Triterpenoid saponins affect the function of P-glycoprotein and reduce the survival of the free-living stages of Heligmosomoides bakeri.

We studied the effect of triterpenoid saponins on the development of free-living stages of Heligmosomoides bakeri, a parasitic nematode of the mouse intestine. We evaluated the effectiveness of oleane-type glucuronides (GlcUAOA) isolated from Calendula officinalis and Beta vulgaris. The rhodamine 123 retention assay was used to detect dysfunctions of the major membrane transporter for xenobiotics, P-glycoprotein (Pgp). Both C. officinals and B. vulgaris GlcUAOA affect the development of the free living stages and function of Pgp in H. bakeri. The GlcUAOA inhibits egg hatching and moulting of larvae and also changes their morphology. These saponin fractions reversed the toxic effect of thiabendazole on the nematode; the function of Pgp was also inhibited.

Propylthiouracil (PTU)-induced hypothyroidism in the developing rat impairs synaptic transmission and plasticity in the dentate gyrus of the adult hippocampus.

Reductions in thyroid hormone during critical periods of brain development can have devastating effects on neurological function that are permanent. Neurochemical, molecular and structural alterations in a variety of brain regions have been well documented, but little information is available on the consequences of developmental hypothyroidism on synaptic function. Developing rats were exposed to the thyrotoxicant, propylthiouracil (PTU: 0 or 15 ppm), through the drinking water of pregnant dams beginning on GD18 and extending throughout the lactational period. Male offspring were allowed to mature after termination of PTU exposure at weaning on PND21 and electrophyiological assessments of field potentials in the dentate gyrus were conducted under urethane anesthesia between 2 and 5 months of age. PTU dramatically reduced thyroid hormones on PND21 and produced deficits in body weight that persisted to adulthood. Synaptic transmission was impaired as evidenced by reductions in excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) slope and population spike (PS) amplitudes at a range of stimulus intensities. Long-term potentiation of the EPSP slope was impaired at both modest and strong intensity trains, whereas a paradoxical increase in PS amplitude was observed in PTU-treated animals in response to high intensity trains. These data are the first to describe functional impairments in synaptic transmission and plasticity in situ as a result of PTU treatment and suggest that perturbations in synaptic function may contribute to learning deficits associated with developmental hypothyroidism.

Association of neutropenia in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with anti-Ro and binding of an immunologically cross-reactive neutrophil membrane antigen.

SLE is associated with the production of autoantibodies to self-constituents. In particular, certain ribonucleoprotein particles are targeted. Despite the multitude of autoantibodies produced and the remarkable concentrations of these antibodies in the sera of SLE patients, there have been little data that the autoantibodies found in SLE are involved in the pathogenesis of disease or its manifestations. The present work demonstrates that anti-Ro (or SSA) is associated with granulocytopenia, binds the surface of granulocytes and fixes complement to this membrane surface. Binding is a property of anti-Ro Fab fragments and can be inhibited by 60-kD Ro. However, the antigen bound on the surface of granulocytes is a 64 000 mol. wt protein that is a novel autoantigen in SLE. As suggested by inhibition studies, sequence identity between 60-kD Ro and eight tandem repeats in the 64-kD antigen may be responsible for the observed serologic cross-reactivity. These data imply that anti-Ro antibodies that also bind the 64-kD protein mediate neutropenia in patients with SLE.

Ontogeny of delay versus trace eyeblink conditioning in the rat.

The ontogeny of delay versus trace eyeblink conditioning was examined in 19-, 23-, and 30-day-old rat pups. Pairings of a tone conditioned stimulus (CS) and periocular shock unconditioned stimulus (US; 100-ms) were presented in one of three conditioning paradigms: standard delay [380-ms CS, 280-ms interstimulus interval (ISI)], trace (380-ms CS, 500-ms trace interval), or long-delay (980-ms CS, 880-ms ISI). The results of two experiments indicated that standard delay conditioning emerged between 19 and 23 days of age whereas trace and long-delay eyeblink conditioning emerged more slowly from postnatal Days 19 to 30. Because the acquisition profile for long-delay paralleled that of trace and not standard delay, it appears that the relative deficits in the emergence of trace eyeblink conditioning during development reflect difficulty in forming associations over long ISIs rather than the short-term memory demands of the trace conditioning paradigm.

Ontogeny of eyeblink conditioning using a visual conditional stimulus.

The developmental emergence of associative learning in rodents is determined by interactions among sensory, motor, and associative systems that are engaged in a particular experimental preparation (Carter & Stanton, 1996; Hunt & Campbell, 1997; Rudy, 1992). In fear conditioning, chemosensory, auditory, and visual cues emerge successively as effective conditional stimuli (CS) during postnatal ontogeny. In the present study, we begin to examine the generality of this principle of sensory system development for eyeblink conditioning, a form of associative learning that develops substantially later than conditioned fear (Carter & Stanton, 1996). We asked whether the developmental emergence of eyeblink conditioning to a visual CS occurs at an age that is the same or different from conditioning to an auditory CS. In Experiment 1, rat pups were trained on postnatal Day 17 or 24 with experimental parameters (and design) that were identical to our previous studies of eyeblink conditioning except that presentation of a light rather than a tone served as the CS. The outcome was also identical: no eyeblink conditioning on Day 17 and strong conditioning on Day 24. In Experiment 2, conditioning to tone versus light was directly compared by means of a discrimination learning design on postnatal Days 19, 21, 23, and 31. There was no evidence for differential development of auditory versus visual eyeblink conditioning. The difference between this outcome and previous ones involving conditioned fear (Hunt & Campbell, 1997; Rudy, 1992) suggests that principles concerning sensory maturation and learning may be different for early- versus late-developing associative systems.

Changes in patient screening for a clinical study of dental implants after increased awareness of tobacco use as a risk factor.

Independent external monitoring committees are an important part of scientific clinical trials. They monitor patient safety, study progress, investigators' performance, and accurate interpretation/reporting of the study data. Data trends observed by a study monitoring committee detected a change in the pattern of patient screening by investigators after an increased awareness that tobacco use could directly compromise the osseointegration of root-form dental implants. This increased awareness is believed to have altered the number of active smokers accepted into a multicenter prospective dental implant study. Recent data analyses indicate that the success ratios were improved by alterations in this discretionary inclusion-exclusion criterion.

UDP-glucose:solasodine glucosyltransferase from eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) leaves: partial purification and characterization.

Uridine 5'-diphosphoglucose-dependent glucosyltransferase which catalyzes the glycosylation of solasodine i.e. UDP-glucose:solasodine glucosyltransferase, is present in leaves, roots, unripe fruits and unripe seeds of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). The glucosylation product is chromatographically identical with authentic solasodine 3 beta-D-monoglucoside, a putative intermediate in the biosynthesis of solasodine-based glycoalkaloids characteristic of the eggplant. The enzyme was purified about 50-fold from crude cytosol fraction of eggplant leaves by ammonium sulphate precipitation and column chromatography on Q-Sepharose and Sephadex G-100. The native enzyme has a molecular mass of approx. 55 kDa and pH optimum of 8.5. Divalent metal ions are not required for its activity but the presence of free-SH groups is essential. Besides solasodine (Km = 0.04 microM), the enzyme effectively glucosylates tomatidine, another steroidal alkaloid of the spirosolane type, but it is virtually inactive towards the solanidane-type steroidal alkaloids such as solanidine or demissidine. The enzyme is specific for UDP-glucose (Km = 2.1 microM) since unlabelled ADP-, GDP-, CDP- or TDP-glucose could not effectively compete with UDP-[14C]glucose used as the sugar donor for solasodine glucosylation. Moreover, no synthesis of labelled solasodine galactoside was observed when UDP-[14C]glucose was replaced with UDP-[14C]galactose.