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Biomedical subjects

J Cartañá

Publications and source records attributed to J Cartañá.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Effects of acute nickel toxicity upon plasma and liver metal homeostasis as a function of sex.

The effects of an acute dose of nickel chloride (4 mg Ni/kg body wt) upon liver and plasma essential metal homoeostasis were studied in male and female rats. Total levels of copper and zinc in the tissues and in the fractions of chromatographic profiles (Sephadex G-100 and G-150) were determined. Plasma and liver levels of both metals rose significantly. The higher levels of copper in plasma are associated with increased ceruloplasmin activity and the initial increase of zinc in plasma is due to higher zinc content in the plasma albumin fraction. In the liver, the higher levels of both metals similarly affected all the metal-containing chromatographic fractions, although a significant increase is only observed in metallothionein-containing fractions, which agrees with previous reports on increased levels of metallothionein after nickel treatment. Regarding the sex-dependent changes, both sexes showed the same alterations, yet males recovered faster than females from all the nickel-induced changes in metal homoeostasis.

Animals↗

[Antibiotic prophylaxis with piperacillin in vaginal hysterectomy. Study of 1 dose versus 3 doses].

A homogeneous and consecutive series of 93 patients treated with vaginal hysterectomy is studied in a controlled, randomized clinical essay. The patients were divided in two groups. One of the groups received one single dose of 49 of piperacillin 30 minutes before surgery; the other, three doses of 4 g of the same antibiotic 30 minutes before surgery and 6 & 12 hours after it. No significant difference was found between both groups and therefore it is fair to suppose that one single preoperative dose of piperacillin shows similar efficacy to the usually used three doses, one preoperative and two postoperative.

Bacterial Infections↗

Characterization of the inhibition effect induced by nickel on glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and glutathione reductase.

Kinetic characterization of the inhibition effect of nickel on glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.49) (G-6-PD) and glutathione reductase (GR; EC 1.6.4.2) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae was made. The effect of nickel on G-6-PD activity is consistent with a mixed-type inhibition pattern, with a competitive character, since the inequality ki,int greater than ki,slope shows an inverse relation between varied substrate concentrations and fractional inhibition. An inhibition effect of nickel on GR activity, when NADPH is the varied substrate, is also consistent with a mixed-type inhibition pattern. However, pure competitive inhibition is found on GR reaction when oxidized glutathione is the varied substrate. This investigation shows the highest sensibility of GR before the inhibitory effect of nickel, in agreement with the experimental values of inhibition constants found in this study, where constants related to the GR system are lower than the ones of the G-6-PD system.

Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase↗