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V Pliska

Publications and source records attributed to V Pliska.

84 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Prenatal stress in rats: effects on plasma corticosterone, hippocampal glucocorticoid receptors, and maze performance.

The present experiments were designed to investigate the effects of maternal stress on cognitive and endocrine parameters in the adult offspring. Pregnant rats were stressed daily during the last week of pregnancy (days 15-19) by restraint, and the performance of their offspring in the Morris water maze was recorded. Plasma corticosterone levels after swimming and the status of hippocampal glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) were determined. During acquisition of the task, prenatally stressed (PS) males - but not females - showed longer escape latencies than non-stressed controls when swimming in cold (10 degrees C) but not in warm (20 degrees C) water. This sex- and prenatal stress-specific difference was even more pronounced during reversal learning of the task. In contrast, PS females - but not males - had higher basal corticosterone levels and a lower density of hippocampal corticosteroid receptors than non-stressed controls. In all animals irrespective of treatment, swimming in the water maze causes an increase of corticosterone that was smaller on day 8 of swimming than on day 1. After swimming in cold water, the rise in corticosterone levels in females was steeper and returned faster to baseline values than after swimming in warm water. A similar pattern could be seen in PS females when compared to their non-stressed controls. The data suggest that prenatal stress impairs spatial learning in males but not in females. Basal and stress-induced increases in corticosterone levels, however, were altered in PS females and not in PS males; i.e., prenatal stress-induced changes in corticosterone secretion were not paralleled by prenatal stress-induced deficits in spatial learning.

Animals↗

Carrier detection of ovine hemophilia A using an RFLP marker, and mapping of the factor VIII gene on the ovine X-chromosome.

Ovine hemophilia A is an X-linked recessive bleeding disorder. For diagnostic purposes, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis in the region of the factor VIII (F-VIII) gene was carried out using human F-VIII gene probes. The probe St14, known to detect a highly polymorphic region that is closely linked to the F-VIII gene in humans, hybridized nonspecifically with DNA from sheep. Searching for intragenic RFLPs, the entire 9.0-kb coding sequence of the human F-VIII was used as a probe. Using the 1.8-kb SstI/KpnI F-VIII cDNA probe for hybridization, an MspI-RFLP with allelic bands of 5.8 kb (A1) and 4.2 kb (A2) was detected. A1 was in linkage phase with the mutated allele responsible for hemophilia A. The F-VIII locus in the sheep genome was assigned to the long arm of the X-chromosome in the region Xq24-q33, using in situ hybridization with a 3-kb human F-VIII cDNA probe to QFQ banded sheep metaphase chromosomes.

Animals↗

Factor VIII in blood plasma of haemophilic sheep: analysis of clotting time-plasma dilution curves.

The sheep haemophilia A, recently described in a flock of White Alpine sheep, is probably caused by the production of a less potent mutant of factor VIII (F-VIII). Other potential mechanisms, such as drastic reduction (or lack) of F-VIII production, or occurrence of an F-VIII inhibitor, are less likely. This conclusion was based on the analysis of plasma dilution-clotting effect relationships in normal female (anestrous, non-pregnant) sheep, female carriers of haemophilia A, and afflicted male sheep. A response model underlying the analysis was suggested, its validity tested, and a mathematical analysis suitable for routine evaluation procedure recommended.

Animals↗

Pharmacokinetics of small unilamellar liposomes and incorporated lonazolac after i.m. administration.

The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug lonazolac [3-(p-chlorophenyl)-1-phenylpyrazole-4]-acetic acid was incorporated into the bilayer of liposomes. The unilamellar and homogeneously sized liposomes with a diameter of 45 +/- 7 nm were prepared by controlled detergent dialysis. The maximal amount of lonazolac incorporation is 0.140 mg per mg egg phosphatidylcholine (egg PC). The liposomes were stable over a year. Pharmacokinetics of the 3H- and 14C-labelled liposomes and of the 14C-labelled lonazolac was investigated after i.v. and i.m. administration to rabbits. The i.m. injected liposomes showed a terminal half-life of 74 h and after 24 h 7 per cent of the administered lecithin was still in the plasma. Eight hours following the i.m. injection of the liposomes, the plasma levels of lonazolac were significantly higher compared to the reference. A portion of the liposomes was released from the muscle into the circulation. A great share of lonazolac was quickly interchanged between the liposomes and the surrounding tissue. In additional experiments small oligolamellar liposomes should be used to decrease the interchange of lonazolac and to enhance the plasma levels of liposomal incorporated lonazolac.

Animals↗

Multiple receptor populations: binding isotherms and their numerical analysis.

This paper reviews present models and methods of parameter estimation in relationships describing receptor-ligand interactions in equilibrium, as used in the author's laboratory. The state-of-the-art and the present experience can be summarized as follows: 1) Binding isotherms (relationships of bound and free/total ligand concentrations) are superpositions of several elementary terms describing the ligand binding to individual binding sites (receptors) present in the biological material investigated. The "nonspecific binding" is usually represented by a linear term. 2) The elementary terms are most frequently described by a rectangular hyperbola, Hill (power) function, or a rational function (binding of several ligand molecules to one molecule of receptor). Heterologous displacement requires specific functions which, however, can be transformed into one of the elementary terms. 3) Parameters (binding capacities, dissociation constants, Hill coefficients, etc.) can most reliably be estimated by nonlinear regression methods. However, these methods frequently fail to yield physically relevant values if initial estimates are far from "real" values, or if the data are strongly scattered. Some of the available routines (e.g., LIGAND) offer manifold tools to solve these difficulties. 4) The "affinity spectrum", a relationship between binding capacities and equilibrium constants, shows the presence of individual binding sites in the binding system in question. The spectrum can be constructed either by Fourier analysis, or by a stepwise procedure (computation of binding capacity for several dissociation constants). The former way of analysis is demanding; software tools are rare. 5) The "STEP" routine based on Hill/Scatchard linearization routines yields profiles similar to affinity spectra, but offers, in addition, values of Hill coefficients of individual binding populations. Values obtained can be used as initial estimates for nonlinear regression. 6) Selection of a suitable model, its testing, numerical procedures, statistical estimates, etc. frequently entail severe difficulties which are approached in the available software packages in different ways, none of them is usually optimal.

Animals↗

Kinetic analysis of ligand-receptor association data that display an overshoot phenomenon.

A binding overshoot was frequently observed in the time course of association of diazepam with rat brain membrane receptors shortly after the start of the interaction. Such time profiles most likely reflect the "receptor switch" mechanism, assuming an equilibrium between two forms of a receptor (R and R*) that possess different affinities to the ligand (L) in question. Similar effects could be caused by the presence of a slowly dissociating competitor. The kinetics of these mechanisms were verified by simulation of theoretical time courses. A computer program for simulation of the time course, and estimation of rate constants of the individual reaction steps, was developed and is described in this communication. It employs the Euler-Cauchy integration for simulation of theoretical time courses. Optimised estimates of the rate constants were computed by simultaneous random variation of parameters within a pre-set interval. Stable solutions can be obtained for this system, thus enabling evaluation of equilibrium constants defined by the model. The source code is available in Turbo-Pascal. It can be used, after re-writing the rate equations, for fitting of similar kinetic models to suitable experimental data.

Animals↗

Steroid receptors in the rat hippocampus: a note to the methodology of their binding assay.

Mineralocorticoid (MR) and glucocorticoid (GR) receptors in the rat hippocampus are linked to several cognitive functions of the animal and seem to play an important role in the response to various stressors. Their assessment by binding experiments brings about problems associated with their intracellular compartmentalization, and in particular with the separation of the bound and free ligands. Adrenalectomy 24 h before sacrificing is commonly used to clear the circulating adrenal steroids, and to facilitate their dissociation from hippocampal MR and GR. We have successful attempted to use dialysis to these purposes and thus, to avoid a potential surgical stress. Without dialysis, only GR can be measured in the cytosol from intact rats, while the corresponding pellet contains MR as a component of the cell nuclei. The bound ligand fraction was separated by filtration on polyethyleneimine pretreated glass fiber filters as suggested earlier. The method has clear-cut preferences compared to any alternative used up to now. Discrimination between the two receptor types can be optimally achieved in a cross-displacement experiment in which two labeled ligands possessing various affinities to individual receptors (in our case: corticosterone and aldosterone, or their synthetic analogs) are displaced with the two corresponding nonlabelled ligands from their receptors. Computations can be carried out with LIGAND software which yield accurate values of binding parameters.

Adrenalectomy↗

Thermodynamic parameters of ligand-receptor interactions: computation and error margins.

A semiempirical relationship describing the temperature function of ligand-receptor dissociation constants (Kd), derived from heat capacities of the system in equilibrium, is suggested for computation of the standard enthalpy (delta H degree) and standard entropy (delta S degree) changes in equilibrium. The use of the linear expression (called Gibbs-van't Hoff equation) may lead to inaccurate results when heat capacity Cp displays a considerable temperature dependence. The accuracy of Kd, delta H degree and delta S degree has been studied by simulation experiments. In the case of Kd, deviations of computed from "true" values are determined by both the accuracy of experimental data used for its estimation, and by the shape of the binding isotherm (for instance, by Hill coefficients or by the presence of low affinity sites). As a rule, if errors of bound ligand measurements are greater than 20 per cent, Kd estimates ought to be considered as less reliable. However, computations of delta H degree and delta S degree that use such Kd values, are more correct, probably due to an error compensation. The suggested nonlinear temperature function of Kd enables an estimate of the heat capacity of the system and its temperature dependence.

Kinetics↗

Partial agonism: mechanisms based on ligand-receptor interactions and on stimulus-response coupling.

Substances eliciting, at very high concentrations, a lower maximal response of a particular biological system than a defined standard, are defined as partial agonists. The convention rests on the definition of a standard substance that achieves a 'full' maximal response; partial agonism being, therefore, relative. Various mechanisms lie behind this phenomenon: 1. Receptor-related mechanisms: the agonist-receptor complex exists in several conformational states from which only one, or only a few, activate the cell signaling pathway. This may occur when the receptor itself, or the agonist, exists in multiple states (e.g., in the form of enantiomers or stereoisomers), or when the agonist-receptor complex changes its conformation (receptor switch: two-state model of receptor activation). Furthermore, a steric hindrance by a 'wrong-way binding' of a part of the agonist's molecules may prevent the full 'correct' occupancy of receptors. 2. Mechanisms based on the efficacy of the stimulus-response coupling. The efficacy is then proportional to the sum of probabilities that receptors in individual states activate the cell-signaling pathway. Doses (concentrations) eliciting the half maximal response (EC50), or similar response sensitivity parameters, are not included in the definition of partial agonism. However, tight correlations exist between maximal response and EC50 in many, but not all, generic groups of agonistically acting substances. These relationships are frequently linear; intercepts and slopes of these 'E, KE plots' are characteristic for individual, putative mechanisms. Dose-response curves of partial agonists are akin to those obtained for a response to a full agonist after a stepwise partial inactivation of receptors by an irreversible inhibitor. Also, the E, KE plots obtained in these instances are similar to those of partial agonists. The receptor reserve, rather vaguely defined in early reports, is therefore closely linked to the phenomenon of partial agonism.

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