Amelioration of TNBS-induced colon inflammation in rats by phospholipase A2 inhibitor.

The pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) involves the production of diverse lipid mediators, namely eicosanoids, lysophospholipids, and platelet-activating factor, in which phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is the key enzyme. Accordingly, it has been postulated that control of lipid mediator production by inhibition of PLA2 would be useful for the treatment of IBD. This hypothesis was tested in the present study by examining the therapeutic effect of a novel extracellular PLA2 inhibitor (ExPLI), composed of carboxymethylcellulose-linked phosphatidylethanolamine (CMPE), on trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid-induced colitis. Intraperitoneal administration of CMPE suppressed the colitis as measured by mortality rate, intestinal permeability, plasma PLA2 activity, intestinal myeloperoxidase activity, and histological morphometry. Current therapeutic approaches for inflammatory conditions focus on the selective control of a lipid mediator(s) (e.g., prostaglandins or leukotrienes). The present study supports the concept that inclusive control of lipid mediator production by PLA2 inhibition is a plausible approach to the treatment of colitis and introduces the ExPLIs as a prototype of a novel NSAID for the treatment of intestinal inflammation.

Assessment of intestinal permeability in rats by permeation of inulin-fluorescein.

The measurement of intestinal permeability is widely used to assess different aspects of mucosal barrier disorders and related disease states, and has been proposed for evaluation of disease activity. To provide a simple method for assessment of intestinal permeability, we examined the permeation of inulin-fluorescein (InFl) in rat models of small intestinal injury and colitis. Small intestinal or colonic inflammation was induced by either i.p. administration of indomethacin or rectal administration of trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS), respectively. For monitoring of intestinal permeability, InFl was administered orally or rectally to rats with small intestinal or colonic inflammation, respectively, and its level in blood was determined by the fluorescence intensity in the plasma. In small intestinal injury, InFl reached its peak in plasma 3 h after oral administration, while in colitis the InFl peak was reached 1 h after rectal administration. The highest permeability was observed at 72 h or 12 h after induction of small intestinal or colonic inflammation, respectively. In small intestinal injury the InFl permeation, as measured by its plasma level prior to sacrifice, was in agreement with intestinal damage evaluated after sacrifice. In colitis, the permeability at 12 h after induction of the disease correlated well with mortality. These findings demonstrate that InFl can be used as a novel, safe and easy-to-use probe for the evaluation of gut permeation and follow-up of gastrointestinal injury.

Reduced glutamine content in colonic polyps.

BACKGROUND: Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body. It has a key role in nitrogen metabolism and is a major source of energy for the enterocyte and many other cells. Glutamine is also essential for tumor growth, and marked changes in organ glutamine metabolism are characteristic in cancer patients. METHODS: We have investigated the catabolism of glutamine in a classic premalignant condition: the colonic adenomatous polyp. The content of glutamine and activity of two catabolic enzymes, glutamine transferase and phosphate-dependent glutaminase, were studied in normal colon and in polyp mucosa. RESULTS: Free glutamine content and activity of glutaminase were significantly lower in polyps than in their adjacent mucosa. Glutamine transferase activity was significantly lower in polyp mucosa than in normal colon controls. CONCLUSIONS: Adenomatous polyps might behave as a glutamine trap, channeling glutamine to protein and nucleic acid synthesis. These changes in glutamine catabolism could play a role in colonic neoplasia pathogenesis.

Factors in mortality by drug dependence among Puerto Ricans in New York City.

This paper presents data on mortality by drug dependence among Puerto Rican residents aged 15-44 of New York City. While men show death rates for drug dependence several times those of women, when deaths by drug dependence are calculated as a proportion of all deaths, the ratios are nearly the same for both sexes. Factors relevant to analyzing mortality statistics on drug dependence in this population are an undercount of Puerto Rican males and competing causes of death, particularly homicide among men. Factors influencing deaths by drugs are gender roles as they influence patterns of drug use and types of chronic use: regular and intermittent.

Characteristics of the street children of Colombia.

Psychological characteristics of 56 Colombian male street children, aged 7 to 16, were examined from participant observations and results of three psychological tests given the children. The Kohs Block Design measured their intelligence; and the Human Figure Drawing and the Bender Gestalt measured emotional and neurological functioning. The test data showed the sample to be relatively healthy, intelligent, and emotionally intact. The children's relatively good scores on the tests may be understood by placing their abandonment in a cultural perspective, which includes the children's strong peer support system, their access to adult benefactors, and the fact that the children were developing in an orderly fashion from matrifocal families. The premise is made that by understanding the children more accurately more appropriate help may be given.

The psychology of Colombian street children.

This article calls into question the diverse perceptions of the street children in Colombia. Through the use of participant observations and the administration of the Bender-Gestalt, Kohs Block Designs, and Human Figure Drawing tests, the author explains the psychology of the street children. Their behavior on the streets is explained as being rational and appropriate to their circumstances. Since most of the children are not actively rejected by their families, and because they receive support among their peers and from private benefactors in the society, their mental health is not as bad as popularly believed. The misperceptions of them and of the way they are treated by the society are explained in the context of the family and class structure in Colombia. The dominant society consists of patrifocal families that raise children to be submissive to their fathers, whereas the lower social classes raise their children in matrifocal families, which do not have men in them, and which encourage their children to be independent at an early age. The children in their early public display of liberty symbolically threaten the man's dominance in the patrifocal family system. As a result the children's skills are devalued.

Colombian street children: gamines and chupagruesos.

Through the use of participant observations and the collection of standardized psychological test scores from a sample of 56 street children, their characteristics were examined. The Kohs Block Design measured their intelligence; the Human Figure Drawing and the Bender-Gestalt tests were used to measure emotional and neurological functioning. The data indicated that their mental health was adequate, which is postulated to be the result of intense friendships between the children. Two different styles of street life are presented--the gamines and chupagruesos. Because of their public lives and because they live without parental supervision, their developmental periods have been altered. The paper illustrates how child development is dependent on societal reactions to aberrant children.

[Specificity of glutamine metabolism in pre-tumorous diseases and cancer of the human stomach]. / Spetsifichnost' obmena glutamina pri predopukholevykh zabolevaniiakh i rake zheludka u cheloveka.

Content of free glutamine and the activity of glutamine synthetase and glutamine transaminase were studied in practically healthy persons and in patients with chronic atrophic gastritis, ulcerous disease, polyposis and with gastric carcinoma. The enzymatic activity was estimated in the areas of ulcerous impairment, of polypous vegetation of malignant neoplasm as well as in mucous membrane out of the impaired zone and in whole blood of all the patients studied. The tissues for biochemical tests were obtained by the directed gastrobiopsy. Content of glutamine was decreased in blood of patients with gastric carcinoma and increased in mucous membrane adjacent to the malignant tissue. Occurrence of the glutamine transaminase activity in the tissue areas studied was due to the specific glutamine metabolism during pretumoral diseases and gastric carcinoma, whereas the unimpaired gastric mucosa did not have the distinct enzymatic activity.