Cortisol alters gene expression during involution of the rat ventral prostate.

The ability of high doses of cortisol to retard the involution process in the rat ventral prostate was related to alterations in the pattern of gene expression. Poly(A)+ RNA preparations from the prostates of noncastrated, castrated, and castrated rats injected daily for 7 days with cortisol were compared by Northern blot hybridizations for the relative expression of genes associated with cell differentiation and maintenance (the C1 prostatic steroid binding protein gene and alpha-tubulin), with cell death (TRPM-2, hsp 70, and c-fos), and with hormone regulation (the androgen and glucocorticoid receptors). As anticipated, the concentration of C1 mRNA in the prostate fell to less than 4% of that in the noncastrated controls within 4 days after castration and was nearly undetectable after 7 days. This decline was retarded by cortisol treatment of 7-day castrated animals which sustained the level of C1 transcripts at approximately 50% of control. While the pattern of expression of alpha-tubulin indicated some minor fluctuations, with the highest level occurring 7 days after castration, the prostates of the cortisol-treated group had essentially the same concentration of this mRNA as the noncastrates. Cortisol also modified the expression of genes associated with prostatic cell death. The large increase in prostatic TRPM-2 mRNA, seen 7 days after castration, was reduced by over 80% after treatment with the glucocorticoid. Although not as abundantly expressed as TRPM-2, the castration-induced levels of transcripts for both hsp 70 and the protooncogene c-fos were substantially reduced by cortisol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Common mutations in the lipoprotein lipase gene (LPL): effects on HDL-cholesterol levels in a Chinese Canadian population.

BACKGROUND: favorable lipid profiles including low total serum cholesterol (TC), TC/HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio and elevated HDL-C levels have been previously reported in Chinese living in China. More recent data, however, suggests a changing trend toward decreased HDL-C and increased TC and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) in Chinese populations. Environmental factors likely contribute, in part, to these findings. However, genetic factors contributing to lipoprotein metabolism may also play a role in determining the lipid/lipoprotein phenotype observed in Chinese populations. Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) mutations have been associated with altered HDL-C concentrations in Caucasians but have not yet been studied in a large population of Chinese descent. METHODS: 1577 Chinese Canadians of Cantonese descent were recruited for a cardiovascular risk factor study. The frequency and effect of three LPL gene polymorphisms [Asp9Asn (D9N, n=374), Asn291Ser (N291S, n=321) and Ser447-Ter (S447X, n=403)] on serum HDL-C concentrations was assessed. All the three polymorphisms have been shown to alter HDL-C levels in different Caucasian populations. RESULTS: lower TC, LDL-C, and TG and higher HDL-C were observed in both male and female Chinese Canadian subjects compared to other population samples. The D9N and N291S LPL polymorphisms were identified in 1/374 (0.3%) and 5/321 (1.6%) subjects, respectively. Carrier frequency of the S447X mutation was (102/403) 25.3%. This S447X polymorphism was observed with higher frequency in males with HDL-C levels in the highest tertile compared with those in the lowest HDL-C tertile (carrier frequencies 37.3 vs. 19.4%) (P=0.046). CONCLUSION: in this cohort of Chinese Canadians, the serum lipid profiles were more favorable than what has been reported for Caucasian Canadians. A favorable spectrum of polymorphisms in the LPL gene may mitigate the adverse effects of western lifestyle on plasma lipoproteins in this cohort of Cantonese Canadians.

Increased uterine uptake and nuclear retention of [3H]oestradiol through the oestrous cycle and enhanced end-organ sensitivity to oestrogen stimulation in vitamin B6 deficient rats.

Vitamin B6 deficient female rats showed a significantly earlier, greater and more prolonged uptake of a tracer dose of [3H]oestradiol into the uterus, with increased nuclear accumulation, compared with vitamin B6 supplemented animals. This was most marked at oestrus, with little difference at anoestrus. The responses to low doses of ethynyl-oestradiol were greater in ovariectomized deficient animals than in those receiving the supplemented diet, with an increased uterotrophic response and greater induction of peroxidase. In the deficient animals there was virtually complete suppression of LH secretion at doses of ethynyl-oestradiol that had no effect in controls. At high doses of ethynyl-oestradiol there was no difference between the two groups of animals. The results suggest that increased uterine uptake and accumulation of [3H]oestradiol in vitamin B6 deficiency is associated with enhanced end-organ responsiveness to sub-maximal oestrogen stimulation, and that pyridoxal phosphate may have a coenzyme role in oestrogen action.

The relationship between inhibition of plasminogen-activator activity and prostatic involution.

The role of plasminogen activators (PAs) as potential mediators of involution of the rat ventral prostate was investigated by using an approach involving the administration in vivo of anti-PA drugs. The prostates of castrated rats, which had been injected daily for 7 days with the anti-PA drugs 6-aminohexanoic acid, tranexamic acid, aprotinin and cortisol, were assayed for PA activity, weight and cell number. In the prostates from the castrated controls, there was a 10-fold increase in the mean PA activity and a 7-fold decrease in cell number relative to that of the non-castrated animals. Although this rise in enzyme activity could be decreased to some extent by all the drugs except aprotinin, only treatment with high doses of tranexamic acid or cortisol had a statistically significant effect. A similar pattern was observed with respect to the relative potency of the drugs in preventing the loss of prostatic weight and cell number after castration. The effects of cortisol were dose-dependent, with complete inhibition of both the rise in PA activity and cell loss occurring at a dose of about 15 mg/day. Since the concentration of the principal intranuclear androgen, dihydrotestosterone, was the same in the prostates from treated and untreated castrated rats, the effects of cortisol are not due to increased retention of this androgen. Rather, the high inverse correlation (r = 0.86) between the cellular concentration of PA activity and the cell population of the prostate implies that PAs are directly associated with prostatic involution and that cortisol, and to a lesser extent tranexamic acid, blocks the involution process through inhibition of PAs.

Lp(a) concentration and apo(a) isoform size. Relation to the presence of coronary artery disease in familial hypercholesterolemia.

We studied the relation between the concentration of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] in plasma, apolipoprotein (a) [apo(a)] phenotype, and the clinical expression of coronary artery disease (CAD) in a previously described cohort of patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and an appropriate population of control subjects. The plasma concentration of Lp(a) was markedly skewed in both the FH and control populations; however, the distribution was less skewed in FH (50% greater than 300 mg/L) compared with control subjects (27% greater than 300 mg/L). Patients with FH had significantly higher median and mean log Lp(a) levels compared with control subjects. There was no difference in the level of Lp(a) between men and women in both the control and FH groups. Frequency distribution analysis of the major apo(a) isoform size for each subject showed that, in contrast to the near-normal distribution seen in control subjects, two major subpopulations were apparent in the FH cohort, based on apo(a) isoform size > 700 kD or < or = 700 kD. There was no correlation between Lp(a) plasma concentration and apo(a) isoform size in either population. FH subjects with smaller apo(a) isoforms were more likely to have a history of signs of, or symptoms of CAD than those with larger isoforms. These data illustrate that on the basis of Lp(a) plasma concentration alone, there is no significant difference between FH patients with and without signs or symptoms of CAD. In the control population the smaller apo(a) isoforms were associated with higher Lp(a) levels, whereas in the FH population both small and large apo(a) isoforms were associated with higher Lp(a) levels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Increased target tissue uptake of, and sensitivity to, testosterone in the vitamin B6 deficient rat.

Six-week old male rats were maintained for 4 weeks on a vitamin B6-free diet to cause a moderately severe degree of vitamin B6 depletion. This led to a significant reduction in the circulating concentration of testosterone in plasma (control = 8.36 +/- 1.68, deficient = 2.13 +/- 0.54 nmol/l), but had no effect on circulating concentrations of luteinizing hormone, or, in intact males, on the weight of the prostate relative to body weight. In both intact and 24-h castrated animals vitamin B6 deficiency resulted in a significant increase in the uptake of [3H]testosterone into the prostate, and both increased and prolonged the specific nuclear retention of the steroid, as assessed by the ratio of radioactivity in the nuclear pellet: the high speed supernatant fraction. The results suggest that vitamin B6 has a function in the action of testosterone (and other steroid hormones), possibly in the recycling of receptors from the nucleus back into the cytosol after initial translocation. Vitamin B6 deficient animals have either a reduced rate of synthesis of testosterone or an increased rate of metabolic clearance compared with vitamin B6 supplemented controls, and this appears to be associated with enhanced target organ response to the hormone.

DNA and protein components of nuclear acceptor sites for androgen receptors in the rat prostate.

Androgen receptor-acceptor complexes in nuclei from rat ventral prostates were cross-linked in situ with formaldehyde and partially purified using affinity chromatography. To isolate acceptor DNA, the cross-linked receptor-acceptor complexes in formaldehyde-treated chromatin samples were adsorbed to dihydrotestosterone-17 beta-succinyl agarose, eluted with 75 microM dihydrotestosterone-1% SDS, digested with proteinase K and extracted with phenol-chloroform. After 32P end-labelling and PAGE, this DNA contained two distinct bands of DNA (about 300 and 400 base pairs respectively) which were unique relative to the total prostatic DNA. As an alternative approach for characterizing acceptor DNA, the DNA in prostatic nuclei and cross-linked chromatin was labelled with 32P by nick translation and analysed in glycerol density gradients for associations with cross-linked androgen receptors. A symmetrical 7s peak of 32P-DNA with a small amount of coincident receptor was observed in the gradients after mild trypsin treatment. In the absence of trypsin treatment, both the cross-linked receptors and the labelled DNA sedimented to the bottom of the gradients. Isolation of acceptor proteins involved iodination of cross-linked chromatin with 125I and androgen affinity chromatography. A comparison of the relative efficiency of retention and elution of 125I-proteins from different affinity columns revealed that testosterone-17 beta-succinyl agarose was potentially most suitable for purification of acceptor proteins. After electrophoresis on SDS-polyacrylamide gels, the eluates from this type of affinity matrix were found to contain two major peaks of 125I-labelled proteins--one corresponding to a protein with a similar molecular weight as the nuclear androgen receptor (33,000 Da); the other having a molecular weight of 20,000 Da. While the precise identity of this latter entity is unknown, its enrichment and retention by the affinity gel implies that it is closely associated with the androgen receptor and may be a component of the acceptor sites.