How Anti-Introspectionist is Theory Theory?

Introspection is often seen as criterion to distinguish between theory theory (TT) and simulation theory (ST). Many empirical arguments against ST rely upon the thesis that ST is introspectionist and that it presupposes the Cartesian dictum that the mind is transparent to itself. According to Perner 1999 the capacity to introspect is so important for ST that it can be seen as the criterion that distinguishes ST from TT: "These two positions and their sub-varieties differ as to whether they presuppose or explain the ability to introspect. Theory theory is extremely anti-introspectionist. Traditional simulation is based on the ability to introspect one's own mental states." (Perner 1999

The Power of God and Miracles

In this paper we explicate the notion of a miracle and highlight a suitable ontological framework for it. Our proposal draws on insights from Aquinas’s discussion of miracles and from the modern ontology of powers. We argue that each substance possesses a characteristic set of natural powers and dispositions which are operative or become manifest in the right circumstances. In a miracle divine intervention activates the fundamental disposition inherent in each creature to be responsive to God’s call. Thus, a miracle brings something about which a substance’s set of natural powers and dispositions could not bring about by itself

Agent Causation: Before and After the Ontological Turn

Imagine Ludwig has a cup of tea for breakfast. He\ud pours it; he eats his egg until it seems to him that the tea\ud should have the right temperature; he moves his hand to\ud the cup, puts his fingers at the handle, and then, careful\ud not to spill anything, he does something with his arm;\ud namely, he raises it, and if all goes well he then drinks the\ud tea without burning his lips.\ud The rising of Ludwig"s arm surely has a cause. But\ud what is the cause? Defenders of agent causation, such as\ud Thomas Reid (1788), Richard Taylor (1966), Roderick\ud Chisholm (1976a), and many more recent authors (see\ud Swinburne 1997, ch. 5; Thorp 1980; Meixner 1999; Clarke\ud 1996; O'Connor 2000) have argued that the rising of\ud Ludwig"s arm is caused by Ludwig himself. Some events\ud are caused, not by other events, but by concrete things, by\ud substances, more specifically by intentional agents

Der stereoselektive Nachweis von Levo- und Dextromethadon in Blutproben von lebenden und verstorbenen Drogenabhängigen

In Deutschland wird Methadon sowohl als Racemat (Dextro-Levomethadon) als auch in der allein wirksamen Form (Levomethadon) als Substitutionsmittel angewandt. Die Wirkung und der Metabolismus von Methadon sind stereoselektiv. Wenn man sich daher insbesondere aus forensischer Sicht der Frage einer Dosis-Wirkungs-Beziehung von Methadon nähern will, ist eine stereoselektive Analytik Voraussetzung. Eine Hochdruckflüssigkeitschromatographie-Methode wurde hierfür ins-besondere zur routinemäßigen Anwendung an Leichenblutproben optimiert: nach flüssig-flüssig Extraktion mit 1-Chlorbutan wurde der Extrakt auf einer Säulenkombination aus 4 cm Cyano- und 10 cm chiraler Alpha-1-Glykoprotein-Phase mit Acetonitril, 0,01 molarem Phosphatpuffer bei einem pH-Wert von 5,0 Dimethyloctylamin (15/85/0,05) aufgetrennt. Die Methadon-Enantiomeren eluieren Basislinien-getrennt bei 15 min (Levo-Form) beziehungsweise 18 min (Dextro-Form). Die beiden Metaboliten Levo- und Dextro-EDDP und typische Beigebrauchsstoffe wie beispielsweise Heroin, Kokain, Benzodiazepine, trizyklische Antidepressiva, Antiepileptika stören nicht. Mit dieser Methode wurde das Verhältnis von Levo- und Dextromethadon in 93 Serumproben von lebenden Probanden und 106 Leichenblutproben bestimmt und aus der mit anderen Methoden wie Gaschromatographie/ Massenspektrometrie beziehungsweise Reverse Phase Hochdruck-flüssigkeitschromatographie ermittelten Gesamtmethadonkonzentration die Levomethadonkonzentration berechnet. In etwa der Hälfte der Todesfälle lag die Levomethadonkonzentration über 0,3 mg/l, ein Wert, der bei den Lebenden nur in einem Fall überschritten wurde. Bei Racemataufnahme lag das Verhältnis von Levo- und Dextromethadon im Blut bei Lebenden ebenso bei Leichen etwa zwischen 25/75 und 75/25, im Mittel bei 50/50. In Proben aus 1999 wurden in circa 20% der Fälle sowohl bei lebenden als auch bei verstorbenen Drogenabhängigen ausschließlich Levomethadon gefunden. In einigen Fällen war auffallend, dass offensichtlich eine gemischte Versorgung mit Levomethadon plus Racemat erfolgt ist. Anlass zu Bedenken geben Todesfälle mit hohen Levomethadonkonzentrationen (> 1 mg/l), bei denen das Levo-/Dextro-Racematverhältnis ausnahmslos deutlich über 50/50 lag. Dies könnte als Hinweis darauf gewertet werden, dass in diesen Fällen eine besonders langsame Metabolisierung von Levomethadon zu einer tödlichen Kumulation des wirksamen Levomethadonanteils geführt hat. Unsere Fälle zeigen die Notwendigkeit einer stereoselektiven Quantifizierung von Levomethadon sowohl zum therapeutischen drug monitoring als auch zur forensischen Diagnostik

Sensitization of the Angiotensin II AT1 Receptor Contributes to RKIP-Induced Symptoms of Heart Failure

Inhibition of the G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) is an emerging treatment approach for heart failure. Therefore, cardio-protective mechanisms induced by GRK2 inhibition are under investigation. We compared two different GRK2 inhibitors, i.e., (i) the dual-specific GRK2 and raf kinase inhibitor protein, RKIP, and (ii) the dominant-negative GRK2-K220R mutant. We found that RKIP induced a strong sensitization of Gq/11-dependent, heart failure-promoting angiotensin II AT1 receptor signaling. The AT1-sensitizing function of RKIP was mediated by the RKIP-GRK2 interaction because the RKIP-S153V mutant, which does not interact with GRK2, had no effect on AT1-stimulated signaling. In contrast, GRK2-K220R significantly inhibited the AT1-stimulated signal. The in vivo relevance of these major differences between two different approaches of GRK2 inhibition was analyzed by generation of transgenic mice with myocardium-specific expression of RKIP and GRK2-K220R. Our results showed that a moderately increased cardiac protein level of RKIP was sufficient to induce major symptoms of heart failure in aged, 8-months-old RKIP-transgenic mice in two different genetic backgrounds. In contrast, GRK2-K220R protected against chronic pressure overload-induced cardiac dysfunction. The AT1 receptor contributed to RKIP-induced heart failure because treatment with the AT1 receptor antagonist, losartan, retarded symptoms of heart failure in RKIP-transgenic mice. Thus, sensitization of the heart failure-promoting AT1 receptor by the RKIP-GRK2 interaction contributes to heart failure whereas dominant-negative GRK2-K220R is cardioprotective. Because RKIP is up-regulated on cardiac biopsy specimens of heart failure patients, the deduced heart failure-promoting mechanism of RKIP could also be relevant for the human disease

Discovery of Pathologic GPCR Aggregation

The family of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is one of the most important drug targets. Mechanisms underlying GPCR activation and signaling are therefore of great pharmacologic interest. It was long thought that GPCRs exist and function as monomers. This feature was considered to distinguish GPCRs from other membrane receptors such as receptor tyrosine kinases or cytokine receptors, which signal from dimeric receptor complexes. But during the last two decades it was increasingly recognized that GPCRs can undergo aggregation to form dimers and higher order oligomers, resulting in homomeric and/or heteromeric protein complexes with different stoichiometries. Moreover, this protein complex formation could modify GPCR signaling and function. We contributed to this paradigm shift in GPCR pharmacology by the discovery of the first pathologic GPCR aggregation, which is the protein complex formation between the angiotensin II AT1 receptor and the bradykinin B2 receptor. Increased AT1-B2 heteromerization accounts for the angiotensin II hypersensitivity of pregnant women with preeclampsia hypertension. Since the discovery of AT1-B2, other pathologic GPCR aggregates were found, which contribute to atherosclerosis, neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's disease. As a result of our findings, pathologic GPCR aggregation appears as an independent and disease-specific process, which is increasingly considered as a novel target for pharmacologic intervention

Up-Regulation of the Cardiac Lipid Metabolism at the Onset of Heart Failure

Chronic pressure overload and atherosclerosis are primary etiologic factors for cardiac hypertrophy and failure. However, mechanisms underlying the transition from hypertrophy to heart failure are incompletely understood. We analyzed the development of heart failure in mice with chronic pressure overload induced by aortic constriction and compared the results with aged apolipoprotein E-deficient mice suffering from advanced atherosclerosis. We combined cardiac function analysis by echocardiography and invasive hemodynamics with a comprehensive microarray gene expression study (GSE25765-8). The microarray data showed that the onset of heart failure induced by pressure overload or advanced atherosclerosis was accompanied by a strong up-regulation of key lipid metabolizing enzymes involved in fat synthesis, storage and oxidation. Cardiac lipid overload may be involved in the progression of heart failure by enhancing cardiomyocyte death. Up-regulation of the cardiac lipid metabolism was related to oxygen and ATP depletion of failing hearts because anti-ischemic treatment with ranolazine normalized the cardiac lipid metabolism and improved cardiac function. Vice versa, inhibition of cellular respiration and ATP generation by mild thiol-blocking with cystamine triggered the cardiac lipid metabolism and caused signs of heart failure. Cardiac tissue specimens of patients with heart failure also showed high protein levels of key fat metabolizing enzymes as well as lipid accumulation. Taken together, our data strongly indicate that up-regulation of the cardiac lipid metabolism and myocardial lipid overload are underlying the development of heart failure

Increased Reactive Oxygen Species Generation Contributes to the Atherogenic Activity of the B2 Bradykinin Receptor

Atherosclerosis and ensuing cardiovascular disease are major causes of death with insufficient treatment options. In search for pathomechanisms of atherosclerosis, we investigated the impact of the B2 bradykinin receptor, Bdkrb2, on atherosclerotic lesion formation, because to date it is not clear whether the B2 bradykinin receptor is atheroprotective or atherogenic. As a model of atherosclerosis, we used hypercholesterolemic ApoE-deficient (apolipoprotein E-deficient) mice, which develop atherosclerotic lesions in the aorta with increasing age. The role of Bdkrb2 in atherosclerosis was studied in ApoE-deficient mice, which were either Bdkrb2-deficient, or had moderately increased aortic B2 bradykinin receptor protein levels induced by transgenic BDKRB2 expression under control of the ubiquitous CMV promoter. We found that Bdkrb2 deficiency led to a significantly decreased atherosclerotic plaque area whereas transgenic BDKRB2 expression enhanced atherosclerotic lesion formation in the aorta of ApoE-deficient mice at an age of 8 months. Concomitantly, the aortic content of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was higher in BDKRB2-expressing mice whereas Bdkrb2 deficiency decreased aortic ROS levels of ApoE-deficient mice. In addition, aortic nitrate as a marker of nitric oxide activity and the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) co-factor, tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) were reduced in BDKRB2-expressing ApoE-deficient mice. The decreased aortic BH4 content could be a consequence of increased ROS generation and down-regulated aortic expression of the BH4-synthesizing enzyme, Gch1 (GTP cyclohydrolase 1). In agreement with a causal involvement of decreased BH4 levels in the atherogenic function of BDKRB2, we found that treatment with the BH4 analog, sapropterin, significantly retarded atherosclerotic plaque formation in BDKRB2-expressing ApoE-deficient mice. Together our data show that the B2 bradykinin receptor is atherogenic, and the atherosclerosis-promoting function of BDKRB2 is partially caused by decreased aortic BH4 levels, which could account for eNOS uncoupling and further enhancement of ROS generation