Bronchial responses to substance P after antigen challenge in the guinea-pig: in vivo and in vitro studies

The effect of antigen challenge on the airway responses to substance P and on the epithelial neutral endopeptidase (NEP) activity was investigated in aerosol sensitized guinea-pigs. In vivo, bronchial responses to aerosolized substance P were similar to the responses observed in antigen-challenged guinea-pigs and in the control groups. In contrast, when the guinea-pigs were pretreated with the NEP inhibitor, phosphoramidon, a significant increase in the airway responses to substance P was observed after antigen challenge in vivo. However, in vitro, the contractile responses of the tracheal smooth muscle to substance P were similar between groups of guinea-pigs, in respect to the presence or absence of the epithelium and/or phosphoramidon. Histological studies showed an accumulation of eosinophils in the tracheal submucosa after antigen challenge and intact epithelial cells. These results show that in vivo bronchial hyperresponsiveness to substance P after antigen challenge in the guinea-pig is not associated with increased responses of the smooth muscle to exogenous SP in vitro. In addition, the results with phosphoramidon suggest that loss of NEP activity cannot account for the in vivo bronchial hyperresponsiveness to substance P presently observed

The Liquid Argon Jet Trigger of the H1 Experiment at HERA

We report on a novel trigger for the liquid argon calorimeter which was installed in the H1 Experiment at HERA.This trigger, called the “Jet Trigger”, was running at level 1 and implemented a real-time cluster algorithm. Within only 800 ns, the Jet Trigger algorithm found local energy maxima in the calorimeter, summed their immediate neighbors, sorted the resulting jets by energy, and applied topological conditions for the final level 1 trigger decision. The Jet Trigger was in operation from the year 2006 until the end of the HERA running in the summer of 2007. With the Jet Trigger it was possible to substantially reduce the thresholds for triggering on electronsand jets, giving access to a largely extended phase space for physical observables which could not have been reached in H1 before. The concepts of the Jet Trigger may be an interesting upgrade option for the LHC experiments

Bioassay-guided isolation of a potent platelet-activating factor antagonist alkenylresorcinol from Ardisia elliptica

In the course of our search for novel platelet-activating factor (PAF) antagonists from medicinal plants, the methanol extract of the leaves of Ardisia elliptica Thunb. was investigated for its inhibitory effects on PAF receptor binding to rabbit platelets using 3H-PAF as a ligand. The methanol extract showed inhibitory activity of 53.9% and its ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and methanol fractions exhibited 48.6%, 39.0%, and 22.0% inhibition, respectively. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the ethyl acetate fraction led to the isolation of a new alkenylresorcinol, 5-(Z-heptadec-4′-enyl)resorcinol, together with 5-pentadecylresorcinol. The alkenylresorcinol showed a strong inhibition with an IC50 value of 7.1 µM. The structures of the compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic techniques

Protection by two ginkgolides, BN-52020 and BN-52021, against guinea-pig lung anaphylaxis

Interference between the ginkgolides BN-52020 and BN-52021 and the effects of PAF-acether on the cardiovascular and pulmonary functions of guinea-pigs has been studied. BN-52020 (ED50 = 1.1 mg/kg i.v.) and BN-52021 (ED50 = 0.78 mg/kg i.v.) inhibit bronchospasm, hypotension and concomitant generation of TXA2-like activity induced by PAF-acether in anaesthetized guinea-pigs. This protecting activity is specific against PAF-acether since the two ginkgolides do not affect bronchoconstriction, hypotension and TXA2-like activity in the circulating blood due to Histamine, Acetylcholine and LTC4. BN-52021 reduces in a concentration-dependent way the formation of TXB2 caused by PAF-acether in guinea-pig perfused lungs without interference with the effect of Histamine, LTC4 and Arachidonic acid on these tissues. Using actively sensitized (Ovalbumin) guinea-pigs BN-52020 (ED50 = 2.45 mg/kg i.v.) and BN-52021 (ED50 = 1.71 mg/kg i.v.) protect the animals from lethal immunological reaction suggesting that PAF-acether must play a role in the expression of anaphylactic bronchoconstriction and hypotension. The present results indicate that BN-52021 and in a lesser extent BN-52020, which are neither bronchodilators nor cyclooxygenase inhibitors, display a selective antagonistic activity against PAF-acether and may have potential therapeutical implication in asthma

The effect of cyclic AMP on Na+ and K+ transport systems in mouse macrophages.

Exogenous cyclic AMP (cAMP) inhibits the Na+, K+-cotransport system and stimulates the Na+, K+-pump and Na+, Ca2+ exchange in mouse macrophages. These effects are enhanced by inhibition of phosphodiesterase with methylisobutylxanthine (MIX). MIX alone showed little or no effect. A similar response was observed after stimulation of endogenous production of cAMP by isoproterenol