Effect of caffeine on the memory of the mouse.

Albino mice were injected i.p. with caffeine (27.9 mg/kg) 10 min pre-trial. The mice had no trial retention (300-s period) after 24 h. This result suggests that caffeine, at this dose, would upset some mechanism involved in memory processes. No correlation is observed between serotonin (5-HT) increase and caffeine's effect on retention.

Effect on rats and mice of a diet with low tryptophan content (maize flour).

Female Wistar rats when crowded together become aggressive if fed a diet with low tryptophan (Trp) content (maize, flour, Mf). When isolated during 30 days and fed Mf they show a decrease of weight, of total plasma Trp, and of Trp and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in brain stem, but 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid (5-HIAA) of the same cerebral area does not change. These results partially agree with other authors observations. Mice isolated during 47 days and fed with Mf do not show any significant weight variation, the hypermotility of isolated mice on normal diet persists, but 5-HT and 5-HIAA significantly decreases in total brain, an effect that has been observed by another author. The effect on 5-HIAA does not depend on the diet, either balanced or with low Trp content.

Insulin binding and degradation in short time incubation at 37 C.

Studies on insulin-receptor binding in a short time incubations at 37 C have shown that neither internalization nor receptor-mediated insulin degradation are demonstrable during the first minutes. In the present study insulin receptor binding at 37 C in short time incubation periods was studied in mouse-hepatocytes, simultaneously determinating the proportion of degradation due to the cell activity. Degradation in the incubation buffer after cell separation was abolished during the experiment (900 sec) by a careful wash of the cells. 7.5 cells/ml were incubated with a tracer concentration (14.17 pM) of 125I-insulin and a pharmacological concentration (16.6 microM) of native insulin plus tracer. In the case of tracer insulin, 50% binding was reached in 55 sec and steady state in 160 sec. Once reached, steady state persisted along the experimental time. Binding follows a second order kinetics with k+1: 5 649 X 10(6) M-1 sec-1. In the presence of pharmacological insulin there is competitive inhibition of the tracer which reduces to zero the percent of binding. Binding increases along the time taking positive values, and the slope of binding versus time intersects the abscissa at 102 sec (r: 0.864). As long as binding of the tracer takes place, no degradation occurs until 635 sec, when a degradation slope abruptly appears (r: 0.722). Dissociation studies were followed previous incubation at 37 C during 200 sec with tracer and pharmacological doses. Specific dissociation follows a monoexponential kinetics with k-1: 3 067 X 10(-3) sec-1 and t 1/2: 226 sec. Eighty percent of bound insulin is dissociated with no changes in the slope (r: 0.820), thus suggesting that insulin-receptor binding in the present experimental conditions is basically a reversible process. No degradation was observed during dissociation, which demonstrates that insulin-receptor binding does not degrade insulin if internalization is not performed. At steady state, competitive inhibition curves showed two components: high and low affinity. Doses of 1.66 microM produce a 98% inhibition in the binding of 125I-insulin. The high affinity slope shows two components in the physiological range of insulin concentrations. The first one of very high affinity has a dissociation constant Ko: 7 075 X 10(-10), and a binding capacity of 1.5 X 10(-10). This study demonstrates that, with physiological concentrations of insulin, internalization is the only mechanism of insulin degradation in mouse-hepatocytes.

Increase of ionic strength for charcoal separation of B/F fractions in radioimmunoassays.

The increase in protein adsorption by charcoal as ionic strength increases (salting-out adsorption), was used to separate the bound and free fractions of glucagon, insulin, hGH, hLH and hPRL in the radioimmunoassay. The hormones were labelled with 125I and to express the immunocomplex, gamma-globulin was labelled with 125I. The charcoal used to produce the separation was suspended in magnesium sulfate 3 M (charcoal-SO4Mg). The optimum amount of charcoal and the final concentration of magnesium sulfate determined for each hormone were: glucagon (charcoal 5 mg/tube, 0.125 M); insulin (charcoal 5 mg/tube, 0.131 M); hGH (charcoal 40 mg/tube, 0. 447 M); hLH (charcoal 40 mg/tube, 0.447 M) and hPRL (charcoal 60 mg/tube, 0.321 M). The serum concentration was 1/20 for all hormones, excepting glucagon, where 1/10 was used. The stability of the immunocomplex was studied and it was shown that, under suitable conditions, increased ionic strength does not cause the dissociation of the bound fraction.

Role of ACTH on the effect of medroxyprogesterone in brain stem serotonin.

PIP: A clinical study with 361 female rats was conducted to elucidate the mechanism whereby MPA (medroxyprogesterone acetate) lowers 5-HT/5-HIAA ratio in the brain area and the possible role of serotoniergic mechanisms. In addition, the participation of MAO (monoamino oxidase) system and the effects of some steroids were studied in order to establish a relationship between chemical structure and activity. The effects of the following steroids were studied: MPA (medroxyprogesterone acetate), melengestrol acetate, chlormadinone, pregnenolone, -methyl pregnenolone, DOCA, acetoxi-progesterone, and ACTH (synacthen). Effects of these substances on LTP (liver tryptophan pyrrolase) activity, total and free plasma and brain stem Trp (tryptophan), and the 5HT and 5HTAA content in brain stem are tabulated. Of all the substances, only MPA and melengestrol acetate significantly raised LTP activity and both also lowered 5-HT content of brain stem. The high levels of ACTH in the blood of the adrenalectomized rats, as in those under fasting conditions, antagonized MPA effects. To further test this seeming result, ACTH and ACTH-MPA were injected into another group of animals. The ACTH not only increased plasma corticosterone but also antagonized the effect of MPA on the 5-HT content of brain stem. The study did not identify a relationship between chemical structure of the steroids studied and effects observed.^ieng

Liver cells binding with high insulin doses at 37 C.

Insulin binding and receptor mediated insulin degradation were studied in isolated rat hepatocytes under physiological conditions (37 C, 100% oxygen, Krebs improved Ringer III with glutamate, pyruvate and fumarate, 150 mg% glucose, 1% bovine albumin). 10(6) rat hepatocytes/tube were incubated with various doses of insulin. Steady state binding with low insulin doses (0.05, 0.5 and 66 ng/tube) was reached in 15 minutes, that state being kept for the rest of the experimental time (75 min). Receptor mediated degradation (Kap) at 15 minutes was 0.0479 min-1, including doses of 5 000 and 50 000 ng/tube. Direct correlation was found between degradation and low doses of insulin, being the slope value equal to Kap. Intracellular accumulation of insulin was found at pharmacological concentrations of insulin (5 000 and 50 000 ng/tube) from the first 15 minutes. That accumulation was dose and time dependent. At 75 minutes, with a 0.2 microM insulin concentration, at least 53% of insulin was estimated as insulin accumulated in the cell, since it was not filtrable with acid medium on Sephadex G 50 superfine. When Triton or dodecyl sulphate were used to solubilize the cells, insulin recovery was complete after binding. Intracellular accumulation, however, was not demonstrated at the first two minutes. Binding studies with 16.67 microM insulin in the presence of degradation inhibitors, such as 2 mM N-ethylmaleimide and 5 mM tetracaine hydrochloride, demonstrated that intracellular accumulation of the hormone occurs when degradation is blocked. On the contrary, after trypsin digestion of receptors, degradation was not observed, while increases in binding were abolished, resembling non-specific binding. Under the experimental conditions reported here, neither intracellular accumulation of insulin nor extracellular release of insulin degradation products can be demonstrated at 2 minutes; insulin accumulation is dose dependent, and it is suggested by the fact that the velocity of insulin internalization exceeds its velocity of degradation.