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Biomedical subjects

J R Snapper

Publications and source records attributed to J R Snapper.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Resolution of dihydroxyeicosanoates and of dihydroxyeicosatrienoates by chiral phase chromatography.

A chromatographic method is described for the direct enantiomeric characterization of 5,6-, 8,9-, 11,12-, and 14,15-vic-dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids (DHETs), metabolites of the cytochrome P-450 arachidonate epoxygenase pathway, and of their corresponding saturated vic-dihydroxyeicosanoic acids. Following esterification, the individual methyl or pentafluorobenzyl esters are resolved by chiral-phase chromatography utilizing a Chiralcel OC or OD column. This methodology will find analytical and preparative applications since it is simple and efficient and preserves, intact, the diol functionality.

8,11,14-Eicosatrienoic Acid

Effects of thromboxane synthase and cyclooxygenase inhibition on PAF-induced changes in lung function and arachidonic acid metabolism.

PAF was administered as an intravenous bolus (0.1 micrograms/kg) to eight chronically instrumented awake sheep. The effects of pretreatment with an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase (meclofenamate) on PAF-induced changes in lung function were compared to those observed with a specific inhibitor of thromboxane synthase (DP1904). Each animal was studied four times in varied order: PAF alone, PAF + DP1904, PAF + meclofenamate, and DP1904 alone. Saline alone (control), DP1904 alone, and meclofenamate alone did not cause changes in any of the measured variables. DP1904 and meclofenamate significantly attenuated the PAF-induced fall in lung compliance, elevation in peak pulmonary artery pressure, and increased lung lymph flow. Both drugs abolished the PAF-induced increases in lung lymph thromboxane B2 concentrations. Meclofenamate, but not DP1904, blocked the rise in lymph 6-keto-PGF1 alpha. Although meclofenamate blocked the rise in lymph PGE2, DP1904 resulted in levels 2.7 times higher than PAF alone. We conclude that: (1) inhibition of thromboxane synthase is as effective as inhibition of cyclooxygenase in attenuating PAF-induced changes in lung function, and (2) thromboxane synthase inhibition results in augmented production of PGE2 following PAF administration in vivo.

Animals

Staphylococcal alpha toxin: a study with chronically instrumented awake sheep.

The in vivo responses to staphylococcal alpha toxin are reported for 15 chronically instrumented awake yearling sheep. The data obtained from a total of 30 experiments are grouped into four categories of response: no response, noted in seven experiments done on 5 sheep; pressor response, obtained seven times in 4 sheep; fluid and solute exchange, noted on six occasions in 3 sheep; and acute heart failure and death, which occurred in 10 of the 15 sheep. "No response" denoted no change in any of the measured outcome variables. The group of sheep labeled as showing "pressor response" responded to alpha toxin infusion with an increase in pulmonary artery pressure, unaccompanied by changes either in lung lymph flow or in lung mechanics. "Changes in lung fluid and solute exchange" involve increases in lung lymph flow. The harbinger of the last category, acute left heart failure leading to death, was a marked elevation in left atrial pressure. The threshold response dose in sheep is approximately 21 micrograms/kg. A very steep dose-response curve is observed, with only a narrow window of doses, 15 to 25 micrograms/kg, between the group showing no response and the group showing death from acute heart failure. The data obtained in these studies indicate that the lethal effects of alpha toxin in sheep include acute heart failure, which may be due to direct toxicity to heart muscle and/or the coronary vasculature endothelium.

Animals

Effect of sulfidopeptide leukotriene receptor antagonists on endotoxin-induced pulmonary dysfunction in awake sheep.

We studied the effects of two structurally unrelated sulfidopeptide leukotriene receptor antagonists on endotoxin-induced pulmonary dysfunction in chronically instrumented unanesthetized sheep. The agents employed were L-660,711 (MK-571) (Merck-Frosst, Canada) and SK&F 104,353 (Smith Kline and French, King of Prussia, PA). The efficacy and specificity of the agents were verified in sheep by administering boluses of exogenous leukotrienes (LTB4, LTC4, LTD4, and LTE4) in doses as great as 100 micrograms while monitoring lung mechanics and vascular pressures. The antagonists blocked the changes in lung mechanics and pulmonary hemodynamics induced by the sulfidopeptide leukotrienes (LTC4, LTD4, and LTE4) while having no effect on the animals' responses to LTB4. The endotoxin studies were performed by administering endotoxin alone (Escherichia coli endotoxin 0.75 microgram/kg) or endotoxin after pretreatment with one of the sulfidopeptide leukotriene receptor antagonists. In control studies, each animal received a continuous infusion of one of the receptor antagonists for a duration identical to that of the endotoxin studies. Neither L-660,711 nor SK&F 104,353 significantly altered the endotoxin-induced changes in pulmonary hemodynamics, lung mechanics, lung fluid and solute exchange, oxygenation, or leukopenia. Peak lung lymph thromboxane B2 levels were significantly lower in sheep pretreated with L-660,711. When the antagonists were given alone, no effects were seen. We conclude that (1) sulfidopeptide leukotrienes do not measurably contribute to endotoxin-induced pulmonary dysfunction in chronically instrumented sheep; (2) sulfidopeptide leukotrienes may contribute to thromboxane release after endotoxin.

Animals

Effects of repetitive bolus injections of zymosan-activated plasma on lung mechanics and airway responsiveness in awake sheep.

We studied the pulmonary effects of repetitive bolus injections of autologous zymosan-activated plasma (ZAP) in nine chronically instrumented awake sheep. Aerosol histamine responsiveness was determined 1 h before and 4.5 h after the first bolus injection of ZAP. Each sheep received in the pulmonary artery a total of eight 5-ml bolus injections of ZAP separated by 30 min. On a separate day, with the order of experimentation varied to avoid sequential bias, six of the nine sheep also received "control" plasma (plasma prepared in the identical fashion as ZAP but not incubated with zymosan). "Control" plasma caused reproducible transient increases in pulmonary artery pressure, but it did not cause alterations in any of the other measured variables. Repetitive bolus injections of ZAP caused reproducible alterations in lung mechanics, pulmonary hemodynamics, lung fluid and solute exchange, oxygenation, and peripheral leukocyte counts. The increases in thromboxane-B2 concentrations in lung lymph and plasma were greatest after the first bolus injection of ZAP, with the magnitude of these changes diminishing on succeeding injections of ZAP. Aerosol histamine responsiveness did not increase after the eight bolus injections of ZAP.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha

Role of pulmonary inflammation in altered airway responsiveness in three sheep models of acute lung injury.

Pulmonary inflammation may contribute to increased airway responsiveness in experimental models of acute lung injury. Infusions of endotoxin, phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), or zymosan-activated plasma (ZAP) all result in the accumulation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) in the lung and alterations in lung mechanics. These three interventions have strikingly different effects on airway responses to aerosol histamine: ZAP does not increase airway responsiveness, whereas endotoxin causes a greater increase in airway responsiveness than does PMA. The present histologic study examines the question of whether the pattern and severity of PMN and mast cell accumulation in large- and medium-sized airways and lung periphery could contribute to the differences in airway responsiveness to histamine. Minimally instrumented sheep were given either an infusion of endotoxin (0.5 microgram/kg over 20 min), a bolus injection of PMA (5 micrograms/kg), or repetitive boluses of autologous ZAP (5 ml). Four and a half hours later, the animals were killed, and the left lung was removed and fixed in the distended state. Three levels of the left lung were examined by light microscopy: the large hilar bronchus, a medium-sized bronchus, and peripheral lung. The number of PMNs and mast cells in the airway wall were expressed as cells/mm length of airway circumference and in the lung periphery as cells/100 alveolar profiles. Both endotoxin and PMA caused a significant 2- to 3-fold increase in number of PMNs/mm of large airway circumference, the majority of PMNs being in the blood vessels of the lamina propria and submucosa; ZAP caused only minimal PMN accumulation in the blood vessels of the submucosa.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Effect of platelet-activating factor receptor antagonism on endotoxin-induced lung dysfunction in awake sheep.

To test the hypothesis that PAF partially mediates endotoxin-induced lung dysfunction, we studied the effects of two structurally dissimilar PAF receptor antagonists (SRI 63-441 and WEB 2086) on endotoxin-induced lung dysfunction in chronically instrumented awake sheep. Each animal was studied three times in varied order: infusion of endotoxin alone (Escherichia coli endotoxin 0.5 micrograms/kg over 20 min [E]), infusion of the competitive platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor antagonist alone, or with endotoxin given 1 h after beginning the 6-h drug infusion (E + SRI, E + WEB). Neither drug alone had significant effects on any of the measured variables, but both were able to abolish the pulmonary pressor effect of a 0.25-micrograms/kg bolus of PAF. SRI 63-441 (10 to 20 mg/kg/h) attenuated the endotoxin-induced pulmonary hypertension (peak pulmonary arterial pressure, 53 +/- 12 versus 65 +/- 7 cm H2O; p greater than 0.05) and fall in dynamic compliance of the lungs (to 65.1 +/- 9.8% baseline versus 32.6 +/- 5.1% baseline). Lung lymph flow increased 6.1- and 5.8-fold at 2 and 5 h for (E) versus 1.9- and 2.5-fold at identical time points for (E + SRI). SRI 63-441 attenuated the acute leukopenia noted after endotoxemia. WEB 2086 (20 mg/kg/h) similarly attenuated the late alterations in lung mechanics and lymph flow caused by endotoxin, but it had little effect on the early pulmonary hypertension and lung mechanic changes. Both agents significantly attenuated the rise in lymph thromboxane B2 levels after endotoxemia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Meclofenamate blocks the pulmonary arterial vasopressor effects of leukotriene B4 in awake sheep.

This study examined the hemodynamic effects of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) in chronically instrumented awake sheep, and the role of cyclooxygenase products in the sheep's response to LTB4. LTB4 (25 micrograms) was given as a bolus into the pulmonary artery. Six sheep were studied with LTB4, both before and after pretreatment with meclofenamate (5 mg/kg load, 3 mg/kg/hr maintenance infusion). LTB4 alone caused a rapid rise in pulmonary arterial pressure from 15 +/- 1 to 42 +/- 11 cm H2O. LTB4 had no effect on pulmonary arterial pressure following pretreatment with meclofenamate. LTB4 alone caused an increase in serum thromboxane B2 (TxB2) from 130 +/- 35 to 320 +/- 17 pg/ml 3 minutes after dosing but did not increase TxB2 following pre-treatment with meclofenamate. LTB4 caused a slight decrease in mean systemic arterial pressure and a transient fall in circulating white blood cells, both of which were unaffected by meclofenamate pre-treatment. The vasoactive effects of LTB4 in the pulmonary circulation appear to be mediated indirectly through the production of cyclooxygenase metabolites of arachidonic acid.

Animals

Thromboxane receptor-mediated bronchial and hemodynamic responses in ovine endotoxemia.

The role of thromboxane A2 in sheep endotoxemia, an animal model of the adult respiratory distress syndrome, was investigated by a combined biochemical and pharmacological approach. Endogenous thromboxane biosynthesis was assessed by gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of urinary (thromboxane B2, 2,3-dinor-thromboxane B2) and plasma (11-dehydrothromboxane B2) metabolites that demonstrated a significant stimulation by endotoxin. The functional relevance of thromboxane A2 was probed with a specific thromboxane-prostaglandin endoperoxide receptor antagonist, SQ 29548. The antagonist significantly blunted the increase in pulmonary arterial pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance, lung lymph flow, and lymph protein clearance induced by endotoxin. Whereas the reduction in lung compliance caused by endotoxin was abolished, the augmented airway resistance was unaffected. From the simultaneous increase in thromboxane biosynthesis and effects of receptor blockade, it was concluded that thromboxane A2 mediates the early pathophysiological changes of sheep endotoxemia. Thromboxane receptor antagonism may offer a potential therapeutic approach to patients at risk of the adult respiratory distress syndrome.

15-Hydroxy-11 alpha,9 alpha-(epoxymethano)prosta-5

Role of circulating platelets and granulocytes in PAF-induced pulmonary dysfunction in awake sheep.

The effects of a single intravascular bolus injection of platelet-activating factor (PAF) on pulmonary hemodynamics, lung mechanics, and lung fluid and solute exchange were studied in 13 chronically instrumented unanesthetized sheep. Since PAF has profound effects on both platelets and granulocytes, we investigated the effects of platelet and granulocyte depletion on the sheep's response to exogenous PAF. Sheep received PAF when granulocyte and platelets counts were normal and after platelet depletion with rabbit antisheep platelet antibodies (n = 5) or granulocyte depletion with hydroxyurea (n = 5). Sheep served as their own controls, and the order of experimentation was varied. Bolus injections of PAF had reproducible effects on pulmonary hemodynamics (pulmonary arterial pressure increased acutely to 85 +/- 3.7 cmH2O) and lung mechanics (dynamic compliance of the lungs decreased to 24.5 +/- 3.8% of base line and resistance to airflow across the lungs increased greater than 10-fold) and caused marked increases in lung lymph concentrations of thromboxane B2 and 6-ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha. The single bolus injection of PAF also caused marked prolonged elevations in lung lymph flow and increases in the lymph-to-plasma protein concentration ratio for 3 h after PAF. PAF had profound effects despite platelet and granulocyte depletion. Platelet depletion slightly attenuated the pulmonary hypertension observed after PAF injection. Platelet depletion also attenuated the increases in thromboxane B2 concentrations in lung lymph, and lung mechanics normalized more rapidly in platelet-depleted sheep. There were no statistically significant effects of granulocyte depletion to less than 200 granulocytes/mm3 on any of the measured variables.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Effect of inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase metabolism of arachidonic acid on response to endotoxemia in sheep.

We studied the effects of a 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor, L-651,192, on the pulmonary dysfunction caused by endotoxemia in chronically instrumented unanesthetized sheep. The efficacy and selectivity of L-651,392 were tested by measuring in vivo production of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and cyclooxygenase products of arachidonic acid after endotoxemia before and after pretreatment with L-651,392 and ex vivo from granulocytes and whole blood stimulated with calcium ionophore from sheep before and 24 h after pretreatment with L-651,392. A novel assay for LTB4 by high-performance liquid chromatography/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry techniques was developed as a measure of 5-lipoxygenase metabolism of arachidonic acid. L-651,392 proved to be an effective in vivo 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor in sheep. L-651,392 blocked the increase in LTB4 observed in lung lymph after endotoxemia in vivo in sheep as well as inhibited by 80% the ex vivo production of LTB4 by granulocytes removed from sheep treated 24 h earlier with L-651,392. Although L-651,392 blocked the increase in cyclooxygenase products of arachidonic acid observed in lung lymph after endotoxemia in vivo in sheep, the drug probably did not function directly as a cyclooxygenase inhibitor. L-651,392 did not attenuate the ex vivo production of thromboxane B2 by whole blood from sheep treated 24 h earlier with the drug. L-651,392 attenuated the alterations in pulmonary hemodynamics, lung mechanics, oxygenation, and lung fluid and solute exchange observed after endotoxemia in sheep. We speculate that 5-lipoxygenase products are a major stimulus for cyclooxygenase metabolism of arachidonic acid after endotoxemia in sheep.

Animals

Direct and indirect effects of leukotriene D4 on the lungs of unanesthetized sheep.

The direct and indirect actions of two active components of slow-reacting substance of anaphylaxis, leukotrienes C4 (LTC4) and D4 (LTD4), were studied in chronically instrumented unanesthetized sheep. Intravenous injection of 3 micrograms of LTD4 caused immediate marked pulmonary arterial hypertension which returned to baseline in 6.5 +/- 1.0 min. Dynamic compliance of the lungs (Cdyn) and left atrial (PLA) and aortic (Paorta) blood pressure fell concomitantly with the increases in pulmonary artery pressure (PPA). PLA and Paorta then increased above baseline and heart rate deceased significantly. LTD4 caused only small increases in lung lymph flow but did increase lung lymph concentrations of thromboxane B2. Lung lymph concentrations of 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha did not increase following LTD4 infusion. The increase in PPA after 3-micrograms injections of LTD4 was greater than that caused by 10-micrograms injections of prostaglandin H2-analog. Injections of 10-30 micrograms of LTC4 caused only minor increases in PPA but did cause bradycardia and delayed increases in PLA and Paorta. The cyclooxygenase inhibitors meclofenamate and ibuprofen inhibited the increases in PPA caused by LTD4 but not the later bradycardia or increases in PLA and Paorta. The thromboxane synthetase inhibitor UK-38485 attenuated the early increase in PPA and moderated the later increases in PLA and Paorta and bradycardia caused by LTD4 injection. The response of unanesthetized sheep to LTD4 is mediated, at least in part, indirectly by stimulation of the cyclooxygenase pathway of arachidonate metabolism.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha

Perilla ketone: a model of increased pulmonary microvascular permeability pulmonary edema in sheep.

A model of increased microvascular permeability pulmonary edema was developed in chronically instrumented unanesthetized sheep using perilla ketone (PK). PK did not cause changes in pulmonary hemodynamics but did cause marked increases in the flow of protein-rich lung lymph. The changes in lung lymph flow were accompanied by radiographic evidence of both interstitial and alveolar pulmonary edema as well as hypoxemia. PK did not cause acute changes in lung mechanics. Dynamic compliance of the lungs and FRC decreased later, concomitant with the changes in lung lymph flow, radiographic evidence for pulmonary edema, and hypoxemia. Resistance to air flow across the lungs and specific conductance did not change significantly after PK infusion. The severity of the radiographic evidence for pulmonary edema observed after PK correlated with the severity of the concomitant hypoxemia and changes in dynamic compliance of the lungs. PK did not cause increases in the concentrations of cyclooxygenase products of arachidonic acid in lung lymph or plasma or changes in blood leukocyte counts. We conclude that PK causes increased lung microvascular permeability pulmonary edema without acute changes in pulmonary hemodynamics. This model permits study of the pathophysiologic aspects of increased lung microvascular permeability without the concomitant functional alterations that complicate most other experimental models of diffuse lung injury.

Animals

Effect of platelet-activating factor on aerosol histamine responsiveness in awake sheep.

Platelet-activating factor (PAF), a potent proinflammatory ether lipid, has been proposed as a potential mediator of airway hyperresponsiveness. We studied the effect of a single intravascular bolus of synthetic PAF (0.5 microgram/kg) on airway responsiveness to aerosolized histamine in 8 chronically instrumented awake sheep. Lung mechanics were assessed by whole-body plethysmography. Histamine dose-response curves were performed before and 4 h after PAF administration. PAF induced a 60% fall in dynamic compliance and a three-fold increase in resistance to air flow across the lung within 5 min. All animals tested became more responsive to aerosol histamine 4 h after PAF as evidenced by a fall in ED65Cdyn from 9.45 mg/ml before to 4.34 mg/ml. There was no correlation between the initial Cdyn or the Cdyn measured just prior to the second bronchial challenge and the calculated alteration in responsiveness. Animals displaying the greatest initial responsiveness to aerosol histamine also manifested the greatest alteration in lung mechanics after intravascular PAF (r = 0.92). We conclude that PAF consistently alters lung mechanics and increases airway responsiveness in awake sheep, and aerosol histamine responsiveness correlates with the maximal response to intravenous PAF.

Aerosols

Pulmonary edema.

The pathophysiology of pulmonary edema formation has been discussed under normal conditions and when pulmonary capillary endothelial (and possibly alveolar epithelial) permeability are increased. The potential anatomic sites for pulmonary edema formation and the clinical relevance of the various sites were discussed. The role of potential "safety factors"--including increased lung lymph flow, increased interstitial hydrostatic pressure, and decreased interstitial protein osmotic pressure--in cardiogenic and fluid overload versus increased permeability pulmonary edema, were addressed. The clinical usefulness of quantitating various variables including pulmonary vascular pressures and lung water were also briefly discussed. Pulmonary edema fluid contains potential mediators that may contribute to the severity and chronicity of the lung injury. It is hoped that the concepts explored here should eventually provide clinically relevant information to guide in the management of critically ill patients with pulmonary edema.

Body Water

Phorbol myristate acetate lung injury and airway responsiveness to aerosol histamine in awake sheep.

To test the hypothesis that phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), a potent granulocyte activator, would increase airway responsiveness to aerosol histamine, we quantitated airway responsiveness to aerosol histamine in nine awake sheep before and 4 1/2 hours after intravenous PMA, 5 micrograms/kg. A dose-response curve to aerosol histamine was constructed by administering histamine aerosols of 0.1, 0.3, 1.0, 3.0, 10.0, and 30.0 mg/ml sequentially until dynamic lung compliance (Cdyn) decreased to less than or equal to 65% baseline. The dose of histamine that caused a reduction of Cdyn to 65% of baseline (ED65Cdyn) was determined by linear interpolation. We then administered PMA, defined a new baseline Cdyn 4 1/2 hours later, and administered aerosol histamine as before. Control experiments were performed on another day in eight of the nine sheep by administering aerosol histamine 4 1/2 hours apart without infusing PMA. Histamine responsiveness did not change significantly during 4 1/2 hours in the control experiments. Control (preaerosol histamine) Cdyn decreased from 0.090 +/- 0.010 L/cm H2O before PMA to 0.048 +/- 0.004 L/cm H2 4 1/2 hours after PMA. The mean pre-PMA ED65Cdyn for the nine sheep was 3.80 +/- 0.87 mg/ml, and the mean post-PMA ED65Cdyn was 2.13 +/- 0.98 mg/ml (p less than 0.05). When individual dose-response curves are examined, the small statistical increase in aerosol histamine responsiveness does not appear important, especially when the increase is compared to the changes previously reported after endotoxemia in unanesthetized sheep.

Aerosols