Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0847097 (acidity)
 15,165 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have studied the mechanism by which liver Golgi apparatus maintains the acidity of its contents, using a subcellular fraction from rat liver highly enriched in Golgi marker enzymes. Proton accumulation (measured by quenching of acridine-orange fluorescence) and anion-dependent ATPase were characterized and compared. Maximal ATPase and proton accumulation required ATP; GTP and other nucleotides gave 10% to 30% of maximal activity. Among anions, Cl- and Br- approximately doubled the activities; others were much less effective. Half-maximal increase of ATPase and H+ uptake required 55 mmol/L and 27 mmol/L Cl-, respectively. In predominantly chloride media, SCN- and NO3- markedly inhibited H+ uptake. Nitrate competitively inhibited both the chloride-dependent ATPase (apparent Ki 6 mmol/L) and proton uptake (apparent Ki 2 mmol/L). Nitrate and SCN- also inhibited uptake of 36Cl. Replacing K+ with Na+ had no effect on the initial rate of proton uptake but somewhat reduced the steady state attained. Replacement of K+ with NH4+ and choline reduced proton uptake without affecting ATPase. The ATPase and H+ uptake were supported equally well by Mg2+ or Mn2+. The ATPase was competitively inhibited by 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyano-stilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (apparent Ki 39 mumol/L). Other agents inhibiting both H+ uptake and ATPase were N-ethylmaleimide, N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, chlorpromazine, diethylstilbestrol, Zn2+, Co2+ and Cu2+. In the Cl- medium, accumulated protons were released by ionophores at the relative rates, monensin = nigericin greater than valinomycin greater than carbonyl cyanide mchlorophenylhydrazone; the last of these also reduced ATPase activity. In the absence of Cl-, monensin and valinomycin both stimulated the ATPase. These results show a close association between ATPase activity and acidification of liver Golgi vesicles. They support a role for Cl- that depends on its uptake as a counter ion for H+ and suggest that it may also stimulate proton transport by a more direct effect on a component of the transport system.
 ...
PMID:Proton accumulation and ATPase activity in Golgi apparatus-enriched vesicles from rat liver. 184 95

Annular denuder-filter pack sampling systems were used to make indoor and outdoor measurements of aerosol strong H+, SO4(2-), NH4+, NO3- and NO2-, and the gaseous pollutants SO2, HNO3, HONO and NH3 during summer and winter periods in Boston, Massachusetts. Outdoor levels of SO2, HNO3, H+ and SO4(2-) exceeded their indoor concentrations during both seasons. Winter indoor/outdoor ratios were lower than during the summer, probably due to lower air exchange rates during the winter period. During both monitoring periods, indoor/outdoor ratios of aerosol strong H+ were 40-50 percent of the indoor/outdoor SO4(2-) ratio. Since aerosol strong acidity is typically associated with SO4(2-), this finding is indicative of neutralization of the acidic aerosol by the higher indoor NH3 levels. Geometric mean indoor/outdoor NH3 ratios of 3.5 and 23 respectively were measured for the summer and winter sampling periods. For HONO, NH3, NH4+ and NO2-, indoor concentrations were significantly higher than ambient levels. Indoor levels of NO3- were slightly less than outdoor concentrations.
 ...
PMID:Indoor and outdoor concentrations of inorganic acidic aerosols and gases. 205 63

Samples of UHT milk were contaminated at two levels (10(2) and 10(4) cfu/ml) with 52 bacterial strains associated with spoilage. Samples were assayed, using various tests, to determine efficiency in detecting non-sterility after an incubation period shorter than that advised in standard procedures. The tests performed were colony count, titratable acidity and pH modification, organoleptic assessment, stability towards ethanol (68, 80 and 88% v/v), resazurin and nitrate reduction. After 3 d incubation at 30 degrees C every case was detected by the resazurin test with a good statistical probability (P = 0 x 999). Reliability was not so high in all other tests, even after 14 d incubation.
 ...
PMID:Comparison of rapid tests for assessing UHT milk sterility. 234 92

It is important to have a reliable method of assessing the dietary nitrate exposure of populations for a proper understanding of the potential health effects of the endogenous metabolites of this ion to be gained from epidemiological studies. Recently we strongly advocated the use of the nitrate analysis of 24 h urine samples as being a superior method for such studies. Our previous observations and those of others relating to nitrate pharmacology in healthy human volunteers formed the basis of this judgement. The purpose of this study was to determine whether gastric achlorhydria or hypochlorhydria has any significant gross effects on the urinary recovery of dietary nitrate and to what extent the inclusion of such individuals would compromise the results of potential epidemiological studies. The results demonstrated a significantly greater loss of dietary nitrate as measured by urinary recovery in achlorhydrics than in normochlorhydrics, presumably as a consequence of bacterial metabolism in the colonized stomach. Thus the average urinary nitrate recovery of a 1.5 mmol challenge was 33% in individuals with reduced stomach acidity as compared to 56% in normal controls. This significant further loss of nitrate (average 23%) when intragastric conditions favour bacterial colonization clearly indicates that for valid assessments and comparisons of nitrate exposure between populations it would be wise to exclude individuals with low levels of stomach acid where this is likely to lead to significant gastric colonization by nitrate-reducing bacteria (i.e. pH less than 4-5).
 ...
PMID:The effect of gastric achlorhydria on the urinary recovery of nitrate in man: relevance to urinary nitrate as a measure of dietary nitrate exposure. 238 23

The gastric formation of N-nitroso compounds probably constitutes a major source of human exposure to this important class of environmental carcinogens. Following reduction of nitrate to nitrite by oral or gastric bacteria, reaction with nitrogenous constituents of gastric juice can occur leading to the in situ formation of N-nitroso compounds, probably primarily derived from amides, ureas or aromatic amines. While gastric nitrite concentrations are raised in the achlorhydric relative to the normal stomach, the latter, owing to its acidity, offers a particularly favourable environment for the formation of N-nitroso compounds, as indicated by the finding of greatly increased gastric concentrations of N-nitroso compounds following an oral dose of nitrate. This illustrates the importance of the dynamic nature of the relationships between the various parameters involved in the formation of N-nitroso compounds. While in principle the same is true of the process of inhibition of nitrosation by reducing agents such as ascorbic acid (since, depending on the relative concentrations of reducing agent, nitrite and oxygen, inhibition or catalysis of nitrosation can occur), ingestion of 1 g ascorbic acid brings about a significant reduction in the gastric concentration of N-nitroso compounds.
 ...
PMID:N-nitroso compound formation in human gastric juice. 269 88

Atmospheric gaseous pollutants (NO2, SO2, NH3, HNO3) and related ionic species in water-soluble fine particulates and rainwater were monitored from September 1986 to January 1987 with the aim of estimating the acid deposition over a rural area near Rome. A wet-only rain collector and an annular denuder-filter pack sampling system for gases and aerosols were employed to avoid chemical artifact formation. A comparison of the wet and dry deposition rates indicates that atmospheric removal by precipitation was the dominant sink for sulfate and nitrate at the sampling site. Ion balance analysis showed that the main compounds present in aerosols were (NH4)2SO4 and NH4NO3, since the ammonium neutralization factor approached 100% and the acidity content was very low. The marked enrichment of H+, SO4(2-) and NO3- in precipitation compared with NH4+ could be explained by assuming either that SO2 and NO2 are oxidized in cloud droplets or that acidic sulfate and nitrate are scavenged directly in-cloud or below-cloud.
 ...
PMID:Characterization of a rural area in terms of dry and wet deposition. 285 79

The effect of experimental acidification on mercury methylation, demethylation, and volatilization was examined in surficial sediment samples from a weakly buffered northern Wisconsin lake. All mercury transformations were measured with radioisotopic tracers. Acidification of sediment pH with H2SO4, HCl, or HNO3 significantly decreased 203Hg(II) methylation. Acidification of pH 6.1 (ambient) sediments to pH 4.5 with either H2SO4 or HCl inhibited methylation by over 65%. The decreased methylation was due to the increased hydrogen ion concentration because methylation was not affected by concentrations of Na2SO4 or NaCl equimolar to the amount of acid added. Inhibition of methylation was observed even after prolonged acidification of sediments to pH 5.0 for up to 74 days. Acidification of sediments to pH 5.5, 4.5, and 3.5 with HNO3 resulted in a near complete inhibition of methylation at each pH. Similarly, the addition of equimolar amounts of NaNO3 resulted in a near complete inhibition of methylation, indicating that the inhibition was due to the nitrate ion rather than to the acidity. Demethylation of methyl mercury was not affected by pHs between 8.0 and 4.4, but sharply decreased below pH 4.4. Volatilization of 203Hg(II) from surface sediments was less than 2% of methylation activity and was not significantly different from that in killed sediments. This study indicated that acidification of sediments inhibits mercury methylation and that the observed increase in the mercury burdens in fish from low pH lakes is not due to increased production of methylmercury in sediments.
 ...
PMID:Effects of acidification on mercury methylation, demethylation, and volatilization in sediments from an acid-susceptible lake. 317 8

A 24 hour gastric aspiration study was carried out on nine Polya gastrectomy, eight pernicious anaemia, and nine matched control subjects. Intragastric pH, bacteria, nitrite, and N-nitroso compounds were assessed half hourly whilst ambulant and hourly when in bed. Both total and nitrate reducing bacterial counts were positively related to pH (chi 2 = 279.3; p less than 0.001), as was nitrite concentration (F = 19.1; p less than 0.0001). By contrast, total (F = 40.6; p less than 0.0001) and stable (F = 257.4; p less than 0.0001) N-nitroso compound concentrations were negatively related to pH. Clear differences in these gastric juice factors were not apparent between matched control and either pernicious anaemia, or Polya gastrectomy because the Polya gastrectomy and matched control groups were heterogeneous for gastric acidity. Thus, although eight of eight pernicious anaemia subjects were hypoacidic (defined as intragastric pH greater than 4 for greater than 50% of both daytime and night time periods), only five of nine Polya gastrectomy and two of nine matched control subjects were hypoacidic. When subjects were rearranged into hypoacidic (n = 15) and acidic (n = 11) groups, bacterial counts (p less than 0.01) and nitrite concentrations (p less than 0.01) were higher, whereas N-nitroso compounds tended to be lower (NS) in the hypoacidic group. These data suggest that, although hypoacidity predisposes to bacterial overgrowth and nitrite generation, it does not enhance nitrosation. Instead, this is maximal at low pH, suggesting chemical rather than bacterial nitrosation, contrary to the nitrosamine hypothesis of gastric carcinogenesis.
 ...
PMID:Evaluation of the nitrosamine hypothesis of gastric carcinogenesis in precancerous conditions. 369 60

Gastric bacterial overgrowth was studied in 8 healthy volunteers. Total bacterial counts, nitrate-reducing bacteria and nitrite concentration were determined in fasting gastric juice before and after 4 weeks of treatment with a strong or with a mild antacid drug, a placebo preparation and the spasmolytic agent papaverine which is known to inhibit gastric evacuation. Placebo therapy and the mild antacid did not change any of the above parameters studied. The strong antacid caused a significant increase in the pH of gastric contents which was accompanied by an enormous increase in total bacterial counts, nitrate-reducing bacteria and nitrite concentration. Papaverine which did not cause a significant elevation of pH also definitely increased bacterial counts and nitrite concentration of gastric juice. Four weeks following termination of each treatment procedure, however, all changes outlined above had returned to pretreatment values. These results indicate that reversible gastric bacterial overgrowth under therapeutical conditions may occur when acidity of the stomach is reduced or gastric evacuation is retarded.
 ...
PMID:[Bacterial colonization of the stomach caused by acid neutralization and inhibition of stomach emptying]. 390 44

The effects of low concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on actively dividing cultures of Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Micrococcus roseus, Serratia marcescens, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus circulans, Bacillus megaterium, and Bacillus cereus were studied. Fresh cultures of each organism were incubated for 24 h at 25 degrees C on both nutrient agar and mineral salts glucose agar plates under atmospheres containing various low concentrations of NO in air (0 to 1.9 ppm [0 to 2.0 micrograms/g of air]), NO2 in air (0 to 5.5 ppm [0 to 8.8 micrograms/g of air]), or NO and NO2 in air. Bacteria grown under air only were used as controls. After incubation, the colonies that developed on the plates were counted. None of the bacteria tested was affected by NO or NO2 at the indicated concentrations while growing on nutrient agar. Serratia marcescens, B. circulans, B. subtilis, B. megaterium, and B. cereus grown on mineral salts glucose agar were not significantly affected by NO or NO2. Low concentrations (0 to 1.9 ppm) of NO were bacteriostatic to log-phase cultures of M. roseus, M. luteus, and Staphylococcus aureus grown on mineral salts glucose agar. Bacteriostatic activity over a 24-h interval was maximal at an initial NO concentration of 1 ppm. Appreciable amounts of NO2 were produced in 24 h at initial NO concentrations greater than 1 ppm. These results suggest that NO2 may reduce the bacteriostatic activity of NO. Low concentrations (0 to 5.5 ppm) of NO2 in air did not affect any of the bacteria tested. At these low concentrations, NO affected bacterial growth, although NO2, NO2-, and NO3- did not. In addition, it was determined that the bacteriostatic activity observed in this study was not due to an increase in the acidity of the medium.
 ...
PMID:Effects of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide on bacterial growth. 635 44


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>