Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0851184 (thinning)
 11,252 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

beta-Aminopropionitrile (beta APN), a peptide found in leguminous plants, is a multifunctional aminonitrile because it has some action on collagen, elastin, and nervous cells. Due to its action on the nervous system, it is very interesting to show its inhibitory effect on cultures of neurons. In the present study, we have demonstrated that beta APN can produce progressive degeneration of neurons and that this effect is dose-dependant. Neuronal cultures were prepared from 14-day-old rat embryos with a cell density of 10(4) cells/cm2 in the control plates. Progressive concentrations of beta APN (from 10(-7) M to 10(-3) M) were added and a 50 Inhibitory Dose (ID50) of 10(-5) M was found. At concentrations of 10(-5) M of beta APN, the neurons showed a loss of synapsis and thinning of neuronal prolongations. Based on the morphological changes observed, we think that beta APN may be used as a neurodegeneration model similar to that obtained with acrylamide, carbon disulfide, beta-beta'-iminodipropionitrile, or aluminum salts.
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PMID:In vitro neuronal changes induced by beta-aminopropionitrile. 765 35

To examine whether collagen crosslinking is important for the regulation of refractive development, tree shrews were treated with agents that block collagen crosslinking [beta-aminoproprionitrile (beta-APN), or D-penicillamine (DPA)] and underwent monocular deprivation (MD) of form vision by eyelid closure to induce myopia. MD began on the first day of visual exposure and continued for 75 days. After 15-20 days of visual exposure, daily intraperitoneal injections of beta-APN (beta-APN MD animals, n = 5) or DPA (DPA MD animals, n = 5) were administered for 17-21 days. beta-APN open animals (n = 5) received the same injection schedule, but both eyes remained open. Saline MD animals (n = 5) received i.p. saline and MD. At 75 days of visual exposure, the MD eyes of beta-APN treated tree shrews were highly myopic (-23.6 +/- 3.3 D) in comparison to their open control eyes. This was markedly greater than the difference in saline MD animals (-11.0 +/- 0.8 D). DPA MD animals showed a relative myopia of -14.3 +/- 2.2 D. The structural correlate of the myopia, elongation of the vitreous chamber in the deprived eyes relative to the control eyes, was significantly greater in the beta-APN MD animals 0.53 +/- 0.03 mm, which was not significantly different from the saline MD group. Thinning of the posterior sclera, but not the cornea, was observed in the deprived eyes of beta-APN treated tree shrews, along with a tessellated appearance to the fundus. The eyes of the beta-APN open animals showed no significant differences from normal. Beta-APN MD and DPA MD treated chickens did not develop greater myopia or vitreous chamber elongation than standard MD chickens. The selective effect of the lathyritic agents on the deprived eyes in tree shrew suggests that collagen crosslinking interacts, in the mammalian sclera, with a retinally-derived signal to regulate the elongation of the eye in myopia.
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PMID:Prevention of collagen crosslinking increases form-deprivation myopia in tree shrew. 785 23