Vascular access to the arterial side of the pancreas in the Syrian hamster

In order to establish a new approach to the treatment of tumours of the exocrine pancreas of humans, this work was aimed at gaining vascular access to the arterial side of the pancreas in the Syrian hamster. There is to our knowledge no information available in the literature concerning the catheterisation of the arterial side of the pancreas in the Syrian hamster. Preliminary anatomical studies revealed that the coeliac artery could be a possible vascular access to the different lobes of the pancreas in the Syrian hamster. The lumen of the splenic artery is too small to be catheterised. Injection of Evan´s blue and plastic beads in different sizes into the coelic artery demonstrated distribution to the different lobes of the pancreas as well as to the spleen, the stomach, the duodenum, and the omentum.This opens up the possibility of a treatment, using biodegradable plastic beads coated with immunomodulators injected on the arterial side of the pancreas, as well as alginate beads harbouring transfected cells, capable of delivering various substances in the area of interest

Endothelin-1 stimulates human monocytes in vitro to release TNF-α , IL-1β and IL-6

Increased plasma- and tissue levels of endothelin-1 (ET-1) during inflammatory diseases, have suggested a role of ET-1 in the pathophysiology of inflammatory reactions. The authors have studied the effect of ET-1 on cytokine release from monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages. ET-1 increased secretion of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Optimal ET-1 concentration ranged from 0.01 to 1 nM. The maximal response was a 200 to 400% increase in cytokine release. A time-course study revealed that the pattern of cytokines induced by ET-1 was different in monocytes and macrophages, although an early increase in TNF-α was observed in both monocyte and macrophage supernatants. In conclusion, ET-1 stimulates monocytes and macrophages to release cytokines thereby demonstrating a potential role for ET-1 in regulation of inflammatory responses

The cytotoxic effect of mouse macrophages on syngeneic and allogeneic erythrocytes.

A cytotoxic effect of mouse peritoneal macrophages against syngeneic and allogeneic erythrocytes was demonstrated by isotope release and release of hemoglobin. The cytotoxic effect was dependent on the contact between viable, activated macrophages and target cells. Activation was accomplished by prolonged cultivation of macrophages and by the presence of Zn(++) and Con-A. Immunization did not prove necessary. Morphological observations as well as experiments with various salt concentrations indicate that the cytotoxic reaction may involve some kind of osmotic effect upon the target cells