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Biomedical subjects

Joseph C LaManna

Publications and source records attributed to Joseph C LaManna.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Adenosine treatment delays postischemic hippocampal CA1 loss after cardiac arrest and resuscitation in rats.

Resuscitation from cardiac arrest results in reperfusion injury that leads to increased postresuscitation mortality and delayed neuronal death. One of the many consequences of resuscitation from cardiac arrest is a derangement of energy metabolism and the loss of adenylates, impairing the tissue's ability to regain proper energy balance. In this study, we investigated the effects of adenosine (ADO) on the recovery of the brain from 12 min of ischemia using a rat model of cardiac arrest and resuscitation. Compared to the untreated group, treatment with adenosine (7.2 mg/kg) initiated immediately after resuscitation increased the proportion of rats surviving to 4 days and significantly delayed hippocampal CA1 neuronal loss. Brain blood flow was increased significantly in the adenosine-treated rats 1 h after cardiac arrest and resuscitation. Adenosine-treated rats exhibited less edema in cortex, brainstem and hippocampus during the first 48 h of recovery. Adenosine treatment significantly lowered brain temperature during recovery, and a part of the neuroprotective effects of adenosine treatment could be ascribed to adenosine-induced hypothermia. With this dose, adenosine may have a delayed transient effect on the restoration of the adenylate pool (AXP = ATP + ADP + AMP) 24 h after cardiac arrest and resuscitation. Our findings suggested that improved postischemic brain blood flow and ADO-induced hypothermia, rather than adenylate supplementation, may be the two major contributors to the neuroprotective effects of adenosine following cardiac arrest and resuscitation. Although adenosine did not prevent eventual CA1 neuronal loss in the long term, it did delay neuronal loss and promoted long-term survival. Thus, adenosine or specific agonists of adenosine receptors should be evaluated as adjuncts to broaden the window of opportunity in the treatment of the reperfusion injury following cardiac arrest and resuscitation.

Adenosine↗

Hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl 4-hydroxylase inhibition. A target for neuroprotection in the central nervous system.

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) prolyl 4-hydroxylases are a family of iron- and 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases that negatively regulate the stability of several proteins that have established roles in adaptation to hypoxic or oxidative stress. These proteins include the transcriptional activators HIF-1alpha and HIF-2alpha. The ability of the inhibitors of HIF prolyl 4-hydroxylases to stabilize proteins involved in adaptation in neurons and to prevent neuronal injury remains unclear. We reported that structurally diverse low molecular weight or peptide inhibitors of the HIF prolyl 4-hydroxylases stabilize HIF-1alpha and up-regulate HIF-dependent target genes (e.g. enolase, p21(waf1/cip1), vascular endothelial growth factor, or erythropoietin) in embryonic cortical neurons in vitro or in adult rat brains in vivo. We also showed that structurally diverse HIF prolyl 4-hydroxylase inhibitors prevent oxidative death in vitro and ischemic injury in vivo. Taken together these findings identified low molecular weight and peptide HIF prolyl 4-hydroxylase inhibitors as novel neurological therapeutics for stroke as well as other diseases associated with oxidative stress.

Animals↗

Absence of cellular stress in brain after hypoxia induced by arousal from hibernation in Arctic ground squirrels.

Although hypoxia tolerance in heterothermic mammals is well established, it is unclear whether the adaptive significance stems from hypoxia or other cellular challenge associated with euthermy, hibernation, or arousal. In the present study, blood gases, hemoglobin O2 saturation (S(O2), and indexes of cellular and physiological stress were measured during hibernation and euthermy and after arousal thermogenesis. Results show that arterial O2 tension (Pa(O2)) and S(O2) are severely diminished during arousal and that hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha accumulates in brain. Despite evidence of hypoxia, neither cellular nor oxidative stress, as indicated by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) levels and oxidative modification of biomolecules, was observed during late arousal from hibernation. Compared with rats, hibernating Arctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus parryii) are well oxygenated with no evidence of cellular stress, inflammatory response, neuronal pathology, or oxidative modification following the period of high metabolic demand necessary for arousal. In contrast, euthermic Arctic ground squirrels experience mild, chronic hypoxia with low S(O2) and accumulation of HIF-1alpha and iNOS and demonstrate the greatest degree of cellular stress in brain. These results suggest that Arctic ground squirrels experience and tolerate endogenous hypoxia during euthermy and arousal.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Computational study on use of single-point analysis method for quantitating local cerebral blood flow in mice.

The benefits of a mouse model are efficiency and availability of transgenics/ knockouts. Quantitation of cerebral blood in small animals is difficult because the cannulation procedure may introduce errors. The [14C]-iodoantipyrine autoradiography (IAP) method requires both the tissue concentration and the time course of arterial concentration of the [14C] radioactive tracer. A single point-analysis technique was evaluated for measuring blood flow in mice (30 g +/- 0.3 g; n = 11) by using computational models of sensitivity analysis, which quantitates relationships between the predictions of a model and its parameters. Using [14C]-IAP in conjunction with mathematical algorithms and assumed arterial concentration-versus-time profiles, cortical blood flow was deduced from single-point measurements of the arterial tracer concentration. The data showed the arterial concentration profile that produced the most realistic blood flows (1.6 +/- 0.4; mean +/- SD, ml/g/min) was a profile with a ramp time of 30 sec followed by a constant value over the remaining time period of 30 sec. Sensitivity analysis showed that the total experimental time period was a more important parameter than the lag period and the ramp period. Thus, it appears that the accuracy of the assumption of linearly increasing arterial concentration depends on the experimental time period and the final arterial [14C]-iodoantipyrine concentration.

Algorithms↗

Gut dysoxia: comparison of sites to detect regional gut dysoxia.

Dysoxia, a state in which O2 supply is inadequate to meet tissue metabolic needs, is often first detected in regional organs such as the gut. An increase in PCO2 is believed to reflect the development of gut dysoxia. The stomach is a well-documented clinical site for detecting gut PCO2; however, measurement issues make this a less than ideal monitoring site. Other sites along the GI tract may be equally sensitive to detect changes in PCO2. Rectal CO2 measurement may have the advantage of being less invasive, low risk, and continuous without the limitations associated with gastric monitoring. In this study, we compared PCO2 at two sites (gastric, rectum) at baseline and during a dysoxic challenge, cardiac arrest. We obtained similar values of PCO2 at both sites. Ten male Wistar rats were anesthetized with 1%-2% Isoflurane/50% nitrous oxide/balanced O2 and the tail artery and right atrium were cannulated. Severinghaus-type active tip PCO2 electrodes (Microelectrode Inc, Bedford, NH) were calibrated and one electrode was surgically inserted into the stomach (G-PCO2) and a second electrode was placed in the rectum (R-PCO2). Animals were stabilized following surgery. Cardiac arrest was induced by administering a rapid injection of norcuron (0.1-0.2 mg/kg) and potassium chloride solution (0.5 M/L; 0.12 mL/100 gm of body weight). Animals were monitored for 15 minutes post-arrest. Data were collected at one minute intervals using the software Data Collect. All data are reported as mean +/- SD. Baseline G-PCO2 was 64 +/- 17 torr, not significantly different from R-PCO2, 58 +/- 7 torr. After 15 minutes of cardiac arrest, G-PCO2 rose to 114 +/- 42 torr, again not significantly different from R-PCO2, which reached 112 +/- 35 torr. Monitoring PCO2 in the rectum is less invasive and might provide similar information when compared with gastric monitoring at baseline and during a dysoxic challenge.

Animals↗

Adaptation to chronic hypoxia during diet-induced ketosis.

It is recognized that brain oxygen deprivation results in increased glycolysis and lactate accumulation. Moreover, glucose metabolism is altered during starvation or diet, resulting in increased plasma ketones (acetoacetate + beta-hydroxybutyrate; BHB). We investigated glucose and lactate adaptation to hypoxia in concurrence with diet-induced ketosis. Male Wistar rats were fed standard (STD), ketogenic (high fat; KG), or carbohydrate-rich (low fat; CHO) diets for 3 wks and then exposed to hypobaric (0.5 ATM) or normobaric atmosphere for 3 wks while on their diets. Lactate, ketones, and glucose concentrations were measured in plasma (mM) and brain tissue (mmol/g). Plasma and tissue ketone levels were elevated up to 12-fold in the KG fed groups compared with other groups (STD and CHO), with the hypoxic KG group reaching the highest levels (2.6 +/- 1.3 mM and 0.3 +/- 0.1 mmol/g; mean +/- SD). Tissue lactate levels in the hypoxic ketotic rats (4.7 +/- 1.3 mM) were comparable with normoxic STD (5.0 +/- 0.7 mM) and significantly lower (ANOVA P < .05) than the hypoxic STD rats (6.1 +/- 1.0 mM). These data indicate that adaptation to hypoxia did not interfere with ketosis, and that ketosis during hypoxia may lower lactate levels in brain, suggesting decreased glycolysis or increased glucose disposal.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Renormalization of regional brain blood flow during prolonged mild hypoxic exposure in rats.

In this study, we measured regional brain blood flow (BF) in rats during hypoxic exposure. Our data show the hypoxia-induced brain blood flow increase returned to baseline within 1 week as blood hemoglobin increased. Because this return to baseline occurred before capillary angiogenesis, this result suggests that the mechanism for brain blood flow renormalization during prolonged hypoxia exposure is more likely related to the increased systemic arterial oxygen carrying capacity than to local tissue hypoxia that persists for at least 2 weeks.

Analysis of Variance↗

The third signal in T cell-mediated autoimmune disease?

The initial event in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease is thought to be the priming of naive autoreactive T cells by an infection with a cross-reactive microorganism. Although such cross-reactive priming should be a common event, autoimmune disease does not frequently develop. This situation is reflected after the immunization of C57BL/6 mice with the neuroantigen myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) with CFA, which primes a type 1 T cell response but does not lead to clinical or histological manifestation of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis unless pertussis toxin is injected in addition. We show in this study that, in MOG:CFA-primed mice, the autoimmune CNS pathology develops after intracerebral deposition of TLR9-activating CpG oligonucleotides, but not following non-CpG oligonucleotide injection or after aseptic cryoinjury of the brain. Thus, access of primed MOG-specific Th1 cells to the uninflamed CNS or to CNS undergoing sterile inflammation did not suffice to elicit autoimmune pathology; only if the APC in the target organ were activated in addition by the TLR9-stimulating microbial product did they exert local effector functions. The data suggest that such licensing of APC in the target organ by microbial stimuli represents a checkpoint for functional self-tolerance. Therefore, microorganisms unrelated to the cross-reactive agent that primes the autoreactive T cells could dictate the onset and exacerbation of autoimmune diseases.

Animals↗

Comparison of glucose influx and blood flow in retina and brain of diabetic rats.

Diabetes is associated with extensive microvascular pathology and decreased expression of the glucose transporter (GLUT-1) in retina, but not brain. To explore the basis of these differences, the authors simultaneously measured glucose influx (micromol x g(-1) x min(-1)) and blood flow (mL x g(-1) x min(-1)) in retina and brain cortex of nondiabetic control rats (normoglycemic and acute-hyperglycemic) and in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes (with or without aminoguanidine (AMG) treatment) using a single-pass, dual-label indicator method. In addition, tissue glucose and adenosine triphosphate (nmol/mg dry weight) levels were measured. Glucose influx in retina exceeded that of cortex by about threefold for both the nondiabetic and diabetic groups. In contrast, blood flow in retina was significantly lower than in cortex by about threefold for each group. Retinal and cortical glucose influx in the diabetic rats was lower than in the nondiabetic acute-hyperglycemic group, but not in the normoglycemic group. Blood flow in these tissues remained relatively unchanged with glycemic conditions. The glucose levels in the diabetic retina (aminoguanidine untreated and aminoguanidine treated) were fourfold to sixfold greater than the nondiabetic retina. The cortical glucose levels remained unchanged in all groups. These data suggest that the accumulation of glucose in the diabetic retina cannot be explained by increased endothelial-glucose uptake or increased vascular membrane permeability.

Animals↗

Structural and functional adaptation to hypoxia in the rat brain.

Chronic exposure to a hypoxic environment leads to structural and functional adaptations in the rat brain. One significant adaptation is a decrease in intercapillary distances through a near doubling of the capillary density, which begins after about 1 week of hypoxic exposure and is completed by 3 weeks. Hypoxic angiogenesis is controlled by activation of downstream genes by Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 and Angiopoietin-2. The processes that increase capillary density are reversible upon restoration of the ambient oxygen concentration. Capillary regression, which also occurs over a 3-week period, is accomplished through activation of apoptosis. The implication from these observations is that the brain naturally functions in a low, but controlled, oxygen environment. Acute imbalances in oxygen delivery and metabolic demand are addressed through changes in blood flow; persistent imbalances activate mechanisms that adjust capillary density. The mechanisms that control these processes decline with age.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Hypoxic regulation of angiopoietin-2 expression in endothelial cells.

Exposure of endothelial cells to hypoxia-induced angiopoietin-2 (Ang2) expression. The increase in Ang2 mRNA levels occurred by transcriptional regulation and by post-transcriptional increase in mRNA stability. Induction of Ang2 mRNA resulted in an increase of intracellular and secreted Ang2 protein levels. Since the transcriptional regulation of several genes involved in angiogenesis during hypoxia is mediated by hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), it was conceivable that Ang2 expression might be regulated by the same oxygen-dependent mechanism. However, our data showed that pharmacological HIF inducers, CoCl(2) and DFO, did not affect Ang2 expression. Moreover, HIF-1-deficient hepatoma cell (Hepa1 c4) and its wild-type counterpart (Hepa1 c1c4) up-regulates Ang2 during hypoxia. These results indicated that hypoxia-driven Ang2 expression may be independent of the HIF pathway. Using neutralizing VEGF antibody or pharmacological inhibitors of VEGF receptors, we showed that hypoxia-induced VEGF participates but could not account completely for Ang2 expression during hypoxia. In addition, hypoxia elicited an increase of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and a parallel increase in prostanglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) and prostacyclin (PGI(2)) production. COX-2 inhibitors decreased the hypoxic induction of Ang2 and the hypoxic induction of PGE(2) and PGI(2) in a dose-dependent manner. Similarly, COX-2 but not COX-1 antisense treatment decreased hypoxic induction of Ang2 expression, and this effect was reversed by exogenous PGE(2). Finally, exogenous PGE(2) and PGI(2) were able to stimulate Ang2 under normoxic conditions. These findings suggest that COX-2-dependent prostanoids may play an important role in the regulation of hypoxia-induced Ang2 expression.

Angiopoietin-2↗

The redox state of cytochrome oxidase in brain in vivo: an historical perspective.

Recent evidence suggests that cytochrome oxidase is partially reduced under resting conditions in the brain. Previous data, recorded over the past 30 years from intact brain using optical methods in the visible wavelength range, are consistent with this observation. These older data, while not conclusive in themselves, support the overall conclusions. The historical perspective on the experiments and controversies illustrates a number of useful principles. The first is that new methods tend to produce new observations that may be difficult to reproduce due to the uniqueness of the instrumentation. The second is that any new and different observations cannot be assimilated without an acceptable theoretical framework and, without assimilation can have little impact. Finally, the mechanisms which might explain why cytochrome oxidase may be more reduced than previously thought are still not fully developed and, therefore, the physiological significance of such reduction is not known.

Animals↗

A quantitative study of oxygen as a metabolic regulator.

An acute reduction in oxygen delivery to a tissue is associated with metabolic changes aimed at maintaining ATP homeostasis. However, given the complexity of the human bioenergetic system, it is difficult to determine quantitatively how cellular metabolic processes interact to maintain ATP homeostasis during stress (e.g., hypoxia, ischemia, and exercise). In particular, we are interested in determining mechanisms relating cellular oxygen concentration to observed metabolic responses at the cellular, tissue, organ, and whole body levels and in quantifying how changes in tissue oxygen availability affect the pathways of ATP synthesis and the metabolites that control these pathways. In this study, we extend a previously developed mathematical model of human bioenergetics, to provide a physicochemical framework that permits quantitative understanding of oxygen as a metabolic regulator. Specifically, the enhancement--sensitivity analysis--permits studying the effects of variations in tissue oxygenation and parameters controlling cellular respiration on glycolysis, lactate production, and pyruvate oxidation. The analysis can distinguish between parameters that must be determined accurately and those that require less precision, based on their effects on model predictions. This capability may prove to be important in optimizing experimental design, thus reducing use of animals.

Metabolism↗

HIF-1 alpha and VEGF expression after transient global cerebral ischemia.

Hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression were studied in rat cerebral cortex after reversible global cerebral ischemia produced by cardiac arrest and resuscitation. Immunoblot analysis showed a significant induction of HIF-1 alpha protein after 1 hour of recovery from cardiac arrest which remained elevated for at least 12 hours. Upregulation of VEGF mRNA and protein were also observed but this was delayed in comparison to the HIF-1 alpha response. VEGF188 and VEGF164 mRNA levels were increased at 12-48 h of recovery from cardiac arrest but returned to basal expression after 7 days. Changes in VEGF120 mRNA expression did not reach statistical significance. Correspondingly, VEGF protein levels increased by about double at 24 and 48 hours of recovery but returned to basal levels after 7 days. These results suggest that cardiac arrest and resuscitation triggers HIF-1 alpha induction, which might be at least in part responsible for the stimulation of VEGF expression.

Animals↗