Decreased liver and lung drug-metabolizing activity in mice treated with Corynebacterium parvum.
(1/73494)
Injections of killed suspensions of Corynebacterium parvum (i.p.) in young male mice were followed by time- and dose-dependent decreases in the drug-metabolizing activity of liver microsomes and lung homogenates. In vitro assays with model substrates [aminopyrine, aniline, p-nitroanisole, and benzo(a)pyrene] were used to quantitate drug-metabolizing activity. It is likely that such decreases in mixed function oxidases activity will act to significantly alter the pharmacokinetics of concurrently or subsequently administered drugs. The results provide a possible mechanism to explain several previously reported immunochemotherapeutic interactions. (+info)
The incorporation of 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine into the DNA of HeLa cells and the induction of alkaline phosphatase activity.
(2/73494)
Inhibition of DNA synthesis during the period of exposure of HeLa cells to 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine (IUdR) inhibited the induction of alkaline phosphatase activity. This finding, taken together with previous findings that IUdR did not induce alkaline phosphatase activity in the presence of 2-fold molar excess thymidinemonstrated that IUdR incorporation into DNA is correlated with the increase in alkaline phosphatase activity. With the exception of an interim period described in the text, induction of alkaline phosphatase activity was linearly related to medium concentrations of IUdR of up to at least 3 muM. However, the extent of IUdR substitution in DNA did not appear to be related to the degree of enzyme induction. Alkaline phosphatase activity continued to increase at medium concentrations of IUdR from 1 to 3 muM, while little further substitution of DNA occurred. (+info)
The effects of estrogens and antiestrogens on hormone-responsive human breast cancer in long-term tissue culture.
(3/73494)
We have established or characterized six lines of human breast cancer maintained in long-term tissue culture for at least 1 year and have examined these lines for estrogen responsiveness. One of these cell lines, MCF-7, shows marked stimulation of macromolecular synthesis and cell division with physiological concentrations of estradiol. Antiestrogens are strongly inhibitory, and at concentrations greater than 3 X 10(-7) M they kill cells. Antiestrogen effects are prevented by simultaneous treatment with estradiol or reversed by addition of estradiol to cells incubated in antiestrogen. Responsive cell lines contain high-affinity specific estradiol receptors. Antiestrogens compete with estradiol for these receptors but have a lower apparent affinity for the receptor than estrogens. Stimulation of cells by estrogens is biphasic, with inhibition and cell death at concentrations of 17beta-estradiol or diethylstilbestrol exceeding 10(-7) M. Killing by high concentrations of estrogen is probably a nonspecific effect in that we observe this response with 17alpha-estradiol at equivalent concentrations and in the otherwise unresponsive cells that contain no estrogen receptor sites. (+info)
The effects of glucocorticoids and progesterone on hormone-responsive human breast cancer in long-term tissue culture.
(4/73494)
Glucocorticoids, at physiological concentration, inhibit cell division and thymidine incorporation in three lines of human breast cancer maintained in long-term tissue culture. At steroid concentrations sufficient to inhibit thymidine incorporation 50%, little or no effect is seen on protein synthesis 48 hr after hormone addition. All three of these lines are shown to have glucocorticoid receptors demonstrable by competitive protein binding assays. Receptors are extensively characterized in one line by sucrose density gradient analysis and binding specificity studies. Good correlation between receptor-binding specificity and biological activity is found except for progesterone, which binds to glucocorticoid receptor but is noninhibitory. Cross-competition and quantification studies demonstrate a separate receptor for progesterone. This receptor has limited binding specificities restricted largely to progestational agents, whereas the glucocorticoid receptor bound both glucocorticoids and progesterone. Two other human breast cancer lines neither contain glucocorticoid receptor nor are inhibited by glucocorticoids. It is concluded that in some cases glucocorticoids can directly limit growth in human breast cancer in vitro without requiring alterations in other trophic hormones. (+info)
Tissue pharmacokinetics, inhibition of DNA synthesis and tumor cell kill after high-dose methotrexate in murine tumor models.
(5/73494)
In Sarcoma 180 and L1210 ascites tumor models, the initial rate of methotrexate accumulation in tumor cells in the peritoneal cavity and in small intestine (intracellularly) after s.c. doses up to 800 mg/kg, showed saturation kinetics. These results and the fact that initial uptake in these tissues within this dosage range was inhibited to the expected relative extent by the simultaneous administration of leucovorin suggest that carrier mediation and not passive diffusion is the major route of drug entry at these extremely high doses. Maximum accumulation of intracellular drug occurred within 2 hr and reached much higher levels in small intestine than in tumor cells at the higher dosages. At a 3-mg/kg dose of methotrexate s.c., intracellular exchangeable drug levels persisted more than four times longer in L1210 cells than in small intestine, but differences in persistence (L1210 cell versus gut) diminished markedly with increasing dosage. At 96 mg/kg, the difference in persistence was less than 2-fold. In small intestine and L1210 cells, theduration of inhibition of DNA synthesis at different dosages correlated with the extent to which exchangeable drug was retained. Toxic deaths occurred when inhibition in small intestine lasted longer than 25 to 30 hr. Recovery of synthesis in small intestine and L1210 cells occurred synchronously and only below dosages of 400 mg/kg. Within 24 hr after dosages of greater than 24 mg/kg, the rate of tumor cell loss increased to a point characterized by a single exponential (t1/2=8.5 hr). The total cell loss, but not the rate of cell loss, was dose dependent. (+info)
Quantification of baroreceptor influence on arterial pressure changes seen in primary angiotension-induced hypertension in dogs.
(6/73494)
We studied the role of the sino-aortic baroreceptors in the gradual development of hypertension induced by prolonged administration of small amounts of angiotensin II (A II) in intact dogs and dogs with denervated sino-aortic baroreceptors. Short-term 1-hour infusions of A II(1.0-100 ng/kg per min) showed that conscious denervated dogs had twice the pressor sensitivity of intact dogs. Long-term infusions of A II at 5.0 ng/kg per min (2-3 weeks) with continuous 24-hour recordings of arterial pressure showed that intact dogs required 28 hours to reach the same level of pressure attained by denervated dogs during the 1st hour of infusion. At the 28th hour the pressure in both groups was 70% of the maximum value attained by the 7th day of infusion. Both intact and denervated dogs reached nearly the same plateau level of pressure, the magnitude being directly related both the the A II infusion rate and the daily sodium intake. Cardiac output in intact dogs initially decreased after the onset of A II infusion, but by the 5th day of infusion it was 38% above control, whereas blood volume was unchanged. Heart rate returned to normal after a reduction during the 1st day of infusion in intact dogs. Plasma renin activity could not be detected after 24 hours of A II infusion in either intact or denervated dogs. The data indicate that about 35% of the hypertensive effect of A II results from its acute pressor action, and an additional 35% of the gradual increase in arterial pressure is in large measure a result of baroreceptor resetting. We conclude that the final 30% increase in pressure seems to result from increased cardiac output, the cause of which may be decreased vascular compliance. since the blood volume remains unaltered. (+info)
Acute and chronic dose-response relationships for angiotensin, aldosterone, and arterial pressure at varying levels of sodium intake.
(7/73494)
We examined the acute and chronic dose-response relationships between intravenously infused angiotensin II (A II) and the resulting changes in arterial pressure and plasma aldosterone concentration at varying levels of sodium intake. Sequential analysis of plasma aldosterone at each A II infusion rate resulted in an acute dose-related increase in plasma aldosterone which was markedly attenuated after the first 24 hours of infusion, the final level being directly related to the dose of A II and inversely related to sodium intake. A II infused at 5,15, and 23 ng/kg per min was associated with an initial increase (2nd to 8th hour) in plasma aldosterone to 2,6, and 9 times control values, respectively, in dogs receiving 40 mEq Na+/day. But, after the 1st day, aldosterone averaged only 1, 1.7, and 3 times control values for the next 2 weeks at the same rates of A II infusion. Dogs receiving 120 mEq Na+/day during A II infusion exhibited only a transient increase in plasma aldosterone during the 1st day. Sustained hypertension developed over a period of a week at all doses of A II at normal and high sodium intake, but did not occur at any dose of A II in sodium-depleted dogs. Increasing sodium intake from 40 to 120 mEq/day resulted in higher levels of hypertension, 125% compared to 140% of ocntrol values for dogs infused with A II, 5.0 ng/kg per min. We conclude that primary angiotensin-induced hypertension need not be associated with increased levels of plasma aldosterone, which appears to remain elevated only with amounts of A II greater than those required to sustain a significant degree of hypertension. (+info)
Stimulation of renin release from rabbit renal cortex by arachidonic acid and prostaglandin endoperoxides.
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The mechanism by which renal prostaglandins stimulate renin secretion in vivo is unknown. In this in vitro study we measured the effects of activation of the prostaglandin (PG) system on renin release from slices of rabbit renal cortex. The PG precursor arachidonic acid (C20:4), a natural PG endoperoxide (PGG2), two stable synthetic PG endoperoxide analogues (EPA I and II), PGE2, PGF2alpha, and two different PG synthesis inhibitors [indomethacin and 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid (ETA)] were used to evaluate the possibility of a direct action of the cortical PG system on renin secretion. Renin release increased significantly with time after addition of C20:4, PGG2, EPA I, and EPA II to the incubation medium. Stimulation of renin release was se-related for C20:4 in concentrations of 0.6 to 4.5 X 10(-6) M, for EPA I in concentrations of 0.7 to 2.8 X 10(-6) M, and for EPA II in concentrations of 1.4 to 14.0 X 10(-6) M. Indomethacin (10(-4) M) and ETA (10(-4) M) significantly decreased basal renin release as well as the renin release stimulated by C20:4 and EPA I. PGE2(10(-12) to 10(-6) M) had no effect on renin release, whereas PGF2alpha (10(-12) to 10(-6) M) decreased renin release in a dose-dependent manner. These data raise the possibility of a direct action of the renal cortical PG system on renin secretion. The results further indicate that stimulation of renin release by C20:4 may depend more specifically on the action of PG endoperoxides than on the primary prostaglandins. (+info)