Various forms of chemically induced liver injury and their detection by diagnostic procedures. (1/9751)

A large number of chemical agents, administered for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes, can produce various types of hepatic injury by several mechanisms. Some agents are intrinsically hepatotoxic, and others produce hepatic injury only in the rare, uniquely susceptible individual. Idiosyncrasy of the host is the mechanism for most types of drug-induced hepatic injury. It may reflect allergy to the drug or a metabolic aberation of the host permitting the accumulation of hepatotoxic metabolites. The syndromes of hepatic disease produced by drugs have been classified hepatocellular, hepatocanalicular, mixed and canalicular. Measurement of serum enzyme activities has provided a powerful tool for studies of hepatotoxicity. Their measurement requires awareness of relative specificity, knowledge of the mechanisms involved, and knowledge of the relationship between known hepatotoxic states and elevated enzyme activities.  (+info)

Quantitative aspects in the assessment of liver injury. (2/9751)

Liver function data are usually difficult to use in their original form when one wishes to compare the hepatotoxic properties of several chemical substances. However, procedures are available for the conversion of liver function data into quantal responses. These permit the elaboration of dose-response lines for the substances in question, the calculation of median effective doses and the statistical analysis of differences in liver-damaging potency. These same procedures can be utilized for estimating the relative hazard involved if one compares the liver-damaging potency to the median effective dose for some other pharmacologie parameter. Alterations in hepatic triglycerides, lipid peroxidation, and the activities of various hepatic enzymes can also be quantitiated in a dose-related manner. This permits the selection of equitoxic doses required for certain comparative studies and the selection of doses in chemical interaction studies. The quantitative problems involved in low-frequency adverse reactions and the difficulty these present in the detection of liver injury in laboratory animals are discussed.  (+info)

Toxicological findings in a fatal ingestion of methamphetamine. (3/9751)

This paper presents the case history of a fatality caused by the complications brought about by the presence of methamphetamine and ethanol. Drug concentrations are reported from samples obtained approximately 15 min after the subject was last observed to be chewing what was then believed to be gum, 3 h after the initial toxic symptoms were displayed, 6, 11, and 22 h later. The subjects conditions deteriorated over the course of this time, and he was declared dead 33 h after the initial display of toxic symptoms. The toxicological findings and concentration levels of the reported biological specimens concurred with the expected findings in a case of methamphetamine toxicity.  (+info)

Ciprofloxacin decreases the rate of ethanol elimination in humans. (4/9751)

BACKGROUND: Extrahepatic ethanol metabolism is postulated to take place via microbial oxidation in the colon, mediated by aerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria. AIMS: To evaluate the role of microbial ethanol oxidation in the total elimination rate of ethanol in humans by reducing gut flora with ciprofloxacin. METHODS: Ethanol was administered intravenously at the beginning and end of a one week period to eight male volunteers. Between ethanol doses volunteers received 750 mg ciprofloxacin twice daily. RESULTS: A highly significant (p=0.001) reduction in the ethanol elimination rate (EER) was detected after ciprofloxacin medication. Mean (SEM) EER was 107.0 (5.3) and 96.9 (4.8) mg/kg/h before and after ciprofloxacin, respectively. Faecal Enterobacteriaceae and Enterococcus sp. were totally absent after medication, and faecal acetaldehyde production capacity was significantly (p<0.05) decreased from 0.91 (0.15) to 0.39 (0.08) nmol/min/mg protein. Mean faecal alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity was significantly (p<0. 05) decreased after medication, but ciprofloxacin did not inhibit human hepatic ADH activity in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Ciprofloxacin treatment decreased the ethanol elimination rate by 9.4%, with a concomitant decrease in intestinal aerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria, faecal ADH activity, and acetaldehyde production. As ciprofloxacin has no effect on liver blood flow, hepatic ADH activity, or cytochrome CYP2E1 activity, these effects are probably caused by the reduction in intestinal flora.  (+info)

Acute effects of ethanol on kainate receptors with different subunit compositions. (5/9751)

Previous studies showed that recombinant homomeric GluR6 receptors are acutely inhibited by ethanol. This study examined the acute actions of ethanol on recombinant homomeric and heteromeric kainate (KA) receptors with different subunit configurations. Application of 25 to 100 mM ethanol produced inhibition of a similar magnitude of both GluR5-Q and GluR6-R KA receptor-dependent currents in Xenopus oocytes. Ethanol decreased the KA Emax without affecting the EC50 and its effect was independent of the membrane holding potential for both of these receptors subtypes. Ethanol also inhibited homomeric and heteromeric receptors transiently expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells. In these cells, the expression of heteromeric GluR6-R subunit-containing receptors was confirmed by testing their sensitivity to 1 mM alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid. Ethanol inhibited to a similar extent KA-gated currents mediated by receptors composed of either GluR6 or GluR6 + KA1 subunits, and to a slightly lesser extent receptors composed of GluR6 + KA2 subunits. Acute ethanol's effects were tested on GluR5 KA receptors that are expressed as homomers (GluR5-Q) or heteromers (GluR5-R + KA1 and GluR5-R + KA2). Homomeric and heteromeric GluR5 KA receptors were all inhibited to a similar extent by ethanol; however, there was slightly more inhibition of GluR5-R + KA2 receptors. Thus, recombinant KA receptors with different subunit compositions are all acutely inhibited to a similar extent by ethanol. In light of recent reports that KA receptors regulate neurotransmitter release and mediate synaptic currents, we postulate that these receptors may play a role in acute ethanol intoxication.  (+info)

Ethanol exposure differentially alters central monoamine neurotransmission in alcohol-preferring versus -nonpreferring rats. (6/9751)

Individual differences in ethanol preference may be linked to differences in the functional activity of forebrain monoamine systems or their sensitivity to modification by ethanol. To test this hypothesis, basal extracellular concentrations of dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) in the nucleus accumbens as well as the effects of repeated ethanol pretreatment on the basal release of these transmitters were examined in alcohol-preferring (P), alcohol-nonpreferring (NP), and genetically heterogeneous Wistar rats. All animals received i.p. injections of ethanol (1.0 g/kg) or saline for 5 consecutive days. Fifteen hours after the final pretreatment, basal extracellular concentrations and "in vivo extraction fraction" values for DA and 5-HT were determined by no-net-flux in vivo microdialysis. In ethanol-naive rats, significant line differences were observed with high basal 5-HT release in P rats, low 5-HT release in NP rats, and intermediate 5-HT levels in Wistar rats. No differences among groups were noted in basal DA release. Ethanol pretreatment decreased basal extracellular 5-HT levels in P rats whereas increasing 5-HT efflux was seen in the Wistar and NP lines. In addition, ethanol pretreatment increased extracellular DA concentrations in Wistar and P rats, but not in NP rats. The results confirm a relationship between the functional status of forebrain DA and 5-HT systems and ethanol preference or aversion. Moreover, the data suggest that ethanol exposure can alter basal DA and 5-HT in the nucleus accumbens and that vulnerability to ethanol-induced changes in monoamine neurotransmission may be a factor in genetically determined ethanol preference.  (+info)

Isocitrate lyase of Ashbya gossypii--transcriptional regulation and peroxisomal localization. (7/9751)

The isocitrate lyase-encoding gene AgICL1 from the filamentous hemiascomycete Ashbya gossypii was isolated by heterologous complementation of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae icl1d mutant. The open reading frame of 1680 bp encoded a protein of 560 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 62584. Disruption of the AgICL1 gene led to complete loss of AgIcl1p activity and inability to grow on oleic acid as sole carbon source. Compartmentation of AgIcl1p in peroxisomes was demonstrated both by Percoll density gradient centrifugation and by immunogold labeling of ultrathin sections using specific antibodies. This fitted with the peroxisomal targeting signal AKL predicted from the C-terminal DNA sequence. Northern blot analysis with mycelium grown on different carbon sources as well as AgICL1 promoter replacement with the constitutive AgTEF promoter revealed a regulation at the transcriptional level. AgICL1 was subject to glucose repression, derepressed by glycerol, partially induced by the C2 compounds ethanol and acetate, and fully induced by soybean oil.  (+info)

Antisense RNA strategies for metabolic engineering of Clostridium acetobutylicum. (8/9751)

We examined the effectiveness of antisense RNA (as RNA) strategies for metabolic engineering of Clostridium acetobutylicum. Strain ATCC 824(pRD4) was developed to produce a 102-nucleotide asRNA with 87% complementarity to the butyrate kinase (BK) gene. Strain ATCC 824(pRD4) exhibited 85 to 90% lower BK and acetate kinase specific activities than the control strain. Strain ATCC 824(pRD4) also exhibited 45 to 50% lower phosphotransbutyrylase (PTB) and phosphotransacetylase specific activities than the control strain. This strain exhibited earlier induction of solventogenesis, which resulted in 50 and 35% higher final concentrations of acetone and butanol, respectively, than the concentrations in the control. Strain ATCC 824(pRD1) was developed to putatively produce a 698-nucleotide asRNA with 96% complementarity to the PTB gene. Strain ATCC 824(pRD1) exhibited 70 and 80% lower PTB and BK activities, respectively, than the control exhibited. It also exhibited 300% higher levels of a lactate dehydrogenase activity than the control exhibited. The growth yields of ATCC 824(pRD1) were 28% less than the growth yields of the control. While the levels of acids were not affected in ATCC 824(pRD1) fermentations, the acetone and butanol concentrations were 96 and 75% lower, respectively, than the concentrations in the control fermentations. The lower level of solvent production by ATCC 824(pRD1) was compensated for by approximately 100-fold higher levels of lactate production. The lack of any significant impact on butyrate formation fluxes by the lower PTB and BK levels suggests that butyrate formation fluxes are not controlled by the levels of the butyrate formation enzymes.  (+info)