Renal humoral modulation of skeletal muscle tone in mice: implications for 'the pulmonary-renal cascade'.

The pulmonary-renal cascade may regulate the respiration and skeletal muscle contractility. To evaluate this working hypothetical model, we conducted experiments to ascertain the skeletal muscle tone of the Swiss mice (20-35 g). The animals were evaluated for their skeletal muscle tone via several techniques i.e. inclined plane test, grip strength test and swim test. Groups of mice (n=6) were pre-treated with mefenamic acid (60 mg/kg, i.p), carbenoxolone (100 mg/kg i.p) or vehicle only 15 minutes before the treatment with heparin (500 U/kg, i.v), urokinase (5500 U/kg, i.v) and erythropoietin (150 U/kg, i.v). Heparin potentiated the loss of skeletal muscle tone induced by mefenamic acid and carbenoxolone while urokinase & erythropoietin significantly enhanced the skeletal muscle tone as evaluated by all or one of the tests. Other groups of mice (n=6) were pretreated with mefenamic acid (1 mg i.c.v), carbenoxolone (160 microg i.c.v) or minoxidil (30 microg i.c.v) and the effects of heparin & urokinase and erythropoietin on skeletal muscle tone were evaluated. To study the effects of heparin and urokinase on nerve regeneration, two groups of mice underwent a sham and sciatic nerve crush procedure. The mice treated with urokinase recovered much faster as compared to those treated with heparin or saline. These experimental results suggest that gap junction blockers and potassium channel openers interact with heparin, urokinase and erythropoietin to control the skeletal muscle tone.

Analysis of five streptokinase formulations using the euglobulin lysis test and the plasminogen activation assay

Streptokinase, a 47-kDa protein isolated and secreted by most group A, C and G ß-hemolytic streptococci, interacts with and activates human protein plasminogen to form an active complex capable of converting other plasminogen molecules to plasmin. Our objective was to compare five streptokinase formulations commercially available in Brazil in terms of their activity in the in vitro tests of euglobulin clot formation and of the hydrolysis of the plasmin-specific substrate S-2251Õ. Euglobulin lysis time was determined using a 96-well microtiter plate. Initially, human thrombin (10 IU/ml) and streptokinase were placed in individual wells, clot formation was initiated by the addition of plasma euglobulin, and turbidity was measured at 340 nm every 30 s. In the second assay, plasminogen activation was measured using the plasmin-specific substrate S-2251Õ. StreptaseÕ was used as the reference formulation because it presented the strongest fibrinolytic activity in the euglobulin lysis test. The UnitinaseÕ and SolustrepÕ formulations were the weakest, showing about 50 percent activity compared to the reference formulation. All streptokinases tested activated plasminogen but significant differences were observed. In terms of total S-2251Õ activity per vial, StreptaseÕ (75.7 ± 5.0 units) and StreptonaseÕ (94.7 ± 4.6 units) had the highest activity, while UnitinaseÕ (31.0 ± 2.4 units) and StrekÕ (32.9 ± 3.3 units) had the weakest activity. SolustrepÕ (53.3 ± 2.7 units) presented intermediate activity. The variations among the different formulations for both euglobulin lysis test and chromogenic substrate hydrolysis correlated with the SDS-PAGE densitometric results for the amount of 47-kDa protein. These data show that the commercially available clinical streptokinase formulations vary significantly in their in vitro activity. Whether these differences have clinical implications needs to be investigated.