Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.1.1.7 (acetylcholinesterase)
 28,390 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The present study reports of three kinds of experiments of unaffected primary rejection of xenogenous kidney transplanats in the close-related fox-dog species system. The issue is whether there is a relation between the amount of grafted parenchyma and the immune induced potency, that is whether the course of rejection of transplanted single kidneys (group I a) differs from the course after en-bloc transplantation of both kidneys (group I b). In group II alterations of blood chemism and behavior of humoral antibodies are followed in dogs to which a fox kidney was transplanted, while keeping their own functioning kidneys. This experiment is to give information whether the uremic syndrome influences the development of humoral immunity, and what changes of blood chemism may primarily be related to destruction of the graft, under the condition of absent uremia. Untreated graft recipients survived for 5,4 +/- 0,49 days (n = 5) when single kidneys were transplanted (group I a), and 5,2 +/- 0,75 days (n = 5) when both kidneys were grafted en-bloc (group I b). As to the rejecting reactions, both groups are almost equal: the increasing functional failure causes a fast increase of creatinine and urea nitrogen; alkaline phosphatase and LDH show distinct alterations, related to the progress of the graft's destruction. Decrease of albumin level and loss of cholinesterase activity indicate an impaired hepatic function as reaction to uremic intoxication. Gamma-globulins and leucocytes show alterations that can be related to non-specific inflammatory reactions. The immunologically specific initial lymphopenia suggests that after revascularization these cells migrate to the graft, and later react with antigenic structures of vascular endothelium and still later with those of the organ cells. Cytotoxic antibodies appear on the 4th postoperative day in increasing amount. Post mortem histologic examination shows round cell infiltrates in the vastly necrotic renal parenchyma. When the recipient's kidneys are kept in situ and a fox kidney is transplanted (group II) uremia is avoided and the animals survive. During the 30-days period of observation, that is longer than the term of rejection, the titer of cytotoxic antibodies remains stable or tends to increase. LDH and alkaline phosphatase show characteristic changes that are considered sequels from destructed transplantate. The experiments show, aside from certain reservations, that the donor-host combination fox-dog is suitable to serve as preclinic model for human transplantation using xenogenous donors of organs, i. e. anthropoid primates.
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PMID:[The unaffected primary rejection of xenogeneic kidney transplants in the closely related fox-dog species system]. 3 59

To determine whether local cholinergic mechanisms evoke nitric oxide (NO)-mediated flow-induced vasorelaxation, canine coronary artery rings without endothelium were suspended beneath an organ chamber that contained a stainless steel tube and a femoral artery segment with endothelium. The rings were superfused at a basal rate of 1 ml/min with physiological salt solution that was bubbled with 95% O2-5% CO2 and maintained at 37 degrees C. They were stretched to optimal length and contracted with prostaglandin F 2 alpha (2 x 10(-6) M). When flow through the stainless steel tube (direct superfusion) was increased from the basal rate of 1 to 4 ml/min, coronary force did not change. Superfusion of the rings (n = 8) with effluent from the femoral segment (endothelial superfusion) at 4 ml/min to study flow-induced vasodilation caused a 67.3 +/- 10.8% relaxation. Treatment of the segment with the NO synthase blocker NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (10(-4) M) eliminated the relaxation seen during endothelial superfusion (P < 0.05 vs. control). Application of atropine (10(-6) M) to additional femoral segments (n = 8) abolished the coronary relaxation observed during endothelial superfusion at 1 ml/ min, and the flow-induced relaxation observed at 4 ml/min was reduced from 64 +/- 8.3 to 27 +/- 5.6% (P < 0.05 vs. control). In studies on additional segments and rings (n = 6), the flow-induced relaxations at 4 ml/min of endothelial superfusion were blunted from 86 +/- 10 to 28 +/- 13% after the segments were treated with acetylcholinesterase (0.00028 U/min for 20 min). These data indicate that basal- and flow-induced release of NO from the vascular endothelium can be mediated by local cholinergic mechanisms. It is possible that flow causes acetylcholine release from certain endothelial cells, which stimulates NO release from these cells or from neighboring endothelial cells.
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PMID:Local cholinergic mechanisms mediate nitric oxide-dependent flow-induced vasorelaxation in vitro. 877 18

Liver transplantation is the only therapeutic option for patients with end-stage liver disease. Nitric oxide, a free radical produced from L-arginine, a potent vasodilator, also inhibits platelet adhesion and aggregation, reduces adhesion of leukocytes to the endothelium and suppresses proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells. The inducible form of the nitric oxide synthase may generate large quantities of nitric oxide, and may be induced by the action of cytokines and lipopolysaccharides. Nitric oxide can be released from the hepatic vascular endothelium, platelets and Kupffer cells as a response to ischemia-reperfusion injury and circulatory shock. We analyzed the relationships between the levels of nitric oxide, hepatic enzymes and other clinical parameters (glucose, total proteins, total bilirubin, creatinine, albumin) obtained in serum samples before liver transplantation and every 48 h till day 15 in 15 patients aged 40 +/- 13 years. Aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels changed from high at the beginning, to almost normal at the end of the study, cholinesterase levels remained decreased throughout the study and nitric oxide remained high, never reaching normal values.
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PMID:Nitric oxide in liver transplantation. 1175 5

In the present study, we have investigated whether the peripheral cholinergic abnormalities that we have reported previously [Spence, Khan and Belch (2000) Am. J. Med. 108, 736-739] in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are also present in those with Gulf War syndrome (GWS) and agricultural workers exposed to organophosphate pesticides, where cholinesterase inhibition is specifically implicated. We also looked at whether these abnormalities might be due to a reduction in the activity of cholinesterase expressed on the vascular endothelium. We used laser Doppler imaging to measure the forearm skin blood flow responses to iontophoresis of acetylcholine and of methacholine (which is resistant to breakdown by cholinesterase) in patients with CFS, GWS and those with a history of ill health after definite organophosphate exposure, as well as in matched healthy controls. The response to acetylcholine was significantly higher in patients with CFS than in controls ( P =0.029, repeated-measures ANOVA), but was normal in those with GWS and those exposed to organophosphates. The methacholine response was higher than the acetylcholine response in all patient groups except for those with CFS, where there was no difference between the responses. Although there are many clinical similarities between these three illnesses, our results indicate peripheral cholinergic abnormalities in the vascular endothelium of only patients with CFS, suggesting that this syndrome has a different aetiology, which might involve inhibition of vascular cholinesterase.
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PMID:Peripheral cholinergic function in humans with chronic fatigue syndrome, Gulf War syndrome and with illness following organophosphate exposure. 1450 20