Influence of self-titration on the relationship between ethanol dose and chronic tissue toxicities: theoretical considerations.

Ethanol "titration" is offered as a possible explanation for the poor correlation of typical quantity-frequency measures of alcohol consumption with the extent of neuropsychological and other performance deficits in detoxified alcoholics. This view asserts that there are large variations in the susceptibility of individuals to alcohol toxicities and that individual alcoholics may regulate their ethanol consumption in accordance with their individual susceptibility, such that usual doses and their effects fall within personally acceptable limits. Thus, the dose chosen for chronic administration is determined, in part, by the biological impact of the ethanol ingested during drinking episodes.

Spontaneous lymphocyte proliferation in human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) and HTLV-II infection: T-cell subset responses and their relationships to the presence of provirus and viral antigen production.

Spontaneous lymphocyte proliferation (SLP) during in vitro culture of mononuclear cells (MCs) characterizes over half of asymptomatic individuals infected with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) or HTLV-II. Both CD4 and CD8 T-cell subsets within MC cultures are activated during SLP, as judged by high-density CD25 (CD25bright) expression; it is unclear, however, whether both cell subsets can directly undergo SLP. In the present investigation, the SLP capacities of purified CD8 and CD4 cells were examined in subjects infected with HTLV-I (n = 19) or HTLV-II (n = 54) in relation to the SLP status of MCs from each subject.

Development of T cell immune responsiveness in the chicken.

Chickens are highly susceptible to infection by opportunistic pathogens during the first few days after hatching. This observation has generally been attributed to an immaturity of the immune system; however, the mechanisms responsible are not known. This study investigated the ability of T cells from chickens of various ages to respond to immune stimulation.

Nuclear phosphatidylinositols decrease during S-phase of the cell cycle in HeLa cells.

In the current study we have measured phosphatidylinositols during the cell cycle. HeLa cells were labeled with [3H]myoinositol to a steady state, synchronized to the G1/S boundary, and the levels of phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) lipids were measured at various times after release from the block. The levels of total cellular PtdIns, PtdIns(4)P, and PtdIns(4,5)P2 relative to total cellular phospholipid did not vary throughout the cell cycle.

Influence of age on the development of rapid tolerance to ethanol.

Fischer-344 rats of three different ages (4, 13, and 25 months) were tested to determine the extent and duration of rapid tolerance to ethanol-induced hypothermia and hypnosis. There were no significant differences among groups with regard to maximal ethanol hypothermia (3.0-3.

Changes in testicular testosterone and acid and alkaline phosphatase activity in testis and accessory sex organs after induction of varicocele in Noble rats.

The present study was undertaken to determine the effects of surgically induced varicocele on testicular androgen production, seminiferous tubular diameter, and acid and alkaline phosphatase activities in testis and accessory sex organs in adult Noble rats. Testosterone concentrations in plasma and in both left and right testis were estimated in both sham-operated and varicocele-induced rats. The activities of acid and alkaline phosphatase were measured in both left and right testis, seminal vesicle, and ventral prostate gland in varicocele-induced and sham-operated rats.

Crystallization and initial X-ray crystallographic characterization of recombinant bovine inositol polyphosphate 1-phosphatase produced in Spodoptera frugiperda cells.

Bovine inositol polyphosphate 1-phosphatase, a monomeric protein with a molecular mass of 44,000 Da, hydrolyzes the 1-position phosphate from inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate and inositol 1,4-bisphosphate. The low abundance of inositol polyphosphate 1-phosphatase in tissues has precluded structural studies requiring large quantities of enzyme. We used recombinant Baculovirus harboring the cDNA of bovine inositol polyphosphate 1-phosphatase to infect Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) insect cells.

Glutathione S-transferase activity and isoenzyme concentrations in obese Avy/a and lean a/a mice.

To assist in defining the mechanism(s) by which the activity of hepatic glutathione S-transferase (GST) is decreased in obese rodents, the cytosolic concentrations of individual GST isozymes were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. For this purpose, liver cytosols from 8- and 16-week-old obese yellow Avy/a and lean black a/a male and female mice of the inbred VY/WffC3Hf/Nctr-Avy strain were assayed. Obese yellow males contained less hepatic GT-9.

Absence of acute tolerance to ethanol hypnosis in F-344 and BN/BIRIJ rats.

Male Fischer 344 (F-344) rats of three different ages (4, 13, and 25 months) and male Brown Norway (BN/BIRIJ) rats (4 months) were injected (IP) with a hypnotic dose of ethanol (3.0 g/kg, 10% w/v in saline). Half of the animals were decapitated and brains extracted immediately upon loss of the righting reflex (LRR), while the other half were allowed to reach recovery of the righting reflex (RRR), at which time brains were extracted.

Graduate nursing education: developmental disabilities and special health care needs.

As children and adults with developmental disabilities and special health care needs are integrated into home, school, and community life, nurses are being required to provide leadership, advocacy, and training in community settings to a much greater extent than in the past. To assess the school and community need for formal graduate preparation for nurses who work with individuals with developmental disabilities and/or special health care needs, 25 nurses in leadership positions representing urban and rural health agencies throughout Minnesota took part in a 5-hour focus group discussion. Analysis of data summarized from this process shows five features of the recommended curriculum necessary for advanced practitioners in this specialty area: (a) discipline-specific core competencies, (b) discipline-specific specialty competencies, (c) genetic competencies not specific to nursing but necessary to function in nursing roles, (d) interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary learning experiences, and (e) clinical experiences with preceptors.

GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase. Purification to homogeneity, properties, and utilization to prepare photoaffinity analogs.

Pig liver GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase was purified 5,000-fold to apparent homogeneity using standard techniques. The native enzyme showed a single band on gels of about 450 kDa and two subunits of 43 and 37 kDa on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The 37-kDa (beta-) subunit had only methionine at its amino terminus and a surprisingly hydrophobic sequence: Met-Lys-Ala-Leu-Ile-Leu-Val-Gly-Gly-Tyr-Gly-Thr-Arg-Leu- Arg-Pro-Leu-Thr-Leu-Ser-Ile-Pro-Lys.

Age-related differences in sensitivity to alcohol in the rat.

Female F344 rats of three different ages (4, 13, and 25 months) were tested for sensitivity to the ataxic, hypothermic, and hypnotic effects of injected ethanol. Challenges with ethanol sufficient to produce similar blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) in all age groups at the time of testing were observed to produce greater ataxia in old rats (25 months > 13 months > 4 months). Old rats also were observed to recover the righting reflex at lower BACs than those present in young or middle age rats.

Cloning, heterologous expression, and chromosomal localization of human inositol polyphosphate 1-phosphatase.

Inositol polyphosphate 1-phosphatase, an enzyme in the phosphatidylinositol signaling pathway, catalyzes the hydrolysis of the 1 position phosphate from inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate and inositol 1,4-bisphosphate. We used a cDNA that encodes bovine inositol polyphosphate 1-phosphatase as a probe to isolate the human counterpart by low-stringency hybridization. The 1.

Inhibition studies of some serine and thiol proteinases by new leupeptin analogues.

Fifteen tripeptide analogues of leupeptin containing either a C-terminal argininal or lysinal were synthesized. The synthetic analogues were tested, using spectrophotometric assay techniques, as inhibitors of trypsin, kallikrein, thrombin, plasmin, and cathepsin B. The lysinal analogues were fairly selective as inhibitors of cathepsin B activity.

Recovery of respiratory sinus arrhythmia in detoxified alcoholic subjects.

Although most alcoholic subjects show little autonomic dysfunction, severe alcoholic subjects may have pathological changes in autonomic nerves. We asked if respiratory sinus arrhythmia amplitude (RSA), an index of vagal cardiac control, is decreased in alcoholism and, if so, whether the decrease is reversed with abstinence. RSA was assessed in 17 normotensive alcoholic subjects (A) at 1, 4, 12, and 24 wk of abstinence after detoxification and at similar intervals in 17 controls (C) matched for age, race, and gender.

Enhanced glutathione S-transferase 7-7 expression in rat hepatic cytosol following treatment with pyrrole.

Rat hepatic GST 7-7 expression in cytosol and in the S-hexylglutathione-agarose affinity purified fraction of cytosol from saline- (control) and pyrrole-treated animals was examined using metabolic activity, SDS-PAGE, immunoblot, and HPLC analyses. Metabolic activity of hepatic cytosol from pyrrole-treated animals was assayed using the substrates 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, ethacrynic acid, and acrolein, and an approximately 1.5-, 1.

Testicular torsion and its effects on contralateral testicle.

Twenty-six male adult Noble (Nb) rats underwent unilateral left testicular torsion of 720 degrees. The testicles of the 6 control animals were immediately detorsed. The experimental animals were divided into 4 groups according to the surgical approach (abdominal vs.

Phenotypic comparison of the three populations of human lymphocytes defined by CD45RO and CD45RA expression.

Published reports indicate that CD45RO-CD45RAbright T cells are native T cells, CD45RObrightCD45RA- T cells are memory T cells, and that concomitant loss of CD45RA expression and gain of CD45RO expression occurs during transition from naive to memory status. Thus, following in vitro activation of CD45RO- CD45RAbright T cells, a subset of transitional CD45ROdimCD45RAdim T cells is observed before conversion to a CD45RObrightCD45RA- phenotype is completed. Interestingly, all three of these phenotypic subsets are represented in the circulating human lymphocyte pool.

Lymphocyte subsets in HTLV-II-infected former blood donors: relationship to spontaneous lymphocyte proliferation.

Previous studies showed that over 70% of HTLV-seropositive blood donors from the Los Angeles area are infected with HTLV-II; further, mononuclear cells from about half of these HTLV-II+ donors exhibit spontaneous lymphocyte proliferation (SLP) during in vitro culture. To determine if HTLV-II+SLP+ donors exhibit more marked immune system changes than HTLV-II+SLP- donors, lymphocyte subsets for these two HTLV-II+ groups were compared to an uninfected control group. The percentage of lymphocytes expressing CD3 was significantly increased and the percentage expressing a CD16/56+CD3- phenotype (natural killer cells) was significantly decreased in the HTLV-II+SLP+ group (N = 34) versus the control group (N = 49).