Coenzyme Q10 attenuates diastolic dysfunction, cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and cardiac fibrosis in the db/db mouse model of type 2 diabetes.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: An increase in the production of reactive oxygen species is commonly thought to contribute to the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. This study aimed to assess whether administration of the antioxidant coenzyme Q(10) would protect the diabetic heart against dysfunction and remodelling, using the db/db mouse model of type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, we aimed to compare the efficacy of coenzyme Q(10) to that of the ACE inhibitor ramipril. METHODS: Six-week-old non-diabetic db/+ mice and diabetic db/db mice received either normal drinking water or water supplemented with coenzyme Q(10) for 10 weeks. Endpoint cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography and catheterisation. Ventricular tissue was collected for histology, gene expression and protein analysis. RESULTS: Untreated db/db diabetic mice exhibited hyperglycaemia, accompanied by diastolic dysfunction and adverse structural remodelling, including cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis and increased apoptosis. Systemic lipid peroxidation and myocardial superoxide generation were also elevated in db/db mice. Coenzyme Q(10) and ramipril treatment reduced superoxide generation, ameliorated diastolic dysfunction and reduced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and fibrosis in db/db mice. Phosphorylation of Akt, although depressed in untreated db/db mice, was restored with coenzyme Q(10) administration. We postulate that preservation of cardioprotective Akt signalling may be a mechanism by which coenzyme Q(10)-treated db/db mice are protected from pathological cardiac hypertrophy. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: These data demonstrate that coenzyme Q(10) attenuates oxidative stress and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and remodelling in the diabetic heart. Addition of coenzyme Q(10) to the current therapy used in diabetic patients with diastolic dysfunction warrants further investigation.

Enhanced phosphoinositide 3-kinase(p110α) activity prevents diabetes-induced cardiomyopathy and superoxide generation in a mouse model of diabetes.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Diabetic cardiomyopathy is characterised by diastolic dysfunction, oxidative stress, fibrosis, apoptosis and pathological cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)(p110α) is a cardioprotective kinase, but its role in the diabetic heart is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess whether PI3K(p110α) plays a critical role in the induction of diabetic cardiomyopathy, and whether increasing PI3K(p110α) activity in the heart can prevent the development of cardiac dysfunction in a setting of diabetes. METHODS: Type 1 diabetes was induced with streptozotocin in adult male cardiac-specific transgenic mice with increased PI3K(p110α) activity (constitutively active PI3K [p110α], caPI3K] or decreased PI3K(p110α) activity (dominant-negative PI3K [p110α], dnPI3K) and non-transgenic (Ntg) mice for 12 weeks. Cardiac function, histological and molecular analyses were performed. RESULTS: Diabetic Ntg mice displayed diastolic dysfunction and increased cardiomyocyte size, expression of atrial and B-type natriuretic peptides (Anp, Bnp), fibrosis and apoptosis, as well as increased superoxide generation and increased protein kinase C ß2 (PKCß2), p22 ( phox ) and apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (Ask1) expression. Diabetic dnPI3K mice displayed an exaggerated cardiomyopathy phenotype compared with diabetic Ntg mice. In contrast, diabetic caPI3K mice were protected against diastolic dysfunction, pathological cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, fibrosis and apoptosis. Protection in diabetic caPI3K mice was associated with attenuation of left ventricular superoxide generation, attenuated Anp, Bnp, PKCß2, Ask1 and p22 ( phox ) expression, and elevated AKT. Further, in cardiomyocyte-like cells, increased PI3K(p110α) activity suppressed high glucose-induced superoxide generation and enhanced mitochondrial function. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: These results demonstrate that reduced PI3K activity accelerates the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy, and that enhanced PI3K(p110α) activity can prevent adverse cardiac remodelling and dysfunction in a setting of diabetes.

Dietary alpha-linolenic acid and immunocompetence in humans.

We examined the effect of dietary alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) on the indices of immunocompetence in 10 healthy free-living men (age 21-37 y) who consumed all meals at the Western Human Nutrition Research Center for 126 d. There was a stabilization period of 14 d at the start when all 10 subjects consumed basal diet (BD) and there were two intervention periods of 56 d each. Five of the subjects consumed the basal diet and the other five consumed flax-seed-oil diet (FD) during each intervention period. Feeding of FD suppressed the proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells when they were cultured with phytohemagglutinin-P (P = 0.041) and concanavalin A (P = 0.054) and the delayed hypersensitivity response to seven recall antigens (NS). Concentrations of immunoglobulins in serum, C3, C4, salivary IgA, the numbers of helper cells, suppressor cells, and total T and B cells in the peripheral blood were not affected by the diets.

Parenteral nutrition: short term effects on hepatic clearance of sodium taurocholate and indocyanine green.

Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is thought to induce cholestasis. However, serum hepatic enzyme abnormalities were found in 70 percent of patients before TPN was started. Rate constants (alpha, beta, K(E] and total clearance (CIT) of sodium taurocholate (STC) and indocyanine green (ICG) were studied in 20 carefully selected patients not on TPN and who had no hepatic or renal disease. Clearance measurements were made prior to initiation and 7 days into dextrose-based TPN. Four modes of TPN administration were used; low calorie (35 cal/kg) versus high calorie (50 cal/kg), with or without protection of TPN solutions from ultraviolet light. Protein doses for all groups were isonitrogenous. TPN was uninterrupted and no patient had surgery, other major procedures, or food by mouth. While serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) increased, no STC or ICG clearance parameter (total or subgroup) changed in response to TPN. These data do not support the hypothesis that TPN directly causes cholestasis, but suggest that cholestasis caused by concurrent liver disease may appear aggravated by TPN.

Dietary alpha-linolenic acid alters tissue fatty acid composition, but not blood lipids, lipoproteins or coagulation status in humans.

We examined the effect of dietary alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) on the indices of lipid and coagulation status and on the fatty acid composition of serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMNC) lipids in ten healthy men (age 21-37 yr) who consumed all their meals at the Western Human Nutrition Research Center for 126 d. There was a stabilization period of 14 d at the start when all 10 subjects consumed the basal diet (BD) containing 23.4 energy percent (en%) fat and two intervention periods of 56 d each. During the first intervention period, 5 subjects consumed the BD containing 23.4 en% fat, and 5 subjects consumed a diet providing 6.3% calories from alpha-linolenic acid [flaxseed oil (FSO) diet containing 28.8 en% fat]. Diets were crossed over between the two groups during the second intervention period. Feeding the FSO diet did not significantly alter serum triglycerides, cholesterol, high-density lipoproteins, low-density lipoproteins, apoprotein A-I and apoprotein B when compared to the corresponding values in the subjects fed the BD, nor was there any effect of the FSO diet on the bleeding time, prothrombin time and partial prothrombin time for these subjects. Feeding the ALA-containing diet did cause a significant increase in ALA concentration in serum (P < 0.001) and PBMNC lipids (P < 0.05). It also caused a significant increase (P < 0.05) in the eicosapentaenoic and docosapentaenoic acid contents of PBMNC lipids, and a decrease (P < 0.01) in linoleic and eicosatrienoic acid contents of serum lipids.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Decreased pulmonary nitric oxide synthase activity in the rat model of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Because nitric oxide (NO) dilates vascular smooth muscle cells, a deficiency of endogenous pulmonary nitric oxide production by nitric oxide synthase (NOS) has been suggested to be involved in the pathophysiology of pulmonary hypertension in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Our aim was to determine whether experimentally induced CDH in rats results in a decrease in the synthesis of NO in the lungs. Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were fed 300 mg/kg of nitrofen at 10.5 days' gestation. CDH, control, and sham (dosed with nitrofen, but without CDH) lungs were homogenized at full term (22 days' gestation) for measurement of NOS activity using the 14C-L-arginine to 14C-L-citrulline conversion assay. Western blot analysis with anti-endothelial cell NOS (EC-NOS) monoclonal antibody (mAb) was performed, and NOS expression was measured by densitometry. NOS activity was highest in the pulmonary parenchyma of control rat lungs (0.420 +/- 0.20 fmol/min/mg lung; n = 11), intermediate in sham lungs (0.370 +/- 0.010 fmol/min/mg lung; n = 14), and lowest in CDH lungs (0.300 +/- 0.04 fmol/min/mg lung; n = 12). NOS activity in the CDH and sham lungs was significantly lower than that of control lungs (P < .05). There was no difference in pulmonary NOS activity between sham and CDH lungs. NOS protein expression by Western blot analysis paralleled the observation for NOS activity in all groups, with the highest concentrations in controls, intermediate expression in sham lungs, and lowest expression in CDH lungs. Both NOS expression and NOS activity are significantly decreased in CDH rat lungs. Pulmonary hypertension in this model may be attributable to a deficiency of endogenous NO. This is the first reported study to suggest that decreased NOS activity may result in pulmonary hypertension in CDH.

A one-year look at the impact of cholesterol screening, education, and counseling.

During 1989 and 1990, we offered cholesterol screening in conjunction with National Medical Laboratory Week. The proportions of subjects categorized as hypercholesterolemic decreased in 1990 in each eligibility category except family members. Active duty subjects decreased from 39% to 30%, retired subjects from 60% to 55%, and civilian subjects from 51% to 43%. These changes were also reflected in significant decreases in the mean cholesterol levels for retired and civilian subjects. The data suggest a downward trend that we hope will continue with active screening, education, and counseling.

Neuronal types in the chicken's statoacoustic ganglion.

In the hearing organs of vertebrates, bipolar sensory (afferent) neurons innervate the hair cells (sensory epithelium) by their dendritic (peripheral) processes. In the mammalian cochlea, two neuronal types (I and II) innervate the inner and outer hair cells, respectively. By comparison, the correspondence between neuronal and hair cell types is uncertain in the avian auditory lagena (cochlea). The objective of the present study was to identify and map the relative distributions of neuronal types in the chicken's statoacoustic ganglion (SAG) by means of morphometric analysis and immunoreactivity to neuro-specific enolase (NSE) and neuro-filament protein 200 kDa (NFP-200).

A study of the relationships between perceived organizational stratification, and individual job satisfaction and adaptiveness in hospital laboratories.

Most studies of organizational stratification have remained largely at the narrative or inferential level. Few attempts have been made to empirically assess the consequences of a status system. This paper sought to examine the proposition that stratification is inversely related to job satisfaction and adaptiveness. Although not overwhelmingly demonstrated, there is presumptive evidence that stratification does have an impact upon the organization. It was concluded that medical technologists prefer a supportive, well-structured environment that provides an opportunity for them, through participation, to maintain a degree of control over their work setting. Practical implications of the findings and recommendations were made.

Assays of serum lipase: analytical and clinical considerations.

We evaluated three commercially available methods for determining lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) in serum--the Du Pont aca, Boehringer Mannheim Diagnostics (BMD), and Kodak Ektachem (EK) procedures--for their analytical properties and diagnostic efficiencies. Titrimetry was used as the comparative method. The BMD and EK methods showed better agreement with the titrimetric method, owing to the presence of the necessary cofactor, colipase, in their reagents. Colipase also increased the analytical sensitivity of the BMD and EK procedures as compared with the aca method. Determinations of serum lipase, by all methods, had a clinical sensitivity in excess of 80% for acute pancreatitis; the specificity of the lipase test was about 60%, or twice that of serum amylase. Serum lipase determinations with the current, simpler technology are superior to total amylase in the diagnosis of patients with acute pancreatitis. When a colipase-supplemented method is used, a serum lipase value greater than 10-fold the upper reference limit appears to be pathognomonic for acute pancreatitis or inflammation of organs close to the pancreas.

Pharmacokinetic studies of DISIDA disposition. II. Clinical studies.

The whole blood pharmacokinetics of intravenously administered 99mTc-disofenin (DISIDA) has been studied in normal subjects and patients with documented liver disease. The apparent overall whole blood disposition rates of radioactivity were calculated from serial blood data, in order to evaluate liver clearance of DISIDA. The measurements obtained clearly discriminated 9 normal subjects from 7 patients with severe liver disease causing jaundice--1233 mls/min vs 384 mls/min (P less than 0.002). Nine subjects with liver disease of insufficient severity to cause jaundice also had clearly abnormal DISIDA disposition--642 ml/min (P less than 0.05 for difference to controls). The time activity curves from all subjects showed biexponential elimination of blood activity, with a rapid (T1/2 = 3.8 min) and a slow disposition phase (T1/2 = 75 min) in normals. These curves were fitted by computer to the timed rate of hepatic uptake, simultaneously obtained by gamma imaging over the liver. It was not possible to satisfactorily fit these using a model which assumed distribution of a single compound within two body compartments. However, another which assumed the administration of two radioactive agents satisfactorily fitted the two types of data. This conclusion is consistent with our animal experiments which indicate the existence of two compounds in injected DISIDA with contrasting high and low hepatic extraction efficiency (Fraser et al. 1988). A pharmacokinetic approach to DISIDA disposition can yield quantitative information which discriminates different degrees of liver dysfunction, but the mechanisms involved are more complicated than previously thought, so that further study should permit very precise quantification.