Effects of leucotrofina and timolimfotropina on the liver of Wistar rats.

Adult male rats were treated for 10 days with a thymic extract (Leucotrofina-L, or Timolimfotropina-T, Ellem Milano, Italy), in a daily dose of 0.1 ml/100g body weight. 5 days after the end of the treatment, rats were sacrificed and liver was removed.

The effects of leucotrofina or timolimfotropina on some parameters of carbohydrate metabolism in the Wistar rat.

A 10 days Leucotrofina or Timolimfotropina administration induced in Wistar rats a rise of glycemia and liver glycogen content, and a decrease of glycogen-phosphorylase a activity. These modifications lasted in time and may be due to an activation of the hepatic gluconcogenetic pathway, via a stimulated glucocorticoid production.

The effects of thymomodulin and thymolymphotropin on the stress response of neuroendocrine system by gamma-irradiated Wistar rat.

Thymomodulin and Thymolymphotropin, biologically active thymus derivative peptides exert recovery effects on the functionality of some membrane bound, mitochondrial and lysosomal enzymes (monoamine oxidase, ATPase, phosphatases, cytochrome oxidase, succinate oxidase) affected by gamma-irradiation. These drugs exert antistress effect by re-establishing the function of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and that of lymphoid organs.

Thymic and suprarenalian response of Wistar rats following the administration of the humoral thymic factor (Leucotrofina) and of the cytostatic cyclophosphamide.

Leucotrofina administration in Wistar rats induced in thymus an increase of total protein content and of protein synthesis from 14C-leucine, simultaneously with a raise in the AlAT activity. Adrenal glands were not affected. Leucotrofina administration on the background of Cyclophosphamide induced modifications restored at normal values some of the thymic parameters (total protein content and RNA content) but the ascorbic acid content in the adrenals remained lowered.

Morphological behaviour of lympho-myeloid organs at experimental stimulation with leukotrophine.

The influence of leukotrophine on the behaviour of lymphomyeloid organs was studied in male Swiss mice aged 2 months. In the four comparatively studied groups it was shown that leukopoiesis and immune maturation was slightly stimulated by leukotrophine or protected by thiola, a radioprotective substance; the administration of both substances, leukotrophine + thiola, enhances the two actions, myelo-lymphoid leukopoiesis and cellular pyroninophilia, almost doubling them. Histochemical studies were supplemented with histoenzymatic and cytogenetic investigations.

Influence of thymic humoral factor(s) on haemopoiesis in mice.

Postirradiation administration of Leukotrophin to whole-body irradiated mice was associated with increased LD50/30 and DRF. As indicated by 59Fe uptake and ESC number, haemopoiesis was significantly stimulated in spleen and bone marrow after Leukotrophin application to irradiated mice. DNA content and the uptake of 3H-thymidine in DNA was significantly enhanced in the thymus and bone marrow of irradiated and Leukotrophin-treated mice.

Hematologic and histologic experimental investigations on the therapeutic effect of leukotrophin.

The paper aims at evidencing the stimulating effect on hematopoietic stem cells exerted by the thymus extract "Leukotrophin", prepared by Ellem Laboratory, Milan, Italy. Investigation of the hematologic and histologic parameters allowed the follow up of alterations occurring in bone marrow, blood and tissues of the irradiated animals, treated and untreated as compared with the unirradiated and untreated controls. Regeneration was more active in the groups of animals irradiated and treated with Leukotrophin than in the irradiated and untreated controls.

High order packing of DNA as revealed by autodigestion of chromatin in small intestine cell nuclei.

Small intestine cell nuclei incubated in sucrose media released large fractions of DNA into the culture medium. This effect was partially or completely suppressed when incubation was carried out in the presence of a protease inhibitor, 10 to 30 mM NaHSO3. The DNA released in sucrose media containing NaHSO3 was precipitated as a DNA-protein complex by increasing the bivalent ion concentration to 10 mM Ca2+ or 20 mM Mg2+.

Cell proliferation in the thymus of Ehrlich ascites tumor bearing mice.

Thymic involution of Ehrlich ascites tumor bearing Swiss and NMRI mice was associated with an increased incorporation of 3H-thymidine into thymus DNA and an enhanced activity of adenosine deaminase. The apparent depletion time constants, which were determined by the following time course of the retention of 3H-DNA, indicated that the rate cell depletion was increased in the thymus of tumor bearing mice. The results suggest that the thymic involution was correlated with an increased proliferative activity and an accelerated depletion of thymic cells.

Improvement of perfusion flow in the isolated rat liver under the influence of streptase. Autohistoradiographic aspects of 125I-labelled fibrinogen deposition.

The dynamics of the fibrinoplastic process were studied in rat isolated liver, perfused in normothermia with a synthetical medium. For the autohistoradiographical study, 125I-labelled fibrinogen was added to the perfusing medium. The historadiograms obtained suggest that the main link in the rise of trans-hepatic vascular resistance is thickening of the fibrin muff of the sinusoids.

Cell kinetics in the spleen of Ehrlich ascites tumor-bearing mice.

During the period of 18 days after transplantation the uptake of 3H-thymidine into DNA was significantly increased in the spleen of Ehrlich ascites tumor-bearing Swiss and NMRI mice. Adenosine deaminase activity was within the control limits in tumor-bearing Swiss mice and significantly increased for the tumor-bearers of the NMRI strain. However, the increase in the DNA content, which is associated to splenic hyperplasia, was evident only for the Swiss strain.

Alkaline endonuclease(s) activity in the thymus and spleen of normal and irradiated mice.

Evidence has been found on an alkaline endonuclease activity in the cytoplasmic and nuclear fraction isolated from the thymus and spleen mice. The chromatin-associated endonuclease activity was identified only in the spleen. The enzyme(s) was active on both single- and double-stranded DNA, but the reaction was faster if single-stranded DNA was used as a substrate.

Autoradiographic changes in the kidney of the whole-body sublethally x-ray irradiated rat.

203Hg-hydroxymersalyl uptake / gram of kidney (HU), renal autoradiographic and histologic aspect after 800 R X-ray whole-body rat irradiation was studied. Twenty-four to seventy-two hours after irradiation, HU increased, while tubular autoradiographic granularity decreased. Their return to the control levels occurred gradually within two weeks.

Recovery response of dividing cells in the thymus of whole-body gamma-irradiated mice.

Mice were irradiated with different doses of gamma-rays 30 min after the administration of 32P-orthophosphate. The dose-response curves determined at 72 hours after exposure showed an inflection point in the total activity present in the DNA in thymus and spleen. In the low dose-range, the dose-response curves have D0 = 55 rad (n = 2-5) for thymus and DO = 95 rad (n = 2-5) for the spleen.

Effect of cortisol on the release and retention of labelled DNA in the thymus and spleen of mice.

The lymphocytolytic effect of different doses of cortisol was studied in the thymus and spleen of mice previously injected with 3H-thymidine. The results indicate that in thymus the fraction of labelled cells was more resistant to cortisol than the unlabelled cell population. The release of DNA into the fraction of DNA soluble in 0.