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Biomedical subjects

B Collier

Publications and source records attributed to B Collier.

65 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

The effects of neomycin upon transmitter release and action.

These experiments were designed to determine the site and mechanism of action of neomycin on cholinergic transmission. These agents depressed the response of rat diaphragm preparations to phrenic nerve stimulation and to injected acetylcholine (ACh); however, equi-effective neuromuscular blocking concentrations of neomycin (6 x 10(-4) M), streptomycin (1.2 x 10(-3) M) or d-tubocurarine (6.5 x 10(-7) M) reduced the muscle response to injected ACh to 54,27 and 15% of control, respectively, suggesting that neomycin and streptomycin have a presynaptic effect. This finding was confirmed by measuring ACh release from the diaphragm during phrenic nerve stimulation; neomycin (6x10(-4) M) and streptomycin (1.2 x 10(-4) M) depressed ACh release to 29 and 41% of control, respectively. In the cat superior cervical ganglion neomycin (2 x 10(-3) M) blocked ganglionic transmission, did not reduce the response of ganglion cells to injected nicotine and depressed ACh release during preganglionic nerve stimulation to 61% of control in normal Ca++ (2.5 mM) medium and to less than 10% of control in low Ca++ (0.5 mM) medium. The increased accululation of 45Ca induced in rat isolated ganglia by preganglionic nerve stimulation was not changed by d-tubocurarine (2 x 10(-4) M), but was abolished by neomycin (2 x10(-3) M). It is concluded that neomycin blocks ACh release by blocking the influx of Ca++ necessary for transmitter release. This conclusion suggested that neomycin should block noradrenaline release, and this was shown using the anococcygeus preparation from the rat.

Acetylcholine

The site of the neuromuscular block produced by polymyxin B and rolitetracycline.

The site of neuromuscular blockade induced by polymyxin B and rolitetracycline was studied on isolated nerve and nerve-muscle preparations. Polymyxin B (1.8 X 10(-4) M) was equipotent to lidocaine as a local anaesthetic on a frog desheathed nerve preparation, while rolitetracycline (up to 3.6 X 10(-3)M) had no local anaesthetic effect. Polymyxin B (6 X 10(-5) M) and rolitetracycline (7 X 10(-4) M) blocked by 50% the response of rat diaphragm induced by phrenic nerve stimulation, but did not decrease the amount of acetylcholine (ACh) released from this preparation during nerve stimulation. Both antibiotics depressed the response of the rat diaphragm to inject ACh, and this response was more sensitive to inhibition by the drugs than was the response to nerve stimulation. With rolitetracycline, a concentration that blocked the response to nerve stimulation by 50% inhibited the response to injected ACh by 85%, and this relationship was similar to that with d-tubocurarine; however, polymyxin B was relatively more effective than d-tubocurarine in inhibiting the effect of ACh. Polymyxin B (1-1.5 X 10(-4) M) but not rolitetracycline (1 X 10(-3) M) depressed the response of the diaphragm to direct muscle stimulation. It is concluded that polymyxin B and rolitetracycline block neuromuscular transmission predominatly by an effect to depress the muscle's sensitivity to ACh; polymyxin B probably acts by an effect similar to that of local anaesthetics, while rolitetracycline probably acts by an effect similar to that of d-tubocurarine.

Acetylcholine

Characterization of the neuromuscular block produced by clindamycin and lincomycin.

The site of neuromuscular blockade induced by clindamycin and lincomycin was studied on isolated nerve and nerve-muscle preparations. Clindamycin (3.6 X 10(-3) M) but not lincomycin (up to 1.5 X 10(-2) M) had a local anaesthetic effect on a frog desheathed nerve preparation. Clindamycin (8 X 10(-4) M) and lincomycin (4 X 10(-3) M) depressed the response of the rat diaphragm to nerve stimulation and to direct muscle stimulation in parallel. This indicated that the predominant neuromuscular blocking effect of these antibiotics was due to an effect on the muscle. Clindamycin was fivefold more potent than lincomycin in this effect, and the unionized form of both drugs was the active form. Lincomycin (4 X 10(-3) M) but not clindamycin (8 X 10(-4) M) also had some depressant effect on nerve-muscle transmission as indicated by the interaction of the effects of the antibiotics and d-tubocurarine. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to the acute clinical toxicity of these antibiotics.

Animals

Studies upon the mechanism by which acetylcholine releases surplus acetylcholine in a sympathetic ganglion.

1. Acetylcholine (ACh) releases surplus ACh from the superior cervical ganglion of the cat and the experiments described in this paper tested whether this results from exchange of endogenous ACh with exogenous ACh; the experiments also attempted to characterize pharmacologically the mechanism of this action of ACh. 2. The surplus ACh in the ganglion was radioactively labelled by perfusion of the ganglion with [3H]-choline-Krebs solution containing diisopropylphosphofluoridate, and the release of surplus [3H]-ACh by [14C]-ACh injected close arterially to the ganglion measured. The amount of [3H]-ACh released by [14C]-ACh was 33 +/- 5 times greater than was the amount of [14C]-ACh accumulated by ganglia. The amount of exogenous ACh accumulated by ganglia that had first formed surplus ACh was not different from exogenous ACh accumulation by ganglia that had not formed surplus ACh. Thus, it is concluded that surplus ACh release by ACh is not the result of ACh exchange. 3. In other experiments, surplus [3H]-ACh was accumulated in ganglia exposed to physostigmine. Nicotine, pilocarpine or ACh released surplus ACh; the effect of both nicotine and ACh was blocked by hexamethonium; atropine blocked the effect of ACh but not that of nicotine. It is concluded that both nicotinic and muscarinic receptors can be involved in the release of surplus ACh by cholinomimetic agonists.

Acetylcholine

The effect of atropine upon acetylcholine release from cat superior cervical ganglia and rat cortical slices: measurement by a radio-enzymic method.

Atropine is known to increase the release of acetylcholine (ACh) from cerebral cortex, and the present experiments tested the effect of this drug upon ACh release in the superior cervical ganglion of the cat. The release of ACh was measured by a radio-enzymic method, which was shown to provide an estimate of the ACh content of samples collected from perfused ganglia that was similar (102%) to that obtained by the method of bioassay more usually used . Atropine (3 X 10(-6) M) increased (3.5 to 4-fold) the amount of ACh released by rat's sliced cerebral cortex incubated in a high (23 mM) potassium medium. However atropine (3 X 10(-6)-3 X 10(-5) M) did not change the amount of ACh released by ganglia during preganglionic nerve stimulation (5-10 Hz). It is concluded that cholinergic nerve terminals in different tissues appear to have different pharmacological properties.

Acetylcholine

Dysregulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and duration of diabetes.

We compared insulin-dependent diabetic outpatients with and without retinopathy for plasma indices of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Diabetic patients with moderate-to-severe retinopathy had significantly higher postdexamethasone plasma levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone than patients with minimal or no retinopathy. However, when duration of diabetes was taken into account this difference was no longer significant. These data suggest that dysregulation of the HPA axis and retinal microvascular complications found in diabetic patients may both be a function of duration of diabetes.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone

[A new method in the analysis of vitreous fluorophotometry. Results in early diabetic retinopathy].

New methodology to analyze posterior vitreous fluorophotometry (PVF) data is described. Values for D, fluorescein vitreous diffusion coefficient and P, permeability of the blood retinal barrier (BRB) to fluorescein are obtained. D was found to be significantly greater in diabetic patients with minimal retinopathy compared with either controls or patients with no retinopathy. P values were not significantly different between diabetic patients and controls or between diabetic subgroups, confirming the absence of breakdown of the BRB, as assessed by PVF, in early diabetic retinopathy.

Adult