Complement and the Alternative Pathway Play an Important Role in LPS/D-GalN-Induced Fulminant Hepatic Failure

Fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) is a clinically severe type of liver injury with an extremely high mortality rate. Although the pathological mechanisms of FHF are not well understood, evidence suggests that the complement system is involved in the pathogenesis of a variety of liver disorders. In the present study, to investigate the role of complement in FHF, we examined groups of mice following intraperitoneal injection of LPS/D-GalN: wild-type C57BL/6 mice, wild-type mice treated with a C3aR antagonist, C5aR monoclonal antibody (C5aRmAb) or CR2-Factor H (CR2-fH, an inhibitor of the alternative pathway), and C3 deficient mice (C3−/− mice). The animals were euthanized and samples analyzed at specific times after LPS/D-GalN injection. The results show that intraperitoneal administration of LPS/D-GalN activated the complement pathway, as evidenced by the hepatic deposition of C3 and C5b-9 and elevated serum levels of the complement activation product C3a, the level of which was associated with the severity of the liver damage. C3a receptor (C3aR) and C5a receptor (C5aR) expression was also upregulated. Compared with wild-type mice, C3−/− mice survived significantly longer and displayed reduced liver inflammation and attenuated pathological damage following LPS/D-GalN injection. Similar levels of protection were seen in mice treated with C3aR antagonist,C5aRmAb or CR2-fH. These data indicate an important role for the C3a and C5a generated by the alternative pathway in LPS/D-GalN-induced FHF. The data further suggest that complement inhibition may be an effective strategy for the adjunctive treatment of fulminant hepatic failure

TRANSITION CHARGE-DENSITIES OF LOW-LYING COLLECTIVE STATES IN PT 196 FROM INELASTIC ELECTRON-SCATTERING

Differential cross sections for levels in the excitation-energy range from 0 to 3.0 MeV in Pt-196 have been measured by inelastic electron scattering in a momentum-transfer range up to 2.5 fm-1. The ground-state charge density and the transition charge densities of nine low-lying collective levels have been extracted in a Fourier-Bessel analysis of these data. The densities are compared with those obtained from microscopic calculations within the quasiparticle phonon model, using the single-particle basis obtained from a density functional approach. Satisfactory agreement has been obtained, in spite of the complicated structure of Pt-196

EXCITATION OF LOW-LYING STATES IN ND-144 BY MEANS OF (E,E') SCATTERING

The low-lying states of Nd-144 have been investigated up to an excitation energy of 3.1 MeV by means of high-resolution inelastic electron scattering. Transition charge densities have been extracted for natural-parity states. The experimental data have been compared with the predictions of the quasiparticle-phonon model. The calculations show that both collective and single-particle degrees of freedom are important for describing the low-lying states of Nd-144. A comparison of the present data with data for Nd-142 and Ce-142 emphasizes the role played by the two valence neutrons outside the N = 82 closed shell

HEXADECAPOLE INTERACTING BOSON APPROXIMATION STRUCTURE FUNCTIONS IN NEODYMIUM ISOTOPES

Low-lying hexadecapole states in stable even-even neodymium isotopes have been investigated by means of inelastic electron scattering. Transition charge densities were extracted in a Fourier-Bessel analysis of the form factors. The analysis of the experimental results within the interacting sdg-boson model with only one g boson allowed the extraction of the radial shapes of the hexadecapole structure functions of three of the different boson-pair configurations (i.e., dd, sg, and dg) involved in the hexadecapole excitations