Maternal Obesity and Cardiac Development in the Offspring: Study in Human Neonates and Minipigs.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the consequences of maternal overweight on cardiac development in offspring in infants (short term) and minipigs (short and longer term).

Background: The epidemic of overweight involves pregnant women. The uterine environment affects organ development, modulating disease susceptibility.

Biochemical dysfunction in heart mitochondria exposed to ischaemia and reperfusion.

Heart tissue is remarkably sensitive to oxygen deprivation. Although heart cells, like those of most tissues, rapidly adapt to anoxic conditions, relatively short periods of ischaemia and subsequent reperfusion lead to extensive tissue death during cardiac infarction. Heart tissue is not readily regenerated, and permanent heart damage is the result.

Guanidine-induced dissociation of mitochondrial F1-ATPase.

The effect of guanidine hydrochloride on ATPase activity, gel filtration, turbidity, and the fluorescence emission intensity of mitochondrial F1-ATPase was examined. Purified F1 from bovine heart mitochondria was slowly inactivated at low denaturant concentration, and inactivation was associated with delta and epsilon subunit dissociation. delta and epsilon subunits were bound together to form a stable and soluble heterodimer.

Increased state 4 mitochondrial respiration and swelling in early post-ischemic reperfusion of rat heart.

Isolated rat hearts were exposed to 30 min ischemia or to 30 min ischemia followed by 2, 5 or 40 min reperfusion and mitochondria were isolated at these different time points. ADP-stimulated, succinate-dependent respiration rate (state 3) was not significantly changed at the different time points examined. In contrast, state 4 (non-ADP-stimulated) respiration rate was significantly increased after 30 min ischemia, and it increased further during the first post-ischemic reperfusion period.

Dose-dependent inhibition of mitochondrial ATP synthase by 17 beta-estradiol.

Mitochondria produce energy through oxidative phosphorylation. A key enzyme in this pathway is F0F1-ATP synthase, catalyzing ATP production from ADP and inorganic phosphate. Recently a subunit of F0F1-ATP synthase, oligomycin sensitivity-conferring protein, was identified as a new estradiol-binding protein.

Cytochrome c oxidase and mitochondrial F1F0-ATPase (ATP synthase) activities in platelets and brain from patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction is prominent in Alzheimer's disease (AD). A failure of one or more of the mitochondrial electron transport chain enzymes or of F(1)F(0)-ATPase (ATP synthase) could compromise brain energy stores, generate damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS), and lead to neuronal death. In the present study, cytochrome c oxidase (COX) and F(1)F(0)-ATPase activities of isolated mitochondria from platelets and postmortem motor cortex and hippocampus from AD patients and age-matched control subjects were assayed.

Combined cadmium and ozone treatments affect photosynthesis and ascorbate-dependent defences in sunflower.

•  The combined effects of the two pollutants, cadmium and ozone, on sunflower (Helianthus annuus) metabolism are analysed here. •  Photosysnthetic processes and ascorbate metabolism were studied in sunflower plants grown for 15 d in the presence of cadmium and exposed to acute O treatments. •  CO assimilation rate was reduced in plants subjected to Cd(II) and/or O treatments, but no alterations in stomatal conductance and F  : F ratio were observed.

Myocardial ischemic preconditioning and mitochondrial F1F0-ATPase activity.

A short period of ischemia followed by reperfusion (ischemic preconditioning) is known to trigger mechanisms that contribute to the prevention of ATP depletion. In ischemic conditions, most of the ATP hydrolysis can be attributed to mitochondrial F1F0-ATPase (ATP synthase). The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of myocardial ischemic preconditioning on the kinetics of ATP hydrolysis by F1F0-ATPase.

Purification, structural characterization, cloning and immunocytochemical localization of chemoreception proteins from Schistocerca gregaria.

Soluble low-molecular-mass protein isoforms were purified from chemosensory organs (antennae, tarsi and labrum) of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria. Five genes encoding proteins of this group were amplified by PCR from cDNAs of tarsi and sequenced. Their expression products are polypeptide chains of 109 amino acids showing 40-50% sequence identity with putative olfactory proteins from Drosophila melanogaster and Cactoblastis cactorum.

Expression of a dehydrin gene during embryo development and drought stress in ABA-deficient mutants of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.).

The synthesis of a particular class of proteins, the dehydrins, is a common response to drought in plants. Dehydrins are known to be synthesized by the cell in response to abscisic acid, which represents a link between environment and nuclear activity, though dehydrin genes may be expressed even constitutively. We have investigated the relationship between abscisic acid (ABA) and accumulation of a dehydrin mRNA in sunflower, in which a dehydrin cDNA (HaDhnla) was isolated.

Relevance of divalent cations to ATP-driven proton pumping in beef heart mitochondrial F0F1-ATPase.

The ATP hydrolysis rate and the ATP hydrolysis-linked proton translocation by the F0F1-ATPase of beef heart submitochondrial particles were examined in the presence of several divalent metal cations. All Me-ATP complexes tested sustained ATP hydrolysis, although to a different extent. However, only Mg- and Mn-ATP-dependent hydrolysis could sustain a high level of proton pumping activity, as determined by acridine fluorescence quenching.

A cost-effectiveness analysis of aspirin versus oral anticoagulants after acute myocardial infarction in Italy -- equivalence of costs as a possible case for oral anticoagulants.

Aims: The recent publication of two large trials of secondary prevention of coronary artery disease with oral anticoagulants (WARIS and ASPECT) has caused a revival of the interest for this antithrombotic therapy in a clinical setting where the use of aspirin is common medical practice. Despite this, the preferential use of aspirin has been supported by an American cost-effectiveness analysis (JAMA 1995; 273: 965).

Methods And Results: Using the same parameters used in that analysis and incidence of events from the Antiplatelet Trialists Collaboration and the ASPECT study, we re-evaluated the economic odds in favor of aspirin or oral anticoagulants in the Italian Health System, which differs significantly in cost allocation from the United States system and is, conversely, similar to other European settings.

Modification of the mitochondrial F1-ATPase epsilon subunit, enhancement of the ATPase activity of the IF1-F1 complex and IF1-binding dependence of the conformation of the epsilon subunit.

Treatment of bovine heart submitochondrial particles with a low concentration of 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide (HNB), a selective reagent for the Trp residue of the epsilon subunit [Baracca, Barogi, Lenaz and Solaini (1993) Int. J. Biochem.

Inhibition of experimental angiogenesis by the somatostatin analogue octreotide acetate (SMS 201-995).

The present study investigates the effect of the somatostatin analogue octreotide acetate (SMS 201-995) on experimental angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Octreotide reduced the proliferation of human HUV-EC-C endothelial cells (mean, -45.8% versus controls at 10(-9) M; P < 0.

The effects of the somatostatin analog octreotide on angiogenesis in vitro.

This study examined the in vitro antiangiogenic effects of the somatostatin analog octreotide on the growth of human HUV-EC-C endothelial cells and vascular cells from explants of rat aorta cultured on fibronectin-coated dishes or included in fibrin gel. A total 10(-9) mol/L octreotide reduced the mean uptake of 3H-thymidine by HUV-EC-C cells by 37% compared with controls. The 10(-8) mol/L concentration of octreotide inhibited the proliferation of endothelial and smooth muscle cells growing on fibronectin by 32.

[Hyperhomocysteinemia and vascular disease].

Hyperhomocysteinemia, the pathological increase of plasma homocysteine concentrations, is gaining increased attention in atheroscierosis research. Reasons for the wide present interest for this disorder of metabolism are that it may account, in the hereditary heterozygous and the acquired forms, for a still undetermined but possibly very large number of clinical manifestations of atheroscierosis in the adult population; and that the current understanding of the mechanisms by which high plasma concentrations of homocysteine induce vascular damage is presently to a large extent incomplete. As indicated by several lines of evidence, the endothelial cell appears to be the main target for the sustained toxic aggression by hyperomocysteinemia, possibly through the generation of an enhanced oxidative stress.

Clinical and experimental evidence of inhibition of testosterone production by suramin.

The effect of suramin on testosterone production was evaluated in cancer patients, adult male rats, rat Leydig cells, and NCI-H295 human adrenal cancer cells. Testosterone plasma levels markedly decreased in 14 patients receiving suramin as a therapy for refractory cancer, and in 8 of them, the plasma LH and/or FSH levels increased beyond the normal range. The hCG stimulation test (5000 IU, im) was performed in 8 patients and induced an average 2.

Phenylacetate inhibits protein isoprenylation and growth of the androgen-independent LNCaP prostate cancer cells transfected with the T24 Ha-ras oncogene.

The refractoriness of prostate cancer to androgen suppression is the landmark of clinically aggressive disease. In this study, the androgen-dependent LNCaP prostate cancer cells were transfected with the mutated c-Ha-ras gene from the T24 human bladder cancer. The derivative clone overexpressing T24-ras (LNCaP(T24-ras)) proliferated in androgen-depleted medium and showed increased growth.

Inhibitory effect of the somatostatin analogue SMS 201-995 and cytokines on the proliferation of human colon adenocarcinoma cell lines.

The activity of the synthetic somatostatin analogue SMS 201-995 was investigated in vitro on the growth of SW480 and SW620 human colon adenocarcinoma cell lines. The inhibition of cell proliferation was significant in SW480 cells (-19.6 +/- 1.

Dietary lipids and 5'-nucleotidase activity of rat cell plasma membranes.

Three groups of adult rats were fed black currant or olive oils or a 1:1 mixture of the two for three months. Feeding black currant oil diets, high in 18:2 (n-6), 18:3 (n-6), 18:3 (n-3), increased the heart and liver plasma membrane content of linoleic and arachidonic acid with a concomitant decrease of oleic acid. PUFA, n-3 and n-6 content and the bilayer lipid fluidity as examined by measuring the fluorescence anisotropy of diphenylhexatriene were not significantly affected.

Suramin inhibits bFGF-induced endothelial cell proliferation and angiogenesis in the chick chorioallantoic membrane.

The effects of suramin, an inhibitor of growth factor mitogenic activity, were evaluated on basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-induced proliferation of bovine aortic endothelial cells and on angiogenesis in the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of chick embryos. The role of bFGF gene expression in endothelial cell growth was also investigated by using an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide to bFGF. The 4-fold increase in [3H]-thymidine uptake in endothelial cells in vitro upon stimulation with 10 ng ml-1 of bFGF was inhibited by suramin 300 micrograms ml-1.

The prevalence of the precancerous lesions in breasts contralateral to clinical cancer. A morphological comparison with breasts containing a benign lump.

Two small series (nine cases each) of human female breasts were collected to compare the morphological changes of mammary glandular trees contralateral to primary breast cancer and those collateral to symptomatic benign lump. Each whole mammary gland was analysed by a submacroscopic scrutiny method using a stereomicroscope. Interesting and suspicious samples were removed for routine histology.

Fibrocystic condition and "at risk" lesions in asymptomatic breasts: a morphologic study of postmenopausal women.

A series of postmenopausal women who had died without noticing any clinical breast disease in their anamnesis (100 cases, age range 46-90 years, average age 62 years) were submitted to bilateral subcutaneous mastectomy during autopsy in order to evaluate the morphologic profile of asymptomatic mammary glands, at different ages. Submacroscopic changes were found and removed to be processed for histology. Results were as follows: a) 46% of cases did not show any change; b) 54% of cases showed benign changes, namely a fibrocystic condition; c) 14% of cases had in addition epithelial lobular hyperplasia with low grade atypia and d) 3% of cases showed atypical borderline lobules (ABL), i.

Human blood platelet as research tool in neuropsychopharmacology.

The use of blood platelets as a nerve terminal model for serotonin is well documented. However, it is clear that the use of platelets as a model can be justified only for those parameters where it may be shown that blood platelets and neural cells share almost identical features. The excellent similarity between the serotonin transport mechanisms in platelets and in nerve terminals, and the existence of various receptors for biogenic amines, peptides and substances with neuronal activity on platelet membrane offer a really unique opportunity to utilize blood platelets as a system for drug evaluation.