ABSTRACT
Cotton dust has been found to cause acute pulmonary inflammation and fever in humans and in a guinea pig model of byssinosis. Following 3 h inhalation of cotton dust particles, guinea pig macrophages were found to release ex vivo a factor(s) toxic to WEHI fibrosarcoma cells. The cytotoxic factor(s) was also present in the bronchoalveolar fluid. We sought to investigate the mechanism of the inflammatory response to determine whether the factor was TNF. Antibodies to murine TNF were produced by immunizing sets of rabbits using two protocols. All animals produced anti-TNF antibodies with titers of 1/1000-1/25,000. Sera from one set of animals completely neutralized the cytotoxicity of murine TNF toward the WEHI cell line. The antisera neutralized up to 93% of the cytotoxicity of guinea pig samples but only 54% of human recombinant TNF. These results identify TNF in pulmonary tissues of guinea pigs following exposure to cotton dust. Moreover, the studies indicate that rabbit antibodies to murine TNF can be used to detect the guinea pig cytokine.
Subject(s)
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/immunology , Animals , Byssinosis/immunology , Byssinosis/pathology , Cross Reactions , Cytotoxicity, Immunologic , Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic , Dust/adverse effects , Gossypium/immunology , Guinea Pigs , Macrophages/immunology , Mice , Recombinant Proteins/immunologyABSTRACT
Thin-film platinum electrodes have been prepared for use in a system for measurement of glucose. Cyclic voltammetry was used to test the electrodes in phosphate and bicarbonate solutions, and in the dialysate of human serum. The peak current output for glucose concentrations between 50-300 mg/dl in a phosphate buffer, and 100-250 mg/dl in the dialysate of human serum, were linear. Two of the three inflection points occurring in the voltammograms are invariant with changes in scan rate, pH, CO2, O2, and glucose. A method for using these points to compensate for voltage drift and current shift is discussed.
