In vitro effect of adrenocorticotrophic hormone on the pH profile of tri- and diester lipase activities from rat brain

The influence of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) on the hydrolysis of tri- and dioleoylglycerol by a cerebral lipase was studied using a synaptosomal preparation from rat brain as source of enzyme. When ACTH was added to the lipolytic medium, it caused a marked shift of the optimum pH values of catalysis towards alkaline values. In the pH range 5.8-6.5, these shifts resulted in reaction rates 5- to 20-fold higher, depending on the experimental conditions, than those measured without hormone. The ACTH effect was dependent on the NH2-terminal sequence extending through the amino acid residues 15-18. The results suggest that the hormonal influence is specific and mediated through a colipase-like effect.

Evolution of plasma levels of apolipoprotein B, cholesterol and triglycerides in women during long-term oral contraception

Apolipoprotein B (apo B) was measured by a sensitive and specific double antibody radioimmunoassay in plasma from 15 normal women and 47 women taking oral contraceptives. The plasma apo B concentration in normal women was 0.90 +/- 0.10 g/l (mean +/- S.D.) whereas the overall value for all women taking contraceptives was 0.69 +/- 0.19 g/l. The maximum decrease (p less than 0.001) occurred in women investigated within three months after the beginning of the steroid intake, whose mean apo B value was 0.60 +/- 0.12 g/l (n = 12); decreases found after 3--24 months of contraception were of lesser magnitude. Apo B decreases were associated with significant decreases (p less than 0.01) in total plasma cholesterol, although the latter regained normal values after one year of contraception. Apo B and cholesterol values were in the normal range in women investigated after two years of steroid intake. An inverse trend was observed for plasma triglycerides, which showed a mean increase of 29% (p less than 0.01) after three months of steroid intake, and then stayed elevated without significant change with time.

[Primary intestinal lymphangiectasis or Waldmann's disease (author's transl)]

The authors report the observation of a primary intestinal lymphangiectasy diagnosed on a young girl sent for isolated edema of her inferior members, recently appeared. Clinical examination was normal. Biology found a low protein rate at 33 g/l and a low lymph rate : 183 L/mm3. Hepatic and renal records were normal. Test to marked albumin asserted the exsudative enteropathy with a fecal radio-activity of 3.6% (N 1%). Biopsy of the small intestines set out lymphangiectasies of the intestinal mucosa. Referring to this observation and to literature date, the authors realise a clinical and physiopathological analysis of Waldmann's disease or primary intestinal lymphangiectasy.

Disposable humidifiers in a recovery room--a microbiological evaluation

Humidification, unlike nebulization, does not produce water droplets in the process of producing desiccated gases, and therefore is considered low risk in terms of potential infection sources. However, direct inoculation of bacteria into these units has been shown to produce contaminated effluents. Therefore, the present study was designed to determine if the airborne route of contamination was a potential source of bacterial inoculum for these units and to determine the maximum number of days units remained free of bacterial contamination. Disposable humidifiers were placed in both high and low volume patient areas of the recovery room. Units were used on multiple patients with only the cannula replaced between patients. Our results showed that these units do have the potential for becoming inoculated through the airborne route, but did not produce contaminated effluents greater than background air. Units remained sterile during the entire time in use in both high and low volume areas. In conclusion, our data suggests that each institution should evaluate the usage of disposable humidifiers based on patient parameters and environment rather than manufacturer's guidelines.

[Plasma cortisol response to intravenous beta 1-24 corticotropin as related to the fat mass and its topographic localisation (author's transl)]

Plasma cortisol response induced by 2.5 microgram/kg beta 1-24 corticotropin (1 hour infusion) in obese females was not related to fat mass. The response was increasingly pronounced as fat predominated in the upper body segment, i.e. android obesity. This phenomenon may be interpreted as indicating an increased adrenal capacity to secrete cortisol in such obese patients. Low level but longstanding excess cortisol secretion is probably the cause of the android features of obesity.

Differential effects of oestradiol and ethynyl oestradiol on lipid metabolism in the female rat

Service d'Explorations Métaboliques, Hôpital de la Conception, 13385 Marseille Cedex 4, France

(Received 24 July 1978)

It has recently been shown that ethynyl oestradiol markedly decreases lipase activity in the liver (Valette, Verine, Salers & Boyer, 1977). These observations, along with reports of oestrogen receptors in the liver (Chamness, Costlow & McGuire, 1975) suggest that oestrogens exert considerable influence over the hepatic metabolism of lipids. Previous investigations (DeLorimier, Gordon, Lowe & Carbone, 1965; Gallagher, Mueller & Kappas, 1966) have suggested that the extent of the hepatic changes could be correlated with the molecular nature of the hormonal compound and might depend particularly on the 17α-alkyl-substituted group in synthetic oestrogens. The influence of the ethynyl function in the 17α-position of oestradiol-17β on the oestrogen-induced changes observed in hepatic lipases and serum levels of triglycerides has therefore been examined.

Adult female Sprague–Dawley rats (220–240 g) were allowed free access to food and

[Amyloid tumors of the lung. Apropos of a new case]

The authors report a new case of pseudo-tumoral nodular amyloidosis of the lungs. The amyloid nodules being discovered during a surgical procedure for an adenocarcinoma of the lower oesophagus. The histopathological study of the nodules confirmed their amyloid origin and allowed to precise their histochemical features.

[Unusual digestive manifestations during rheumatoid purpura. Apropos of 2 cases]

We have observed two unusual forms of rheumatoid purpura with digestive symptoms in two young girls aged 16 years. In the first case, the signs of complete duodenal stenosis led to a surgical operation which led to the discovery of an infiltrated mesenteric band of adhesions containing numerous lymph nodes, with on the oedematous loops of small intestine, numerous ecchymoses. In the second case, the duodenal-jejunal radiological abnormalities suggested protein-losing enteropathy. especially as this patient like the first, had major hypoproteinemia without albuminuria. The Cr51 radioisotope test confirmed this quite exceptional diagnosis in this disease.

Effect of hypothyroidism on the heparin-stimulated release of lipase from the isolated perfused rat liver

Service d'Explorations Métaboliques, Hôpital de la Conception, 13385 Marseille Cedex 4, France

(Received 24 August 1977)

Indirect observations, derived from the assay of lipase in the blood from human subjects after administration of heparin, have suggested that diseases of the thyroid gland are associated with alterations in the activity of lipolytic enzymes (Porte, O'Hara & Williams, 1966; Kirkeby, 1968; Nikkilä & Kekki, 1972; Tulloch, Lewis & Russel-Fraser, 1973; Jubelin, Bettendorf & Boyer, 1974; Krause, Levy & Fredrikson, 1974). Lipoprotein lipase activity has been measured in adipose tissue from hypothyroid subjects and was found to be normal or raised in rats (Shafrir & Biale, 1971) and reduced in men (Pykälistö, Goldberg & Brunzell, 1976). This work was undertaken to assess alterations in the activity of hepatic lipase during hypothyroidism.

Male Wistar rats (200–220 g) were thyroidectomized and injected (i.p.) 15 days later with 100 μ 131I. A period of 1 month

Tissue toxicity of antiseptic solutions. A study of rabbit articular and periarticular tissues

The gross, histologic, and biochemical effects of four commercially available antiseptic solutions on rabbit knee articular and periarticular connective tissues were investigated. Rabbit knee joints were injected with 2.0 cc of either Betadine prep solution, Betadine scrub solution, pHisohex or 3% hexachlorophene. The opposite knees were injected with sterile saline. All animals were injected three times at 48-hour intervals and sacrificed 10 days after the last injection. The solutions containing detergents, Betadine scrub, and pHisohex caused severe gross and histologic damage to articular cartilage, synovia, and muscle. The hexachlorophene loss solution caused moderate histologic damage, but caused articular cartilage ground substance. Betadine prep solution caused only minimal gross and histologic damage, without any biochemical evidence of articular cartilage damage. If antiseptic solutions are to be used in irrigating or packing joint injuries, the use of Betadine prep is recommended.

Estrogen hormones and lipid metabolism. Effect of ethynyl-estradiol on liver lipases

Lipase activities assayed in liver subcellular fractions from rats given ethynyl-estradiol are lowered, while triglycerides increase and cholesterol decreases in blood. Triester lipase in microsomes is the most altered activity. Such enzymatic changes might play a role in the development of lipid abnormalities in blood of women taking estrogens as oral contraceptives.

[The relationship between zinc levels in blood and the activity of delta-amino-levulinic acid dehydratase in human erythrocytes (author's transl)]

The blood levels of zinc, lead, copper and albumin and the activity of erythrocyte delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALA D), with and without addition of zinc in vitro, were measured in healthy subjects and in patients with cirrhosis. In cirrhosis there was a decrease, of zinc (-40%) albumin (-38%) and of activity of ALA D (-48%) and an increase in blood lead (+80%). Correlation between these results has been studied. The increase of blood lead is probably the result of zinc decrease. Moreover, as the urinary excretion of zinc is enhanced by chelation therapy, the prescription of zinc in lead intoxication is to be recommended. The activity of ALA D in patients with cirrhosis is less enhanced by addition of zinc in vitro than is the activity in patients intoxicated with lead. Probably in cirrhosis there is especially a decrease in the synthesis of ALA D, and lead intoxication the enzyme is inhibited.

Effect of salicylate therapy on cartilage destruction in experimental pyarthrosis

An experimental rabbit pyarthrosis model was utilized to investigate the effects of sodium salicylate therapy on cartilage destruction. Animals were innoculated with 10(3) organisms of Staphylococcus aureus 502A. The opposite knee was injected with sterile saline. Infection was documented 48 hours post innoculation, procaine penicillin therapy initiated, and the adequacy of therapy evaluated at sacrifice. One half of the animals began salicylate feedings one week prior to injection and this continued until sacrifice at 14 or 49 days. Salicylate levels were 12.5 +/- 6.9 mg %. There was a significant loss of cartilage in both the salicylate treated and untreated animals. The levels of salicylate obtained in this study were not protective to cartilage in a septic joint.

Hydrolysis and uptake of an aliphatic fatty ester by whole isolated fat cells

During 9-min incubations at 37 degrees C, whole isolated fat cells are able to hydrolyze a water-insoluble ester, ethyl [3H]oleate, added as an emulsion to the extracellular medium. The monoester lipase exerts its activity as a membrane-bound enzyme and is not releasable by heparin. Variation of the reaction rate with substrate concentration suggests a diffusion-limited process, consonant with the fact that enzyme and substrate are associated with particles of enormous sizes (the fat cell and the lipid droplet, respectively). Variation of lipase activity with increasing temperature in the incubation medium shows a break at 46 degrees C +/-1 degrees C, most probably related to a phase transition in the membrane structure. During incubation, 30-60% of the amount of [3H]oleic chains formed by hydrolysis are incorporated into the cell, mainly as triacylglycerols. Controls of cell viability indicate that under the experimental conditions the framework of the membrane and the internal organization of the cell appear to be maintained. Such an experimental model might duplicate physiological conditions since aliphatic fatty esters are thought to be hydrolyzed at the cell surface during uptake.

[Extrinsic compression of the celiac trunk by the arcuate ligament of the diaphragm. Apropos of 5 cases]

The authors report 5 cases (3 women and 2 men) of extrinsic stenosis of the coeliac axis by the arcuate ligament of the diaphragm. In one of the latter, the stenosis of the coeliac axis was associated with chronic calcific pancreatitis. These 5 patients were operated on. Division of the arcuate ligament gave on the whole very favourable results. (3 excellent results, one good and one average result). The authors then recall the clinical, angiographic and pathogenic data in this disease which remains exceptional. The diagnosis should be made and operation decided only after a fairly long period of observation during which one has elimiatned the diagnoses of gastro-intestinal, gall bladder, pancreatic and above all psychiatric disease by endoscopy, radiography and symptomatic medical treatment.

[Incomplete testicular feminisation syndrome by testosterone insensitivity (author's transl)]

Male pseudo-hermaphroditism by partial testosterone sensitivity, without steroido-genesis abnormality, without apparent 5 alpha reductase deficit - Empty complete scrotum and hypospadias surgically normalized. At 39, scrotal testis 32 X 15 mm right, 23 X 10 mm left. Infantile penis and prostata. Gynoid scapulo-pelvic proportions, adipo-muscular ratio and fat distribution. Bilateral gynecomastia. Caryotype 46 XY - 17 ks 26 mg. After intravenous 100 ng LH RH: plasma (pl) LH increased 105 to 285 ng/ml, pl testosterone 5 ng/ml unchanged, pl oestradiol 115 to 135 pg/ml. 48 h after intra muscular 300 mg testosterone propionate: pl testosterone increased, 13 to 39 ng/ml, androstenedione 1,5 to 3,04 ng/ml, dihydrotestosterone 0,85 to 1,45 ng/ml, OEstradiol 52 to 110 pg/ml. No effect of 29 g testosterone oenanthate in 2 years.

Lavage of septic joints in rabbits: effects of chondrolysis

Septic joints were produced in rabbits which were then treated with systemic procaine penicillin. One group of animals also had surgical lavage at four and seven days after bacterial inoculation. In the infected joints there was a significant loss of hexosamine by five days and of collagen by nine days. Lavage delayed the loss of collagen.

On the individuality of aliphatic and alicyclic monoester lipases in human adipose tissue

Aliphatic and alicyclic monoester lipase activities from human adipose tissue have been comparatively investigated by using [3H] oleoylethanol and [14C] oleoylcholesterol, respectively, as substrates. A number of specific properties proved to be different for each activity. Different rates of decay of hydrolytic activity towards each substrate were observed during heat denaturation. Stability upon exposure to the cold was different for both activities, and the protective effect of glycerol was less effective for oleoylcholesterol than for oleoylethanol lipase. Serial (NH4)2SO4 fractionation in 5% increments showed that the two activities did not precipitate at identical saturation values. The behaviours of the two activities were compared in an affinity system where monoolein, a substrate molecule, served as a ligand for the enzyme(s) in a covalent complex with CH-Sepharose. During chromatography, both activities followed a comparable adsorption-elution pattern, but the oleoylcholesterol to oleoylethanol lipase activity ratio decreased by a factor of 4. Taken together, these data, along with a differential susceptibility to various surfactants, confirm our earlier hypothesis (Arnaud, J. and Boyer, J (1974) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 337, 165--168) that aliphatic and alicyclic monoester lipase activities in human fat are referable to distinct catalytic proteins.

Lipolytic activity of whole isolated liver cells in aqueous suspension

1. Liver contains a lipase which catalyzes in vitro the hydrolysis of esters of short-chain normal primary alcohols and fatty acids. It is shown that this enzymatic activity can be measured by using intact liver cells as source of enzyme. During short-term incubations of suspensions of cells isolated from rat liver, the lipase acts as a membrane-bound enzyme and readily attacks [3H] oleoylethanol added as an emulsion into the bathing medium. The lipolytic reaction proceeds linearly for at least 20 min at 37 degrees C, at the pH optimum of 8.5. [3H] Oleic acid, a reaction product, is mostly retained in the medium and is used to monitor the lipolytic process. 2. In the presence of heparin, the bound lipase is released in the medium in amounts representing one-third to one half the total activity contained in the cells. This release is very rapid and associated in all cases with a concomitant release of lactate dehydrogenase activity. Such effects are consistent with the interpretation that heparin, at concentrations comprised between 10 and 100 mug per ml, causes alterations of the plasma membrane of the isolated cells, resulting in the dispersion of membrane-bound and cytoplasmtic material. This action of heparin is totally blocked by protamine sulfate (1 mg/ml). No specific effect of heparin directed towards the selective release of lipase could be demonstrated under these conditions. 3. During incubations in the presence of heparin, it was observed that the release of monoester lipase was quantitatively related to a simultaneous decrease in membrane-bound as well as in total monoester lipase activity measureable in the cells after homogenization. This, along with the reappearance of membrane-bound activity immediately after heparin withdrawal, suggest that under the experimental conditions, the membrane-bound enzyme is replaced from inside the cell in proportion of its release by heparin.

Effects of glycerol on human adipose tissue triglyceride lipase activity

Glycerol fully protects the human adipose tissue triglyceride lipase against the denaturing effects of high and low temperatures. Under such protection, storage of crude preparations at -10 degrees C or incubation at 50 degrees C resulted in a 1.5-3-fold increase of the measured lipase activity. This increase was shown to be related to enzyme newly released from tissular microparticles present in the samples. Advantage may be taken of these observations to improve greatly the conditions of extraction and storage of this lipase activity.