ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to identify thyroid hormones and to examine their putative site of synthesis in Achatina fulica snails. For this purpose, radioimmunoassays were performed for T3 and T4 before and after long starvation with or without hemolymph deproteinization. Sodium/iodide symporter activity in vivo was analyzed through 125I administration with and without KClO4 pretreatment. Only T4 was detected, and its concentration decreased due to starvation or deproteinization. However, high-performance liquid chromatography analysis also showed the presence of T2 and T3 apart from T4, but rT3 was not detected in the A. fulica hemolymph. The sodium/iodide symporter activity was greater in cerebral ganglia than digestive gland, but KClO4 treatment did not inhibit iodide uptake in any of the tissues analyzed. Altogether, our data confirm for the first time the presence of thyroid hormones in A. fulica snails and suggest their participation in the metabolism control in this species, although the putative site of hormone biosynthesis remains to be elucidated.
Subject(s)
Animals , Snails/chemistry , Thyroxine/analysis , Thyroxine/metabolism , Biological Transport , Hemolymph , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Sodium Chloride SymportersABSTRACT
We investigated the morphologic and functional changes of infarcted rat hearts under a paradigm of angiotensinconverting enzyme inhibition. Myocardial infarction was induced by left coronary artery ligation and a control group (SHAM) underwent sham-operation. Infarcted rats received normal drinking water with (CAP group) or without (INF group) captopril. Functional assessment was performed by electro (ECG) and echocardiogram (ECHO) just before and 21 days after surgery. The ECG of INF and CAP showed similar values and resembled healed infarct after surgery. The most outstanding differences between INF and CAP were the prevention of the increase of P-wave and attenuation both in rightward deviation of the QRS axis and Q-wave amplitude in CAP compared with INF. The ECHO showed that captopril treatment improved the diastolic filling more than systolic performance. Cardiac dilatation and left congestive heart failure were observed only in INF. Both infarcted groups showed a scar tissue in the left ventricular wall, but the INF showed a higher scar area than CAP (49.7 ± 5.24 vs. 22.33 ± 6.19 respectively). These data suggest that the renin-angiotensin system induces morphologic and functional changes in post-infarcted rat hearts and which can be assessed by non-invasive exams.
Nós investigamos as alterações funcionais e morfológicas em corações de ratos infartados, sob o paradigma de inibição da enzima conversora de angiotensina. O infarto do miocárdio foi produzido pela ligadura da artéria coronária esquerda e um grupo falso-operado serviu de controle para o experimento. Os ratos infartados receberam água normal com (grupo CAP) ou sem (grupo INF) captopril. A avaliação funcional foi feita através de eletro (ECG) e ecocardiografia (ECO) momentos antes e 21 dias depois da cirurgia. O ECG dos grupos INF e CAP foram similares e compatíveis com infarto cicatrizado após a cirurgia. As principais diferenças entre os grupos INF e CAP foram: a prevenção do aumento da onda P e a atenuação tanto do desvio do eixo de despolarização ventricular como da amplitude da onda Q no CAP comparado com o INF. O ECO revelou que o tratamento com captopril foi mais efetivo em melhorar o enchimento diastólico do que aumentar a função sistólica. A dilatação e a falência cardíaca congestiva foram observadas apenas no INF. Ambos os grupos infartados exibiram um tecido cicatricial no ventrículo esquerdo, mas no INF esta se mostrou maior do que no CAP (49.7 ±5.24 vs. 22.33 ±6.19 respectivamente). Estes dados sugerem que o sistema renina angiotensina produz alterações morfológicas e funcionais em corações de ratos infartados e que estas podem ser detectadas por exames não invasivos.