Faculty Bibliography

Isolated dispersed rat liver cells were prepared by hypothyroid Sprague-Dawley rats. The cells were incubated under 95% O2/5% CO2 in Krebs-Ringer-bicarbonate buffer at pH 7.3-7.4 at 37 degrees C. The medium had been enriched with 2% bovine serum albumin (previously stripped of thyroid hormone) and 5-10 mM alanine as substrate. Two hour incubations were carried out with or without added triiodothyronine (T3) at 3 nM or 300-1,000 nM concentrations. Oxygen consumption determined at the end of the period of incubation with the Clark oxygen electrode showed stimulation above control values in the hormone treated flasks; parallel studies in which cycloheximide (100 microM) had been added to cells to block protein synthesis also showed enhanced oxygen consumption in response to T3. The results indicated a response to the hormone not dependent on new protein formation.

The effects of a wide range of doses of systemically administered cysteamine were studied on locomotor behavior, passive avoidance memory, cortical and cerebrospinal fluid somatostatin-like immunoactivity and cortical levels of dopamine and norepinephrine. High doses of cysteamine (200 and 250 mg/kg s.c.) led to sustained locomotor activation. Doses of 150 mg/kg and above resulted in head and neck tremor and increased defecation. When cysteamine was administered immediately following the acquisition of a passive avoidance response, doses of 50 mg/kg and above resulted in significant attenuation of passive avoidance retention test performance. Cysteamine in doses of 50 mg/kg and above depleted cortical somatostatin-like immunoactivity by approximately 50%. The depletion of cortical somatostatin-like immunoactivity was accompanied by a rapid rise in somatostatin-like immunoactivity in cerebrospinal fluid. In addition to the depletion of somatostatin-like immunoactivity, high doses of cysteamine (150 mg/kg and above) produced changes in cortical levels of norepinephrine and dopamine, reminiscent of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase inhibition. The results of this series of experiments suggest that somatostatin, in addition to its effects on hormonal regulation, may play an important role in behavior and passive avoidance learning and memory. It is possible that the amnesia produced by cysteamine may have been due to the release of somatostatin into CSF from tissue stores, rather than somatostatin depletion per se. It is also possible that the catecholaminergic effects of high doses of cysteamine contribute to the behavioral deficits observed.

Physostigmine, oxotremorine, RS-86, and a combination of piracetam and lecithin, have all been studied in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Intravenous physostigmine produced a significant improvement in patients' ability to recognize words and particularly to distinguish words they had never seen before from words previously presented. A subgroup of Alzheimer's patients had a clinically meaningful improvement to treatment with oral physostigmine, with the degree of improvement correlating with the ability of oral physostigmine to increase the nocturnal secretion of cortisol. No statistically significant differences of piracetam or piracetam and lecithin, compared to placebo were noted, however, the ratio of red cell to plasma choline might be associated with treatment responsivity. The potential therapeutic efficacy of oxotremorine proved all but impossible to assess due to concomitant adverse effects, particularly dysphoria. Results with another cholinergic agonist, RS-86, will be reported. This drug appeared to be better tolerated than oxotremorine. Animals with a kianic acid induced cortical depletion of choline acetyltransferase were found to have a significant impairment in retention of a passive avoidance task, an abnormality that was readily reversible by physostigmine, oxotremorine and 4-amino-pyridine. Cysteamine, a depletor of somatostatin, also produced a comparable deficit.

Studies were carried out on the effect of triiodothyronine (T3) on the oxygen consumption of dispersed rat liver cells incubated for 2 hr at 37 degrees C. Thyroidectomized SD-NIH rats were kept on a low iodine diet with calcium chloride in the drinking water for 4 weeks or longer to assure hypothyroidism, verified by low serum thyroxine and T3 concentrations. Liver cells were obtained by portal vein perfusion with oxygenated collagenase-enriched Krebs-Ringer-bicarbonate buffer, after the method of Berry and Friend. Cell viability was evaluated by morphology, by trypan blue exclusion, and by biochemical parameters prior to 2-hr incubations with or without added hormone. The oxygen consumption of cell suspensions was measured with the Clark oxygen electrode after the 2-hr incubations at 37 degrees C with oxygenation of the flasks and alanine (5-10 mM) as substrate. In 31 experiments the oxygen consumption (QO2) was enhanced to 121% of control values with T3 in the medium at 3.3 nM ("physiological" level) and with an even greater effect (138% of control values) with 300-1000 nM T3 ("hyperthyroid" level). Cycloheximide at 100 microM was used to inhibit new protein synthesis by incubated hepatocytes. In 18 parallel experiments with cycloheximide blockade, no alteration of the stimulatory effect of T3 was evident. The results signify that incubated liver cells show an early response to thyroid hormone by extranuclear pathways that do not require new protein synthesis.