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C E Dean

Publications and source records attributed to C E Dean.

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Bursal antisteroidogenic peptide alters the activity of steroidogenic enzymes in chicken granulosa cells.

We have previously reported that a peptide from chicken bursa of Fabricius, bursal antisteroidogenic peptide (BASP), inhibits luteinizing hormone-stimulated progesterone biosynthesis by chicken ovarian granulosa cells. The objective of this study was to determine the site(s) of BASP inhibition within the steroidogenic pathway of chicken granulosa cells. The effects of BASP on key steroidogenic enzymes, including adenylyl cyclase (AC), phosphodiesterase, the cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme complex and 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase were determined. Luteinizing hormone (10 ng/tube) stimulated a fivefold increase in granulosa cell progesterone production that was inhibited by BASP (0.06, 0.12 or 0.25 bursal equivalents) in a dose-dependent manner. Luteinizing hormone stimulated a sixfold increase in cyclic 3',5'-adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) formation, and this increase was potentiated by BASP in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, BASP stimulated cAMP formation in the absence of luteinizing hormone without affecting progesterone production. The AC activator forskolin (0.1 mM) stimulated a 4.5-fold increase in progesterone synthesis, which was inhibited by BASP. In the presence of forskolin. BASP increased cAMP formation in a dose-dependent manner. A fivefold increase in progesterone synthesis induced by the phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (1.0 mM) was inhibited by BASP. In the presence of 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, BASP increased cAMP formation in a dose-dependent manner. Finally, 22(R)-hydroxycholesterol (250, 500, 1,000, or 2,500 ng/tube) or pregnenolone (50, 100, 200, or 500 ng/tube) resulted in up to 15- or 10-fold increases in progesterone production, respectively. Increasing concentrations of BASP caused a dose-dependent suppression of the conversion of 22(R)-hydroxycholesterol, but not pregnenolone, to progesterone. The inhibition of steroidogenesis by BASP is not associated with reduced cAMP levels, and BASP appears to strongly stimulate AC activity. In addition, these findings suggest that BASP may limit the availability of progesterone precursors by inhibiting the activity of the cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme complex.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine

Ontogeny of growth hormone (GH)-secreting cells during chicken embryonic development: initial somatotrophs are responsive to GH-releasing hormone.

In the present study, a reverse hemolytic plaque assay (RHPA) for chicken GH was established and used to study the ontogeny of somatotroph differentiation and functional responsiveness to GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) during chicken embryonic development. Anterior pituitaries from embryos on days 10, 12, 14, and 16 of incubation were isolated and dissociated into single cells with trypsin. The resulting cells were then subjected to the GH plaque assay under basal and GHRH-stimulated conditions. No GH-releasing cells were detected on day 10 or 12 of embryonic development. In contrast, a few somatotrophs (< 2% of all cells) were consistently found on day 14, and a statistically significant population existed on day 16, when 6.3 +/- 1.4% of all anterior pituitary cells secreted GH. Thus, GH-secreting cells differentiated by embryonic day 16. Treatment of pituitary cells from day 16 embryos with GHRH was found to increase the proportion of GH plaque-forming cells during a shortened assay interval from 1.8 +/- 0.3% under basal conditions to 6.7 +/- 1.2% in the presence of GHRH. This nearly 4-fold increase in the proportion of plaque-forming cells indicates that at least 70% of the initial somatotrophs present on day 16 were responsive to the stimulatory effects of GHRH. To test whether the absence of GH cells on day 12 of embryonic development was due to the presence of cells that produced but did not release GH, pituitary cells from day 12 and day 16 embryos were subjected to immunocytochemistry for GH and to the GH RHPA in parallel. No significant differences were found in the percentage of cells that either contained or released GH on the two embryonic ages tested. On day 12, 1.1 +/- 0.8% of all cells contained GH, as determined by immunocytochemistry, whereas 0.5 +/- 0.5% released GH as determined by RHPA. By day 16, the proportions of cells that contained and released GH had increased to 9.5 +/- 0.6 and 11.2 +/- 2.5%, respectively. Taken together, these results indicate that GH-secreting cells differentiate by day 16 of chicken embryonic development and that these initial somatotrophs are responsive to GHRH. Given that growth and metabolism are regulated in part by GH in chick embryos, these findings suggest that these processes may be under hypothalamic control during late embryonic development in the chicken.

Animals

Effects of zinc toxicity on thyroid function and histology in broiler chicks.

Mechanisms of zinc (Zn) toxicity are incompletely understood and data regarding potential endocrine alterations in Zn toxicity are scarce. To examine mechanisms of Zn toxicity, day-old chicks were pair-fed diets containing 5280 ppm (Hz) or 73 ppm (CON) Zn. Impaired postnatal growth, independent of feed consumption, and multiple endocrinopathies were observed following short-term (1-2 weeks) exposure to the high Zn diet. Reduced levels of serum cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and growth hormone were associated with HZ feeding. Depressed levels of circulating thyroid hormones and histological evidence that follicle area of thyroids from HZ birds was 63% less than CON indicated that impaired growth of HZ birds may be caused, in part, by reduced thyroidal function.

Animals

Development of DSM-IV.

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Data Interpretation, Statistical

Administration.

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Comprehensive Health Care