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Biomedical subjects

E N Smith

Publications and source records attributed to E N Smith.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1985

Physiological responses associated with feigned death in the American opossum.

Heart rate, respiratory rate and body temperature of four free-ranging American opossums, Didelphis marsupialis of both sexes (2.47 +/- 0.27 kg; mean +/- SE), were monitored during mild provocation and during death feigning ('play possum'). Mild provocations, caused by the approach of either man or dog, elicited a freezing response. The behavioural response was accompanied by a 12% decrease in heart rate (218 +/- 11 to 192 +/- 10 beats X min-1; mean +/- SE) and a 31% reduction in respiratory rate (26.7 +/- 1.7 to 18.4 +/- 1.4 breaths X min-1) from pre-stimulation values. Death feigning was induced by vigorous tactile stimulation by either investigator or dog. The response was marked by immobility, prone position and stiffness of the body. Mouth was open and the animal showed no response to touch or pinching. Death feigning was always accompanied by salivation, urination, defaecation and erection of the penis (in males). Heart rate decreased 46% (222 +/- 10.6 to 120 +/- 17 beats X min-1) and respiratory rate was reduced 30% (27.4 +/- 1.5 to 19.2 +/- 2.3 breaths X min-1) from pre-stimulation values. Body temperature dropped from 34.8 +/- 0.2 to 34.2 +/- 0.3 degrees C. During death feigning the animal was fully conscious as was evident by heart rate reduction during the re-approach of the dog. Atropine treatment had no obvious effect on behaviour but abolished the bradycardia when compared to pre-stimulus condition.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Physiological thermoregulation of mature alligators.

A 67.1 kg alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), tested in air, heated twice as fast as it cooled. The cooling thermal time constant was 425 min while alive. Warming and cooling thermal time constants were 421 min after death. The thermal time constant was not appropriate in describing warming in air of mature alligators. Surface and subdermal heat flow measurements of the 67.1 kg animal indicate greater blood flow in the skin during warming compared to cooling. Two mature alligators, 49.9 and 103 kg, were heated and cooled in water. Warming time constants were 67 and 110 min respectively. Cooling time constants were 180 and 246 min. Data from this study were combined with previously published thermal time constants for alligators providing regression equations for alligators ranging from 37 g to 103 kg. Regression equations for alligators tested in water are: tau w = 8.81 M050 tau c = 12.6 M0.62. Time constants (tau) are in minutes (w = warming, c = cooling) with all measurements in stirred water; mass, M, is in kg. Thermal conductance and metabolism data are combined to provide an estimate of the amount the body temperature of theoretical alligators ranging from 50 g to 1000 kg would be elevated by metabolism. A body temperature of 34.2 degrees C is predicted for a 1000 kg theoretical alligator in 30 degrees C water.

Alligators and Crocodiles↗
PubMed1982

Acute toxicity of methanol in the folate-deficient acatalasemic mouse.

Formate acidosis is the chief measurable biochemical characteristic of acute methanol toxicity in man. Its marked elevation in the blood stream of primates has been proposed to account for their much greater susceptibility versus rodents to methanol poisoning. Therefore, a study was undertaken to assess whether folic acid deficient (FAD) mice which accumulate formate are much more sensitive to the lethal effects of this alcohol than folic acid sufficient (FAS) mice. Moreover, because some formate is oxidized by catalase-H2O2 in rodents, but not in primates, we also compared the urinary excretion and blood plasma accumulation of formate and the methanol sensitivity of acatalasemic mice. Methanol-dosed C57BL/6Csb (acatalasemic) mice exhibit slightly lower LD50S than CSa (normal catalase) mice, irrespective of their folate state. CSb-FAD mice excreted much more formate and developed higher plasma formate concentrations (11-17 mM) than identically dosed CSa-FAD animals (6 mM). However, in no instance did a folate deficiency produce a large reciprocal decrease in the oral or i.p. LD50 that would be expected from a huge increase (greater than 10-fold) in the 24-h blood plasma formate level. A low methionine (0.2%) intake did not decrease the oral methanol LD50 of CSb-FAD mice, although excess dietary methionine (1.8%) did lower it from 7.1 to 6.4 g/kg. Methanol treated (4 g/kg) Csb-FAD mice excreted 30.8-48.2% of the oral dose as urinary formate, depending on the level of dietary methionine. Csb-FAS and -FAD mice which were given 2 g/kg sodium formate orally (LD50 = 4.7 and 3.7 g/kg) cleared this dose from the blood within 24 h and excreted 58% and 76% of it, respectively, in the urine. Our results indicate that the plasma formate concentration does not correlate well with methanol lethality in Csb-FAS vs. -FAD mice. In addition, urinary excretion, not oxidation, is the primary means by which mice, and probably rats, eliminate high levels of blood formate. Since the Csb-FAD mouse attains high plasma formate levels and low blood pH-values similar to those which have been reported for methanol poisoned monkeys, it appears to be of value as an inexpensive small animal model for further studies of lethal methanol toxicity and the contribution of formate to this process.

Acatalasia↗
PubMed1982

Effect of body temperature on ventilatory control in the alligator.

Pulmonary ventilation and arterial blood acid-base balance were measured in six unanesthetized alligators, Alligator mississipiensis, at 15, 25, and 35 degree C. The animals exhibited pronounced ventilatory responses to hypercapnia at all temperatures studied. Arterial PCO2 increased and pH decreased with increases in body temperature during both normocapnia and hypercapnia. The fractional dissociation of imidazole (alpha Pr) remained constant with changes in body temperature during normocapnia, but increased with temperature during hypercapnia. Ventilatory sensitivity, defined as delta (VE/VO2/delta (alpha Pr), was independent of body temperature. We conclude that the control of breathing in the alligator is a physiological defense of alpha Pr and that ventilatory responses occur following nontemperature-induced changes in blood acid-base balance, which tend to return alpha Pr to a normal value.

Acid-Base Equilibrium↗
PubMed1980

Various pharmacokinetic parameters in relation to enzyme-inducing abilities of 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene and 1,2,4-tribromobenzene.

1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene (TCB) and 1,2,4-tribromobenzene (TBB) were administered for 7 d to rats at a dose of 1 mmol/kg.d. The animals were sacrificed at various times to observe the decline in enzyme induction. Carbon 14-labeled TCB and TBB were administered and the disposition of the radioactivity was determined. The influence of starvation and phenobarbital on the inductive effects of TCB and TBB was observed. p-Nitroanisole demethylation and EPN (O-ethyl O-p-nitrophenyl phenylphosphonothionate) detoxification increases declined with time but were still elevated 16 d after the last dose of TBB. Cytochorme P-450 and NADPH-cytochrome c reductase were alsoinduced. Tissue analysis showed greater retention of TBB than of TCB, with highest levels in the fats. More TCB than TBB was excreted in the urine, and fecal excretion was only 5-10% of the dose. The highest enzyme levels were found after 4 d of starvation following the 7 d of treatment and 6 d of recovery. Starvation resulted in increased plasma, fat, and liver concentrations and increased urinary excretion of 14C after TBB dosing. Phenobarbital treatment decreased the levels of induction by the halogenated benzenes. The results demonstrate that, on an equimolar basis, TBB leads to higher levels of induction that are maintained for longer periods than does TCB. Treatments, such as starvation and phenobarbital, that after storage in fat of these materials change the decline with time of the level of induction.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1980

Induction of xenobiotic metabolism in rat liver by chlorinated biphenyl ether isomers.

Chlorinated diphenyl ether isomers were administered to rats at doses of 10 mumols/kg/day po for 3 days. Decachlorodiphenyl ether caused increases in EPN detoxification, NADPH cytochrome c reductase and cytochrome P-450 but did not alter aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH). It caused a shift in P450 absorption to 448 nm. 2,4,5,2',4'-Pentachlorodiphenyl ether increased EPN detoxification and cytochrome P-450. 2,4,5,3',4'-Pentachlorodiphenyl ether increased AHH and cytochrome P-450 and caused a shift in the absorption maximum to 448 nm. 3,4,2',4'-Tetrachlorodiphenyl ether induced AHH. 2,4'-Dichlorodiphenyl ether, 4,4'-dichlorodiphenyl ether, 2,4,2'-trichlorodiphenyl ether, 2,4,4'-trichlorodiphenyl ether, 3,4,2'-trichlorodiphenyl ether and 3,4,2',4'-tetrachlorodiphenyl ether did not alter any of these parameters. The position and degree of chlorination are important in determining the extent of induction and pathways induced.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Cutaneous blood flow during heating and cooling in the American alligator.

Nine alligators, Alligator mississippiensis, were injected with 133Xe and the clearance half times measured in response to heating and cooling. Mean half times for thermostable, heating, and cooling conditions were 12.2, 8.6, and 28.3 min, respectively, indicating cutaneous vasodilation in response to local heating and reduced blood flow during cooling. Alterations of cutaneous blood flow occurred before changes in body temperature or heart rate. Warming portions of the animal while shading the injection site resulted in reduced blood flow when heat loss occurred. Skin thickness (S in cm) was related to body mass (M in kg) as S = 0.08 M0.38. Cutaneous blood flow per unit area was found to increase with increasing body mass from approximately 0.0025 to 0.025 ml blood-cm-2 of skin-min-1 during warming and from 0.0018 to 0.0045 during cooling for the 0.18--8.6 kg animals, respectively.

Alligators and Crocodiles↗
PubMed1976

Cutaneous heat flow during heating and cooling in Alligator mississipiensis.

Direct in vivo measurement of heat flow across the skin of the American alligator (Alligator mississipiensis) showed increased heat flow during warming. Mean values at 25 degrees C during warming (15-35 degrees C) in air (airspeed 300 cm/s) were 17.9 +/- 92 SE cal/cm2 per h (mean alligator wt 3.27 kg). Cooling heat flow at the same temperature was 13.6 +/- 0.57 cal/cm2 per h. Subdermal heat flow was reduced during warming and was not significantly different from cutaneous heat flow during cooling. This indicated that the alligator was able to control its rate of heat exchange with the environment by altering cutaneous perfusion. Atropine, phenoxybenzamine, nitroglycerin, and Xylocaine did not affect cutaneous heat flow or heating and cooling rates. Atropine blocked bradycardia during cooling.

Alligators and Crocodiles↗
PubMed1975

Multichannel subcarrier ECG, respiration, and temperature biotelemetry system.

A three-channel biotelemetry system measuring ECG, respiration, and body temperature is described. The transmitter employs a 6-kHz subcarrier oscillator and is small enough for surgical implantation in animals the size of rats or larger. The frequency modulated 6-kHz tone from the reciver can be demodulated directly or recorded on an inexpensive cassette tape recorder for future analysis. The transmitter cost is approximately $35.00 and measures 3 times 1 cm. A battery life of several weeks and transmitter range of 10-100 m is typical. Transmission is on the FM broadcast band (88-108 MHz) and reception from an inexpensive FM portable receiver is possible.

Animals↗