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R A Weisiger

Publications and source records attributed to R A Weisiger.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Sex differences in membrane potential in the intact perfused rat liver.

The electrical potential difference across the plasma membrane was compared in paired livers from male and female rats perfused single-pass with Krebs-bicarbonate buffer. Variability in the membrane potential measured for different cells within the same liver was small (SD = 1.3 mV). The mean membrane potential was 5.1 mV more negative for male livers than for female livers (-30.3 +/- 0.6 vs. -25.2 +/- 1.0 mV, P less than 0.001), and the male liver had a more negative membrane potential than the female liver in all nine pairs studied. No correlation between membrane potential and perfusion rate was seen. Variability among female livers was more than twice as great (range -19.6 to -30.0 mV) as for male livers (range -26.7 to -31.9 mV). These results suggest that hepatic membrane potential may be modulated by sex hormone levels, which are more variable in female animals. Because the hepatic uptake of bile acids such as taurocholate and organic anions such as bilirubin may involve net movement of electrical charge across the plasma membrane, the current results may explain previously reported sex differences in the uptake of these and other electrogenically transported molecules.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Uptake of 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine by the perfused rat liver: return to the free hormone hypothesis.

To investigate the mechanism by which T3 in plasma enters hepatic cells, we measured rate constants for the uptake of unbound (free) T3 by the perfused rat liver, for the hepatic uptake of T3 from serum, and for the spontaneous dissociation of T3 from its plasma binding proteins. Quantitative autoradiography of liver lobules after perfusion with [125I]T3 in protein-free buffer indicated a high apparent rate constant for removal of T3 from the sinusoids; its minimum estimate was 2.4 +/- 0.2 sec-1. The single pass extraction of T3 in human serum by the perfused rat liver was 31.6 +/- 4.5% at the supraphysiological flow rate of 3 ml/min/g liver (sinusoidal transit time, approximately 3 sec). Sixty percent of the T3 in this serum dissociated spontaneously from its binding proteins in 3 sec, as determined by a rapid filtration assay. Based on these data, we conclude that the pool of free T3 in plasma turns over very rapidly in vivo and probably accounts for the entire hepatic uptake of T3 from plasma. Using additional data on the rate constant for cellular metabolism of T3 obtained from values reported in the literature, a previously published general mathematical model of ligand transport was applied to all of these data, yielding the following conclusions for the physiological state. 1) Metabolism, not uptake, is rate limiting to removal of T3 from plasma by the liver. 2) Intracellular T3 is in virtual equilibrium with the free T3 pool in plasma. 3) Intracellular T3 concentrations reflect the concentration of free T3 in plasma, as predicted by the free hormone hypothesis. It is shown mathematically that these conclusions are independent of whether a gradient exists between extra- and intracellular T3 concentrations, and that they would still hold even if the tissue uptake of T3 occurred by a mechanism that acted directly on the plasma protein-bound pool of T3.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Phenobarbital specifically increases the hepatocellular uptake of sulfobromophthalein-glutathione.

The transport of sulfobromophthalein glutathione was studied in perfused livers isolated from phenobarbital treated and control rats. Phenobarbital increased the cell size and the uptake of sulfobromophthalein glutathione. The effect on uptake is specific since in phenobarbital treated livers each unit of hepatocyte surface area takes up more sulfobromophthalein glutathione than controls. The cellular hypertrophy does not involve all cell functions; total and specific content of cytosolic fatty acid binding protein for example, were unchanged by phenobarbital. The increase in Vmax and influx rate constant for sulfobromophthalein glutathione uptake suggest that phenobarbital increases the amount of membrane carriers or their rate of cycling.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Uptake of oleate from albumin solutions by rat liver. Failure to detect catalysis of the dissociation of oleate from albumin by an albumin receptor.

The hepatic removal of albumin-bound substances from plasma requires that they dissociate from albumin. Using indirect methods, we and others have proposed that dissociation may be catalyzed by interaction of albumin with the liver cell surface. This study looked for direct evidence of catalysis by comparing the rate of dissociation of oleate from albumin in vitro with the rate observed within the sinusoids of perfused rat liver. No evidence for catalysis was found. The rate of hepatic oleate removal from dilute albumin solutions did not exceed but instead closely paralleled the rate predicted from the in vitro dissociation rate constant (0.14s-1). These results suggest that under some conditions the liver can remove unbound material from the sinusoids faster than it can be replenished by dissociation from albumin, resulting in dissociation-limited removal. However, dissociation of oleate does not appear to be catalyzed by the liver.

Albumins↗
PubMed1987

Thyroid hormone-binding proteins in plasma facilitate uniform distribution of thyroxine within tissues: a perfused rat liver study.

We used autoradiography to test the hypothesis that a major function of thyroid hormone-binding proteins in plasma is to ensure uniform distribution of thyroid hormones among cells of a given tissue. The distribution of [125I]T4 within rat hepatic lobules was determined after its single pass perfusion through the portal vein in solutions containing or lacking thyroid hormone-binding proteins. These proteins included thyroid hormone-binding globulin, thyroid hormone-binding prealbumin, and albumin. In the absence of these proteins, virtually all of the perfused T4 was taken up by the periportal cells, and subsequent perfusion with protein-free solution did not cause redistribution of this T4. In the presence of these proteins, in contrast, the perfused T4 was taken up uniformly by all cells within the lobule. Albumin alone was sufficient to ensure uniform cellular uptake of T4. However, variation of oleic acid concentrations within the physiological range markedly influenced the concentration of free T4 in a solution of 4% human serum albumin, but not in human serum. These results indicate that uniform distribution of T4 within tissues requires circulating thyroid hormone-binding proteins, and that the specific binding proteins, thyroid hormone-binding globulin and thyroid hormone-binding prealbumin, are required to ensure nonfluctuating circulating concentrations of free T4 in vivo. Other hormone-binding proteins in plasma and some transport proteins may function similarly.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Characterization of non-transferrin-bound iron clearance by rat liver.

Recent evidence suggests that the hepatic iron-loading characteristic of hemochromatosis may result in part from efficient hepatic clearance of non-transferrin-bound iron, which is increased in this disorder. However, this hypothesis assumes that hepatic clearance remains highly efficient despite excess iron stores. We therefore studied hepatic uptake of non-transferrin-bound iron in the single-pass perfused rat liver under varying conditions. Animals were iron loaded or depleted by dietary manipulation, but no changes in the efficiency of ferrous iron uptake or the kinetic parameters were seen (single-pass extraction, 59-74%; Km, 16-19 microM; Vmax, 30-32 nmol X min-1 X g liver-1). Added divalent zinc, cobalt, and manganese ions reversibly inhibited ferrous iron uptake and the inhibition by zinc was shown to be competitive. Uptake required calcium, was markedly temperature-sensitive (delta E = 14.3 Kcal/mol), and was relatively insensitive to inhibition of cellular energy metabolism. Particles consistent with ferritin cores were seen in lysosomes of hepatic parenchymal cells within 30 min of perfusion with ferrous iron. These results suggest that ferrous iron is cleared from plasma by a passive, saturable transport process that is not regulated by the iron content of the liver and that may be shared with other transition metal ions. Because clearance is highly efficient, increased levels of non-transferrin-bound iron in plasma may present the liver with an obligatory iron load resulting in progressive accumulation and toxicity.

Anaerobiosis↗
PubMed1986

The hepatic sinusoid is not well-stirred: estimation of the degree of axial mixing by analysis of lobular concentration gradients formed during uptake of thyroxine by the perfused rat liver.

Two general models have been proposed for predicting the effects of metabolism, protein binding, and plasma flow on the removal of drugs by the liver. These models differ in the degree of plasma mixing assumed to exist within each hepatic sinusoid. The venous equilibrium model treats the sinusoid as a single well-stirred compartment, whereas the sinusoidal model effectively breaks up the sinusoid into a large number of sequentially perfused compartments which do not exchange their contents except through plasma flow. As a consequence, the sinusoidal model, but not the venous equilibrium model, predicts that the concentration of highly extracted drugs will decline as the plasma flows through the hepatic lobule. To determine which of these alternative models best describes the hepatic uptake process, we looked for evidence that concentration gradients are formed during the uptake of [125I]thyroxine by the perfused rat liver. Autoradiography of tissue slices after perfusion of the portal vein at physiologic flow rates with protein-free buffer containing [125I]thyroxine demonstrated a rapid exponential fall in grain density with distance from the portal venule, declining by half for each 8% of the mean length of the sinusoid. Reversing the direction of perfusate flow reversed the direction of the autoradiographic gradients, indicating that they primarily reflect differences in the concentration of thyroxine within the hepatic sinusoids rather than differences in the uptake capacity of portal and central hepatocytes. Analysis of the data using models in which each sinusoid was represented by different numbers of sequentially perfused compartments (1-20) indicated that at least eight compartments were necessary to account for the magnitude of the gradients seen.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Dissociation from albumin: a potentially rate-limiting step in the clearance of substances by the liver.

The hepatic uptake rate for certain albumin-bound drugs and metabolites correlates poorly with their equilibrium unbound concentration in the plasma, suggesting that binding equilibrium may not always exist within the hepatic sinusoids. Currently available models for the uptake process assume binding equilibrium and, thus, cannot be used to investigate this possibility. This report presents a more general model that treats plasma-bound and free concentrations separately. A solution is provided that specifies the hepatic uptake rate as a function of the total plasma concentrations of the transported substance and of binding protein and the rate constants for influx, efflux, elimination, association, dissociation, and flow. Analysis of this solution indicates that hepatic uptake may be limited by the rate of plasma flow, dissociation from the binding protein, influx into the liver, cellular elimination, or any combination of these processes. The affinity and concentration of the binding protein strongly influence which of these steps are rate-limiting in any given case, and binding equilibrium exists within the hepatic sinusoids only for binding protein concentrations greater than a specified value (the ratio of the uptake and association rate constants). The precise conditions under which each step is rate-limiting and the kinetic behavior expected when two or more steps mutually limit uptake are provided. The results are compatible with previously reported data for the uptake of certain albumin-bound ligands such as bilirubin, and they offer an alternative to attributing these kinetics to the presence of an albumin receptor.

Biological Transport↗
PubMed1985

Efficient clearance of non-transferrin-bound iron by rat liver. Implications for hepatic iron loading in iron overload states.

In hemochromatosis and other disorders associated with iron overload, a significant fraction of the total iron in plasma circulates in the form of low molecular weight complexes not bound to transferrin. Efficient and unregulated clearance of this form of iron by the liver may account for the hepatic iron loading and toxicity that characterize these diseases. We tested this possibility by examining the hepatic removal process for representative iron complexes in the single-pass perfused rat liver. Hepatic uptake of both ferrous and ferric 55Fe from ultrafiltered human serum was found to be highly efficient and effectively irreversible (single-pass extraction of 1 microM iron, 58-75%). Similar high efficiencies were seen for iron complexed to specific physiologic and nonphysiologic coordinators, including histidine, citrate, fructose, oxalate and glutamate, and tricine. Because of lower plasma flow rates, single-pass extraction of these iron complexes in vivo should be even greater. Autoradiography confirmed that most iron had been removed by parenchymal cells. Hepatic removal from Krebs-tricine buffer was saturable with similar kinetic parameters for ferrous and ferric iron (apparent Km, 14-22 microM; V max, 24-38 nmol min-1 g liver-1). These findings suggest that high levels of non-transferrin-bound iron in plasma may be an important cause of hepatic iron loading in iron overload states.

Anaerobiosis↗
PubMed1983

Hepatic uptake of albumin-bound substances: albumin receptor concept.

The single-pass hepatic uptake of long-chain fatty acids and other substances bound tightly to albumin in plasma is surprisingly efficient. Recent kinetic studies for several of these substances suggest that uptake is mediated primarily by direct interaction of the albumin-ligand complex with the hepatocyte surface rather than by the small fraction of unbound ligand, as has been generally believed. Furthermore, 125I-albumin has been found to bind specifically, saturably, and reversibly to isolated hepatocytes, adipocytes, and erythrocytes. Although the nature and possible regulation of these binding sites remain to be fully elucidated, the putative albumin receptor may play an important role in the bidirectional transfer of many classes of endogenous and exogenous substances between albumin and cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Measurement of serum bilirubin and its mono- and diconjugates: application to patients with hepatobiliary disease.

A technique has recently been described by Blanckaert and his colleagues that specifically and accurately quantifies unconjugated bilirubin, diconjugated bilirubin, and the C-8 and C-12 isomers of monoconjugated bilirubin. This technique has now been used to determine the distribution pattern of bilirubin and its ester conjugates in 91 sera from 65 patients with hepatobiliary disease, and the results were compared with two conventional diazo assays. Both diazo assays yielded values for total bilirubin concentration that were markedly and unpredictably higher than those obtained by the new technique, and the direct-reacting fraction by diazo assay showed little or no agreement with the fraction of total ester conjugates determined by the new method. Previous studies using the new method had shown that bilirubin conjugates are undetectable in sera from healthy adults or individuals with Gilbert's syndrome, but they were found in 89 of the 91 present patient sera. The fraction of total serum bilirubin represented by C-8 monoconjugates, C-12 monoconjugates, diconjugates, and total ester conjugates was higher in patients with biliary obstruction than in those with parenchymal liver disease, but extensive overlap between groups prevented determination of these conjugated species from being diagnostically useful. Overall, bilirubin ester conjugates in serum consisted of 30% C-8 monoconjugates, 37% C-12 monoconjugates, and 33% diconjugates, while urine contained predominantly diconjugates.

Biliary Tract Diseases↗