Temporal and spatial expression of biglycan in chronic oxygen-induced lung injury.

To assess the temporal and spatial expression of the matrix-associated proteoglycan, biglycan, in a model of chronic hyperoxia-induced lung injury, changes in mRNA and protein were examined using Northern blot analyses and immunohistochemistry. Newborn rats were exposed to 85% or 100% oxygen for 6 and 4 wk, respectively. Exposure to 85% oxygen for up to 6 wk resulted in a reduction in lung surface area and the development of focal areas of fibrosis. In contrast, exposure to 100% oxygen resulted in gross alterations in lung histology with greatly enlarged airspaces and septal thickening. Biglycan mRNA increased at 3 to 5 wk in control animals, then returned to baseline, while oxygen-exposed animals showed a further increase after 2 to 4 wk of exposure. Immunoreactive biglycan decreased with postnatal age but increased in alveolar cells of animals exposed to 100% oxygen for 4 wk and in alveolar cells and along alveolar septae of animals exposed to 85% oxygen for 6 wk. We speculate that biglycan binds growth factors such as transforming growth factor-beta near these cells, acting in an autoregulatory fashion to support epithelial cell proliferation and inhibit mesenchymal cell proliferation.

Eating quality of European beef assessed at five research institutes.

Loin steaks from 10 animals (five of each of two types) from each of eight European countries were assessed for eating quality at five institutes in Denmark, Ireland, England, France and the Federal Republic of Germany. All panels found wide variation in eating quality and many of the steaks were unacceptably tough. Although attempts to relate quality to production factors were often confounded, differences in post-slaughter handling, particularly between producing countries, dominated eating quality. Breed, sex, age or fatness had relatively little influence on eating quality in this trial. A common eight-category scale of tenderness/toughness was used in addition to each institute's usual descriptive scales for tenderness, flavour, juiciness and overall acceptability, employing four to eleven categories. Within panels, attribute scores were not independent and tenderness and flavour in combination were the best predictors of overall acceptability. Between panels, tenderness was highly interrelated, flavour and juiciness poorly interrelated. These findings, together with estimates of each panel's discrimination and the variation between individual assessors, are discussed in relation to standardisation and equivalence of sensory methodology.