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M W Steffes

Publications and source records attributed to M W Steffes.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

Alteration in the balance of prostaglandin and thromboxane synthesis in diabetic rats.

An evaluation of platelet and vascular (aortic) arachidonic acid metabolism was performed in Lewis male rats rendered diabetic by injection of streptozotocin, and the results were compared to those in matched controls. Parameters evaluated included the release of this fatty acid from prelabeled platelets and aortas and conversion of labeled fatty acid to thromboxane B2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha in platelets and aortas, respectively. Diabetic rat platelets showed markedly increased release of arachidonic acid with thrombin used as the aggregating stimulus. Conversion of arachidonic acid to thromboxane B2 was slightly, but not significantly, higher in the diabetic rats. In the vessel, thrombin-stimulated release of arachidonic acid was slightly, but not significantly, increased in the diabetic animals when compared to controls. This finding was associated with a decrease in vascular production of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha both in vascular tissues incubated with arachidonic acid alone and in vascular tissues incubated with thrombin. The changes observed both in platelet and vascular metabolism of arachidonic acid were corrected by islet issue transplantation, suggesting a disease-specific effect. The changes observed in arachidonic acid metabolism suggest a significant imbalance in thromboxane A2 and PGI2 production in diabetic rats. Such changes might promote the development of the microvascular changes seen in diabetes mellitus.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Studies of the glomerular mesangium and the juxtaglomerular apparatus in the genetically diabetic mouse.

Intact and uninephrectomized genetically diabetic (db/db) mice (C57BL/KsJ) and their nondiabetic littermates (dm/m) had renal biopsies performed at 6 months of age. Renal tissues were studied by regular light microscopy and by a variety of immunohistochemical techniques. Intact db/db mice had peripheral mesangial thickening as compared to db/m mice. This thickening, predominantly due to increased mesangial matrix material, extended to the glomerular hilum and the extraglomerular mesangium of the juxtaglomerular apparatus. This abnormality was markedly increased an uninephrectomized db/db mice (db/db-UN) compared to intact db/db mice. Db/m-UN animals had slightly greater mesangial thickness than intact db/mice but less than that of db/db mice. Intact db/db mice had increased mesangial IgM staining compared to db/m mice and these differences were magnified by uninephrectomy. The IgM staining, especially in the diabetic mice, involved the peripheral mesangium and the glomerular hilum extending into extraglomerular mesangium and the distal tubule at the level of the macula densa. The tubular staining in the region of the juxtaglomerular apparatus was between the tubular basement membrane and the epithelial cells and between epithelial cells. The distal tubular epithelial cell cytoplasm also showed increased staining for IgM as the tubule coursed away from the glomerulus. These studies amplify the argument that alterations in glomerular hemodynamics influence the rate of development of diabetic glomerular lesions. Further, these diabetic mice appear to represent an important model for the study of mesangial macromolecular processing mechanisms.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

The development, enhancement, and reversal of the secondary complications of diabetes mellitus.

Diabetic glomerulopathy continues as a major problem in the management of the patient with diabetes mellitus; however, evidence in man and in animals underlines the fact that good control of diabetes favorably alters the course of this complication. Islet transplantation in the diabetic rat returns plasma glucose and insulin levels to normal. In parallel mesangial matrix thickening, mesangial deposition of immunoglobulin and urinary excretion of albumin markedly improve following islet transplantation. Although amelioration of diabetes affects the course of glomerulopathy, other factors (most notably measures that increase glomerular capillary pressure) enhance the development of the diabetic renal lesions. Following uninephrectomy or clipping of a renal artery, the remaining (in the case of uninephrectomy) or unclipped diabetic kidney develops the morphologic and functional changes of diabetic nephropathy at a rate greater than in kidneys in an intact diabetic rat. The clipped kidney demonstrates diminished diabetic changes, suggesting a protective effect with decreased glomerular capillary pressures. In addition to measures improving the control of diabetes, procedures reducing factors accelerating diabetic complications may improve the prognosis in diabetic glomerulopathy.

Albuminuria↗
PubMed1979

Glomerular basement membrane thickness following islet transplantation in the diabetic rat.

Glomerular basement membrane (GBM) thickness was measured in diabetic rats prior to and following islet transplantation. Over the course of the experiment (from 7 to 13 months of diabetes) GBM thickness in diabetic animals exceeded that of littermate controls. After 7 months of diabetes a group of animals received successful intraportal transplants of neonatal pancreatic tissue. GBM thickness at 2 and 6 months following islet transplantation matched the thickness in nontransplanted diabetic rats and exceeded that in control animals. Failure to reverse GBM thickening in diabetic rats following islet transplantation may be due to very slow rates of GBM tunover in the rat. Previous work has demonstrated normalization of urinary albumin excretion after islet transplantation, suggesting that GBM thickening, per se, is not a significant factor causing albuminuria in rats with longstanding diabetes.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Mesangial uptake and processing of macromolecules in rats with diabetes mellitus.

The uptake and processing of colloidal carbon by the glomerular mesangium was studied in an attempt to determine whether abnormal mesangial function occurs in rats with longstanding streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus. The chronically diabetic rats were considerably smaller than their normal littermates receiving a similar dose of colloidal carbon based upon body weight. Thus, further control groups, animals weight-matched with the diabetic rats (younger rats) and littermates of the diabetic rats given the mean quantity of colloidal carbon administered to the diabetic rats, were included. Quantitative evaluation of renal tissues indicated that younger rats have more avid mesangial uptake of colloidal carbon from the circulation and more rapid processing of these macromolecules through the mesangium than the other groups studied. These quantitative studies did not demonstrate any marked impairment in diabetic rats in the over-all capacity of their mesangium to take up and process colloidal carbon when compared with the two groups of littermate nondiabetic animals. However, in those areas of the mesangium thickened by the diabetic process large aggregated of carbon accumulated and persisted over the 6-week period of the study. It appears, therefore, that those areas of the mesangium in diabetic rats with pathologic changes consequent to the diabetic state have significant functional impairment.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Phorbol myristate acetate: effect of a tumor promoter on insulin release from isolated rat islets of Langerhans.

Phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), a tumor-promoter capable of influencing biologic functions of many cell systems, has been demonstrated to augment glucose-initiated insulin release from isolated rat islets of Langerhans. PMA caused a 2-fold increase in insulin release. This effect of PMA did not alter the sigmoidal relationship of insulin released to glucose concentration. The effect of PMA on insulin secretion from the islet beta-cells persists and a challenge with glucose alone, subsequent to a pulse of PMA, elicits an augmented insulin release response.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Diabetic glomerulopathy following unilateral nephrectomy in the rat.

One month following induction of diabetes with streptozotocin, one half of diabetic and control rats underwent unilateral nephrectomy. Subsequently, all animals were studied with respect to renal function and glomerular alterations of diabetes. Blood pressure levels were similar in all animals. Diabetic and control animals with unilateral nephrectomy had similar but elevated serum creatinine levels and lower creatinine clearance values as compared with the intact rats. However, on a per kidney basis the creatinine clearance levels were higher in the animals with unilateral nephrectomy. At both three and six months following nephrectomy, markedly increased mesangial matrix thickening and mesangial deposition of IgG and C3 were observed in diabetic rats with unilateral nephrectomy as compared with intact diabetic animals. Nephrectomy had no detectable effects on glomerular morphology or immunohistochemistry of nondiabetic rats. Thus, unilateral nephrectomy in the rat increases, at as early as three months, the severity of diabetic glomerular lesions.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

The immunohistopathology of glomerular antigens. III. Increased mesangial actomyosin in experimental diabetes in the rat.

Antisera to rat smooth muscle actomyosin (AMY) and myosin localize in the rat glomercular mesangium. The width of mesangial staining for AMY is increased in rats diabetic for four months (p less than 0.01) and seven months (p less than 0.0005) compared with age-matched controls. Mesangial AMY staining of unilaterally nephrectomized control animals was moderately increased after seven months, whereas unilaterally nephrectomized diabetic rats had prominently increased AMY mesangial width at four months, when they were compared with intact diabetic animals (p less than 0.05). Thus, a distinctive alteration that is found in human diabetic nephropathy also occurs in experimental (streptozotocin) diabetes in the rat. Further, this alteration appears to be accelerated by the changes in nephron hemodynamics resulting from unilateral nephrectomy. While the function of mesangial AMY is unknown, it may be related to intrarenal regulation of glomerular ultrafiltration, which appears to be altered in diabetic nephropathy in man.

Actomyosin↗
PubMed1978

The effects of Goldblatt hypertension on development of the glomerular lesions of diabetes mellitus in the rat.

Rats with classic Goldblatt (two-kidney) hypertension had diabetes induced by streptozotocin. After four months of diabetes, glomeruli of the unclipped kidney of hypertensive diabetic rats had markedly increased diabetic changes, including mesangial matrix thickening and mesangial immunoglobulin (IgG and IgM) and complement (C3) localization, when compared with glomeruli of the contralateral-clipped kidneys. Further, glomeruli of the unclipped kidneys of hypertensive diabetic animals had more mesangial thickening and IgG and IgM staining than glomeruli of normotensive diabetic rats. Although glomeruli of clipped kidneys in hypertensive diabetic rats had less mesangial thickening than glomeruli of normotensive diabetic rats, this did not reach statistical significance. However, these glomeruli did have significantly less IgG, IgM, and C3 staining compared with glomeruli of normotensive diabetic animals. Mesangial thickness in glomeruli of clipped and unclipped nondiabetic hypertensive rats did not differ from that in normal animals. However, there was less mesangial IgG staining in clipped than in unclipped kidneys of nondiabetic hypertensive rats or in kidneys of normal animals. We have interpreted these results to imply that alterations in nephron hemodynamics combine with the diabetic state to influence the rate of development of diabetic glomerulopathy in rats.

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