activity of the blast cells from patients with acute monoblastic leukemia].

The studies in the present work are a continuation of the previous studies of the author's on the functional activity of leukosis cells and discuss their fungicidal activity versus Candida albicans. Blast cells from 22 patients with various clinical-morphological forms of acute leukosis were studied. It has been concluded from the results obtained that leukosis cells of monoblast type in acute myelomonoblast (M4) and monoblast (M5) leukosis are able to lyse Candida albicans, the value of their fungicidal activity being lower than that of mature monocytes from peripheral blood of healthy subjects.