Investigations on connective tissue metabolism: ageing of the human heart.

In any given phase of the age process, the rates of synthesis and degradation of collagen and other macromolecules are diversely influenced by changes in the respective enzyme activities. This naturally affects and reflects the contents of the intracellular as well as extracellular macromolecules. In our studies, the total contents of desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), hydroxyproline, hexosamines and uronic acids of the four compartments of the human heart were estimated and plotted against age. The results obtained for DNA showed an initial rapid decline in its content to about the middle of the third decade of life, i.e. around the end of the maturation period. Thereafter, the DNA curves showed a relatively slower decrease until the fifth decade, after which a slight increase was observed during senescence. This holds for both the left and the right sides of the heart. Hydroxyproline levels, on the other hand, remained unchanged in all the different compartments except in the left atrium, where the initial phase of the curve showed a significant drop until the middle of the fourth decade. Hydroxyproline values in the atria were twice as high as in the ventricles, which in turn showed higher levels of hexosamines than uronic acids. Both hexosamines and uronic acids in the atrial walls showed an initial decline followed by a gradual rise during ageing. Contents of uronic acids in the ventricles showed a gradual but steady rise throughout life.

[Treatment of Goldmann-Favre syndrome with cyclosporin A and bromocriptine]. / Die Behandlung des Goldmann-Favre-Syndroms mit Cyclosporin A und Bromocriptin.

Up to now several reports have described a disturbance of humoral and cellular immune response in patients with tapetoretinal degeneration, but a pathogenetic relation of the described immunological changes to the retinal disease was not established. Therefore immunosuppressive treatment has not been advocated for degenerative vitreoretinal disease. We now report about the natural course of Goldmann-Favre's vitreo-retinal degeneration and the results of a therapeutical trial with cyclosporin A and bromocriptine in two patients. Without therapy we saw a slowly progressive flat central retinoschisis with a serous macular exsudation in fluorescein-angiography. Additionally we found peripheral vitreoretinal changes, mild cellular vitreal infiltration, extinguished electro-retinogram and disturbed dark adaptation. Visual acuity and visual field were quite stabile. Under therapy with cyclosporin A we found a regression of the macular edema and flattening of the retinoschisis. One of the two cases showed a good improvement of visual acuity, in the other case a clear subjective improvement did not correlate with an increase in visual acuity. An additional therapy with bromocriptine did not bring further success, but we were able to reduce the cyclosporin A to a blood concentration of 70-100 ng per ml.

[New results on ageing of connective tissue (author's transl)]. / Neue Befunde zur Bindegewebsalterung.

Some new results on ageing of connective tissue are demonstrated, regarding not only mesenchymal, but also parenchymal organs of human and rat (both sexes). These results show that ageing of connective tissue is more a dynamic process (with measurable metabolic parameters of the several connective tissue cells and their products) than a passive or so-called degenerative connective tissue process. The bradytrophy concept of connective tissue cannot be accepted any longer. Then connective tissue cells can produce metabolic rates of the same level like parenchymal cells. The different organs possess partly common basic processes partly differences in connective tissue ageing, dependent on the composition and patterns of proteoglycans resp. of GAG and collagen types, furthermore dependent on localisation, structure and function. The results on ageing of connective tissue are useful for better understanding of ageing processes of parenchymal organs. Then their ageing is influenced essentially by the ageing of the own connective tissues. The turnover, more than the number of mesenchymal and parenchymal cells, decreases with ageing. More old than young cells seem to exist in old tissues and organs. The performance of ageing connective tissue cells can be constant or increase or decrease. Many mesenchymal and parenchymal organs develop a so-called "ageing-fibrosis".