Preparation and evaluation of a hyaluronate-collagen film for preventing post-surgical adhesion.

Post-surgical adhesion occurs when fibrous strands of scar tissue form, leading to the abnormal joining of anatomical structures. Patients undergoing abdominal surgery are at risk of the complications associated with intraperitoneal adhesions. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a biocompatible, biodegradable and non-toxic natural polymer, which is gaining popularity as a barrier agent for preventing post-surgical adhesions. As HA is water-soluble and rapidly degraded in vivo, chemical modification is required to produce a non-soluble sheet that might be used to prevent tissue adhesion. We developed a range of biocompatible cross-linked HA-collagen composites and then evaluated them in a rat model of post-surgical adhesion. The results showed that cross-linked HA-collagen was almost totally resistant to hyaluronidase digestion. HA-collagen membranes induced minimal tissue reactions and were bioresorbed within 14 days post-surgery. These results suggest that cross-linked HA-collagen membrane may be a valuable anti-adhesion material to prevent post-surgical intraperitoneal adhesion.

Catecholamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase of caudate nucleus and cerebral cortex. Effects of guanine nucleotides.

1. GTP and GMP-P(NH)P (guanyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate) were observed to increase the stimulation of neural adenylate cyclase by dopamine (3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine) and noradrenaline. 2. GMP-P(NH)P had a biphasic effect on the enzyme activity. 3. Preincubation of membranes with GMP-P(NH)P activated the enzyme by a process dependent on time and temperature. Catecholamines increased the speed and the extent of this activation. 4. Membrane fractions contained high- and low-affinity sites for GMP-P(NH)P binding: this binding was due to protein(s) of the membrane preparations. 5. Low-affinity-site binding of GMP-P(NH)P appeared to be related to the stimulatory effect on the adenylate cyclase activity.

Comparative adenylate cyclase activities in homogenate and plasma membrane fractions of Morris hepatoma 5123tc (h).

Homogenate and plasma membrane fractions of Morris hepatoma 5123tc (h) and rat liver were studied with regard to their relative basal activties of adenylate cyclase and to the comparative responsiveness of this enzyme to glucagon, sodium fluoride, epinephrine, prostaglandin E1, and insulin. The basal adenylate cyclase activities of the hepatoma fractions were found to be similar to those of liver at an adenosine 5'triphosphate concentration of 3.2 mM; if the substrate affinity (Km adenosine 5'-triphosphate) of the tumor enzyme is comparable to that of liver, these findings suggest that the reduced basal cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate levels found to occur in hepatoma 5123tc (h) probably are not due to a decreased basal rate of formation of this cyclic nucleotide. Glucagon (5.6 muM) significantly stimulated adenylate cyclase in both fractions of hepatoma and livers; however, the responsiveness of the tumor enzyme to this hormone was substantially lower than the responsiveness of liver for both homogenate and plasma membrane preparations; i.e., activities were enhanced 18-fold (relative to the basal activity)for liver homogenate compared with only a 6-fold increase for tumor. With the plasma membrane preparations, glucagon increased the activities 5- and 3.5-fold in liver and hepatoma, respectively. Sodium fluoride (10mM), in contrast to glucagon, increased the adenylate cyclase activity to approximately the same extent (about 10-fold) in the liver and hepatoma preparations. Epinephrine (100 muM) enhanced the liver and hepatoma homogenate activites 3- to 4-fold and the hepatoma plasma membrane activities 2-fold; however, the liver plasma membrane activites were not increased. Prostaglandin E1 (56.6 MUM) significantly increased adenylate cyclase activites of liver and hepatoma homogenates (i.e., 1.5- and 3-fold, respectively) but not of the plasma membrane preparations. Insulin (0.7 muM) did not significantly alter adenylate cyclase activities in any of the preparations.