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L Diomede

Publications and source records attributed to L Diomede.

42 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Liver DNA alkylation after a single carcinogenic dose of dimethylnitrosamine to newborn and adult CFW Swiss mice.

N-nitrosodimethylamine N-demethylase activity, DNA alkylation, capacity for O6-methylguanine repair and cell proliferation were measured in livers of newborn and adult CFW mice after a single carcinogenic dose of DMNA. DNA alkylation was found in newborn and adult mouse livers but it was significantly higher in the newborn. 6- and 7-methyl substitutions of guanine were identified by HPLC analysis in newborn and in adult mouse livers. Metabolic 14C incorporation into adenine and guanine was observed only in liver DNA of newborns. O6-methylguanine levels were higher in newborn than adult mice after a single i.p. dose of [14C]DNMA. Liver DNA repair capacity measured as O6-meG-DNA methyltransferase was higher in adults than in newborns. De novo liver DNA synthesis was more inhibited by DMNA pretreatment in newborn than in adult mice. The relationship between these parameters and the greater neonatal liver tumor susceptibility is discussed.

Alkylation↗

Aspartame and the rat brain monoaminergic system.

A high dose of aspartame (APM) was administered to rats to study possible effects on brain monoaminergic systems. APM and its metabolite phenylalanine (Phe) were given orally at doses of 1000 and 500 mg/kg, respectively. Significant increases were seen in brain Phe and tyrosine (Tyr) levels. Two different approaches were used to study monoaminergic systems: whole tissue measurements by HPLC-ED and in vivo voltammetry in freely moving rats. Dopamine, serotonin and their metabolites were taken as indexes of neuronal activity. In spite of the high dose used, no modification was found in monoamines or their metabolites in striatum, hippocampus and nucleus accumbens.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗

Fluorescence polarization changes with gestational age in amniotic fluid of rabbit and guinea pig.

The variation of amniotic fluid microviscosity with gestational age was measured in rat, rabbit, and guinea pig. In rat, the changes followed the same pattern as known for women, microviscosity being high during early and mid-gestation and markedly lowering 12 h before delivery. Surprisingly, an opposite trend was observed in rabbit and guinea pig amniotic fluid. Moreover, the lecithin to sphingomyelin ratio markedly rose in late gestation in all species considered. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of lipids and phospholipids were performed in woman and rabbit amniotic fluids at early and late gestational ages. Among all the parameters measured, the most important differences that can influence the amniotic fluid microviscosity are the presence of very high levels of lysophosphatidylcholine both in early and late gestation in rabbit (much higher than in woman) and the cholesterol to total phospholipid ratio which decreased with gestational age in woman but remained stable in rabbit. The Arrhenius plot of the logarithm of microviscosity against the reciprocal of absolute temperature of mature and immature amniotic fluids from woman and rabbit was also determined. The temperature profiles confirmed the differences in lipid profile between woman and rabbit in early and late gestation which could be quantified on a physicochemical basis by determining the activation energy (delta E) at 25 degrees and 37 degrees C for each curve. This confirmed the opposite patterns in woman and rabbit and showed that amniotic fluid from the immature rabbit was the most fluid.

Amniotic Fluid↗

Endotoxin regulates the maturation of sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 through the induction of cytokines.

Endotoxin (LPS), by raising the levels of cytokines, markedly influences lipid metabolism. To clarify the molecular mechanism of this effect, we examined the action of endotoxin in vitro and in vivo on the regulation of sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 (SREBP-1). In HepG2 cells stimulated with LPS, a dose-dependent increase in the level of the mature form of SREBP-1 was observed. For in vivo studies, endotoxin was administered intraperitoneally to CD1 mice fed with a standard or a cholesterol-enriched diet to increase the basal levels of circulating and liver cholesterol. Endotoxin raised cholesterol levels and stimulated the maturation of hepatic SREBP-1 in both normal and cholesterol-fed mice, indicating that the lipogenic effect of LPS was independent of endogenous sterol levels. To assess whether the lipogenic effect of endotoxin was linked to cytokine production, we administered LPS to C57Bl/6J endotoxin-sensitive and to C3H/HeJ endotoxin-resistant mice, which do not produce tumor necrosis factor in response to LPS. Significant induction of cholesterol levels and SREBP-1 activation was observed only in C57Bl/6J mice, indicating that cytokine production is crucial for the regulation of SREBP-1, and that the transcriptional activation of cholesterol biosynthesis may be part of the acute-phase response.

Animals↗

Protein kinase C is not involved in cholesterol-induced resistance to synthetic ether lipids.

The possible role of protein kinase C in cholesterol-induced resistance to ether lipids was investigated. The enrichment of HL60 cells in cholesterol (CHOL) (HL60-CHOL) resulted in a significant increase in the ID50 values for 1-octadecyl-2-methyl-rac-glycero- 3-phosphocholine (ET-18-OMe) (3.75 +/- 0.7 microM and 6.69 +/- 0.5 microM for HL60 and HL60-CHOL, respectively). In the same conditions, HL60 and HL60-CHOL cells showed comparable levels of both cytosolic and membrane-associated protein kinase C activity. Phorbol ester (PMA) stimulation induced protein kinase C to translocate from the cytosol to the plasma membrane in both cell types and with similar kinetics (272 +/- 32% and 299 +/- 41% increase in HL60 and HL60-CHOL, respectively after 100 ng/ml PMA for 10 min). Pretreatment of the two cell types with 50 microM ET-18-OMe resulted in comparable levels of PKC inhibition after phorbol ester stimulation. These results suggested that alterations in plasma membrane lipid composition induced by CHOL do not result in major changes in protein kinase C activity. Thus, protein kinase C does not appear to be involved in cholesterol-induced resistant phenotype in HL60 cells.

Cholesterol↗