Increased insensible water loss in newborn infants nursed under radiant heaters.
(1/9547)
Urine osmolality was studied in 38 babies nursed in conventional incubators or cots and 18 nursed under an overhead radiant heat shield. Among 50 babies receiving a similar fluid intake in the first 48 hours of life mean urinary osmolality was significantly higher in the radiant heater group. In babies weighing less than 1500 g a trend towards higher urinary osmolalities was recorded in those nursed under radiant heaters even though they had received amost double the fluid intake of the incubator group. Severe hypernatraemia occurred in four of the five babies weighing less than 1000 g who were nursed under radiant heaters but in none of the seven babies of similar birth weight nursed in incubators. These findings are consistent with previous observations of an increase in insensible water loss in babies nursed under radiant heaters and emphasise the importance of providing enough extra water for these infants and the need for close monitoring of their fluid balance. The latter may be done at the bedside by measuring urinary specific gravity with a hand refractometer. (+info)
Reduced water permeability and altered ultrastructure in thin descending limb of Henle in aquaporin-1 null mice.
(2/9547)
It has been controversial whether high water permeability in the thin descending limb of Henle (TDLH) is required for formation of a concentrated urine by the kidney. Freeze-fracture electron microscopy (FFEM) of rat TDLH has shown an exceptionally high density of intramembrane particles (IMPs), which were proposed to consist of tetramers of aquaporin-1 (AQP1) water channels. In this study, transepithelial osmotic water permeability (Pf) was measured in isolated perfused segments (0.5-1 mm) of TDLH in wild-type (+/+), AQP1 heterozygous (+/-), and AQP1 null (-/-) mice. Pf was measured at 37 degrees C using a 100 mM bath-to-lumen osmotic gradient of raffinose, and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran as the luminal volume marker. Pf was (in cm/s): 0.26 +/- 0.02 ([+/+]; SE, n = 9 tubules), 0.21 +/- 0.01 ([+/-]; n = 12), and 0.031 +/- 0.007 ([-/-]; n = 6) (P < 0.02, [+/+] vs. [+/-]; P < 0.0001, [+/+] vs. [-/-]). FFEM of kidney medulla showed remarkably fewer IMPs in TDLH from (-/-) vs. (+/+) and (+/-) mice. IMP densities were (in microm-2, SD, 5-12 micrographs): 5,880 +/- 238 (+/+); 5,780 +/- 450 (+/-); and 877 +/- 420 (-/-). IMP size distribution analysis revealed mean IMP diameters of 8.4 nm ([+/+] and [+/-]) and 5.2 nm ([-/-]). These results demonstrate that AQP1 is the principal water channel in TDLH and support the view that osmotic equilibration along TDLH by water transport plays a key role in the renal countercurrent concentrating mechanism. The similar Pf and AQP1 expression in TDLH of (+/+) and (+/-) mice was an unexpected finding that probably accounts for the unimpaired urinary concentrating ability in (+/-) mice. (+info)
Relaxin is a potent renal vasodilator in conscious rats.
(3/9547)
The kidneys and other nonreproductive organs vasodilate during early gestation; however, the "pregnancy hormones" responsible for the profound vasodilation of the renal circulation during pregnancy are unknown. We hypothesized that the ovarian hormone relaxin (RLX) contributes. Therefore, we tested whether the administration of RLX elicits renal vasodilation and hyperfiltration in conscious adult, intact female rats. After several days of treatment with either purified porcine RLX or recombinant human RLX 2 (rhRLX), effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) increased by 20%-40%. Comparable renal vasodilation and hyperfiltration was also observed in ovariectomized rats, suggesting that estrogen and progesterone are unnecessary for the renal response to rhRLX. The nitric oxide synthase inhibitor Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester completely abrogated the increase in ERPF and GFR elicited by chronic administration of purified porcine RLX. In contrast, the renal vasoconstrictory response to angiotensin II was attenuated by the RLX treatment. Short-term infusion of purified porcine RLX to conscious rats over several hours failed to increase ERPF and GFR. Plasma osmolality was consistently reduced by the chronic administration of both RLX preparations. In conclusion, the renal and osmoregulatory effects of chronic RLX administration to conscious rats resemble the physiological changes of pregnancy in several respects: (a) marked increases in ERPF and GFR with a mediatory role for nitric oxide; (b) attenuation of the renal circulatory response to angiotensin II; and (c) reduction in plasma osmolality. (+info)
The sodium concentration of enteral diets does not influence absorption of nutrients but induces intestinal secretion of water in miniature pigs.
(4/9547)
Contradictory opinions exist as to whether the sodium concentration of enteral diets influences absorption of macronutrients and transepithelial movement of sodium and water. Therefore, we investigated the effects of various sodium concentrations of enteral diets on absorption of macronutrients and on net fluxes of sodium and water. In unanesthetized miniature pigs, a 150-cm jejunal segment was perfused with an oligopeptide (Peptisorb), an oligomeric and a polymeric diet. The polymeric diet was supplemented with pancreatic enzymes. The sodium concentrations varied between 30 and 150 mmol/L. The energy density was 3.4 MJ/L. The sodium concentration of the diets did not influence absorption of macronutrients and of total energy. However, increasing sodium concentrations of the diets were associated with increasing osmolality of the solutions, resulting in a linear increase in net secretion of water and flow rate of chyme. With all diets and sodium concentrations net secretion of sodium occurred. The sodium secretion was independent of the initial sodium concentration of the diets. It was linearly correlated with net flux of water and was largest in miniature pigs infused with the oligomeric diet. The sodium concentration of the jejunal effluent did not correspond to the initial sodium concentration of the diets. The present results indicate that enteral feeding of diets with high energy density inevitably increases net secretion of water and sodium as sodium concentration increases. Therefore, the sodium concentration of diets should be as low as possible to meet only the minimal daily requirement of sodium. Low sodium concentrations of diets have no negative effects on absorption of macronutrients. (+info)
Treating the syndrome of inappropriate ADH secretion with isotonic saline.
(5/9547)
It has been widely accepted that there is little use for saline treatment in the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of ADH (SIADH). However, having observed that most SIADH patients increased their plasma sodium (PNa) after 2 l isotonic saline over 24 h, we investigated whether urine osmolality or the sum of urinary sodium and potassium (UNa + K) predicted this response, in 17 consecutive patients with chronic SIADH. The initial measure of urinary sodium plus potassium (UNa + K t0) was weakly correlated to the change in PNa (DPNa) after infusion (r = -0.51; p < 0.05), while initial urine osmolality (UOSM t0) was a much better predictor (y = -0.024x + 12.90; r = -0.81; p < 0.001). The lack of predictive value for UNa + K t0 was probably because urine electrolyte concentrations were not maximal for the corresponding initial UOSM. This reflects differences in salt intake between the patients. The theoretical maximal value for UNa + K t0 (th max UNa + K t0) for a given USOM t0, was as good a predictor as UOSM t0 (th max UNa + K vs. DPNa: r = -0.81; p < 0.001). A theoretical model describing the effect of 2 l isotonic saline infusion on DPNa as a function of UNa + K, produced values comparable to those observed in our patients. Only 6/17 patients, those with UOSM > 530 mOsm/kg, had their hyponatraemia aggravated by 2 l isotonic saline. Many SIADH patients have lower UOSM; in most such patients, 2 l of isotonic saline will improve PNa. (+info)
MENT, a heterochromatin protein that mediates higher order chromatin folding, is a new serpin family member.
(6/9547)
Terminal cell differentiation is correlated with the extensive sequestering of previously active genes into compact transcriptionally inert heterochromatin. In vertebrate blood cells, these changes can be traced to the accumulation of a developmentally regulated heterochromatin protein, MENT. Cryoelectron microscopy of chicken granulocyte chromatin, which is highly enriched with MENT, reveals exceptionally compact polynucleosomes, which maintain a level of higher order folding above that imposed by linker histones. The amino acid sequence of MENT reveals a close structural relationship with serpins, a large family of proteins known for their ability to undergo dramatic conformational transitions. Conservation of the "hinge region" consensus in MENT indicates that this ability is retained by the protein. MENT is distinguished from the other serpins by being a basic protein, containing several positively charged surface clusters, which are likely to be involved in ionic interactions with DNA. One of the positively charged domains bears a significant similarity to the chromatin binding region of nuclear lamina proteins and with the A.T-rich DNA-binding motif, which may account for the targeting of MENT to peripheral heterochromatin. MENT ectopically expressed in a mammalian cell line is transported into nuclei and is associated with intranuclear foci of condensed chromatin. (+info)
A method for analyzing enzyme kinetics with substrate activation and inhibition and its application to the alpha-chymotrypsin-catalyzed hydrolysis of phenyl acetates.
(7/9547)
A general kinetic method was developed to analyze enzyme-catalyzed systems complicated by the presence of activation or inhibition by substrate. The method was applied to the alpha-chymotrypsin [EC 3.4.21.1]-catalyzed hydrolysis of p-chlorophenyl and p-methoxyphenyl acetates. Deacylation rate constants which were not complicated by substrate activation were obtained. The analysis shows that the abnormal substituent dependence of kcat in the steady state hydrolysis is due not to substrate activation but to inappropriateness of the two-step mechanism or the existence of more than one acetyl-enzyme intermediate. (+info)
H5 Histone and DNA-relaxing enzyme of chicken erythrocytes. Interaction with superhelical DNA.
(8/9547)
The interaction of closed circular duplex DNA with the lysine-rich H5 histone fraction of avian erythrocytes has been studied. H5, like H1 histone, interacts preferentially with superhelical DNA. The extent of interaction increases with increasing negative or positive superhelicity. Salt-extracted lysine-rich histones show the same specificity for interaction with superhelices as do acid-extracted preparations. Chicken erythrocyte nuclei contain DNA-relaxing enzyme. This enzyme is extracted from the nuclei at lower salt concentrations than those required to extract H1 and H5 histones and is, therefore, probably a function of a protein distinct from H1 and H5 histones. (+info)