Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) is the most common opportunistic infection in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Eflornithine is an antiprotozoal agent active against P. carinii. It acts by inhibiting ornithine decarboxylase, an enzyme that is essential for cellular function. The drug is initially administered intravenously, followed by oral therapy. Eflornithine has been used on a compassionate basis in AIDS patients with PCP who were intolerant of or unresponsive to traditional agents. Overall, the response rate has been about 35%; however, conclusions are difficult to make since patients had different stages of disease and received treatment for varying periods of time. Side effects include depression of bone marrow function, diarrhea, hearing loss, seizures, alterations in liver function tests, and rash. While the need for safer and more efficacious antipneumocystis drugs grows, widespread use of seemingly promising agents should be based on well-conducted clinical trials.
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PMID:Eflornithine for the treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: a preliminary review. 249 38

The present study has investigated the question of whether or not hydrocortisone as a gene regulator plays a role in the expression of carcinogenic and cocarcinogenic actions of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) and NaCl at the gastric epithelium. The interaction of local hydrocortisone, MNNG and NaCl was studied in vitro and in vivo using Swiss/ICR mice of both sexes. MNNG inhibited specific hydrocortisone binding with the cytoplasmic receptor from the glandular stomach of mouse. The intake of both excess NaCl and MNNG induced an increase in hydrocortisone turnover in the glandular stomach of mouse. Likewise, administration of either excess NaCl or MNNG increased the activity of ornithine decarboxylase in the glandular stomach of mouse. Long-term use of a salt-rich diet and MNNG drink induced an irreversible reduction in water consumption without affecting NaCl consumption, a dissociation of the hydrocortisone effect. The aforementioned MNNG effect on water turnover was more marked in female than in male mice. It is suggested that NaCl and MNNG produce a state of corticosteroid stimulation and androgen depression at the glandular stomach epithelium of mouse--a reproduction of the hormonal markers of gastric cancer.
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PMID:Interaction between N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and 2 steroid hormones in the glandular stomach of mouse. I. Acceleration of hydrocortisone turnover by use of a salt-rich diet and the carcinogen. 277 56

When exposed to alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis, Chinese hamster ovary cells become increasingly sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of elevated temperatures (D.J.M. Fuller and E.W. Gerner, Cancer Res., 42:5046-5049, 1982). This sensitization becomes marked at times greater than 24 h after drug removal, and by 48 h, polyamine-depleted cells that have been exposed to 43 degrees C for 90 min have clonogenic survival values more than two orders of magnitude lower than control populations. Dose response studies demonstrate that, when measured 36 h after removal of the drug, hyperthermic cytotoxicity is maximally potentiated by exposure to DFMO for times as short as 2 to 4 h. A drug concentration of 1 mM for 8 h also elicits maximal response. An additional 8-h drug treatment 24 h after the first fails to further reduce survival in response to heat shock, suggesting the effects of the first exposure are persistent. Intracellular putrescine pools are depleted by the drug within 8 h, and spermidine levels continue to decline for up to 50 h. Consistent with these observations, ornithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.17) activity is found to be reduced for up to 48 h after drug removal. The concomitant depression of spermidine is reflected in the elevation of S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.50), which is substrate limited. Putrescine and spermidine show no sign of reaccumulation until approximately 4 days after DFMO exposure. Exposure to exogenous putrescine reversed the sensitization to heat shock induced by DFMO. This effect is quite specific for putrescine (1.4-diaminobutane) and is not replicated by other diamine homologues ranging from 1.3-diaminopropane to 1.8-diaminooctane. Polyamine-depleted cells express thermotolerance with kinetics similar to control cells although overall survival levels are lower. These results suggest that the mechanism of induction and expression of thermotolerance is independent of the role of acid-soluble polyamine pools in cellular responses to heat shock.
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PMID:Sensitization of Chinese hamster ovary cells to heat shock by alpha-difluoromethylornithine. 310 26

A single topical application of chrysarobin (220 nmol) to SENCAR mouse skin produced alterations in epidermal polyamine levels distinctly different from that following a single topical treatment with 3.4 nmol of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Putrescine and spermidine levels were elevated prior to the induction of epidermal ornithine decarboxylase. In this regard, putrescine levels were elevated at 6 and 24 h after a single application of chrysarobin. In addition, putrescine levels were elevated with a second major peak at 64 h after chrysarobin which coincided with elevated epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity. Spermidine levels were substantially elevated from 24 to 96 h (peak at 60 h) after a single treatment. TPA treatment produced peak elevations in epidermal putrescine levels at 6 h and epidermal spermidine levels at 24 h after a single treatment. Epidermal spermine levels were dramatically depressed following treatment with chrysarobin (peak depression of approximately 60% below control at 24 h), but only slightly altered following treatment with TPA. The time courses for changes in epidermal DNA synthesis in mouse skin following single treatments with 3.4 nmol of TPA or 220 nmol of chrysarobin also showed considerable differences. TPA treatment produced several waves of DNA synthesis at approximately 18 and 48 h after treatment, while chrysarobin produced a single broad peak at 72 h after treatment. Treatment with chrysarobin was also associated with an initial, dramatic inhibition in epidermal DNA synthesis (to 23% of the control value) which was much more extensive than that elicited by TPA. Inhibition of epidermal DNA synthesis following treatment with chrysarobin was observed within a few hours after treatment and remained depressed until approximately 36 h after treatment. Following treatment with both chrysarobin and TPA, higher levels of epidermal DNA synthesis correlated closely with higher molar ratios of spermidine/spermine, indicating a strong relationship between epidermal spermidine levels and epidermal cell proliferation induced by both promoters. The data suggest that TPA and chrysarobin bring about initial changes in epidermal polyamines by distinct mechanisms; however, both compounds ultimately lead to a dramatic stimulation of epidermal DNA synthesis. These data further support our working hypothesis that anthrones promote skin tumors by an initial mechanism different from that of the phorbol esters.
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PMID:Alterations in epidermal polyamine levels and DNA synthesis following topical treatment with chrysarobin in SENCAR mice. 318 57

Chronic exposure of a human myeloma cell line to dexamethasone resulted in a selection of cells resistant to the growth-inhibitory action of the glucocorticoid. Upon acute exposure of the parental myeloma cells to dexamethasone growth inhibition was associated with depression of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC, EC 4.1.1.17) activity. However, in cells adapted to grow in the presence of micromolar concentrations of dexamethasone, ODC activity was fully comparable to that in the parental cells. Restriction enzyme analyses with the two isoschizomers HpaII and MspI as well as with the methylation-sensitive CfoI, indicated that the otherwise heavily methylated ODC gene(s) were rendered hypomethylated in the myeloma cells resistant to dexamethasone. This hypomethylation within and/or around ODC genes was associated with a 2-4-fold enhancement of accumulation of ODC mRNA.
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PMID:Chronic exposure to dexamethasone induces hypomethylation of ornithine decarboxylase genes in a human myeloma cell line. 356 40

Dicyclohexylamine, a spermidine synthase inhibitor, was evaluated for its ability to alter specific polyamine levels in rat hepatoma HTC cells in culture. Media concentrations of 0.5 and 1.0 mM reduced the production of spermidine from putrescine and enhanced the conversion of existing spermidine to spermine. This created a very interesting change in polyamine levels such that after 24 h putrescine content was almost 3-times control values and spermine was about twice, while spermidine was lowered to about 10% of control cultures. This pattern of polyamines is quite distinct from that induced by the common polyamine biosynthetic inhibitors like methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) and difluoromethylornithine and replicates the pattern induced by S-adenosyl-1,8-diamino-3-thiooctane, a transition-state analog designed as a specific inhibitor of spermidine synthase. When cells were stimulated by serum addition, the presence of dicyclohexylamine caused an extraordinarily large induction in ornithine decarboxylase in spite of the abnormally high levels of both putrescine and spermine. The concomitant depression of spermidine levels induced a 4-fold increase in the stability of this enzyme that could be reversed by the addition of exogenous spermidine. The data suggest that spermidine induces, perhaps at the transcriptional level, a protein that is necessary for the characteristically very rapid inactivation of ornithine decarboxylase.
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PMID:Dicyclohexylamine effects on HTC cell polyamine content and ornithine decarboxylase activity. 400 90

Administration of methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) to leukaemic mice results in an early depression followed by a marked elevation of S-adenosyl-l-methionine decarboxylase activity. Further, there is an early prolonged increase in the activity of ornithine decarboxylase, the initial enzyme in the polyamine biosynthetic pathway. Because of the profound effects of methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) in vivo on the polyamine biosynthetic pathway, the drug can no longer be considered a specific inhibitor of spermidine synthesis.
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PMID:Stimulation of ornithine decarboxylase activity and inhibition of S-adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase activity in leukaemic mice by methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone). 478 32

The effects of naturally occurring sweetening agents, which inhibited the induction of Epstein-Barr virus-associated early antigen (EBV-EA) induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), and related compounds on the induction of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) by TPA is examined. Application of glycyrrhetinic acid or steviol to mouse skin 1 h before TPA treatment showed a remarkable decrease in TPA-induced ODC activity. Post-treatment with glycyrrhetinic acid or steviol 1 h after application of TPA also resulted in a considerable depression in the induction of ODC activity. Neither glycyrrhetinic acid nor steviol alone induced epidermal ODC activity. These results suggest that glycyrrhetinic acid and steviol interfere with the process of induction of epidermal ODC by TPA treatment of mouse skin. cis-Abienol, frullanolide and norambreinolide, which have a partially similar structure in the moiety with glycyrrhetinic acid or steviol, were tested. cis-Abienol and frullanolide showed an inhibitory effect when applied 1 h before TPA treatment, but norambreinolide was not effective. A relationship between suppression of ODC activity and inhibition of EBV-EA induction is discussed.
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PMID:Inhibition of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced ornithine decarboxylase activity in mouse epidermis by sweetening agents and related compounds. 631 13

The changes of colonic epithelial ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and DNA synthesis following intrarectal administration of a tumor-promoting agent, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), or various bile acids to male noninbred rats were studied. A single instillation of TPA, at a dose as low as 16 nmol, led to a significant (about 10-fold) increase in colonic ODC activity. Peak ODC activity was observed at 4 hr, and the enzyme activity returned to the control level about 24 hr after intrarectal TPA. This pattern was almost the same as that observed after sodium deoxycholate treatment. TPA showed more potent induction of ODC activity than deoxycholate, although the maximal induction was greater in the case of deoxycholate treatment. Both TPA and deoxycholate stimulated DNA synthesis at 2 days after intrarectal instillation, after an initial depression at 4-12 hr. A structure-activity study of 26 bile acids revealed that 5 beta-cholanoic acid with alpha-hydroxy groups in two of the 3 alpha, 7 alpha, 12 alpha positions and 5 beta-cholanoic acid with a 3 alpha-hydroxy group induced colonic ODC activity significantly, while the 3 alpha, 6 alpha-dihydroxy acid did not. Replacement of hydroxy groups by keto groups or a change from alpha to beta configuration decreased the ODC-inducing activities. Tri-substituted 5 beta-cholanoic acid derivatives, whether hydroxy or keto, did not stimulate ODC. These data indicate that a specific bile acid structure with a definite spatial relationship of the hydroxy groups is required for induction of colonic ODC activity.
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PMID:Stimulation of ornithine decarboxylase activity and DNA synthesis by phorbol esters or bile acids in rat colon. 672 25

Under the influence of a selective irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), DL-alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), early hematopoiesis was enhanced. In the bone marrow, the absolute number of cells that give rise to spleen colonies in lethally irradiated mice (CFU-S), granulocytic colonies in diffusion chambers in mice (CFU-DG), and granulocyte-monocyte colonies in agar in vitro (CFU-C) was increased 2-4 fold. This could be abrogated by administration of putrescine, confirming the association of the stimulatory effect with polyamine biosynthesis most likely via depression of ornithine decarboxylase activity and subsequent synthesis of putrescine. Analysis of cell cycle characteristics by 3H-TdR suicide technique demonstrated that the proportion of CFU-S, CFU-DG, and CFU-C in S-phase was significantly increased. Additionally, the stimulatory effect was reflected by enhanced colony formation in diffusion chambers implanted intraperitoneally in mice receiving DFMO. This could also be eliminated by treatment of the host animal with putrescine, again suggesting that polyamine biosynthesis plays an important role at the early stages of hematopoiesis in vivo. Effect of DFMO on colony formation in vitro (CFU-C) was inhibitory and not reversible with putrescine. It could be partially eliminated by aminoguanidine, which neutralizes diamine oxidase present in fetal calf serum used in the CFU-C assay. These data suggest that the effect of DFMO in vitro was nonspecific.
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PMID:The role of polyamine biosynthesis in hematopoietic precursor cell proliferation in mice. 683 Oct 37


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