Randomised controlled trial of qigong in the treatment of mild essential hypertension.

Exercise and relaxation decrease blood pressure. Qigong is a traditional Chinese exercise consisting of breathing and gentle movements. We conducted a randomised controlled trial to study the effect of Guolin qigong on blood pressure. In all, 88 patients with mild essential hypertension were recruited from the community and randomised to Goulin qigong or conventional exercise for 16 weeks. The main outcome measurements were blood pressure, health status (SF-36 scores), Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventory scores. In the qigong group, blood pressure decreased significantly from 146.3+/-7.8/93.0+/-4.1 mmHg at baseline to 135.5+/-10.0/87.1+/-7.7 mmHg at week 16. In the exercise group, blood pressure also decreased significantly from 140.9+/-10.9/93.1+/-3.5 mmHg to 129.7+/-11.1/86.0+/-7.0 mmHg. Heart rate, weight, BMI, waist circumference, total cholesterol, renin and 24 h urinary albumin excretion significantly decreased in both groups after 16 weeks. General health, bodily pain, social functioning and depression also improved in both groups. No significant differences between qigong and conventional exercise were found. In conclusion, Guolin qigong and conventional exercise have similar effects on blood pressure in patients with mild hypertension. While no additional benefits were identified, it is nevertheless an alternative to conventional exercise in the nondrug treatment of hypertension.

Geometric and statistical properties of the mean-field hydrophobic-polar model, the large-small model, and real protein sequences.

Lattice models, for their coarse-grained nature, are best suited for the study of the "designability problem," the phenomenon in which most of the about 16 000 proteins of known structure have their native conformations concentrated in a relatively small number of about 500 topological classes of conformations. Here it is shown that on a lattice the most highly designable simulated protein structures are those that have the largest number of surface-core switchbacks. A combination of physical, mathematical, and biological reasons that causes the phenomenon is given. By comparing the most foldable model peptides with protein sequences in the Protein Data Bank, it is shown that whereas different models may yield similar designabilities, predicted foldable peptides will simulate natural proteins only when the model incorporates the correct physics and biology, in this case if the main folding force arises from the differing hydrophobicity of the residues, but does not originate, say, from the steric hindrance effect caused by the differing sizes of the residues.

Substituted indole-5-carboxamides and -acetamides as potent nonpeptide GnRH receptor antagonists.

The 2-aryltryptamine class of GnRH receptor antagonists has been modified to incorporate carboxamide and acetamide substituents at the indole 5-position. With either a phenol or methanesulfonamide terminus on the N-aralkyl side chain, potent binding affinity to the GnRH receptor was achieved. A functional assay for GnRH antagonism was even more sensitive to structural modification and revealed a strong preference for branched tertiary amides.

Potent nonpeptide GnRH receptor antagonists derived from substituted indole-5-carboxamides and -acetamides bearing a pyridine side-chain terminus.

A pyridine side-chain terminus has been incorporated into the indole-5-carboxamide and indole-5-acetamide series of GnRH antagonists. Potent activity was observed in binding and functional assays. Certain branched or cyclic tertiary amides were identified as preferred in each series. Alkylation of the side-chain secondary amine had generally unfavorable effects. Variations of the gem-dialkyl substituents in the indole-5-acetamide series were also investigated.

2-(3,5-Dimethylphenyl)tryptamine derivatives that bind to the GnRH receptor.

A series of 2-(3,5-dimethylphenyl)tryptamine derivatives was prepared and evaluated on a rat gonadotropin releasing hormone receptor assay. Some para-substituents on the 4-phenylbutyl side chain attached to the tryptamine nitrogen led to compounds with potent GnRH receptor binding. The study has helped define structural requirements for GnRH receptor binding for the 2-aryltryptamine GnRH antagonists.

Heterocyclic derivatives of 2-(3,5-dimethylphenyl)tryptamine as GnRH receptor antagonists.

A series of heterocyclic 2-(3,5-dimethylphenyl)tryptamine derivatives was prepared and evaluated on a rat gonadotropin releasing hormone receptor assay. The carbon tether length and heterocyclic ring attached to the amino group of 2-(3,5-dimethylphenyl)tryptamine were varied. Several of these derivatives were potent GnRH antagonists with the most potent compound having an IC50 of 16 nM.

A potent, nonpeptidyl 1H-quinolone antagonist for the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor.

Extensive development of the structure-activity relationships of a screening lead determined three important pharmacophores for gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor antagonist activity. Incorporation of the 3,4,5-trimethylphenyl group at the 3-position, 2-(2(S)-azetidinyl)ethoxy group at the 4-position, and N-4-pyrimidinylcarboxamide at the 6-position of the quinolone core resulted in the identification of 4-(2-(azetidin-2(S)-yl)ethoxy)-7-chloro-2-oxo-3-(3,4,5-trimethylphenyl)-1,2-dihydroquinoline-6-carboxylic acid pyrimidin-4-ylamide (1) as a potent antagonist of the GnRH receptor. A 10(4)-fold increase in in vitro binding affinity is observed for the GnRH receptor as compared to the initial screening lead. Compound 1 exhibits nanomolar binding activity and functional antagonism at the human receptor and is 7-fold less active at the rhesus receptor. Intravenous administration of compound 1 to rhesus monkeys results in a significant decrease of the serum levels of downstream hormones, luteinizing hormone (79% decrease in area under the curve) and testosterone (92% decrease in area under the curve), at a dose of 3 mg/kg. Quinolone 1 is a potent nonpeptidyl antagonist for the human GnRH receptor that is efficacious for the suppression of luteinizing hormone and testosterone in primates.

Initial structure-activity relationship of a novel class of nonpeptidyl GnRH receptor antagonists: 2-arylindoles.

A nonpeptidyl GnRH receptor antagonist (1), with a unique 2-arylindole core, was identified through the Merck in-house screening for binding affinity on the rat GnRH receptor. SAR studies directed toward the alkoxy-ethanolamine and 2-aryl groups resulted in a simpler lead structure with improved activity. This compound 50 exhibits a 60-fold improvement in binding activity over our initial lead 1.

SAR studies of novel 5-substituted 2-arylindoles as nonpeptidyl GnRH receptor antagonists.

The discovery of the potency-enhancing effect of 5-substitutions on the novel 2-arylindoles as nonpeptidyl GnRH receptor antagonists led to the identification of several analogues with high affinities on the GnRH receptor. The syntheses and SARs of these 5-substituted-2-arylindole analogues are reported.

Identification of Phe313 of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor as a site critical for the binding of nonpeptide GnRH antagonists.

The dog GnRH receptor was cloned to facilitate the identification and characterization of selective nonpeptide GnRH antagonists. The dog receptor is 92% identical to the human GnRH receptor. Despite such high conservation, the quinolone-based nonpeptide GnRH antagonists were clearly differentiated by each receptor species. By contrast, peptide antagonist binding and functional activity were not differentiated by the two receptors. The basis of the differences was investigated by preparing chimeric receptors followed by site-directed mutagenesis. Remarkably, a single substitution of Phe313 to Leu313 in the dog receptor explained the major differences in binding affinities and functional activities. The single amino acid replacement of Phe313 of the human receptor with Leu313 resulted in a 160-fold decrease of binding affinity of the nonpeptide antagonist compound 1. Conversely, the replacement of Leu313 of the dog receptor with Phe313 resulted in a 360-fold increase of affinity for this compound. These results show that Phe313 of the GnRH receptor is critical for the binding of this structural class of GnRH antagonists and that the dog receptor can be "humanized" by substituting Leu for Phe. This study provides the first identification of a critical residue in the binding pocket occupied by nonpeptide GnRH antagonists and reinforces cautious extrapolation of ligand activity across highly conserved receptors.

Potent antagonists of gonadotropin releasing hormone receptors derived from quinolone-6-carboxamides.

SAR studies which focused upon the C-6 position of a recently described series of quinolone gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonists are reported. Synthetic access to diverse quinolone-6-carboxamides was achieved via the palladium-catalyzed amino-carbonylation reactions of iodide 4 with various amines. Amides related to 9y were especially potent, functional antagonists of rat and human GnRH receptors.

Identification and initial structure-activity relationships of a novel non-peptide quinolone GnRH receptor antagonist.

Screening of the Merck sample collection for non-peptide compounds with binding affinity for the rat GnRH receptor led to the identification of the substituted quinolone (1) as a lead compound in the search for a non-peptide GnRH receptor antagonist. Substantial improvements in potency (approximately 300 fold) were achieved by addition of an alkyl amine at the 4-position, a 3,5-dimethylphenyl group at the 3-position and 6-nitro-7-chloro-substitution of the 1 H-quinolone core.

Investigation of the 4-O-alkylamine substituent of non-peptide quinolone GnRH receptor antagonists.

Synthesis and in vitro activity of the enantiomers of quinolone GnRH antagonist (+/-)-1 are reported. Chiral amino alcohols were prepared from the appropriate cyclic D- or L-amino acids by the Amdt-Eistert homologation followed by reduction of the resulting esters. Incorporation of these pharmacophores was achieved via a novel Mitsunobu alkylation of 4-hydroxyquinolones. The key amine pharmacophore for binding to the rat GnRH receptor was most active in the S-configuration. Ring size was not important for potency with 4, 5, 6, and 7-membered ring amines exhibiting similar potency.

Metabolically convertible lipophilic derivatives of pH-sensitive amphipathic photosensitizers.

We propose the use of acetoxymethyl esters of pH-sensitive amphipathic photosensitizers (PS) for photodynamic therapy (PDT). These compounds may be applicable for PDT involving endocytosis of lipophilic carriers leading to lysosomal uptake of the esterified PS by target cells. Partial and/or total enzymatic de-esterification may result in the extralysosomal distribution of the photoactive agents, possibly culminating in a multisite photochemical response. We report here the synthesis and properties of chlorin e6 triacetoxymethyl ester (CAME) and pheophorbide a acetoxymethyl ester (PAME). Chlorin e6 and pheophorbide a are photocytotoxic chlorins that possess free carboxylate groups and exhibit optimum wavelengths of excitation substantially red shifted relative to hematoporphyrin derivative. Acetoxymethyl esterification of chlorin e6 and pheophorbide a was accomplished with bromomethyl acetate. High-performance liquid chromatography allowed for the purification of PAME, in 87% purity, and CAME, in 63% yield and 94% purity, as well as the detection of the presumed mono- and diesters of chlorin e6 as transient intermediates in the synthesis of CAME. The ultraviolet-visible absorption, fluorescence excitation and emission, NMR and mass spectra of the chlorin e6 triester are consistent with those expected for CAME. The pH-sensitive amphipathicity of pheophorbide a and chlorin e6 but not CAME was demonstrated using a water/1-octanol partition assay. The production of pheophorbide a from PAME and the sequential formation of the di- and monoesters and free chlorin e6 from CAME, by the action of lysosomal esterases obtained from cancer cells, demonstrate the potential of cellular enzymes to convert the lipophilic esters to pH-sensitive amphipathic PS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Serological detection of multiple retroviral infections in cattle: bovine leukemia virus, bovine syncytial virus and bovine visna virus.

Individual experimental animals used in our studies on bovine leukemia virus (BLV) are routinely screened for the presence of antibodies to the three bovine lymphotropic retroviruses. We utilized these screening methods to examine frozen sera from eight herds for antibodies to BLV, bovine visna virus (BVV) and bovine syncytial virus (BSV). Serum samples from 235 animals in four dairy and four beef herds were analyzed. Detection methods used included indirect fluorescent antibody tests of virus-infected cell cultures (BLV, BSV, BVV) and agar gel immunodiffusion (BLV). Sera from the BLV-infected animals in the dairy herds showed the highest single (50%, 49/97) and multiple (30%, 29/97) infections compared with 5% (7/138) and less than 1% (1/138), respectively in the beef herds. Single BVV infections were not detected in the dairy herds, but 11% (11/97) of the sera contained antibodies to BVV plus BLV or BSV. Five sera from beef cattle had antibodies only to BVV and four were obtained from one herd. Only one beef serum of the 138 tested demonstrated multiple antibodies (BLV, BVV).

Enrichment of T lymphocytes from bovine peripheral blood mononuclear cells using an immuno-affinity depletion technique ("panning").

A simple and efficient method to enrich bovine T lymphocytes from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) by immuno-affinity depletion ("panning") has been developed. The PBMC were initially separated by density gradient centrifugation on Histopaque of density 1.077 g/ml. The T lymphocyte subset was then separated from PBMC by depletion of membrane immunoglobulin (Ig) bearing cells which had an affinity for anti-Ig antibodies bound to polystyrene tissue culture flasks. An average of 95% of the nonadherent "panned" cells were identified as T lymphocytes using a label of peanut agglutinin conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate (PNA-FITC). Two percent of the PNA negative cells were Ig bearing cells. The average yield was 50% of the original T lymphocytes found in the PBMC population, and the cell viability as assessed by trypan blue exclusion was greater than 95%. The separation took approximately 2 hours, and the total number of T lymphocytes recovered from 40 ml of blood was in the range of 20-40 X 10(6).