Role of iron and glutathione redox cycle in acetaminophen-induced cytotoxicity to cultured rat hepatocytes.

The aims of this study were to investigate the roles of iron as a catalyst in reactive oxygen metabolite-mediated cellular injury and of the endogenous antioxidant defenses against acetaminophen-induced cytotoxicity in cultured rat hepatocytes. Hepatocytes were isolated and cultured from either 3-methylcholanthrene-treated or untreated rats. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by measuring 51Cr and lactate dehydrogenase release. Acetaminophen caused dose-dependent cytotoxicity in 3-methylcholanthrene-treated, but not untreated, cells. There was a good correlation between 51Cr and lactate dehydrogenase release values. Pretreatment with both diethyl maleate, which covalently binds glutathione as catalyzed by glutathione-S-transferase, and bis(chloroethyl)-nitrosourea, an inhibitor of glutathione reductase, enhanced acetaminophen-induced cytotoxicity. Inhibition of endogenous catalase activity by pretreatment with aminotriazole did not affect acetaminophen-induced cellular damage. Addition of exogenous catalase failed to protect against acetaminophen-induced cytotoxicity. Preincubation with both deferoxamine, a ferric iron chelator, and phenanthroline, a ferrous iron chelator, diminished acetaminophen-induced cytotoxicity. These results indicate that iron is crucial in mediating acetaminophen-induced cytotoxicity and that the glutathione redox cycle, but not catalase, plays a critical role in the endogenous defenses against acetaminophen-induced cellular damage in cultured rat hepatocytes in vitro.

Population genetic studies of the Philippine Negritos. II. gm and km allotypes of three population groups.

Serum samples of the three tribal Negrito populations in the Philippine Islands (127 from Zambales, 87 from Bataan, and 93 from Agusan) were tested for Glm(1,2,3 and 17), and G3m(5,6,11,13,14,15,16, and 21), and Km(1). The GMpatterm of the Negritos is characterized by three haplotypes, Gm1,17;21, Gm1,2,17;21, and Gm1,3;5,11,13,14, which is also characteristic of Mongoloid-related populations, especially with high incidence of the latter haplotype. They also have the haplotype, Gm1,17;5,13,14, prevalent in Africa, New Guinea, and northern Australia, suggesting an ancient link between the Negritos and the New Guinean-Australian group. Two unusual samples of G3m(15) positive without G3m(16) observed in Zambales Negritos suggest the presence of Gm1,17;5,11,13,14,15 haplotype in the population. This appears to be unique to Zambales Negritos and the first such samples to be found.

Population genetic studies of the Philippine Negritos. I. A pilot survey of red cell enzyme and serum protein groups.

Electrophoretic surveys of red cell enzyme and serum protein systems representing 21 genetic loci were carried out on 129 blood samples of the Negritos of Pampanga, Central Luzon, the Philippines. Nine (out of 16) red cell enzyme loci and four (out of five) serum protein loci showed polymorphic variation. Low frequencies of ACP 1A, GPTs1, ESD2, and Hp1, and a markedly high frequency of PGM12 were contrasted to those in non-Negrito Filipinos. Variant ESD phenotypes with a slowly migrating isozyme occurred in high frequency. The new allele designated as ESD3Negrito (ESD3N) had a frequency of .10 +/- .019. In AK, a variant phenotype indistinguishable from AK 2-1 was observed in 14% of the sample. In the Gc system, a fast migrating variant was discovered in high frequency which was distinct from Gc Ab and Gc J. The variant allele, denoted GcNegrito (GcN), had a frequency of .21 +/- .025. A relatively high degree of allelic diversity in the Negrito sample was also suggested by the average heterozygosity for 21 loci screened (.165), which is compared to that of the Japanese population (.140).

Preparation and laboratory tests of oil-adjuvant cholera vaccine.

In a search for cholera vaccines of improved efficacy, agar-grown strains of classical Vibrio cholerae were killed with formol and emulsified with Arlacel A in mineral oil; the final vibrio concentration was adjusted to 2 x 10(9) vibrios per adult dose (equal proportions of Inaba and Ogawa types).There was an unexplained discrepancy between determinations of the vibrio content, by cell counting and opacity measurements, and of the antigen content, by nitrogen measurements and the complement-fixation test.The potency of the vaccine, estimated by the mouse-protection test, was about 5 times that of the International Reference Preparations of Cholera Vaccine. A new potency test, the "maternal-immunity" test in infant rabbits, did not give quantitative results but suggested a somewhat higher potency for the vaccine.The protective effect 6 months after vaccination, as determined by agglutinin titres in the sera of volunteers, was still high, confirming the results of a field trial of the vaccine. However, local reactions (indurations) were observed in a considerable proportion of vaccinees in the field trial. Histopathological examination of tissue from the site of the reactions revealed them to be due to a combination of foreign-body reactions and local hypersensitivity.