Actions of polyamines on lipid and glucose metabolism of fat cells.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D H Lockwood.
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1. Castration of adult rats resulted in marked decreases in the amounts of putrescine, spermidine and spermine in the ventral prostate gland. Spermidine concentrations decline rapidly over the first 11 days after androgen withdrawal, reaching a value of only 12% of normal controls. Spermine concentrations diminish more slowly, reaching 24% of normal within 11 days. The spermidine/spermine molar ratio falls from 0.9 to 0.46 under these conditions. Putrescine concentrations decrease by 70% at 7 days after castration and then remain constant for some days. 2. After daily injections of testosterone propionate to rats castrated 7 days previously, prostatic spermidine and putrescine concentrations increase significantly within 24h; normal or even greater values are observed within 8 and 4 days respectively. In contrast, the spermine concentration does not increase until 5 days after commencement of androgen treatment. 3. The activities of two enzymes involved in polyamine biosynthesis (ornithine decarboxylase and a putrescine-activated S-adenosyl-l-methionine decarboxylase system) were greatly decreased soon after castration: after 7 days the respective values were 15% of normal for ornithine decarboxylase and 7% of normal for putrescine-dependent decarboxylation of S-adenosyl-l-methionine. Injection of testosterone propionate into animals castrated 7 days previously induced a rapid increase in both enzymic activities: ornithine decarboxylase was doubled in 6h, and increased three- to four-fold within 48h, whereas the putrescine-dependent decarboxylation of S-adenosyl-l-methionine doubled in 3h and increased tenfold within 48h of commencement of daily androgen treatments. 4. The activity of these enzyme systems was very low in the ventral prostates of hypophysectomized rats and was increased by administration of testosterone in a manner similar to that found in castrated rats. 5. Alterations in the activity of two ventral-prostate enzymes involved in ornithine production (arginase) and utilization (ornithine-2-oxoglutarate transaminase) that result from changes in the androgenic status of rats are described. 6. The findings presented suggest that the activities of ornithine decarboxylase and the putrescine-dependent S-adenosyl-l-methionine decarboxylase system, rather than ornithine concentrations, are rate-limiting for the formation of putrescine and polyamines in rat ventral prostate. 7. The relation of polyamines to androgen-induced prostatic growth is discussed with particular reference to the biosynthesis of proteins and nucleic acids.
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Differentiation of mouse mammary gland in vitro requires insulin, hydrocortisone, and prolactin. The epithelial cells must first divide in order to synthesize casein in response to these hormones. Insulin is required for the initiation of DNA synthesis and is also necessary during G(1) phase (after mitosis). Prolactin can elicit the overt differentiative responses after mitosis. Activity of hydrocortisone precedes that of prolactin, that is, after mitosis it is not capable of eliciting the differentiative response.
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This study assessed the impact of an inpatient diabetes education program on: 1) staff nurses' and patients' knowledge about diabetes, 2) hospital length of stay, and 3) patients' glycemic control. Over the course of 1 year, a certified diabetes educator updated nursing staff about diabetes care and education and coordinated a diabetes education program on two experimental medical units. Length of stay of insulin-requiring patients with diabetes and their diabetes knowledge and glycemic control were compared with two control medical units that received no structured diabetes education program. Results showed a significant difference in length of stay and patient knowledge between experimental and control units. Three conditions commonly associated with diabetes (diabetic ketoacidosis, osteomyelitis, foot ulcer) did not account for this difference in length of stay. There was no significant difference between the groups in glycemic control following discharge. While all groups showed improvement in their glycosylated hemoglobin values, only the change in the values of the total population and the control groups was significant. The findings suggest that a Certified Diabetes Educator can decrease length of stay in the hospital setting.
We have examined the nonpancreatic actions of sulfonylureas on multiple aspects of insulin responsiveness in two target tissues for insulin, liver and fat. In vivo administration of tolazamide and glipizide reduced significantly the postabsorptive serum glucose levels in rats without altering the levels of insulin. This was consistent with extrapancreatic sites of drug action. The number and affinity of hepatic insulin receptors was not different from those of control rats. Using a tissue culture system for rat adipose tissue, a 20-h treatment with sulfonylureas markedly potentiated insulin action in fat cells. The primary augmentation was at the level of insulin-stimulated glucose transport. Again, there was no alteration of the insulin receptors located on the adipose tissue. Furthermore, consistent with the lack of an influence on insulin-induced receptor loss after in vitro treatment with sulfonylureas, the in vivo administration of these agents did not alter the transglutaminase activity in rat hepatic tissue. The data demonstrate that sulfonylureas potentiate the responsiveness of the target tissues for insulin. Thus, these hypoglycemic agents probably act by correcting some of the cellular lesions associated with the insulin resistance in type II diabetes mellitus.