Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0029713 (immaturity)
 4,335 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Adult rabbit alveolar macrophages (AM) contain 2 cationic peptides with a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity in vitro against bacteria, fungi, and some enveloped viruses. We determined the amounts of both peptides qualitatively in 1-day-old (1d), 7-day-old (7d), 21-day-old (21d), and adult rabbit AM and found that 1d AM were deficient in both peptides. The levels of MCP-1 extractable from AM were quantitated relative to known standards of purified peptides and were found to increase 6-fold between 1d and 21d AM. Adult AM yielded 9 times as much MCP-1 as did 1d AM despite nearly the same acid-extractable protein content per cell. Using immunoperoxidase techniques we showed that the deficiency of MCP-1 and MCP-2 involves 1d AM uniformly and that all AM 7 days or older have detectable MCP. Seven-day-old AM (and to a lesser extent 1d AM) incorporated 35S-cysteine into intracellular MCP in cell culture, indicating that AM actively synthesize these peptides. The deficiency of these antimicrobial substances may contribute to functional immaturity of newborn rabbit AM.
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PMID:Newborn rabbit alveolar macrophages are deficient in two microbicidal cationic peptides, MCP-1 and MCP-2. 405 25

Isolated renal cortical tubule fragments from rats ranging in age from less than 48 h to 15 weeks were used to examine the pattern of cystine uptake with development. Immature tubules took up cystine with a faster initial rate than mature tubules and did not reach a steady state by 60 min. By eight weeks of age, the timed uptake of cystine began to approach a steady state and between 8 and 11 weeks the uptake pattern achieved its adult form of reaching a steady state by 30 min of incubation. Analysis of the intracellular metabolism of the cystine taken up by the newborn tubules revealed that the majority had been reduced to cysteine with the formation of small amounts of reduced glutathione. Cystine entered the renal cortical tubule cell from the newborn via two saturable transport systems similar to the mature animal. The kinetic parameters of initial uptake of these two transport systems were similar in the mature and newborn animal except for a higher maximum transport velocity for the low Km, low capacity system in the newborn. Lysine inhibited cystine uptake by newborn tubules and this inhibition appeared to occur on the low Km, low capacity transport system similar to the adult. Cystine uptake was sodium dependent with an apparent affinity for sodium of 36 mequiv./l. From this data, the physiologic cystinuria of the immature animal does not appear to be refeable to a lower rate of influx as previously observed with the cortical slice. Other mechanisms should be sought to explain this phenomenon of immaturity.
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PMID:Developmental pattern of cystine transport in isolated rat renal tubules. 681 31

Cysteine auxotrophy and absence of cystathionase (CSE) has been associated with certain human and rodent leukemic cell lines. To determine whether this state was a marker of malignant transformation or of cellular differentiation, CSE content was measured in 16 well characterized human leukemia-lymphoma cell lines. Enzyme was easily detected in several lines but its level did not correlate with a proposed scheme of differentiation based on cell-surface markers. However, the apparent absence of enzyme in human bone marrow CFU-C determined by growth experiments suggests reduced levels of CSE may be a marker of cytoplasmic immaturity.
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PMID:Cystathionase: a potential cytoplasmic marker of hematopoietic differentiation. 686 Aug 1

We investigated the histopathological effects of excess L-cysteine on the male rat reproductive tract during sexual maturation. Male 6-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were injected intraperitoneally daily with L-cysteine, 1,000 mg/kg body weight, for 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks. L-Cysteine-treated rats developed sperm granulomas in the epididymides at an incidence of 0% (0/6), 50% (3/6), 83% (5/6), and 100% (6/6) in rats examined at study weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. These sperm granulomas were unilateral or bilateral, and most frequently involved the proximal cauda region of the epididymides. Interestingly, small ducts, indicative of immaturity, were seen frequently in L-cysteine-treated rats. These findings suggest that the maturation of epididymides in L-cysteine-treated rats might be delayed. Additionally, dilated ducts and interstitial edema, suggestive of an increase in intraluminal pressure, were seen often in the epididymides of L-cysteine-treated rats. Labeling spermatozoa and epithelial cells with monobromobimane indicated no influence of the thiol-disulfide status of L-cysteine to the epididymides. The testes and prostate glands also showed no effects, suggesting that inhibited epididymis maturation was not a result of hormonal deficiencies. We speculate that defective development of the ducts might result in aberrant fluid flow, leading to ductal rupture in the epididymides. In that case, sperm granulomas might form around leaked spermatozoa.
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PMID:Development of sperm granulomas in the epididymides of L-cysteine-treated rats. 1274 15

Due to transient gut immaturity, most very preterm infants receive parenteral nutrition (PN) in the first few weeks of life. Yet providing enough protein and energy to sustain optimal growth in such infants remains a challenge. Extrauterine growth restriction is frequently observed in very preterm infants at the time of discharge from hospital, and has been found to be associated with later impaired neurodevelopment. A few recent randomized trials suggest that intensified PN can improve early growth; whether or not such early PN improves long-term neurological outcome is still unclear. Several other questions regarding what is optimal PN for very preterm infants remain unanswered. Amino acid mixtures designed for infants contain large amounts of branched-chain amino acids and taurine, but there is no consensus on the need for some nonessential amino acids such as glutamine, arginine, and cysteine. Whether excess growth in the first few weeks of life, at a time when very preterm infants receive PN, has an imprinting effect, increasing the risk of metabolic or vascular disease at adulthood continues to be debated. Even though uncertainty remains regarding the long-term effect of early PN, it appears reasonable to propose intensified initial PN. The aim of the current position paper is to review the evidence supporting such a strategy with regards to the early phase of nutrition, which is mainly covered by parenteral nutrition. More randomized trials are, however, needed to further support this type of approach and to demonstrate that this strategy improves short- and long-term outcome.
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PMID:Parenteral nutrition for preterm infants: Issues and strategy. 2965 25

The ESPGHAN/ESPEN/ESPR-Guidelines on pediatric parenteral nutrition (PPN) recommend the administration of the semiessential amino acid (AA) cysteine to preterm neonates due to their biochemical immaturity resulting in an inability to sufficiently synthetize endogenous cysteine. The soluble precursor N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is easily converted into bioavailable cysteine. Its dimer N,N-diacetylcystine (DAC) is almost unconvertable to cysteine when given intravenously resulting in a diminished bioavailability of cysteine. This study aims to understand the triggers and oxidation process of NAC to DAC to evaluate possibilities of reducing DAC formation in standardized PPN. Therefore, different air volumes (21% O2) were injected into the AA compartment of a standardized dual-chamber PPN. O2 concentrations were measured in the AA solution and the headspaces of the primary and secondary packaging. NAC and DAC concentrations were analyzed simultaneously. The analysis showed that O2 is principally delivered from the primary headspace. NAC oxidation exclusively delivers DAC, depending on the O2 amount in the solution and the headspaces. The reaction of NAC to DAC being containable by limiting the O2 concentration, the primary headspace must be minimized during manufacturing, and oxygen absorbers must be added into the secondary packaging for a long-term storage of semipermeable containers.
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PMID:Stability of N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) in Standardized Pediatric Parenteral Nutrition and Evaluation of N,N-Diacetylcystine (DAC) Formation. 3257 64