Grafts of immortalized chromaffin cells bio-engineered to improve met-enkephalin release also reduce formalin-evoked c-fos expression in rat spinal cord

Transplantation of adrenal medullary tissue for terminal cancer pain has been tested clinically, but this approach is not practical for routine use because of the shortage of organ donors and lack of tissue homogeneity. As a first alternative step, we have generated immortalized chromaffin cells over-expressing opioid peptides, namely met-enkephalin. Rat chromaffin cells have been genetically modified with vectors containing expression cassettes with either synthetic met-enkephalin or pro-enkephalin gene coding regions, fused with the nerve growth factor signal peptide for secretion. After stable transfection and differentiation in vitro, met-enkephalin and pro-enkephalin cells had higher met-enkephalin immunoreactivity and secreted met-enkephalin levels, compared to control cells containing the expression vector only. In the formalin hindpaw-injection model, 15 days after subarachnoid transplant of cells, grafts of met-enkephalin and pro-enkephalin cells significantly reduced the number of formalin-evoked c-fos immunoreactive spinal neurons in the spinal cord, compared to grafts of vector-alone chromaffin cells. The use of such expandable cell lines, for chronic spinal delivery of opiates, could offer an attractive and safe alternative strategy based on ex vivo gene therapy for the control of opioid-sensitive chronic pain.

Determination of 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol and 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol glucuronide in edible fillet tissue of rainbow trout and channel catfish by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography

3-Trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) is a pesticide used for the selective control of sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) in stream and river tributaries of the Great Lakes. To determine concentrations of TFM and TFM glucuronide in the edible fillet tissue of fish during sea lamprey control treatments, an analytical method was developed to determine the concentrations of these residues in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss; RBT) and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatis; CCF). Homogenized fillets were extracted with methanol-water (80 + 20). TFM and TFM glucuronide were isolated from coextractives by C18 solid-phase extraction. TFM glucuronide was hydrolyzed to TFM by the addition of beta-glucuronidase to the TFM glucuronide extract. The extracts were analyzed separately by liquid chromatography with UV-visible detection. Recoveries from TFM-fortified CCF and RBT tissues were 84.1 and 96.1%, respectively. The method detection limits (MDLs) are 2.4 ng/g for TFM-fortified tissues of CCF and 3 ng/g for those of RBT. Recoveries were 78.8 and 77% from TFM glucuronide-fortified CCF and RBT tissues, respectively. The MDLs for TFM glucuronide-fortified tissues are 3.5 and 6.9 ng/g for CCF and RBT, respectively.