Biomedical subjects

J M Conlon

Publications and source records attributed to J M Conlon.

At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources

PubMed1986

Serotonin release into blood after food and pentagastrin. Studies in healthy subjects and in patients with metastatic carcinoid tumors.

The effect of a 550-kcal mixed meal and of an intravenous injection of pentagastrin (0.06 microgram/kg body wt) upon peripheral blood serotonin concentrations has been compared in 10 carcinoid patients with hepatic metastases and healthy subjects. The fasting concentrations of blood serotonin in the patients (range 790-4500 ng/ml) were elevated compared with healthy subjects (range 71-310 ng/ml; n = 15). Urinary output of 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid was elevated in 8 patients but was in the healthy range for 2 patients. The healthy subjects (n = 9) responded to food with an increase in blood serotonin (maximum rise over mean basal of 32% +/- 4%) that was significant at 60, 75, 90, and 105 min postcibal. All carcinoid patients responded to food with a comparable (25% +/- 11% over basal) rise in serotonin but the pattern of release was erratic. All patients with tumor metastases exhibited symptoms of the carcinoid flush after eating, but there was no correlation between occurrence and severity of the flush and occurrence and magnitude of the rise in serotonin. Intravenous pentagastrin evoked a flush in all carcinoid patients, but there was no significant increase in peripheral blood serotonin either in the patients or in healthy subjects.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

Primary structure of insulin and a truncated C-peptide from an elasmobranchian fish, Torpedo marmorata.

Insulin has been isolated from the pancreas of Torpedo marmorata, an elasmobranchian fish, and shown to contain 21 amino acid residues in the A-chain and 30 residues in the B-chain. The sequence of insulin has been strongly conserved within the class Elasmobranchii with only one substitution and one deletion in the A chain and one substitution in the B-chain compared with insulin from the spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias. A second peptide, present in the pancreatic extracts in approximately equimolar concentration with insulin, was identified as a heptadecapeptide. The sequence of this peptide shows homology to the N-terminal region of anglerfish (Lophius americanus) C-peptide at six of 17 sites. The isolation of a truncated C-peptide suggests either that the sequence encoding the COOH-terminal region of T. marmorata C-peptide has been deleted from the preproinsulin gene or that a larger C-peptide has undergone a proteolytic cleavage in the central portion of the molecule during packaging in the secretory granules of the B cell.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1986

Measurement and partial characterization of the multiple forms of neurokinin A-like immunoreactivity in carcinoid tumours.

An antiserum raised against neurokinin A has been used to demonstrate storage and release of neurokinin A-like immunoreactivity by carcinoid tumours. The antiserum showed reactivity towards members of the tachykinin family of polypeptides in the order: neurokinin A greater than eledoisin greater than neurokinin B greater than kassinin greater than substance P greater than physalaemin but the magnitude of the cross-reactivity with substance P and physalaemin was less than 1% of that of neurokinin A. A sensitive (IC50 238 fmol/ml; minimum detectable concentration, 9 fmol/ml) radioimmunoassay was set up using this antiserum. Extracts of metastatic tumour tissue from four patients with a primary carcinoid tumour in the midgut contained both neurokinin A-like immunoreactivity (NKA-LI) and substance P-like immunoreactivity (SP-LI). The concentrations (pmol/g wet weight) of NKA-LI and SP-LI in the tumours were: patient A 210, 201; patient B 2276, 6849; patient C 1198, 834 and patient D 424, 379. Analysis of the tumour extracts by reverse phase HPLC indicated that the NKA-LI was heterogeneous. Under two different conditions of chromatography, one component was eluted with the same retention time as neurokinin A. Two further components were more hydrophobic than neurokinin A but were not eluted with the retention time of neurokinin B. Analysis of these components by gel filtration indicated a molecular weight in the 3000-4000 range suggesting that they may be related to neuropeptide K, an N-terminally extended form of neurokinin A. NKA-LI and SP-LI were undetectable in the plasma of patients A and D but were elevated in patient B (NKA-LI 1005 +/- 114; SP-LI 345 +/- 85 fmol/ml) and patient C (NKA-LI 80 +/- 31; SP-LI 21 +/- 13 fmol/ml).

Carcinoid Tumor↗

PubMed1986

Effect of streptozotocin administration upon the serotonin content of the pancreas and small intestine of the rat.

The study has examined the effect of streptozotocin-induced diabetes of 3 days and 10 weeks duration upon the serotonin content of the rat pancreas and small intestine. Streptozotocin administration (65 mg/kg) resulted in a significant (p less than 0.001) decrease in pancreatic serotonin after 3 days (to 18% of the non-diabetic content). Diabetes of both short- and medium-term duration had no significant effect upon the serotonin content of the small intestine suggesting that changes in mucosal serotonin levels are not responsible for the diarrhea frequently observed in streptozotocin-treated animals. The diabetogenic effect of streptozotocin and the reduction in pancreatic serotonin were abolished by prior injection of nicotinamide thus providing further evidence for co-storage of insulin and serotonin in the B cell.

Animals↗

PubMed1986

Hypersecretion of proinsulin does not explain the hyperinsulinaemia of patients with liver cirrhosis.

A radioimmunoassay using a proinsulin-specific antiserum that does not react preferentially with the split forms of proinsulin has been used to compare the response of circulating proinsulin to low (25 g) and high (75 g) oral glucose loads in healthy subjects and in patients with liver cirrhosis. The patients were divided into two groups: Group A (n = 7) with normal glucose tolerance and Group B with diabetic (n = 5) and impaired (n = 1) glucose tolerance. There was no apparent correlation between glucose tolerance and the results of quantitative liver function tests. In the fasted state, the concentrations of serum proinsulin did not differ significantly in patients of Group A (0.022 +/- 0.002 nmol/l) or Group B (0.026 +/- 0.004 nmol/l) from those in healthy subjects (0.021 +/- 0.002 nmol/l). After 75 g glucose, the rise in serum proinsulin to a maximum concentration of 0.082 +/- 0.012 nmol/l in patients of Group A and to 0.070 +/- 0.019 nmol/l in Group B was not significantly different at any time point up to 180 min from the rise in healthy subjects (to 0.063 +/- 0.005 nmol/l). After 25 g glucose, the response of serum proinsulin in Group B patients (maximum concentration 0.035 +/- 0.003 nmol/l) was not significantly different from that in healthy subjects (maximum concentration 0.032 +/- 0.003 nmol/l) but a slightly enhanced release was observed in the Group A patients (maximum concentration 0.049 +/- 0.003 nmol/l) that was significantly greater (P less than 0.05) at 60 min post-glucose. In contrast, the concentrations of serum immunoreactive insulin and immunoreactive C-peptide in all patients with cirrhosis were significantly elevated compared with healthy subjects both in the fasted state and at several time points following high and low oral glucose. In the fasted state, the serum proinsulin/C-peptide molar ratio, an index of the relative state of secretion of proinsulin and insulin, was significantly lower (P less than 0.05) in both groups of cirrhotic patients than in healthy subjects. After high and low glucose, this ratio fell in all patients and in the healthy subjects. We conclude that cirrhosis of the liver is associated with a hypersecretion of insulin but hyperproinsulinaemia does not contribute appreciably to the elevated concentration of immunoreactive insulin in the peripheral circulation.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

Proteolytic inactivation of substance P and neurokinin A in the longitudinal muscle layer of guinea pig small intestine.

Membrane vesicles, showing a 21 +/- 2-fold enrichment in the activity of 5'-nucleotidase and a 11 +/- 4-fold enrichment in the activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme relative to homogenate, were prepared from the myenteric plexus-containing longitudinal muscle layer of guinea pig ileum. Incubation of the vesicles with substance P and neurokinin A led to degradation of the peptides, and metabolites were isolated by reverse-phase HPLC and identified by amino acid composition. Cleavages of substance P between Glu6-Phe7, Phe7-Phe8, and Gly9-Leu10 and of neurokinin A between Gly8-Leu9 were observed and could be inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by phosphoramidon, an inhibitor of neutral endopeptidase 24.11. Formation of these metabolites was not completely inhibited by this agent, indicating that a phosphoramidon-insensitive form of endopeptidase 24.11 was present in the gut. Substance P was resistant to degradation by aminopeptidases, but neurokinin A was a substrate for bestatin-sensitive aminopeptidase(s), so that the neurokinin A (3-10) fragment represented the predominant metabolite in the chromatograms. The rate of formation of all the metabolites was not inhibited by enalapril and not enhanced by an increased Cl- concentration, indicating that angiotensin-converting enzyme was unimportant in the degradation process. Degradation of neurokinin A by the vesicles (Km 30 microM; Vmax 7.2 +/- 0.8 nmol min-1 mg of protein-1) was more rapid than degradation of substance P (Km 25 microM; Vmax 4.4 +/- 0.4 nmol min-1 mg of protein-1).

Aminopeptidases↗

PubMed1986

Presence of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-like immunoreactivity in the cholinergic electromotor system of Torpedo marmorata.

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-like immunoreactivity was detected in the cholinergic electro-motor system of Torpedo marmorata using a combination of immunohistochemical assays, radioimmunoassay, and HPLC. The immunohistochemical assays revealed that the distribution of VIP-like immunoreactivity in the electric lobes, electromotor nerves, and electric organ is comparable to that of the stable cholinergic synaptic vesicle marker vesicle-specific proteoglycan. Ligation of the electromotor nerves caused a marked accumulation of VIP-like immunoreactivity in the lobes (180%) and the proximal portions of the electromotor nerves (130%) and a decrease in the electric organ (-50%), when measured by radioimmunoassay using synthetic VIP (porcine sequence) as the standard. VIP-like immunoreactivity in extracts of electric lobes electromotor nerves, and electric organ was eluted from a semipreparative reverse-phase HPLC column as a single peak with a retention time similar to that of porcine VIP. Rechromatography at higher resolution on an analytical column indicated diversity between the molecular forms of VIP-like immunoreactivity extracted from electric lobe and electric organ, suggesting the possibility of posttranslational processing.

Animals↗

PubMed1986

Specific binding and degradation of somatostatin by membrane vesicles from pig gut.

Plasma membrane vesicles were prepared from the basolateral face of pig small intestinal epithelial cells and were enriched in the activity of Na+-K+-ATPase (9-fold relative to the cell homogenate) and ranged in size from 0.15 to 0.40 micron diam. Incubation of somatostatin-14 and [125I-Tyr11]-somatostatin-14 with the vesicles at 37 degrees C resulted in rapid proteolytic degradation of the peptides. Metabolites were isolated by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and identified by amino acid composition. Cleavages between Ala1-Gly2, Phe6-Phe7, Phe7-Trp8, and Thr10-Phe11 were observed, indicative of aminopeptidase and endopeptidase action. Degradation was inhibited by 1,10-phenanthroline and by bacitracin, and in the presence of these inhibitors and at 21 degrees C binding of [125I-Tyr11]somatostatin-14 to the vesicles was observed. Binding was inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner by somatostatin-14 (half-maximal inhibition at 2.0 +/- 0.1 nM) and by somatostatin-28 (0.8 +/- 0.1 nM) but not by structurally unrelated peptides. The rate of degradation of [125I-Leu8, D-Trp22, Tyr25]somatostatin-28 by basolateral membrane was less than 20 fold that of [125I-Tyr11]somatostatin-14 and a two- to three-fold enhanced binding to the vesicles was observed. Analysis of the inhibition of binding of this analogue by somatostatin-28 indicates the presence of single class of binding site with Kd = 1.3 +/- 0.3 nM. Rapid degradation but no specific binding of somatostatin-14 by brush-border membranes was observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Amino Acids↗

PubMed1986

Effect of short- and long-term feeding of omeprazole on rat gastric endocrine cells.

Rats were tube-fed with omeprazole (40 mumol/kg body weight twice daily) for 30 and 60 days. As a result, fasting plasma gastrin levels were significantly elevated, while plasma somatostatin levels remained normal. Gastrin concentrations in the antral mucosa were unchanged after 30 days, but significantly elevated after 60 days. The relative stomach weight and the area of the antral and oxyntic mucosa increased significantly; however, the oxyntic mucosa thickness and the volume density of the parietal cells did not increase. Highly significant changes occurred in the endocrine cells of the antrum and corpus. The volume density of the argyrophilic (Grimelius technique) cells of the oxyntic mucosa increased time-dependently, and so did the volume density of the antral G cells, while the volume density of the antral D cells decreased. This resulted in a remarkable increase in the G/D cell ratio. All functional and morphological changes are reversed 42 days after omeprazole feeding for 60 days. The findings in the endocrine cells of the antral mucosa are explained by the omeprazole-induced permanent elevation of the intragastric pH and in the endocrine cells of the oxyntic mucosa by the following hypergastrinaemia.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed1985

Proteolytic inactivation of substance P in the epithelial layer of the intestine.

Metabolites of substance P, produced by incubation with isolated epithelial cells and with purified brush border and basolateral membrane from pig small intestine, were isolated by high performance liquid chromatography and identified by amino acid analysis. Rapid cleavages between Gln6-Phe7, Phe7-Phe8 and Gly9-Leu10 and oxidation of the methionine residue at position 11 were observed with cells and with both membrane fractions. Formation of substance P3-11' indicative of the action of dipeptidylaminopeptidase IV (EC 3.4.14.5), was observed only at high substrate concentration. Proteolytic degradation was inhibited by phosphoramidon and by EDTA but was insensitive to chloride ion concentration and to captopril. These observations suggest that inactivation of substance P in the epithelial layer of the gut is mediated through endopeptidase-24.11 (EC 3.4.24.11) in the cell-surface membrane and that degradation by angiotensin-converting enzyme (EC 3.4.15.1), although present in high concentration in the mucosa, is unimportant.

Amino Acids↗

PubMed1985

Isolation and characterization of proSS1-32, a peptide derived from the N-terminal region of porcine preprosomatostatin.

A peptide derived from the N-terminal region of porcine prosomatostatin, proSS1-32, has been purified to homogeneity from extracts of porcine upper intestine. Amino acid analysis revealed that the peptide consists of 32 residues. The complete primary structure was determined as: A P S D P R L R Q F L Q K S L A A A A G K Q E L A K Y F L A E L. This sequence obviously comprises residues 1-32 of porcine prosomatostatin since it is identical to the corresponding sequence in human preprosomatostatin. The postulated cleavage site in porcine prosomatostatin is a Leu-Leu bond between residues 32 and 33, thus confirming previous studies of the processing of the somatostatin precursor in the rat and transgenic mouse.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1985

Valosin: isolation and characterization of a novel peptide from porcine intestine.

The isolation and primary structure of a novel gastrointestinal peptide, designated valosin, is described. The peptide was purified from porcine upper gut extracts using an HPLC and N-terminal sequence screening strategy which depends on chromatographic and structural characteristics as isolation criterion. The amino acid sequence of this peptide consists of 25 amino acid residues:

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1985

Changes in the somatostatin, substance P and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide content of the gastrointestinal tract following streptozotocin-induced diabetes in the rat.

Rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes of 10 weeks' duration showed significant changes in the total content of somatostatin, substance P and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in the stomach and small intestine compared with control animals. An increase (p less than 0.05) in the concentration and total content of gastric somatostatin and a decrease (p less than 0.05) in the concentration and content of gastric substance P were seen in the streptozotocin-treated rats. The increase in the vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) content (54%, p less than 0.05) and the decrease in the substance P content (35%, p less than 0.05) of the gut may contribute to the impaired intestinal motility observed in animals with experimentally produced diabetes. Both the diabetogenic effect of streptozotocin and the changes in regulatory peptide concentrations were prevented by injection of nicotinamide before streptozotocin suggesting that the changes did not arise from a non-specific toxic effect of streptozotocin upon gastrointestinal neurones and/or endocrine cells.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

Primary structure of glucagon from an elasmobranchian fish. Torpedo marmorata.

Glucagon has been isolated from the pancreas of Torpedo marmorata, an elasmobranchian cartilaginous fish, and purified to homogeneity using only reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Amino acid sequence analysis indicates that the molecule differs from mammalian glucagon at position 3 (glutamic acid for glutamine), position 16 (asparagine for serine), and position 20 (lysine for glutamine). Extracts of T. marmorata intestine and brain were associated with glucagon-like immunoreactivity determined by radioimmunoassay using antisera directed against the C-terminal and N-terminal to central regions of porcine glucagon. Although elasmobranchian and teleostean fish are believed to have diverged from the main line of vertebrate evolution at about the same time, the structure of two glucagons from the teleost, Lophius americanus (anglerfish) differ from mammalian glucagon by seven and nine residues. This study supports the assertion that the structure of glucagon has been highly conserved during evolution and suggests that the considerable morphological development of the pancreas is teleosts was associated with an accelerated rate of molecular evolution.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1985

An elasmobranchian somatostatin: primary structure and tissue distribution in Torpedo marmorata.

Extracts of brain, stomach, pancreas, and intestine from Torpedo marmorata, an elasmobranchian cartilaginous fish, contained somatostatin-like immunoreactivity. Gel filtration studies demonstrated that material with the elution volume of somatostatin-14 was the only component detected in all tissue extracts. This result contrasts with the situation in mammals where prosomatostatin is processed to multiple molecular forms in a tissue-specific manner. Somatostatin from pancreas and gut was purified to homogeneity and amino acid sequence analysis indicated that T. marmorata somatostatin from both tissues has the same structure as somatostatin-14 isolated from the higher vertebrates. Further examination of other lower vertebrate species is required in order to test the hypothesis that the ability to regulate the production of multiple forms of a regulatory peptide from a single precursor molecule developed only relatively late in evolution.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1985

Regulatory peptides (glucagon, somatostatin, substance P, and VIP) in the brain and gastrointestinal tract of Ambystoma mexicanum.

The concentrations of immunoreactive components of glucagon, somatostatin, substance P, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) in the brain, stomach, and gut of the neotenic Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) were determined by radioimmunoassay using antibodies of defined regional specificity. The molecular forms of the immunoreactive components were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The concentrations and molecular forms of somatostatin and VIP in axolotl brain were comparable to the concentrations in mammals but the substance P-like immunoreactivity was resolved by HPLC into components with the retention times of physalaemin and substance P together with their oxidized forms. No glucagon-like material was detected in the axolotl brain. The concentrations of substance P and VIP in the A. mexicanum digestive tract were appreciably lower than in the mammalian digestive tract and the VIP-like material did not coelute with porcine VIP. Somatostatin-14 represented the major molecular form in the axolotl stomach and gut. The distribution and molecular properties of the glucagon-like peptides in the axolotl digestive system were markedly different from these parameters in mammalian gut. Glucagon-like material is present only in low amounts in porcine and human stomach and, the concentration of enteroglucagon (N-GLI) in the gut is at least fiftyfold greater than pancreatic glucagon (C-GLI) concentrations. The axolotl stomach, in contrast, contains high levels of glucagon-like immunoreactive material and, in both stomach and gut, the levels of C-GLI and N-GLI were comparable. The glucagon-like material was heterogeneous on HPLC and was resolved into two major components but no component with the retention time of mammalian glucagon was present.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Ambystoma↗

PubMed1985

The binding of somatostatin to rat synaptosomal membranes: effects of detergent solubilisation and of bacitracin.

Specific high and low affinity binding sites for somatostatin have been demonstrated in rat brain synaptosomal membranes using 125I [Tyr"] somatostatin tracer. When incubations were carried out in the presence of low concentrations of bacitracin (0.01% w/v), a 66% increase in association constant of the high affinity binding site to Ka = 1.71 X 10(10) M-1 and a 70% increase in the Ka of the low affinity site to 0.034 X 10(10) M-1 were observed; a similar (50%) increase in the binding capacity of the low affinity site but no increase in the binding capacity of the high affinity site was seen. These results may indicate a direct effect of bacitracin on the membrane that is distinct from its effect as an inhibitor of tracer degradation. The somatostatin-binding capacity of the membranes was solubilised by treatment with Triton X-100 and the apparent molecular weight of the receptor-ligand-detergent micelle complex was estimated by gel filtration to be approximately 250,000.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

Chemical and immunochemical characterisation of substance P-like immunoreactivity and physalaemin-like immunoreactivity in a carcinoid tumour.

Extracts of a carcinoid tumour, resected from the mid-portion of the ileum of a patient with no symptoms of endocrine disorder, were associated with a high concentration of substance P-like immunoreactivity. Using reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography and antisera specifically directed against the C-terminal and N-terminal regions of substance P and against the N-terminal region of physalaemin, the following components were isolated and identified: substance P and its oxidised form, [pGlu5]substance P-(5-11) peptide and its oxidised form, and the oxidised form of physalaemin. The identity of tumour substance P with the undecapeptide was confirmed by amino acid analysis and high performance ion-exchange chromatography. In vitro incubation of tumour tissue from a lymph node metastasis from the same patient with [3H]leucine resulted in incorporation of radioactivity into newly synthesised substance P.

Carcinoid Tumor↗