Analysis of the influence of low-power HeNe laser on the healing of skin wounds in diabetic and non-diabetic rats.
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PURPOSE: To study the influence of HeNe laser irradiation on the collagen percentage in surgically-induced skin wounds in rats with and without alloxan-induced diabetes, by morphometric analysis of collagen fibers. METHODS: 48 male Wistar rats were used, divided into groups: laser-treated diabetic (group 1); untreated diabetic (group 2); treated non-diabetic (group 3); and untreated non-diabetic (group 4). For groups 1 and 2, diabetes was induced by intravenous injection of alloxan (2,4,5,6-tetraoxypyrimidine; 5,6-dioxyuracil; Sigma), into the dorsal vein of the penis, at a rate of 0.1 ml of solution per 100 g of body weight. A wound was made on the back of all the animals. Groups 1 and 3 were treated with HeNe laser (4 J/cm2) for 60 s. One animal from each group was sacrificed on the 3rd, 7th and 14th days after wounding. Samples were taken, embedded in paraffin, stained with hematoxylin-eosin and Masson's trichrome, and morphometrically analyzed using the Imagelab software. The percentages of collagen fibers were determined from the samples from the euthanasia animals. The data were treated statistically using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Student t and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The significance level was set at 0.05 or 5%. RESULTS: The results obtained from the samples taken on the third, seventh and fourteenth days after wounding demonstrated that the laser-treated group presented a statistically significant (p<0.05) greater mean quantity of collagen fibers than in the non-treated group, both for diabetic rats (p = 0.0104) and for non-diabetic rats (p = 0.039). CONCLUSION: The low-power laser (632.8 nm) was shown to be capable of influencing the collagen percentage in skin wounds by increasing the mean quantity of collagen fibers, both for the diabetic and for the non-diabetic group. (+info)
Embryonic pig pancreatic tissue transplantation for the treatment of diabetes.
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BACKGROUND: Transplantation of embryonic pig pancreatic tissue as a source of insulin has been suggested for the cure of diabetes. However, previous limited clinical trials failed in their attempts to treat diabetic patients by transplantation of advanced gestational age porcine embryonic pancreas. In the present study we examined growth potential, functionality, and immunogenicity of pig embryonic pancreatic tissue harvested at different gestational ages. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Implantation of embryonic pig pancreatic tissues of different gestational ages in SCID mice reveals that embryonic day 42 (E42) pig pancreas can enable a massive growth of pig islets for prolonged periods and restore normoglycemia in diabetic mice. Furthermore, both direct and indirect T cell rejection responses to the xenogeneic tissue demonstrated that E42 tissue, in comparison to E56 or later embryonic tissues, exhibits markedly reduced immunogenicity. Finally, fully immunocompetent diabetic mice grafted with the E42 pig pancreatic tissue and treated with an immunosuppression protocol comprising CTLA4-Ig and anti-CD40 ligand (anti-CD40L) attained normal blood glucose levels, eliminating the need for insulin. CONCLUSIONS: These results emphasize the importance of selecting embryonic tissue of the correct gestational age for optimal growth and function and for reduced immunogenicity, and provide a proof of principle for the therapeutic potential of E42 embryonic pig pancreatic tissue transplantation in diabetes. (+info)
Intra-islet insulin permits glucose to directly suppress pancreatic A cell function.
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Inhibition of pancreatic glucagon secretion during hyperglycemia could be mediated by (a) glucose, (b) insulin, (c) somatostatin, or (d) glucose in conjunction with insulin. To determine the role of these factors in the mediation of glucagon suppression, we injected alloxan while clamping the arterial supply of the pancreatic splenic lobe of dogs, thus inducing insulin deficiency localized to the ventral lobe and avoiding hyperglycemia. Ventral lobe insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin outputs were then measured in response to a stepped IV glucose infusion. In control dogs glucagon suppression occurred at a glucose level of 150 mg/dl and somatostatin output increased at glucose greater than 250 mg/dl. In alloxan-treated dogs glucagon output was not suppressed nor did somatostatin output increase. We concluded that insulin was required in the mediation of glucagon suppression and somatostatin stimulation. Subsequently, we infused insulin at high rates directly into the artery that supplied the beta cell-deficient lobe in six alloxan-treated dogs. Insulin infusion alone did not cause suppression of glucagon or stimulation of somatostatin; however, insulin repletion during glucose infusions did restore the ability of hyperglycemia to suppress glucagon and stimulate somatostatin. We conclude that intra-islet insulin permits glucose to suppress glucagon secretion and stimulate somatostatin during hyperglycemia. (+info)
VEGF-A, VEGF-D, VEGF receptor-1, VEGF receptor-2, NF-kappaB, and RAGE in atherosclerotic lesions of diabetic Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbits.
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Plaque angiogenesis may be associated with the development of unstable and vulnerable plaques. Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) are potent angiogenic factors that can affect plaque neovascularization. Our objective was to determine the effect of diabetes on atherosclerosis and on the expression of angiogenesis-related genes in atherosclerotic lesions. Alloxan was used to induce diabetes in male Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbits that were sacrificed 2 and 6 months after the induction of diabetes. Nondiabetic WHHL rabbits served as controls. Blood glucose (Glc), serum-free fatty acids (FFA), and serum triglyceride levels were significantly higher in diabetic rabbits. Accelerated atherogenesis was observed in the diabetic WHHL rabbits together with increased intramyocellular lipids (IMCL), as determined by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Atherosclerotic lesions in the diabetic rabbits had an increased content of macrophages and showed significant increases in immunostainings for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, VEGF-D, VEGF receptor-1, VEGF receptor-2, RAGE, and NF-kappaB. VEGF-A165 and VEGFR-2 mRNA levels were significantly increased in aortas of the diabetic rabbits, where a trend toward increased plaque vascularization was also observed. These results suggest that diabetes accelerates atherogenesis, up-regulates VEGF-A, VEGF-D, and VEGF receptor-2 expression, and increases NF-kappaB, RAGE, and inflammatory responses in atherosclerotic lesions in WHHL rabbits. (+info)
Alloxan-induced diabetes reduces sarcolemmal Na+-K+ pump function in rabbit ventricular myocytes.
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The effect of diabetes on sarcolemmal Na(+)-K(+) pump function is important for our understanding of heart disease associated with diabetes and design of its treatment. We induced diabetes characterized by hyperglycemia but no other major metabolic disturbances in rabbits. Ventricular myocytes isolated from diabetic rabbits and controls were voltage clamped and internally perfused with the whole cell patch-clamp technique. Electrogenic Na(+)-K(+) pump current (I(p), arising from the 3:2 Na(+)-to-K(+) exchange ratio) was identified as the shift in holding current induced by Na(+)-K(+) pump blockade with 100 micromol/l ouabain in most experiments. There was no effect of diabetes on I(p) recorded when myocytes were perfused with pipette solutions containing 80 mmol/l Na(+) to nearly saturate intracellular Na(+)-K(+) pump sites. However, diabetes was associated with a significant decrease in I(p) measured when pipette solutions contained 10 mmol/l Na(+). The decrease was independent of membrane voltage but dependent on the intracellular concentration of K(+). There was no effect of diabetes on the sensitivity of I(p) to extracellular K(+). Pump inhibition was abolished by restoration of euglycemia or by in vivo angiotensin II receptor blockade with losartan. We conclude that diabetes induces sarcolemmal Na(+)-K(+) pump inhibition that can be reversed with pharmacological intervention. (+info)
Glutamine-induced protection of isolated rat heart from ischemia/reperfusion injury is mediated via the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway and increased protein O-GlcNAc levels.
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It has been shown that glutamine protects the heart from ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury; however, the mechanisms underlying this protection have not been identified. Glutamine:fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase (GFAT) regulates the entry of glucose into the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP), and activation of this pathway has been shown to be cardioprotective. Glutamine is required for metabolism of glucose via GFAT; therefore, the goal of this study was to determine whether glutamine cardioprotection could be attributed to increased flux through the HBP and elevated levels of O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) on proteins. Hearts from male rats were isolated and perfused with Krebs-Henseliet buffer containing 5 mM glucose, and global, no-flow ischemia was induced for 20 min followed by 60 min of reperfusion. Thirty-minute pre-treatment with 2.5 mM glutamine significantly improved functional recovery (RPP: 15.6+/-5.7% vs. 59.4+/-6.1%; p<0.05) and decreased cardiac troponin I release (25.4+/-3.0 vs. 4.7+/-1.9 ng/ml; p<0.05) during reperfusion. This protection was associated with a significant increase in the levels of protein O-GlcNAc and ATP. Pre-treatment with 80 muM azaserine, an inhibitor of GFAT, completely reversed the protection seen with glutamine and prevented the increase in protein O-GlcNAc. O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) catalyzes the formation of O-GlcNAc, and inhibition of OGT with 5 mM alloxan also reversed the protection associated with glutamine. These data support the hypothesis that in the ex vivo perfused heart glutamine cardioprotection is due, at least in part, to enhanced flux through the HBP and increased protein O-GlcNAc levels. (+info)
DNA recombination-initiation plays a role in the extremely biased inheritance of yeast [rho-] mitochondrial DNA that contains the replication origin ori5.
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Hypersuppressiveness, as observed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is an extremely biased inheritance of a small mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragment that contains a replication origin (HS [rho(-)] mtDNA). Our previous studies showed that concatemers (linear head-to-tail multimers) are obligatory intermediates for mtDNA partitioning and are primarily formed by rolling-circle replication mediated by Mhr1, a protein required for homologous mtDNA recombination. In this study, we found that Mhr1 is required for the hypersuppressiveness of HS [ori5] [rho(-)] mtDNA harboring ori5, one of the replication origins of normal ([rho(+)]) mtDNA. In addition, we detected an Ntg1-stimulated double-strand break at the ori5 locus. Purified Ntg1, a base excision repair enzyme, introduced a double-stranded break by itself into HS [ori5] [rho(-)] mtDNA at ori5 isolated from yeast cells. Both hypersuppressiveness and concatemer formation of HS [ori5] [rho(-)] mtDNA are simultaneously suppressed by the ntg1 null mutation. These results support a model in which, like homologous recombination, rolling-circle HS [ori5] [rho(-)] mtDNA replication is initiated by double-stranded breakage in ori5, followed by Mhr1-mediated homologous pairing of the processed nascent DNA ends with circular mtDNA. The hypersuppressiveness of HS [ori5] [rho(-)] mtDNA depends on a replication advantage furnished by the higher density of ori5 sequences and on a segregation advantage furnished by the higher genome copy number on transmitted concatemers. (+info)
Activated monocytes and granulocytes, capillary nonperfusion, and neovascularization in diabetic retinopathy.
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Capillary occlusions are characteristic features of the early diabetic retinopathy and are presumed to initiate neovascularization. Activated leukocytes can cause microvascular occlusions and cell damage by release of cytotoxic products. To explore the role of leukocytes in capillary occlusion, nonperfusion, and neovascularization of diabetic retinopathy, a rat model was used, in which a diabetic state was induced by alloxan. Retina flat preparations were differentially stained for monocytes and granulocytes. Capillary occlusion, nonperfusion, and neovascularization were assessed microscopically in the center, midperiphery, and periphery of the retina. In contrast to control retinas, 2- to 9-month diabetic rats showed many capillary occlusions by leukocytes, especially monocytes, endothelial cell damage, extravascular macrophage accumulation, and tissue damage. The percentage of activated monocytes and granulocytes in the circulating blood of diabetic rats was greatly increased, and areas of capillary 'loss' and neovascularization in the retina coincided with sites of extravascular leukocytes. The authors' results suggest a potential role of monocytes and macrophages in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. (+info)