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S Schaefer

Publications and source records attributed to S Schaefer.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Properties of tumour suppressor p53 in murine hepatocyte lines transformed by hepatitis B virus X protein.

Persistent infection by hepatitis B virus (HBV) correlates with the prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma. It has recently been demonstrated that the complete viral genome very efficiently transforms the immortalized murine hepatocyte line FMH202 in vitro. Here it is shown that the viral transactivating protein X (HBx) is sufficient to transform FMH202 cells, albeit with lower efficiency. Clonal cell lines expressing HBx mRNA in moderate or high amounts grew in soft agar and formed tumours in nude mice. Growth efficiency in soft agar of HBx transformed cell lines was much lower than that of cell lines transformed with the complete genome, and latency of tumour induction in nude mice was significantly longer after inoculation of HBx than of HBV transformed FMH202 cell lines. A marker of complete transformation, p53, was found to be phosphorylated more strongly in HBx transfected cell lines than in controls, and a cellular kinase was found to be associated with p53 complexes from HBx transformed cell lines. p53 was of wild-type conformation and was located in the nucleus of transformed cells.

Animals↗

Detection of active infection in nonhuman primates with Lyme neuroborreliosis: comparison of PCR, culture, and a bioassay.

Ideally a diagnosis of infection of the central nervous system (CNS) is made by culture of the etiologic pathogen, but Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB), is rarely cultured from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). PCR and measurement of specific antibody in the CSF also have their limitations. The role of available assays for LNB has not been studied carefully in a comparative investigation. There is a need to assess the reliability of assays and to increase the ability to document active infection in the CNS. The recent development of the nonhuman primate (NHP) model of LNB allowed us to address this need in a faithful model of human LNB. In this study we compared the abilities of PCR and culture to detect the presence of spirochetes in the CSF and brain tissue of infected NHPs and related these measures of infection to the development of anti-B. burgdorferi antibody. We also tested a bioassay, the mouse infectivity test (MIT), in this model. Fourteen of 16 CSFs from four NHPs were positive by at least one of these techniques. Detection of spirochetes in the CSF by PCR, the MIT, and culture was inversely related to the concomitant presence of anti-B. burgdorferi antibody intrathecally. The performance of any particular test was associated with the strength of the host immune response. In early CNS infection, when anti-B. burgdorferi antibody had not yet appeared, or in immunocompromised hosts, the MIT compared favorably to culture and PCR for infected NHPs; antibody in the CSF was the most useful assay for immunocompetent NHPs.

Animals↗

Metabolic effects of aldose reductase inhibition during low-flow ischemia and reperfusion.

Several studies have shown that maintenance of glycolysis limits the metabolic and functional consequences of low-flow ischemia. Because diabetic animals are known to have impaired glycolytic metabolism coupled with increased flux through the aldose reductase (AR) pathway, we hypothesized that inhibition of AR would enhance glycolysis and thereby improve metabolic and functional recovery during low-flow ischemia. Hearts (n = 12) from nondiabetic control and diabetic rats were isolated and retrograde perfused using 11 mM glucose with or without the AR inhibitor zopolrestat (1 microM). Hearts were subjected to 30 min of low-flow ischemia (10% of baseline flow) and 30 min of reperfusion. 31P NMR spectroscopy was used to monitor time-dependent changes in phosphocreatine (PCr), ATP, and intracellular pH. Changes in the cytosolic redox ratio of NADH to NAD+ were obtained by measuring the ratio of tissue lactate to pyruvate. Effluent lactate concentrations and oxygen consumption were determined from the perfusate. AR inhibition improved functional recovery in both control and diabetic hearts, coupled with a lower cytosolic redox state and greater effluent lactate concentrations during ischemia. ATP levels during ischemia were significantly higher in AR-inhibited hearts, as was recovery of PCr. In diabetic hearts, AR inhibition also limited acidosis during ischemia and normalized pH recovery on reperfusion. These data demonstrate that AR inhibition maintains higher levels of high-energy phosphates and improves functional recovery upon reperfusion in hearts subjected to low-flow ischemia, consistent with an increase in glycolysis. Accordingly, this approach of inhibiting AR offers a novel method for protecting ischemic myocardium.

Aldehyde Reductase↗

Blockade of K(ATP) channels with glibenclamide does not abolish preconditioning during demand ischemia.

The role of adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium channels in the adaptive response to demand ischemia was tested in 22 patients treated with placebo or glibenclamide before sequential exercise testing or atrial pacing. Glibenclamide did not affect the improvement in signs of ischemia in both protocols, indicating that opening of these channels is not a mechanism of this adaptive response in humans.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Short-term inhibition of the Na-H exchanger limits acidosis and reduces ischemic injury in the rat heart.

INTRODUCTION: Pharmacologic inhibition of the Na-H exchanger prior to and during ischemia has been shown to protect the ischemic heart by reducing Na-H exchange. However, pH regulation in the ischemic heart is primarily mediated by other pH regulatory mechanisms, such as metabolite efflux and sodium-coupled HCO3-influx, which may compensate for a reduction in Na-H exchange by increasing proton efflux. We hypothesized that short-term pharmacologic inhibition of the Na-H exchanger would result in increases in other compensatory pH regulatory mechanisms and thereby limit acidosis during ischemia and reduce ischemic injury. METHODS: In order to test this hypothesis, we exposed isolated perfused rat hearts to ethylisopropylamiloride (EIPA, 3 micro M) for 40 min, followed by 10 min of EIPA-free perfusate and 30 min of global ischemia (termed CTL/EIPA hearts). The effects of this intervention were compared to hearts perfused with either glucose alone (CTL) or EIPA 3 micro M for 10 min before ischemia (EIPA). Ischemic injury was measured using creatine kinase (CK) release on reperfusion, while pH and metabolic effects were measured using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The effect of this intervention on recovery from an acid load was assessed using an NH4Cl pre-pulse in bicarbonate-containing Krebs-Henseleit as well as a HEPES buffer. RESULTS: Both CTL/EIPA and EIPA hearts had marked reduction in ischemic injury (CK control 1191 +/- IU/g dry weight: CTL/EIPA 406 +/- 42 IU/gdw; EIPA 333 +/- 78 IU/gdw), as well as significantly reduced end-diastolic pressure on reperfusion. Intracellular pH was higher in the CTL/EIPA hearts (end-ischemic pH = 6.34 +/- 0.05) compared to either control (5.86 +/- 0.02) or EIPA hearts (6.01 +/- 0.02), while pH recovery on reperfusion was markedly slowed in the CTL/EIPA hearts. CTL/EIPA hearts had rapid ATP depletion during ischemia, but PCr recovery comparable to EIPA hearts. Acidification on exposure to NH4Cl was increased in the presence of HEPES, but ph recovery was not altered by short-term exposure to EIPA. CONCLUSIONS: These data show that short-term inhibition of the Na-H altered pH regulation in the ischemic heart, resulting in reduced acidosis and slow pH recovery on reperfusion, coupled with reduction in ischemic injury and end-diastolic pressure on a reperfusion. These findings are consistent with short-term exposure to EIPA accelerating ATP depletion during ischemia, as well as limiting proton efflux during reperfusion.

Acidosis↗

Glycogen utilization and ischemic injury in the isolated rat heart.

INTRODUCTION: Fasting increases myocardial glycogen content and has been shown to limit injury and improve recovery following no-flow ischaemia in the isolated heart. However, the protective role of glycogen loading per se in fed animals has been questioned by data in preconditioned animals showing that reduced glycogenolysis may be protective prior to no-flow ischemia. Therefore, we hypothesized that fasting protects the globally ischemic heart by mechanisms separate from glycogen loading. METHODS: Isolated hearts from rats fasted for 24 h were retrogradely perfused using glucose substrate and subjected to 20 min of global no-flow ischemia. Fed rats were identically perfused either under control conditions (glucose substrate) or with an intervention chosen to increase tissue glycogen (glucose plus insulin, [insulin]) prior to ischemia. Functional recovery and creatine kinase (CK) release were measured during reperfusion. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to measure intracellular pH, phosphorylated glycolytic intermediates and high-energy phosphates, while the lactate and pyruvate contents of the hearts were measured prior to and at the end of ischemia. RESULTS: Heart from fasted animals had significantly increased glycogen content prior to ischemia (76.6 +/- 2 vs. 40.9 +/- 3 mumol glu/gdw in control hearts, P < 0.05) as did hearts exposed to insulin (88.6 +/- 10 mumol glu/gdw), but only hearts from fasted animals had greater glycogen utilization during ischemia. Hearts from fasted animals also had lower levels of lactate relative to pyruvate (L/P) under baseline conditions and, on reperfusion, reduced CK release (fasted: 183 +/- 48 versus control: 756 +/- 56 IU/gdw, P < 0.05). Conversely, insulin hearts had increased CK release (1831 +/- 190 IU/gdw, P < 0.001 vs control) and worse functional and metabolic recovery on reperfusion. Compared to the insulin hearts, hearts from fasted animals had both less acidosis and less rapid depletion of ATP during ischemia, as well as lower accumulation of glycolytic intermediates. CONCLUSION: Fasting protects the heart from ischemic injury and is associated with a lower L/P ratio and increased glycogen utilization during ischemia. In contrast, increasing glycogen content in hearts from fed animals using insulin limits glycogen utilization, increases ischemic injury, and impairs both functional and metabolic recovery under conditions of 20 min of global no-flow ischemia.

Animals↗

Regulation of transforming growth factor beta 1 messenger ribonucleic acid expression in porcine thyroid follicles in vitro by growth factors, iodine, or delta-iodolactone.

Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF beta 1) is an autocrine growth factor for thyrocytes and is supposed to be the mediator of iodine-induced growth inhibition of thyroid epithelial cells, but this is still controversial. We further investigated this hypothesis using intact porcine thyroid follicles ex vivo in a three-dimensional culture system. In this culture system it has been shown previously that both iodide as well as delta-iodolactone, the putative iodocompound mediating thyroid cell proliferation, inhibit growth of these follicles. We measured the amount of TGF beta 1 mRNA expression in these follicles after treatment either with thyrotropin (TSH), epidermal growth factor (EGF), or transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha) for growth stimulation or with inorganic iodine or delta-iodolactone in concentrations known to inhibit growth. TGF beta 1-mRNA was detected by Northern blot analysis. The known major transcript of 2.5 kb was detected in a steady state level up to 48 hours in untreated thyroid follicles. EGF and TGF alpha (5 ng/mL each) enhanced TGF beta 1 mRNA about threefold within 4 and 8 hours. This increase of TGF beta 1 mRNA was slightly decreased by simultaneous incubation with delta-iodolactone (1 microM) or iodide (40 microM KI). In contrast, both TSH (1 mU/mL) and forskolin (16 microM) decreased TGF beta 1 mRNA expression to about 70%, and this effect was abolished when follicles were pretreated with iodide (40 microM KI) in a concentration known to inhibit TSH action on cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) formation and proliferation. Iodide or delta-iodolactone alone had no significant effect on basal TGF beta 1 mRNA expression. We conclude that the growth inhibitory effect of iodide as well as of delta-iodolactone is not mediated through TGF beta 1 in intact porcine thyroid follicles ex vivo. The stimulatory effect of EGF and TGF alpha on TGF beta 1 expression might be related to extracellular matrix modulation during proliferation.

Animals↗

Transcription of hepatitis B virus in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from persistently infected patients.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been reported to exist in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), but it is not clear whether it replicates there. A precondition for replication should be the formation of covalently closed viral DNA and transcription of all essential viral mRNAs. The mRNAs of HBV form a nested box with common 3' ends. In order to detect even low levels of potential replication, we developed a quantitative reverse transcription-PCR method for detection of a smaller HBV mRNA species in the presence of the larger ones. All three highly viremic patients tested so far had mRNAs for the large and the small surface proteins and the X protein of the virus within PBMC but not in the virus from their sera. Furthermore, we detected by PCR covalently closed viral DNA in their PBMC. These data suggest that HBV may be not only taken up but also replicated by mononuclear blood cells and that these cells may be an extrahepatic site of viral persistence. X mRNA was detected in the largest amount. Possibly, X protein interferes with functions of the mononuclear cells during the immune response against the virus.

Adult↗

Aldose reductase inhibition protects diabetic and nondiabetic rat hearts from ischemic injury.

Diabetes increases the incidence of cardiovascular disease as well as the complications of myocardial infarction. Studies using animal models of diabetes have demonstrated that the metabolic alterations occurring at the myocyte level may contribute to the severity of ischemic injury in diabetic hearts. Of the several mechanisms being investigated to understand the pathogenesis of diabetic complications, the increased metabolism of glucose via the polyol pathway has received considerable attention. Deviant metabolic regulation due to increased flux through aldose reductase in diabetic hearts may influence the ability of the myocardium to withstand ischemia insult. To determine if aldose reductase inhibition improves tolerance to ischemia, hearts from acute type I diabetic and nondiabetic control rats were isolated and retrograde perfused. Each group was exposed to 1 micromol/l zopolrestat, a specific inhibitor of aldose reductase, for 10 min, followed by 20 min of global ischemia and 60 min of reperfusion in the absence of zopolrestat. Zopolrestat reduced sorbitol levels before ischemia in diabetic hearts. The cytosolic redox state (NADH/NAD+), as measured by lactate-to-pyruvate ratios, was significantly lowered under baseline, ischemic, and reperfusion conditions in diabetic hearts perfused with zopolrestat. In these diabetic hearts, ATP was significantly higher in zopolrestat hearts during ischemia, as were phosphocreatine and left ventricular-developed pressure on reperfusion. Zopolrestat provided similar metabolic and functional benefits in nondiabetic hearts. Creatine kinase release was reduced by approximately 50% in both nondiabetic and diabetic hearts treated with zopolrestat. These data indicate that inhibition of aldose reductase activity preserves high-energy phosphates, maintains a lower cytosolic NADH/NAD+ ratio, and markedly protects both diabetic and nondiabetic hearts during ischemia and reperfusion.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Regression of severe atherosclerotic plaque in patients with mild elevation of LDL cholesterol.

BACKGROUND: Intensive risk factor reduction in patients with dyslipidemias and coronary atherosclerosis has been shown to result in alterations in coronary artery morphology and reduced clinical events. However, the impact of such interventions in populations with relatively normal levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) is unclear. METHODS: To test the hypothesis that intensive risk factor reduction results in angiographic regression in patients with only mildly elevated levels of LDL, 14 patients with angiographically proven coronary atherosclerosis were entered into the University of California Davis Coronary Artery Disease Regression Program and intensively treated with pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions for 2 years. Quantitative angiography was performed prior to and after 2 years of therapy to determine changes in coronary artery diameter. RESULTS: As a result of this program, dietary fat intake was reduced by 58% and LDL fell from 120 +/- 7 mg/dL to 104 +/- 6 mg/dL (p = 0.05). The average diameter of the measured arterial locations (including all 53 stenoses and 292 nondiscrete regions) on study entry was 2.74 +/- 0.05 mm. After 24 months, there was a net increase in arterial diameter (regression) of +0.05 +/- 0.04 mm to 2.81 +/- 0.05 mm (p = 0.01). While there was no significant change in the average diameter of discrete stenoses, all 8 lesions > or = 50% initial diameter narrowing regressed, with a mean diameter change of + 0.2 mm. Conversely, only 1 of 8 mild lesions < or = 20% regressed, while 4 progressed. Intermediate lesions (20% to 50%, n = 37) had balanced progression and regression. CONCLUSIONS: When examined as a continuous variable, there was a significant linear correlation between initial lesion severity (% stenosis) and the extent of regression (mm). Therefore, risk factor reduction (dietary therapy, exercise, psycho-social counseling, and lipid lowering therapy) in patients with only mild dyslipidemia results in angiographic regression of more severe lesions (> 50% initial stenosis), but does not prevent progression of mild lesions (< 20%). These findings demonstrate that intensive risk factor reduction in patients with only mild elevation of lipids beneficially influences the morphology of the most severe lesions.

Adult↗

Cardiac aspergillosis presenting as myocardial infarction.

Immunosuppression can allow organisms which are not usually pathogenetic to cause disease. Invasive fungal disease is becoming increasingly prevalent because of the growing numbers of patients who are immunosuppressed. Aspergillus species frequently form large masses of fungal elements, thrombin, and fibrin, within the vasculature. These masses can then embolize, leading to organ infarction. Reported herein is a case of aspergillosis invading the myocardium and causing widespread necrosis and infarction. Although the epicardial coronary arteries were free of disease, the patient ultimately died in cardiogenic shock.

Adult↗

Quantitative assay of PCR-amplified hepatitis B virus DNA using a peroxidase-labelled DNA probe and enhanced chemiluminescence.

We have developed a sensitive and quantitative assay for hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in serum or plasma in which PCR and then microtiter hybridization analysis are used. Assay of HBV DNA in serum or plasma is important for demonstrating viral replication, indicating and monitoring antiviral therapy, determining the infectivities of virus carriers, and ensuring the safety of blood products. Under optimum conditions PCR can amplify one HBV DNA molecule to 10(8) copies, but detection of this amount of DNA still requires hybridization with labelled probes or a nested PCR. We labelled one strand of the PCR product with a biotinylated primer. The double-stranded amplicon was incubated in streptavidin-coated microplate wells. The nonlabelled strand was removed after denaturation of the double-stranded DNA with alkali, and the bound strand was hybridized with a peroxidase-coupled single-stranded probe. The amount of bound peroxidase was measured in a luminometer. Four picograms of amplicon was detectable in this system, whereas conventional ethidium bromide staining requires a 1,000 times higher amplicon concentration. The performance of the new assay was compared with those of nested PCR and a PCR system that uses a digoxigenin label, hybridization to a solid-phase adsorbed probe, and colorimetric detection. The chemiluminescence assay was found to be almost as sensitive as nested PCR and approximately five times more sensitive than the colorimetric test.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Cardiac reflex effects of intracoronary bradykinin in humans.

BACKGROUND: Endogenous production of bradykinin (BK) has been postulated to cause hemodynamic changes and cardiac pain during myocardial ischemia, presumably because of the stimulation of cardiac afferent fibers. METHODS: To test the hypothesis that BK results in cardiac reflex responses and can cause the sensation of angina, 10 patients with and without coronary atherosclerosis had BK injected into their right (RCA) and left (LCA) coronary arteries in graded concentrations up to 10(-5) m. Patients were monitored for hemodynamic changes and the presence and quality of pain. RESULTS: Intracoronary BK 10(-5) m caused a significant reduction in blood pressure in most patients with either injection into the RCA or LCA (RCA: 151 +/- 10/90 +/- 5 mm Hg to 119 +/- 11/70 +/- 6 mm Hg, LCA: 161 +/- 11/88 +/- 6 mm Hg to 118 +/- 10/65 +/- 6 mm Hg) that began 12 to 14 seconds after injection. Injection into the LCA also resulted in a significant increase in heart rate (69 +/- 4 to 81 +/- 7 beats/minute), while injection into the RCA did not. Pain occurred after changes in blood pressure in all but one patient, which was present in 5 of 9 patients with RCA injection and 8 of 9 patients with LCA injection, and was often associated with flushing and nausea. Pain caused by BK was not similar to previous clinical ischemic pain in the patients with coronary atherosclerosis. CONCLUSIONS: The absence of a chronotropic response associated with arterial hypotension following injection of BK into the RCA is consistent with activation of cardiac vagal afferents in the left ventricle. The latency and quality of pain in these patients following injection of BK suggests that, while BK is nociceptive, it likely is not the cause of angina in patients with myocardial ischemia.

Adult↗

Determination of the origin cleavage and joining domain of geminivirus Rep proteins.

Replication of the single-stranded DNA genome of plant geminiviruses follows a rolling circle mechanism. It strictly depends on a 'rolling circle replication initiator protein', the M(r) 41 kDa viral Rep protein, encoded by the C1 or AC1 genes. Using wheat dwarf virus (WDV) and tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) as examples, we show that not only the full-size Rep proteins, but also a putative 30 kDa translation product of WDV open reading frame C1-N as well as an artificially shortened 24 kDa Rep of TYLCV, cleave and join single-stranded origin DNA in vitro. Thus the pivotal origin recognition and processing activities of geminivirus Rep proteins must be mediated by the amino-terminal domain of Rep.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Myocardial high-energy phosphate and substrate metabolism in swine with moderate left ventricular hypertrophy.

BACKGROUND: Although left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is frequently associated with impaired coronary vasodilator reserve, it is uncertain whether this leads to myocardial ischemia under physiological conditions. The goal of the present study was to determine whether swine with moderate LVH exhibit metabolic evidence of ischemia when myocardial oxygen requirements are increased. METHODS AND RESULTS: Myocardial metabolism was evaluated in an open-chest anesthetized preparation at baseline and during dobutamine infusion in 13 adolescent pigs with moderate LVH induced by supravalvular aortic banding and 12 age-matched control pigs. Transmural myocardial blood flow was quantified with radioactive microspheres; the ratio of phosphocreatine to ATP (PCr/ATP) in the anterior LV free wall was measured by 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance; and anterior wall lactate release was quantified from the arterial-coronary venous difference in 14C- or 13C-labeled lactate. In a subset of 5 animals from each group, the metabolic fate of exogenous glucose was determined from the transmyocardial difference in 6-14C-glucose and its metabolites 14C-lactate and 14CO2. Coronary reserve, as assessed by the ratio of blood flow during adenosine infusion to baseline blood flow, was significantly lower in the LVH pigs compared with controls (3.5 +/- 0.4 versus 5.5 +/- 0.4 mL/g.min, P < .05); however, transmural myocardial blood flow was similar in both groups of pigs, both at baseline and with dobutamine stimulation, probably reflecting the higher coronary perfusion pressure in the LVH pigs. At baseline, PCr/ATP tended to be lower in the LVH pigs (P = .09) but decreased similarly with dobutamine infusion in both groups. Isotopically measured anterior wall lactate release did not differ between the groups at baseline, nor did the increase in lactate release differ during dobutamine stimulation. The uptake of glucose, lactate, and free fatty acids did not differ between the groups in the basal state. However, during dobutamine stimulation, glucose uptake was greater in the LVH group (0.84 +/- 0.09 mumol/g.min versus 0.59 +/- 0.08 mumol/g.min, P < .05). In a subset of animals, 14C-glucose was used to assess glucose oxidation. These data showed that the LVH animals had a greater rate of glucose oxidation (0.6 +/- 0.10 versus 0.28 +/- 0.08 mumol/g.min, P < .05) and a greater rate of glucose conversion to lactate (0.20 +/- 0.04 versus 0.09 +/- 0.02 mumol/g.min, P < .05) compared with the control pigs. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that despite their reduced coronary vasodilator reserve and the absence of a greater rise in myocardial blood flow to compensate for a substantially higher LV double product, pigs with this model of moderate LVH do not exhibit a greater susceptibility to myocardial ischemia during dobutamine stress. However, LVH pigs exhibit significantly greater use of exogenous glucose during dobutamine stress, as evidenced by increases in both glucose oxidation and anaerobic glycolysis.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

A low incidence of p53 mutations in pre-malignant lesions of the oral cavity from non-tobacco users.

To determine the incidence of p53 mutations in pre-malignant lesions of the oral cavity from individuals without prior history of tobacco use, we have analyzed the conserved regions of the p53 gene (exons 5-9) in archival oral cavity lesion specimens obtained from patients with varied tobacco use histories, by polymerase chain reaction/single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR/SSCP) and DNA sequencing analysis. Twenty-six lesions were analyzed from 14 patients, with multiple lesions obtained from 8 patients. Six of these patients used tobacco, (3 being cigarette smokers, 1 ex-cigarette smoker, 1 moderate cigar smoker and 1 snuff chewer). The remaining 8 patients had no prior history of tobacco use. Thirteen of the pre-malignant lesions exhibited severe dysplasia, 9 exhibited moderate dysplasia and 4 exhibited mild dysplasia. Four of the 26 lesions exhibited p53 mutations, each being from a tobacco user. None of the 13 lesions from never-tobacco users exhibited p53 mutations. There was a significantly higher p53 mutation incidence in pre-malignant lesions from tobacco users (including ex-smokers) than in non-tobacco users as well as in cigarette smokers plus snuff chewers than in non-tobacco users. Two of the mutations were observed in lesions exhibiting severe dysplasia: 1 in a lesion exhibiting moderate dysplasia and 1 in a lesion exhibiting mild dysplasia. These data suggest that p53 mutation may be a very early event in oral cavity tumor progression and demonstrate that pre-malignant lesions obtained from non-tobacco users do not exhibit p53 mutations.

Adult↗

Requirement of glycolytic substrate for metabolic recovery during moderate low flow ischemia.

Low flow ischemia with stable hemodynamic function can result in partial metabolic recovery characterized by an increase in phosphocreatine (PCr). Prior data suggest that glycolytic production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) may be critical for this recovery and that the ATP produced by oxidative phosphorylation alone may be insufficient. This study tested the hypotheses that, during moderate low flow ischemia, (a) metabolic recovery is dependent on glycolytic production of ATP, and, therefore, (b) a mitochondrial substrate such as pyruvate alone is inadequate to allow metabolic recovery. High energy phosphates, pH, and lactate release were measured during 2 h of moderate low flow ischemia. Hearts were perfused with either a glycolytic plus mitochondrial substrate (glucose, insulin and pyruvate) or a mitochondrial substrate alone (pyruvate). Flow reductions required to reduce PCr by approximately 8% resulted in stable and equal reductions of rate-pressure product in each group. PCr recovered fully during the ischemic period in control hearts with glycolytic substrate, associated with preservation of normal end-diastolic pressure, and increased lactate release during the first hour of ischemia. Reperfusion of these hearts restored hemodynamic function and increased PCr above baseline values. In contrast, the use of pyruvate alone as a substrate resulted in a progressive fall of PCr during ischemia, increased end-diastolic pressure, and no significant increase in lactate release. Reperfusion in these hearts restored hemodynamic function, but did not result in normalization of PCr. Both groups had significant reductions in ATP during ischemia. Recovery of PCr during ongoing moderate low flow ischemia is observed in the presence of mixed glycolytic and mitochondrial substrates (glucose, insulin and pyruvate) but is not observed with pyruvate as a sole mitochondrial substrate. These data support a critical role for glycolytic flux under these conditions, suggesting that ATP generated solely by oxidative phosphorylation is not sufficient to promote metabolic recovery or maintain diastolic function during moderate low flow ischemia.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗