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Biomedical subjects

G G Forstner

Publications and source records attributed to G G Forstner.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Colipase and lipase secretion in childhood-onset pancreatic insufficiency. Delineation of patients with steatorrhea secondary to relative colipase deficiency.

Pancreatic lipase and colipase secretion was assessed in 64 patients with pancreatic disease, 24 of whom had steatorrhea, and in 14 control subjects. A wide range of lipase and colipase secretion was seen in patients both with and without steatorrhea. Considerable loss of pancreatic lipase and colipase secretion had to occur before steatorrhea developed, as the highest hourly secretion of lipase and colipase in this group of patients was less than 4% and less than 2%, respectively, of the lowest values recorded in normal subjects. Colipase and lipase outputs were very strongly correlated (r = 0.96) throughout the range of pancreatic function. Lipase was always unsaturated with respect to colipase, but in only a limited number of patients with relatively low pancreatic secretion was the degree of unsaturation greater than 2 standard deviations below the mean. The importance of low saturation or low colipase secretion was evident in a group of 11 patients with a narrow range of lipase secretion in a transitional zone between secretion rates associated with steatorrhea and with normal fat excretion. In this group, 7 patients were identified in whom colipase deficiency appeared to be the sole cause of steatorrhea. The correlation of colipase secretion with the level of fecal fat excretion was highly significant (p less than 0.001) and indicated that fat digestion and subsequent fat absorption depended on colipase secretion up to at least a level of 25% fecal fat excretion. Nonpancreatic factors could well govern the extent of fat absorption above this level, as colipase secretory values in this range were uniformly low.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Structure of intestinal-mucus glycoprotein from human post-mortem or surgical tissue: inferences from correlation analyses of sugar and sulfate composition of individual mucins.

The carbohydrate composition of 14 human, small-intestine mucins, obtained at surgery or post-mortem, varied greatly from specimen to specimen with respect to individual sugars and average chain-length (ratio of total carbohydrate to N-acetylgalactosamine). Three monosaccharides, galactose, N-acetylglucosamine, and fucose gave good correlations with each other, and to total carbohydrate content, when expressed as a ratio to the chain-terminal N-acetylgalactosamine residue. In contrast, sialic acid gave a good correlation only with N-acetylgalactosamine. In eight specimens the molar sulfate to N-acetylgalactosamine ratios gave good correlation with the ratios of galactose to N-acetylgalactosamine, N-acetylglucosamine to N-acetylgalactosamine, and total carbohydrate to N-acetylgalactosamine. These results indicate that the intraspecies variability of intestinal-mucin carbohydrates arises from the interdependent addition of galactose, N-acetylglucosamine, fucose, and sulfate residues. Partial correlation-analysis indicated that proportions of N-acetylglucosamine and fucose were correlated only through a mutual dependence on galactose, suggesting that the key elongating-factors involve the addition of galactose residues. The number of sialic acid residues per oligosaccharide chain remained relatively unchanged from mucin to mucin, and this, coupled with the close correlation between the proportions of sialic acid and N-acetylgalactosamine, suggests that almost all sialic acid residues are bound to the core N-acetylgalactosamine residues in intestinal mucin. High fucose-to-sialic acid and high sulfate-to-sialic acid ratios reported in some disease states are explained as the consequence of chain elongation.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1983

Heterogeneity of rat goblet-cell mucin before and after reduction.

Goblet-cell mucin of rat small intestine was purified from mucosal scrapings by using centrifugation, Sepharose 4B and Sepharose 2B chromatography. The mucin was applied in low concentrations (1 microgram/track) to slab gels containing 0.5% agarose/2% (w/v) polyacrylamide, and bands were detected after electrophoresis by silver stain or by fluorography of 3H-labelled mucin. Before reduction the mucin contained three distinct components: a polymeric species at the top of the gel and two large glycoproteins of higher mobility. After reduction, the polymer disappeared, the two glycoproteins remained unchanged, and two glycopeptide bands of higher mobility appeared. In addition, a non-glycosylated, heavily stained peptide of mol.wt. 118000 was detected. The individual mucin components were partially separated on Sepharose 2B, 0.2M-NaCl/1% sodium dodecyl sulphate being used as eluant. Individual amino acid and carbohydrate analyses suggested that the glycosylated components, despite their differences in size, had identical profiles. The 118000-mol.wt. peptide had a very different amino acid profile, with much less serine, threonine and proline. Glycine and aspartic and glutamic acids comprised 34% of the total amino acids. Thus the 'native' mucin is a heterogeneous structure containing at least two non-covalently associated glycoproteins plus polymeric material. The latter is stabilized by disulphide bonds and consists of several glycopeptides of different size as well as a 'link' peptide of mol.wt. 118000.

Alkylation↗
PubMed1982

Colipase and maximally activated pancreatic lipase in normal subjects and patients with steatorrhea.

Human pancreatic lipase in duodenal secretions was studied under conditions of maximal activation by porcine colipase and maximal inhibition by sodium taurodeoxycholate. In almost all samples, total lipase activity in 4 mM sodium taurodeoxycholate was activated by the addition of porcine colipase. Activation was linear until saturation by cofactor was reached, and maximum activity was greater than that obtained in the absence of bile salts. At pH 8.0 in 4 mM sodium taurodeoxycholate, lipase activity was due to pancreatic lipase in samples from normal and steatorrheic individuals and was proportional to the concentration of endogenous colipase in samples that could be activated by exogenous colipase. In these samples, therefore, colipase activity could be conveniently assayed as the lipase activity at pH 0.8 in 4 mM sodium taurodeoxycholate. Colipase to total pancreatic lipase ratios varied widely from individual to individual and on average were significantly lower in steatorrheic patients. In individual samples, colipase secretion was stimulated by pancreozymin and secretin roughly in parallel with total pancreatic lipase, but some variation in the ratio of the two was often seen in successive collection periods. Because pancreatic lipase is usually unsaturated with respect to cofactor, lipolytic activity in duodenal secretions may be finely controlled by modulation of colipase secretion.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Steatorrhea and pancreatic insufficiency in Shwachman syndrome.

Fat absorption was assessed on two or more occasions in 12 of 14 patients with Shwachman syndrome. Of 11 children who initially had steatorrhea, 6 were subsequently found to have normal fat excretion. In 10 of these 11 patients the last estimate was smaller than the initial estimate after an interval of 0.3-12.7 yr. The most dramatic improvement occurred under 4 yr of age but improvement appeared to continue over a more extended period where sufficient follow-up was available. All patients had pronounced pancreatic insufficiency as tested by duodenal drainage corrected by nonabsorbable marker under stimulation with cholecystokinin and secretin. Pancreatic lipase secretion was assessed in 3 patients with steatorrhea and 5 without steatorrhea (73% of the surviving patients) using a sensitive assay which used maximum stimulation with colipase. Pancreatic lipase secretion was less than 2% of normal mean secretion in the steatorrheic patients and ranged from 3.7% to 13.6% in the patients without steatorrhea. These results indicate that fat absorption improves in the majority of patients with Shwachman syndrome and appears to be associated with marginal improvement in pancreatic lipase secretion. Due to the occult nature of bowel complaints in older patients, the diagnosis may be overlooked unless careful screening for pancreatic function takes place.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Cholera toxin stimulates secretion of immunoreactive intestinal mucin.

In vitro secretion of goblet cell mucin from rat small intestine was measured using a double-antibody radioimmunoassay for mucin. Cholera toxin (12.5-50 mg crude filtrate/ml) added to incubations of intestinal slices caused a dose-dependent increase in mucin secretion. By 90 min there was a four- to fivefold enhancement in secretion over noncholera-treated controls. Crude filtrate (dialyzed or nondialyzed) was a more effective mucin secretogogue than purified enterotoxin. Secretion was also assessed by administering [1-14C]glucosamine intraperitoneally to rats in vivo and 3 h later monitoring in vitro secretion of radioactive glycoprotein from intestinal slices. Cholera filtrate (12.5-50 mg/ml) caused a 1.5- to 2.0-fold enhancement in secretion after 90 min. The radioactivity data, however, underestimated total mucin secretion and the dependency of secretion on the dose of cholera filtrate. Cholera preparations also caused an enhancement (20-30% over controls) in the incorporation of [3H]glucosamine into tissue acid-precipitable glycoprotein, indicating a stimulation of glycoprotein synthesis. In the same experiments it was noted that the secretion of 3H-labeled (i.e., newly glycosylated) glycoprotein was increased 2.5- to 3.0-fold over untreated controls. Assuming that radioactivity partially reflects mucin synthetic and secretory events, it is possible, therefore, that cholera toxin promotes the release of both "old" mucin from storage granules as well as the synthesis and secretion of "new" mucin formed in goblet cells during incubation.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Plasma immunoreactive pancreatic cationic trypsinogen in cystic fibrosis: a sensitive indicator of exocrine pancreatic dysfunction.

Plasma immunoreactive cationic trypsin(ogen) levels were determined in 32 control subjects and 43 patients with varying degrees of pancreatic insufficiency including 35 with cystic fibrosis (CF) and eight with Shwachman's syndrome. In six CF infants less than 2 years of age, plasma trypsin(ogen) levels were significantly elevated (97.3 +/- 62.2 ng/ml) above the normal range for nine controls (7.0 +/- 5.9 ng/ml; P less than 0.025). Four of these infants had steatorrhea, three of whom had undetectable duodenal trypsin activity after stimulation with secretin-cholecystokinin. In two CF infants, molecular size fractionation by gel filtration of plasma followed by radioimmunoassay of the column fractions demonstrated that trypsinogen was the only immunoreactive species in the circulation. In contrast, in older CF patients with steatorrhea (mean age, 15.3 +/- 4.6 years), plasma cationic trypsin(ogen) levels were undetectable or low (1.1 +/- 1.7 ng/ml). This finding clearly distinguished them from older CF patients without steatorrhea (mean age, 14.3 +/- 3.9 years) in whom cationic trypsin(ogen) levels were significantly higher (23.3 +/- 17.6 ng/ml; P less than 0.01). The mean trypsin(ogen) concentration in the older CF patients without steatorrhea did not differ from the mean value for 23 normal subjects of similar age. Plasma cationic trypsin(ogen) levels in two Schwachman's patients with steatorrhea (0.19 and 0.86 ng/ml) were significantly lower than the values found in six Shwachman's patients without steatorrhea (5.9 +/- 2.3 ng/ml; P less than 0.025). Furthermore, in nine older CF patients and eight Schwachman's patients, circulating trypsin(ogen) levels were highly correlated with duodenal trypsin output after secretin-cholecystokinin stimulation (r = 0.946, P less than 0.01; r = 0.899, P less than 0.01, respectively). These results suggest that in CF infants high levels of circulating trypsin(ogen) persist even in those with Shwachman's syndrome, however, circulating trypsin(ogen) accurately reflects residual pancreatic function.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Isolation of a detergent-solubilized maltase/glucoamylase from rat intestine and its comparison with a maltase/glucoamylase solubilized by papain.

Maltase/glucoamylase from the rat intestinal brush-border membrane was solubilized by homogenization of the intestinal mucosa in buffer containing 0.5% Triton X-100. After removal of the detergent with butan-1-ol, the enzyme was purified by chromatography on Sepharose 4B and DEAE-cellulose. The final specific activity was 70.3 units/mg of protein in six preparations, comparing favourably with the specific activity of 65.0 units/mg of protein of a pure papain-solubilized maltase/glucoamylase previously isolated and characterized by us [Flanagan & Forstner (1978) Biochem. J.173, 553-563]. The two enzymes were compared. Both migrated as single bands with the same mobility on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, were eluted at the same volume from Sepharose 4B, and had the same sedimentation pattern in mannitol gradients. The amino acid composition was similar; content of total apolar residues differed by 1.0mol%. Antibodies prepared against either enzyme gave identical precipitin lines with each. Neither enzyme bound tritiated Triton X-100. The only difference noted was the tendency of the detergent-solubilized enzyme to aggregate on storage, whereas the papain-solubilized enzyme remained unchanged. Both enzymes had two N-termini, glycine and arginine. When the two enzymes were dissociated by boiling in sodium dodecyl sulphate, each exhibited the same five species on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Single N-termini were found in the two smaller species, 1 (glycine) and 2 (arginine), whereas larger species (3-5) had both N-terminal amino acids. Both the Triton- and papain-solubilized enzymes appear to be oligomers of species 1 and 2, indicating that the native enzyme contains two subunit types. Aggregation in aqueous solutions does not depend on a proteolytically susceptible peptide fragment at the N-terminus of either subunit.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1980

Effect of cimetidine and sodium bicarbonate on pancreatic replacement therapy in cystic fibrosis.

Fifteen patients with cystic fibrosis and pancreatic insufficiency were studied during four randomised seven day treatment periods in which they received only pancreatic supplement (Pancrelipase, 27 capsules per day) or supplement plus cimetidine (20 mg/kg body weight/24 h) or sodium bicarbonate (15 g/m2/24 h) alone or in combination. Dietary intake was not fixed but was restricted to foods of known fat and nitrogen content from which daily intakes could be computed. Faecal fat and nitrogen were calculated as g/24 h and percentage of intake. Addition of either cimetidine or bicarbonate resulted in significant improvement in fat and nitrogen excretion, which was not greater with the combination of both drugs. Cimetidine and sodium bicarbonate in these doses are therefore sufficient to produce maximal improvement in digestive activity of pancreatic supplements. Fat excretion per gram of intake fell with cimetidine and bicarbonate from 12 times the normal level, to normal, in patients consuming less than 120 g fat daily. Above this intake the dose of pancreatic supplement appeared to be inadequate. Faecal nitrogen excretion increased with nitrogen intake in all four periods, but, in contrast with fat excretion, the response to cimetidine and bicarbonate was not affected by the level of intake. Dietary intake appears to be a significant factor in determining the faecal output of fat and nitrogen in patients with pancreatic insufficiency and should be considered when determining the optimum amount of pancreatic supplementation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Immunoassay of serum conjugates of cholic acid in cystic fibrosis.

Pre- and post-prandial serum conjugates of cholic acid (SCCA) were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) in 83 patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), 14 of whom did not have steatorrhoea, and in 25 controls. Of the CF patients with steatorrhoea, 38% had fasting SCCA levels greater than 3 standard deviations above mean fasting control values, whereas no CF patient without steatorrhoea had elevated fasting SCCA levels. Steatorrhoeic patients with palpable livers had higher pre- and post-prandial SCCA levels. Post-prandial SCCA levels failed to discriminate between control and CF groups however. Other serum tests of liver function, including the aspartate amino transferase, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, gamma globulin, and albumin : globulin ratio, failed to correlate with the SCCA. Changes in serum protein constituents correlated strongly with pulmonary dysfunction. The results suggest that elevation of fasting SCCA levels in CF patients is a more sensitive indicator of liver dysfunction than other tests and is a better discriminator than post-prandial SCCA levels between normal and abnormal liver function. The test is recommended for early detection of liver dysfunction in CF patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

The role of disulphide bonds in human intestinal mucin.

Goblet-cell mucin (mucin 1) was isolated and purified from human small-intestinal scrapings. After application of mucin 1 to DEAE-Bio-Gel (A) columns, most of the glycoprotein (76-94% of hexoses) was eluted in the first peak (designated mucin 2). Minor amounts of acidic glycoproteins were eluted with 0.2m- and 0.4m-NaCl in later peaks. Analyses of mucin 1 and mucin 2 revealed mucin 2 to be a monodisperse highly glycosylated glycoprotein containing 6.3% by wt. of protein, N-acetylgalactosamine, N-acetylglucosamine, galactose and fucose. Mucin 1 was similar in composition, but was polydisperse and contained more protein (12.3% by wt.) as well as N-acetylneuraminic acid. Analytical CsCl-gradient ultracentrifugation showed both mucin 1 and mucin 2 to have a major component with an average buoyant density of 1.47000g/ml. Mucin 1 also contained a slightly less-dense minor glycoprotein component. After exhaustive reduction and alkylation mucin 1 retained its major component, but partly dissociated into two lighter glycoprotein components. Mucin 2, in contrast, did not change its density distribution after reduction. Band ultracentrifugation in (2)H(2)O-containing iso-osmotic buffers showed that mucin 1 contained a major fast-sedimenting component (s(o)=37+/-2S), and a minor amount of a slower-sedimenting component. After reduction there was an increased quantity of the latter component, for which an s(o) value of 14.5S was calculated. In contrast, mucin 2 was unaltered by reduction (s(o)=33+/-2S). These findings indicate that the major component of goblet-cell mucin (mucin 2) does not dissociate after S-S-bond reduction, and thus does not apparently rely for its polymeric structure on the association of subunits through covalent disulphide bonds. However, the effects of reduction on mucin 1 suggest that in the native mucin intramolecular disulphide bonds in the minor glycoproteins may stabilize their structure, permitting secondary non-covalent interactions to develop with the major dense mucin (mucin 2) protein.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1979

Enzyme activity in partly dissociated fragments of rat intestinal maltase/glucoamylase.

Pure rat intestinal maltase/glucoamylase was partially inactivated in 1% sodium dodecyl sulphage by heating at 40--70 degree C for 5 min at pH 7.5, or by lowering the pH to 5.4--6.6 at 24 degree C. When partially active preparations were electrophoresed in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate, a complicated protein band pattern of incompletely dissociated fragments of the enzyme was observed. Complete dissociation of the enzyme in sodium dodecyl sulphate, induced by boiling or by pH values below 5.4, was accompanied by total loss of enzyme activity and simplification of the protein pattern to five major species. Although the original enzyme band was absent from some partially dissociated preparations, enzyme activity was present and was associated with several transient protein bands on the gels. Maltase and alpha-glucosidase activities were detected in these bands, but glucoamylase activity was absent.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Radioimmunoassay of human intestinal goblet cell mucin. Investigation of mucus from different organs and species.

We have developed a double-antibody radioimmunoassay for the quantitative measurement of human goblet cell mucin (GCM) in order to study intestinal mucus in human and other species. The assay used 3H-labeled mucin as the antigen, rabbit antisera, and sheep anti-rabbit IgG antisera as the second antibody. A number of applications of the assay were investigated. A survey of human tissues revealed that mucins of the rectum, colon, and small intestine had identical affinity for the rabbit antibody, whereas lung eyelid conjunctiva, esophagus, and stomach reacted less strongly. GCM concentration ranged from 1.9 to 14 microgram mucin protein/mg tissue protein in the small and large intestine, respectively. The radioimmunoassay was also found to be useful as a marker during the isolation of GCM from human ileal extracts, where it indicated that a 10,000-fold purification had been achieved. Antigenic determinants of the mucin did not rely upon ABH blood group-specific terminal sugars in oligosaccharide chains. A comparison of mucins among various species revealed a partial species specificity of the GCM antibody. Human GCM cross-reacted with dog, monkey, and rabbit mucins, but not with mucins of rat, pig, toad, and oyster. Organ distributions of cross-reactive mucins in rabbit tissues indicated a pattern that was qualitatively similar to that seen in human tissues. Possible implications of these findings for autoimmune diseases are briefly discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Enhancement of the viscosity of mucin by serum albumin.

The interaction of serum albumin with a model epithelial mucin from pig stomach was explored by rotary viscometry. During 30 min of incubation of human serum albumin(20mg/ml) and pig gastric mucin (8mg/ml) in iso-osmotic buffers at 37 degrees C, the solution became markedly viscous. Viscosity enhancement was proportional to albumin concentration (2-40mg/ml), was most pronounced under conditions of low shear rate (less than 45S-1), and was considerably greater than the additive or multiplicative viscosity values calculated from albumin or mucin solutions measured separately. The viscous mucin-albumin complex was destroyed by high shear rates (greater than 90S-1), but slowly re-formed under zero shear conditions. Elevation of pH (7 to 9), ionic strength (0.1 to 1.0), and addition of disodium EDTA (5mM) did not cause marked or specific alterations in the viscosity of the mixture, suggesting that electrostatic interactions probably do not stabilize mucin-albumin complexes. Urea (7M) and heating (35 to 55 degrees C) caused a major increase in the viscosity of mucin and mucin-albumin mixtures, suggesting that rupture of hydrogen bonds, unfolding and partial denaturation of mucin promotes greater intertangling (possibly hydrophobic interactions) between mucin and albumin molecules. The implications of mucin-albumin interaction in diseases associated with mucus obstruction are briefly discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Purification of rat intestinal maltase/glucoamylase and its anomalous dissociation either by heat or by low pH.

Maltase-glucoamylase, a microvillous membrane ectoenzyme, was solubilized from rat intestinal mucosa by digestion with papain and subsequently purified to homogeneity with an overall yield of 10--20%. An antibody to the purified enzyme formed a single precipitin line in immunodiffusion experiments with an intestinal homogenate. The enzyme was shown to be an acidic glycoprotein (20% sugar by weight) which contained low amounts of cysteine and no sialic acid. At pH3--6, maltase activity was slowly lost, but the enzyme was re-activated by re-adjustment of the pH to neutrality. However, in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate, acid pH values inactivated maltase irreversibly, and at the same time converted the enzyme (mol.wt. 500000 approx.) into five new species with apparent molecular weights ranging from 134000 to 480000 as judged by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. The same five fragments were also formed by boiling the enzyme for brief periods in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate or urea either with or without reducing agents. The dissociated species were stable on re-electrophoresis, and amino acid analysis showed them to be very similar to each other and to the original enzyme. The bands migrated anomalously on polyacrylamide gels of different concentration, thereby preventing the assignment of precise molecular weights. It is possible that the five species may represent stable aggregates of a common monomer of the enzyme.

Amino Acids↗