Renovasculopathies of hypertension in Hispanic residents of Dallas, Texas.

Background: Mean blood pressure levels (MBP) appear to rise with age slowly in the population of Mexico City and more swiftly in the U.S. in the black and white population, judging from published survey data.

Characterization of the sympathetic nerve responses to amphetamine: role of central alpha 2-adrenergic receptors.

Although amphetamine has profound cardiovascular actions, the role of the sympathetic nervous system in these responses is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to characterize the sympathetic nerve responses to amphetamine and to determine whether these neural responses involve an action of amphetamine in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM). In sinoaortically denervated (SAD) and sham-SAD rats, amphetamine dose-dependently increased mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR), while decreasing (-87 +/- 5%, max) renal sympathetic nerve discharge (SND) for 57 +/- 5 min.

Lysosome-associated membrane proteins h-LAMP1 (CD107a) and h-LAMP2 (CD107b) are activation-dependent cell surface glycoproteins in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells which mediate cell adhesion to vascular endothelium.

Lysosome-associated membrane proteins (LAMPs) are transmembrane lysosomal glycoproteins which are detectable at the cell surface of lymphocytes in patients with scleroderma and systemic lupus erythematosus. While these proteins have been shown to mediate adhesion of tumor cells to vascular endothelial selectins, the function of LAMPs expressed at the cell surface of peripheral blood lymphocytes has not been previously examined. In the present study, the role of lamp2 (CD107b) in lymphocyte adhesion to vascular endothelium and the factors which influence in vitro cell surface expression of both lamp1 (CD107a) and lamp2 (CD107b) are examined.

Compartmentalization of glucose utilization after intravenous vs. intratracheal challenge with LPS.

The rate of glucose utilization (Rg) of various tissues including lung and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids cells was measured, using the 2-deoxyglucose technique in Sprague-Dawley rats 4 h after challenge with either 1 mg/kg intravenous or 0.3 mg/kg intratracheal lipopolysaccharide (LPS). After intravenous LPS, Rg increased in whole lung and nonrespiratory tissues, but was unaltered in BAL cells.

Analysis of CAG repeat of the Machado-Joseph gene in human, chimpanzee and monkey populations: a variant nucleotide is associated with the number of CAG repeats.

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder associated with an unstable and expanded CAG repeat. We analyzed this locus from various sources including MJD families, Acadian, African American, Caucasian, Greenland Inuit and Thai populations. The range of the CAG repeat size was 14-40 in the normal alleles while the MJD alleles contained 73-78 repeats in our studies.

Bone invasion by a recurrent digital fibroma of infancy in a child with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.

We describe a child with features of the Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome with congenital recurrent digital fibroma of infancy that extended into and replaced the marrow of the terminal phalynx of the little finger. Digital fibromas of infancy have not previously been associated with either Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome or invasion into underlying bone.

Rodent BC1 RNA gene as a master gene for ID element amplification.

ID elements are short interspersed repetitive DNA elements (SINEs) which have amplified in rodent genomes via retroposition, a process involving an RNA intermediate. BC1, an abundant ID-related transcript, is transcribed from a conserved, single-copy gene in rodents. The gene encoding BC1 RNA represents one of the earliest and possibly the first ID-containing sequence.

A nicotinic-like receptor mediates suppression of distortion product otoacoustic emissions by contralateral sound.

The purpose of this investigation was to provide in vivo pharmacologic characterization of a cholinergic receptor mediating the suppressive effects of medial olivocochlear (MOC) efferent activation. MOC neurons were activated by contralateral sound and the resulting suppression of ipsilateral distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) was monitored before and after intracochlear perfusions of cholinergic antagonists. Results revealed a dose-dependent blockade of contralateral suppression of DPOAEs by a wide variety of nicotinic and muscarinic cholinergic receptor antagonists, as well as by non-traditional antagonists of cholinergic activity.

Complement receptors in shock and transplantation.

Over the last decade, elegant studies of the basic biologic characteristics of inflammation and tissue injury have implicated leukocyte-mediated vascular and tissue injury in the pathogenesis of a wide variety of immune and inflammatory clinical disorders, including allograft rejection, adult respiratory distress syndrome, and shock. Recognition of the importance of leukocyte adherence to the endothelium in the pathogenesis of these disorders, in combination with advances in cellular and molecular biology, have led to the development of novel therapeutic approaches to the treatment of immune and inflammatory disorders in which leukocytes contribute to vascular and tissue injury. Several of these promising new therapeutic approaches have focused on the complement system.

Alcohol consumption in rats potentiates the deleterious effect of gram-negative sepsis on hepatic hyaluronan uptake.

The role of hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs) in the pathologic changes of the liver associated with alcohol consumption is not fully understood. The measurement of hyaluronan (HA) uptake by the SECs provides a useful means for assessing the functional state of these cells. In this study, we determined the effect of acute and chronic exposure to alcohol in rats in the absence and presence of subcutaneous Escherichia coli-induced sepsis on plasma HA concentration and HA uptake by the isolated, perfused liver.

The rat thymidine kinase gene 5' region: evolution of a promoter.

The nucleotide sequence of the rat thymidine kinase (tk) gene 5' region was determined and compared to the 5' sequences of the tk gene from mouse, human, hamster and chicken. This analysis revealed the highest degree of homology to be between the rat and the mouse sequences and correspondingly greater sequence variation relative to the other species. There has apparently been an especially high rate of change in regions that have been demonstrated to be protein binding regions in some of these promoters.