Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P56851 (epididymal)
 11,273 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We investigated the reason for the high mortality we had observed in hypophysectomized-orchidectomized Golden Syrian hamsters that were anesthetized with intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of chloral hydrate (CH). Intact male Golden Syrian hamsters were injected intraperitoneally with 0.1cc/100g BW of a 35% solution of CH, a 35% solution of sodium chloride, or double-distilled water. Equal numbers of hamsters in each group were injected on the right or left side of the abdomen. Within 10 days, 35% of the CH-injected hamsters were dead or had to be euthanized. Autopsy revealed severe peritonitis and adynamic ileus. CH-injected hamsters that survived gained weight at a rate similar to that of the controls. All surviving hamsters were killed 18 days after the injections. Among the surviving CH-injected hamsters, 84.6% had intra-abdominal adhesions, 61.5% had unilateral testicular atrophy, and 53.8% had a yellowish necrotic mass in the epididymal fat pad (EFP). All the lesions occurred on the side that was injected. The atrophied testes had been rendered cryptorchid due to involvement with intra-abdominal adhesions. In the water-treated controls, there were no abnormalities; whereas, in the saline controls, 75% had a mass in the EFP. Histology of the EFP mass was similar in hamsters injected with CH or hypertonic saline and suggested a diagnosis of fat necrosis. The results suggest that the mortality, the intra-abdominal adhesions, and the unilateral cryptorchidism were caused by a single i.p. injection of CH, but the fat necrosis in the EFP was probably caused by high concentrations of salt. The results further suggest that high concentrations of CH should not be injected intraperitoneally for anesthesia in chronic studies, particularly of the male reproductive system.
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PMID:Intraperitoneal injection of chloral hydrate causes intra-abdominal adhesions and unilateral testicular atrophy in golden Syrian hamsters. 161 72

Comparative studies of Ca2+-uptake by guinea pig spermatozoa were performed with fresh epididymal sperm and with cells preincubated in a chemically defined, Ca2+-free medium for capacitation. Calcium uptake was negligible in fresh spermatozoa, but increased dramatically after 20 min of incubation at 37 degrees C in the presence of pyruvate and lactate. Spermatozoa incubated in the absence of these substrates accumulated only 34% as much 45Ca2+ as was taken up by cells in complete medium. The monosaccharides glucose, fructose, and mannose and the nonmetabolizable sugars 2-deoxyglucose and sucrose inhibited the enhancement of Ca2+-permeability. In the presence of 6 mM sucrose 45Ca2+ uptake was not influenced by external sodium chloride concentration between 0 mM and 145 mM. The respiratory activity of the capacitated spermatozoa not only was higher than that of uncapacitated cells, but it was stimulated by Ca2+. No effect of Ca2+ on respiration of fresh spermatozoa was detected. An increase in calcium uptake was associated with increasing pH of the medium. It is possible that a regulatory mechanism through the calcium permeability of the plasma membrane of guinea pig spermatozoa exists and controls the development of physiological events related with the fertilization process. The sugar composition, the availability of the energy substrates lactate and pyruvate, and the pH of the reproductive tract fluids could play an important role in the accessibility of Ca2+ into the cells in vivo, as has been demonstrated in vitro. The enhancement of calcium permeability during the preincubation could be a useful indicator to verify if capacitation has occurred.
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PMID:Characterization of Ca2+ uptake by guinea pig epididymal spermatozoa. 344 89

Iodinated human GH [( 125I]hGH) binds to both specific and nonspecific sites on the surface of adipocytes isolated from the epididymal fat of normal rats. When adipocytes were incubated at 37 C with 1 nM [125I]hGH, specific binding increased for 30-60 min and thereafter remained approximately constant as long as the hormone was present in the medium. When cells that had bound [125I]hGH were removed from the incubation medium and reincubated in hormone-free medium at 37 C, half of the specifically bound 125I was released into the medium about every 30 min, and about half of the nonspecifically bound 125I was released in about 60 min. These rates were seen regardless of whether the time allowed for hormone binding was 15, 30, or 60 min. About 90% of the 125I released was soluble in 5% trichloroacetic acid and was in the form of iodotyrosine. The rate of 125I release from specific binding sites decreased by a factor of 4 when the temperature was lowered from 37 to 17 C. Replacement of some of the sodium chloride in the buffer with 25 mM ammonium chloride had little or no effect on the amount on 125I that bound to cells when [125I]hGH was present in the medium, but virtually completely blocked the release of 125I from cells transferred to hormone-free medium. Ammonium chloride also significantly reduced both the release of 125I from nonspecific binding sites and the amount of 125I recovered in trichloroacetic acid-soluble form. Cloroquine, leupeptin, or colchicine nearly doubled the specific binding of [125I]hGH after 180 min and markedly slowed the release of 125I when cells were transferred to hormone-free medium. All of these agents also significantly reduced the rate of release of 125I from nonspecific binding sites. Incubation of adipose tissue from hypophysectomized rats with ammonium chloride, leupeptin, or colchicine failed to alter the ability of GH to increase glucose oxidation, induce refractoriness, or promote lipolysis in the presence of theophylline. We conclude that GH binds virtually irreversibly to both specific and nonspecific sites on the adipocyte surface and is then internalized and degraded in the lysosomones. These events appear to be independent of the cellular processes that lead to expression to GH responses.
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PMID:Binding and degradation of [125I]human growth hormone in rat adipocytes. 674 63

Most (94%) of the aromatic L-amino acid oxidase activity in dead bovine spermatozoa was recovered in tail preparations. The enzyme was released from the cell in sodium citrate but not in sodium phosphate or sodium chloride solutions but oxidase activity was not significantly different in sodium phosphate or sodium citrate buffers (9.6 microliters O2/h and 11.2 microliters O2/h). The activity in ejaculated spermatozoa was correlated with the percentage of dead spermatozoa (r = 0.954, P less than 0.01) but could not be detected in freshly collected epididymal spermatozoa. Killed epididymal spermatozoa showed oxidase activity (10.1 microliters O2/h) similar to that of killed ejaculated spermatozoa (9.2 microliters O2/h). It is concluded that death of spermatozoa occurs in the ampulla and/or at ejaculation and that between-bull differences in the percentage of dead spermatozoa are a consequence of differences between bulls in conditions in the ampulla and/or at ejaculation.
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PMID:Site of aromatic L-amino acid oxidase in dead bovine spermatozoa and determination of between-bull differences in the percentage of dead spermatozoa by oxidase activity. 706 63

The organization of sperm chromatin in the dasyurid marsupial, Sminthopsis crassicaudata, was investigated using various morphological techniques. Transmission electron microscopy indicates two quite distinct chromatin regions became evident late in spermiogenesis with an outer globular region containing blocks of very electron-dense chromatin. Fluorescent light microscopical studies after staining with DNA dyes and 7-amino actinomycin D of testicular, caput, and cauda epididymal spermatozoa showed that this region fluoresced less brightly than the rest of the nucleus, indicating the presence of fewer DNA binding sites. Freeze fracture showed that the chromatin in most of the nucleus had randomly arranged particles of various sizes, but that of the outer region was composed entirely of small particles. This outer region was more resistant to low concentrations of the ionic detergent, SDS, whereas both guanidine hydrochloride and urea together with sodium chloride generally dispersed all the chromatin except that in the outer globular region and in a localized area of the nucleus beneath the acrosome. This study has thus revealed that the outer globular chromatin of these spermatozoa responds differently to ionic detergents and protein denaturing agents and has a different chromatin organization than most of the rest of the nucleus. The significance of these differences remains, however, to be determined.
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PMID:Unusual nuclear structure of the spermatozoon in a marsupial, Sminthopsis crassicaudata. 812 34

The effect of sodium chloride salt restriction and overload on insulin sensitivity is still an open question. Some authors have shown that NaCl salt restriction increases insulin resistance, whereas others have reported the opposite. In the present study, the objective was to get some more insight on this issue by studying the influence of dietary salt content on glucose uptake in isolated adipocytes. Male Wistar rats were fed from weaning either low (0.15%) or high (7.94%) salt diets. On the 12th week of age, weight and tail-cuff blood pressure were measured, followed 10 days later by an intravenous glucose tolerance test with concomitant insulin determinations. One week later, the rats were killed by decapitation and epididymal adipocytes were obtained for glucose metabolism evaluation. No weight differences were observed between both groups of animals. Blood pressure was significantly higher (P < .001) on salt overloaded rats (146 +/- 11 mm Hg) than on salt restricted ones (115 +/- 5 mm Hg). Dietary salt content did not influence the area under the curve of plasma glucose. Area under the curve of insulin levels was lower (P = .023) on the high than on the low salt diet. A higher (P < .001) glucose uptake in the absence and in the presence of insulin was observed in adipocytes from rats on the high salt diet. The median effective concentration (EC50) from the dose-response curves of glucose uptake was the same on both groups of animals. Glucose oxidation and incorporation into lipids was also enhanced by salt overload. High salt increased insulin receptor density (P < .001). In conclusion, salt overload increased blood pressure, and high and low salt dietary content did not influence insulin sensitivity based on the unchanged EC50 from the in vitro studies. However, insulin-independent glucose uptake, oxidation, and incorporation into lipids were enhanced in adipocytes from rats on the high salt diet. The lower levels of insulin during the glucose tolerance test on salt-loaded animals may be a consequence of the higher insulin-independent glucose uptake in that group.
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PMID:Chronic salt overload increases blood pressure and improves glucose metabolism without changing insulin sensitivity. 923 25

Early studies on nickel essentiality with rats and goats indicated that nickel deprivation impaired reproductive performance. Nickel also has been found to influence cyclic nucleotide gated channels (CNG); these types of channels are important in sperm physiology. Thus, two experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that nickel deficiency affects sperm physiology in a manner consistent with nickel having an essential function related to CNG channel functions. The experiments were factorially arranged with four treatment groups of eight weanling rats in each. In experiment 1, the treatments were supplemental dietary nickel of 0 and 1 mg/kg and N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor) added to the drinking water (50 mg/100 mL) the last 3 wk of an 8-wk experiment. In experiment 2, the treatments were supplemental dietary nickel at 0 and 1 mg/kg and supplemental dietary sodium chloride (NaCl) at 0 and 80 g/kg. The NaCl and L-NAME variables were included to act as stressors affecting CNG channel activity. The basal diet contained per kilogram about 27 microg of nickel and 1 g of sodium. After 8 wk in experiment 1 and 16 wk in experiment 2, urine while fasting and testes and epididymis in both experiments, and seminal vesicles and prostates in experiment 2 were harvested for analysis. Nickel deprivation significantly decreased spermatozoa motility and density in the epididymides, epididymal transit time of spermatozoa, and testes sperm production rate. Nickel deficiency also significantly decreased the weights of the seminal vesicles and prostate glands. Excessive NaCl had no effect on sperm physiology; however, it decreased prostate gland weights. The findings support the hypothesis that nickel has an essential function that possibly could affect reproductive performance in higher animals, perhaps through affecting a CNG channel function.
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PMID:Nickel deficiency diminishes sperm quantity and movement in rats. 1283 98