The role of prostaglandins in the central nervous system.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to L S Wolfe.
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A clinical description of an apparently classical case of type 1 GM1 gangliosidosis is presented. The patient was the first-born child of first cousins. She was diagnosed at 6 weeks and died at 6 months. beta-Galactosidase activity was deficient in cultured fibroblasts using [3H]GM1 ganglioside and [3H]ceramide-lactose as substrates. Genetic complementation studies performed after cell fusion between cultured fibroblasts from the patient and from two other type 1, one type 2, and one juvenile GM1 gangliosidosis strain were positive with all strains. Subsequent studies revealed an increased excretion of a sialic acid-containing hexasaccharide in the patient's cells. Parents' fibroblasts contained normal levels of beta-galactosidase. The case emphasizes the variability of the clinical expression in sialidosis and the importance of demonstrating a primary gene defect in establishing a diagnosis of an inborn error or metabolism.
GM2 and GA2 gangliosides from the brain of a patient who died of Sandhoff's disease were purified by solvent partition, silicic acid and silica gel column chromatography, and silica gel preparative thin-layer chromatography. They were tritiated in the terminal N-acetylgalactosamine residue using galactose oxidase and sodium [3H]borohydride with the inclusion of catalase and peroxidase into the oxidation reaction. The specific activities were 4.62 X 10(8) dpm/mumol of GM2 ganglioside and 5.54 X 40(7) dpm/mumol of GA2 ganglioside. The addition of catalase and peroxidase to the tritiation procedure is recommended.
The amount of free arachidonic acid and prostaglandin F2 alpha in rat cerebral hemispheres was increased following convulsions induced by carbachol and metrazol. The level of thromboxane B2 was not affected and prostaglandin endoperoxides could only be "trapped" after a very short convulsive period. Unesterified fatty acid levels at 2 minutes post-mortem were decreased by 50% in the cerebral hemispheres of phenytoin treated rats. Under the same conditions, phenobarbital and diazepam had little effect on the levels of free fatty acids in rat brain.
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Cytosomes filled with intensely fluorescent material in the form of curvilinear bodies were isolated by density gradient centrifugation followed by pronase digestion from the cerebral cortex of a child who had died at age 7 from the late infantile form of Batten disease. Forty-three percent of the dry weight of the storage material was extracted by a mixture of chloroform and methanol, leaving a waterinsoluble amorphous fluorescent residue. Infrared spectroscopy, proton magnetic resonance spectrscopy, and mass spectrometry of this residue strongly suggested the presence of retinoyl polyenes linked to a small peptide. Base hydrolysis and methanolysis yielded retinoic acid and methyl retinoate, respectively. Ozonolysis yielded a product derived from the substituted cyclohexenyl ring of vitamin A. The results indicate that the fluorescent component of the neuronal storage material is a retinoyl complex and is not derived from peroxidized polyunsatured fatty acids as previously thought.
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An unusual neurovisceral lipid storage disorder in two unrelated juvenile patients manifested itself by dystonia and involuntary movements, with facial grimacing, dysarthria, gait difficulty, and impaired manual dexterity. Supranuclear paresis of vertical gaze and splenomegaly were present. Absent were seizures, major intellectual deterioration, spasticity, or blindness. Histiocytes showed lysosomal storage of various phospholipids, cholesterol, neutral lipids, and autofluorescent material. Appendiceal neurons showed only an increse of phospholipids by histochemistry. Neuronal deposits differed ultrastructurally from these in histiocytes. Leukocyte sphingomyelinase activity was normal. The nosology of this disease and its relationship to so-called juvenile types of Niemann-Pick disease is discussed. The primary metabolic defect in these patients remains unknown.
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The capacity for biosynthesis of prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) from endogenous precursors by brain tissue slices and homogenates was measured by a gas chromatography - mass fragmentography method using deuterated prostaglandins as internal standards. Mean biosynthesis in rat cerebral cortex slices incubated for 60 min was 60.2 ng PGF2alpha and 17.4 ng PGE2 per 100 mg of tissue. The corresponding values for homogenates were 78.1 ng and 28.9 ng. Synthetic capacity of cat cerebral cortex was considerably greater but that of human tissue was smaller than that found in rat brain. Cat cerebellum in contrast to other regions synthesized more PGE2 than PGF2alpha. The time-course of prostaglandin formation in slices was linear for the initial 60 min. Catabolism in cerebral tissues was found to be very small. Prostaglandins formed or added to the incubation media distributed between tissue and medium in a manner indicating some specific binding as well as nonspecific solubilization in tissue lipids. Norepinephrine, 3,4-L-dihydroxyphenylalanine, dopamine, adrenochrome and apomorphine greatly stimulated PGF2alpha formation probably through a nonenzymatic reduction of endoperoxides. Norepinephrine added to homogenates appeared to stabilize the fatty acid cyclo-oxygenase preventing it from inactivation. Indomethacin and Ketoprofen were potent inhibitors of biosynthesis. Paracetamol was found to be a less potent synthetase inhibitor than aspirin. The biosynthetic capacity of brain tissue in vitro appears to be orders of magnitude more than that of normal brain in situ.
Brain tissue slices in vitro synthesize both PGF2alpha and PGE2 from endogenous precursors at almost linear rates over the first hour. PGF2alpha biosynthesis predominates except for the cat cerebellum. Catecholamines and adrenochrome greatly activate the formation of PGF2alpha in slices and homogenates. The mechanism appears related to endoperoxide reduction rather than increased availability of precursor. The arachidonic acid for prostaglandin biosynthesis in slices is derived from an intracellular pool that forms immediately after animal death and is sufficient to saturate by cyclooxygenase completely and account for the linear kinetics. Biosynthesis of prostaglandins in vivo must be orders of magnitude less than that found in vitro, unless there is local tissue damaged. PGF2 alpha catabolism by cerebral cortex is very small; however, PGE2 is converted to PGF2alpha by brain slices by a 9-keto reductase activity in significant amounts when added in pharmacological amounts.
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