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Biomedical subjects

W Boucher

Publications and source records attributed to W Boucher.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Increased urine histamine and methylhistamine in interstitial cystitis.

Interstitial cystitis is a painful bladder disorder occurring mostly in women, and is presently diagnosed by clinical presentation, as well as the presence of mucosal glomerulations and inflammation on bladder distention. An increased number of bladder mast cells have been implicated in the pathophysiology of interstitial cystitis but previous reports of spot urine histamine have not confirmed bladder mast cell activation. The availability of easily measurable objective criteria could make the diagnosis easier. Histamine and its major metabolite, methylhistamine, were measured in spot and 24-hour urine specimens from a number of normal female volunteers, control patients and interstitial cystitis patients. In interstitial cystitis patients the histamine levels were only slightly increased in the spot (p < 0.01) and 24-hour urine (p < 0.03) collections. Methylhistamine, on the other hand, was greatly elevated in spot (p < 10(-10)) and 24-hour (p < 0.0008) urine samples. These results indicate that methylhistamine levels could serve as useful diagnostic end points for interstitial cystitis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Quercetin-induced expression of rat mast cell protease II and accumulation of secretory granules in rat basophilic leukemia cells.

Rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) cells are considered to be similar to bone-marrow derived mast cells and to mucosal mast cells (MMC), the latter of which may be involved in inflammatory bowel diseases. RBL cells are not able to accumulate histamine and secretory granules under regular growing conditions. Here we show that the flavonoid quercetin, which inhibits mast cell secretion of histamine, also inhibited RBL cell proliferation and constitutive histamine release while it induced synthesis of rat mast cell protease (RMCP) II and triggered processes leading to accumulation of secretory granules. Cell viability was also retained in the presence of quercetin, whereas untreated cells did not survive past 6 days of growth. Quercetin did not affect the expression of mRNA for alpha-subunit of immunoglobulin E (IgE) receptor, but led to increased expression of mRNA for, and synthesis of RMCP II, which is a marker protein for MMC. Many of these granules showed metachromasia with toluidine blue after 3 days of growth, stained red with alcian blue counterstained with safranin after 8 days of growth, and contained electron dense material. Our results suggest that RBL cells have the capacity to progress to a more mature state and may lend themselves to further analysis of a growth regulator(s) with action similar to that of quercetin.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Synergistic action of estradiol and myelin basic protein on mast cell secretion and brain myelin changes resembling early stages of demyelination.

Mast cells are known for their participation in immediate and, more recently, delayed hypersensitivity reactions. They have been found in the meninges and certain brain areas where they are strictly perivascular, in close apposition to neurons, and they are activated by direct nerve stimulation or by neuropeptides. Intracranial mast cells contain many vasoactive substances which can increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, proteolytic enzymes which can degrade myelin in vitro, as well as chemotactic molecules which can attract inflammatory molecules in vivo. Connective tissue mast cells, with which intracranial mast cells share many characteristics, contain cytokines which can cause inflammation directly. Multiple sclerosis is a human demyelinating disease of unknown etiology, with a high prevalence in women which results in penetration of blood-borne immune cells within the brain parenchyma and subsequent destruction of myelin. Here, we report that 17 beta-estradiol and myelin basic protein, a major suspected immunogen in multiple sclerosis, had a synergistic action on inducing mast cell secretion. This effect was more pronounced in Lewis rats, which are susceptible to the development of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, an animal model for multiple sclerosis, than in Sprague-Dawley rats, which are fairly resistant. Moreover, 18 h incubation of purified peritoneal mast cells with homogeneic slices of brain white matter in the presence of 17 beta-estradiol and myelin basic protein resulted in myelin changes resembling early stages of brain demyelination, which were also more evident in Lewis rats than in Sprague-Dawley rats. These results support the notion that mast cells could participate in the pathophysiology of demyelinating diseases.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Dermatitis characterized by mastocytosis at immunization sites in mast-cell-deficient W/Wv mice.

W/Wv mice have been extensively used as an important model to study the maturation/differentiation and pathophysiology of mast cells. These albino mice have been shown to have less than 1% of the mast cells found in the skin of their +/+ controls or other normal mice. Moreover, no mast cells are detected in other organs even though they apparently have an adequate number of mast cell precursors. Presumably, these precursors do not respond appropriately to microenvironmental growth factors, while 'normal' precursors from the +/+ controls of S1/S1d-deficient mice mature appropriately in the tissue microenvironment of the W/Wv mice. Female W/Wv mice and +/+ controls were immunized with allogeneic spinal cord homogenate in complete Freund's adjuvant and Mycobacterium tuberculosis in order to induce experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. All W/Wv mice developed extensive dermatitis with mastocytosis at the injection sites about 4 months after inoculation. Mast cells were identified by light microscopy following staining with toluidine blue and berberine sulfate as well as electron microscopy. They were also found to be functional since they secreted serotonin and histamine in response to either compound 48/80 or carbachol. The majority of these mast cells were, therefore, considered to be mature, connective tissue like, but many of them were in different stages of granule maturation as seen with electron microscopy. These findings imply that W/Wv mice may not always be appropriate as models of mast cell deficiency. Moreover, these results suggest that the 'defect' in W/Wv mast cell precursors can be overcome by factors produced during immunization and/or development of dermatitis. These findings may, therefore, help elucidate what regulates mast cell maturation/differentiation as well as their pathophysiology.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Formation of histamine-releasing activity from albumin by medium conditioned by endotoxin-stimulated rat peritoneal macrophages.

Incubation of bovine serum albumin (BSA), rat serum albumin or rat plasma with medium conditioned by endotoxin stimulated rat peritoneal macrophages produced an activity that released histamine from isolated rat serosal mast cells. The amount of histamine-releasing activity (HRA) produced increased with the length of the incubation period, with the concentration of albumin, with the number of macrophages stimulated, and with the duration of exposure of the macrophages to endotoxin. Moreover, the formation of the HRA showed a dependency on the pH of the incubation medium with an optimum at pH 4.5. Boiling the medium conditioned by stimulated macrophages before its incubation with albumin or including the acid protease inhibitor, pepstatin with the conditioned medium prevented the formation of HRA. The generation of HRA was not inhibited by pretreatment of the macrophages with the inhibitor of protein synthesis, cycloheximide. Media from macrophages not stimulated with endotoxin failed to generate HRA. Histamine release from mast cells in response to the HRA was inhibited by pretreatment of the cells with antimycin A and deoxyglucose or by preincubation in Ca-free Locke's solution containing a calcium chelating agent. When injected intradermally into anesthetized Evan's Blue treated rats, the generated HRA produced a change in vascular permeability that was prevented by the H1 antagonist, diphenhydramine. Treatment of the HRA with carboxypeptidase A reduced its ability to stimulate histamine release from mast cells. Histamine-Releasing Peptide (HRP), a neurotensin-related octapeptide, shown previously by us to be formed by the action of cathepsin D or pepsin on albumin, was identified by radioimmunoassay in acid:acetone extracts of the histamine-releasing activity. It is concluded that the formation of HRA is due to the actions of enzymes released from macrophages acting on albumin. It is suggested that such histamine-releasing activity could be formed during the later stages of the inflammatory response and that HRP is one of the peptides present.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Sequential assignment of the backbone nuclei (1H, 15N and 13C) of c-H-ras p21 (1-166).GDP using a novel 4D NMR strategy.

The c-H-ras p21 protein is the product of the human ras proto-oncogene, a member of a ubiquitous eukaryotic gene family which is highly conserved in evolution. These proteins play an important role in the control of cellular growth. We report here the sequential assignment of the backbone nuclei in a truncated form of the 21-kD gene product, using our recently proposed 4D NMR strategy (Boucher et al., 1992). These assignments are the first step towards a full investigation of the structure, dynamics and interactions of wild-type and oncogenic ras p21 using NMR spectroscopy. Some of the data were presented at the 33rd ENC held at Asilomar, California, U.S.A., in April 1992.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Estradiol augments while tamoxifen inhibits rat mast cell secretion.

Mast cells have been studied extensively for their involvement in allergic reactions, where they secrete numerous powerful mediators in response to immunoglobulin E and specific antigens. However, they are also triggered by neuropeptides, they have been found in close contact with neurons, and they are activated in diseases such as angioedema, interstitial cystitis and irritable bowel disease, the prevalence of which is much higher in women. When tested on purified rat peritoneal mast cells, 17 beta-estradiol augmented secretion of histamine and serotonin, starting at 1 microM and in a dose-dependent manner, whether stimulated by the mast cell secretagogue compound 48/80 or the neuropeptide substance P. However, 17 beta-estradiol did not augment mast cell secretion stimulated by immunoglobulin E and specific antiserum indicating that immunologic stimulation is under different regulation. Testosterone inhibited secretion induced by compound 48/80. Tamoxifen, an estrogen receptor antagonist used in the treatment of breast cancer, inhibited serotonin and histamine release from purified rat peritoneal mast cells triggered by compound 48/80 or substance P. Tamoxifen also inhibited the increase in intracellular free Ca2+ originating from an influx of extracellular Ca2+ in response to compound 48/80. Moreover, tamoxifen antagonized the synergistic effect of phorbol myristate and the cation ionophore A23187 on mast cell secretion, suggesting that tamoxifen's inhibition may be due to regulation of protein kinase C activity. Tamoxifen may, therefore, have a beneficial effect in other neuroimmunoendocrine disorders both through estrogen receptor blockade and inhibition of mast cell secretion.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Generation of xenopsin-related peptides from tissue precursors by media conditioned by endotoxin-stimulated rat peritoneal macrophages.

Incubation of media conditioned by endotoxin-stimulated rat peritoneal macrophages generates immunoreactive xenopsin (iXP) when incubated with acid extracts of various tissues of the rat. The generation of iXP, as measured by specific radioimmunoassay and confirmed by HPLC analysis, increased as the length of the incubation period increased and was inhibited by pepstatin, prior boiling of the conditioned media, or by omitting either the tissue extract or the conditioned media. The pH optimum for the generation of iXP was 3.0. The generated iXP showed biological activity in that stimulated histamine secretion from isolated rat mast cells and this secretory response was prevented by metabolically poisoning the cells. In addition, the generated iXP stimulated contraction of the isolated guinea pig ileum. In this regard, it was similar to neurotensin (NT). Tissue precursor levels for iXP, as measured by this system of generation, were highest in kidney, liver, and skin and lowest in skeletal muscle and plasma. These results suggest to us that during the inflammatory response, the NT-related peptide, xenopsin, can be generated from tissue precursor(s) by enzymes secreted by invading macrophages. The generated XP may then affect the participating cells of inflammation.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

On the classification of regular systems of inbreeding.

Regular systems of inbreeding are defined as those with discrete, nonoverlapping generations and with the same number of individuals and mating pattern in every generation. Given the number of individuals in a generation, there are many possible regular mating systems. A notion of when two such mating systems are equivalent is introduced, and several necessary conditions are given for such an equivalence. The use of these conditions is illustrated for N = 2, 3, 4 and 5 individuals, and a complete enumeration has been found for these cases: the numbers of inequivalent mating systems are 1, 5, 57 and 858, respectively. The maximal eigenvalue of the matrix q that specifies the recursion relations satisfied by the probabilities of identity have also been found for these cases. For N = 3 and 4 (and 2 trivially), circular mating gives the slowest rate of approach to genetic uniformity of those systems that do evolve to uniformity, but for N = 5 there are two other mating systems that have a slower rate of convergence, and for N = 6 partial results show that there are many such examples.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Structures of histamine-releasing peptides formed by the action of acid proteases on mammalian albumin(s).

The acid proteases, pepsin, rennin and cathepsin D, were shown to generate mast cell histamine releasing peptides (HRP) when incubated with the albumin fraction of mammalian plasmas. Significant histamine release was observed using less than 1 microliter equivalent of pepsin-treated plasma. Histamine release was rapid, dependent on calcium and energy, and accompanied by degranulation. The major HRP present in pepsin-treated human and canine plasma was identified as H-Ile-Ala-Arg-Arg-His-Pro-Tyr-Phe-OH whereas that from rat plasma had valine substituted for isoleucine. Cathepsin D-treated BSA gave rise to the human octapeptide (above) as well as to an extended decapeptide with H-Tyr-Glu- at the N-terminus. These peptides were apparently derived from one region of serum albumin, residues 139 to 149 of the human, canine, or bovine sequence. We hypothesize that cathepsin D, released from leukocyte lysosomes, might generate HRP during the delayed phase of an inflammatory response.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Generation of histamine-releasing activity from serum albumin by medium derived from stimulated neutrophils of rat.

1. Medium conditioned by rat neutrophils stimulated by N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) has been found to generate mast cell histamine-releasing activity (HRA) when incubated with bovine serum albumin (BSA). 2. Histamine release increased as the concentration of BSA used to generate HRA was increased from 0.25 to 10 mg ml-1, as the concentration of neurotrophil conditioned medium was increased and as the concentration of FMLP used to stimulate the neutrophils was increased. Histamine release was non-cytotoxic as it was inhibited by energy deprivation or by removal of calcium and it was accompanied by degranulation. 3. HRA was detectable after 30 min of incubation with BSA and its generation continued to increase over the 18 h of our measurements. 4. Generation of HRA was dependent upon the presence of medium from stimulated neutrophils and on the presence of BSA, although plasma could substitute for BSA. Likewise, HRA could be generated from gamma-globulin although to a lesser extent than with albumin. 5. Generation was optimum at acid pH and was inhibited by prior boiling of the neutrophil conditioned medium or by the addition of pepstatin. 6. It is suggested that an enzyme(s) released from the neutrophil during stimulation acts on an albumin-like substrate to generate HRA. It is proposed that HRA is peptide in nature and may be generated during an inflammatory response.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Regular systems of inbreeding.

Regular systems of inbreeding with discrete, nonoverlapping generations and the same number of individuals and mating pattern in every generation are studied. The matrix Q that specifies the recursion relations satisfied by the probabilities of identity is expressed in terms of the matrix M that describes the mating system. Necessary and sufficient conditions for convergence to genetic uniformity are given, and it is determined which probabilities of identity approach one. If the mating system has certain symmetries and these are imposed initially, then a matrix R, of lower dimension than Q, specifies the recursion relations. For such a mating system, for generic initial conditions, the condensed matrix R suffices for determining whether convergence to uniformity occurs and which probabilities of identity approach one. If Q is irreducible, the maximal eigenvalue of R is the same as that of Q. If Q is also aperiodic, this implies that the asymptotic rate of convergence to homogeneity of the condensed system is the same as that of the complete one. The above results apply to autosomal loci in monoecious (with or without selfing) and dioecious populations and to X-linked loci. As an example, all the eigenvalues and right and left eigenvectors of Q for circular mating are found.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Mast cell histamine-releasing activity from stimulated rat neutrophils.

Mast cell histamine-releasing activity (HRA) has been observed in medium derived from stimulated rat neutrophils pretreated with cytochalasin B. This HRA did not require cell-cell contact between mast cells and neutrophils, and its concentration was increased by increasing the number of neutrophils or by raising the concentration of chemotactic peptide used to stimulate the neutrophils. The HRA survived boiling for 5 min and storage overnight at -20 degrees C. In the absence of neutrophil stimulation, no HRA was observed.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Neurotensin stimulates histamine release in in vivo skin 'blisters' in rats: an effect inhibited by cromolyn or somatostatin.

Histamine release was directly measured in in vivo skin blisters in rats in response to the intradermal injection of the peptide neurotensin (NT). Histamine release increased as the concentration of NT was raised from 10(-11) to 10(-5) M. This response was rapid in onset and was inhibited by disodium cromoglycate or the peptide somatostatin (SIRF). The inhibitory effect of SIRF was rapid and was evident from 10(-12) to 10(-8) M SIRF. A similar inhibition was observed on isolated peritoneal mast cells. Histamine release in response to substance P was not inhibited by SIRF.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Neurotensin elevates hematocrit and plasma levels of the leukotrienes, LTB4, LTC4, LTD4 and LTE4, in anesthetized rats.

The IV injection of neurotensin (NT) into anesthetized rats produced a marked increase in hematocrit, labored breathing and peripheral blood stasis with cyanosis. This effect could also be produced by the NT-related peptides, neuromedin-N and xenopsin; however, it was not observed when nine other biologically active peptides, including bradykinin and substance P, were tested. Associated with these responses were increases in the plasma levels of histamine (measured radioenzymatically) and the leukotrienes, LTB4, LTC4, LTD4, and LTE4 (measured by RIA and HPLC). The increment in hematocrit after varying doses of NT correlated to the increase in plasma levels of LTC4. Histamine and LTC4 were both capable of elevating hematocrit when given IV; however, LTC4 was approximately 1000 times more potent than histamine and active doses of histamine elevated LTC4 levels. Furthermore, the effects of NT on plasma LTC4 and hematocrit were reduced by pretreating animals with antagonists to histamine and serotonin. Pretreatment with the specific mast cell degranulating agent, compound 48/80, also blocked NT's ability to elevate plasma levels of histamine, LTB4 and LTC4 and prevented the increased hematocrit and cyanosis. These results indicate that NT-related peptides are very potent and specific stimulators of leukotriene release and that this action is mediated by mast cells and associated with loss of plasma volume and blood stasis. A working hypothesis is that histamine, released from mast cells in response to NT, stimulates LTC4 production by other cells.

Anesthesia, General↗