Analysis of mouse beta-haptoglobin chain by lectin affinoblotting detection.

Two different human mammary carcinoma cell lines were xenotransplanted into nude mice. Serum samples were obtained prior to and after transplantation and investigated by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE). By comparison of these silver-stained patterns additional protein spots were detected resulting either from proteins secreted or shed by the tumor itself or from mouse proteins induced by the tumor or the transplantation procedure. One group of spots detectable in post-transplantation serum as well as in control serum after mock-transplantation but not in pretransplantation serum was microsequenced and identified as mouse beta-haptoglobin. The carbohydrate structures of beta-haptoglobin were characterized by two different immunochemical glycoprotein staining procedures to detect differential terminal glycan modifications.

Epigenetic inheritance in the mouse.

Acquired epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation or stable chromatin structures, are not normally thought to be inherited through the germline to future generations in mammals [1] [2]. Studies in the mouse have shown that specific manipulations of early embryos, such as nuclear transplantation, can result in altered patterns of gene expression and induce phenotypic alterations at later stages of development [3] [4] [5]. These effects are consistent with acquired epigenetic modifications that are somatically heritable, such as DNA methylation. Repression and DNA methylation of genes encoding major urinary proteins, repression of the gene encoding olfactory marker protein, and reduced body weight can be experimentally induced by nuclear transplantation in early embryos [4]. Strikingly, we now report that these acquired phenotypes are transmitted to most of the offspring of manipulated parent mice. This is the first demonstration of epigenetic inheritance of specific alterations of gene expression through the germline. These observations establish a mammalian model for transgenerational effects that are important for humal health, and also raise the question of the evolutionary importance of epigenetic inheritance.

Phototherapy in Gunn rats. A study to assess the photobiologically most effective radiant energy and dose/response relationships.

In order to get a more realistic spectral efficiency curve and to evaluate dose/response relationships in phototherapy, homozygous weanling Gunn rats -- nondepilated, with fur -- were illuminated under standardized conditions with 8 different fluorescent tubes. Some of the tubes were operated with different electric power. Clear spectal differences in the extent and the rapidity of the bilirubin decay could be ascertained. Furthermore, the sharpness of the bilirubin decrease depended on the baseline concentration. For the calculations the animals were therefore divided into 3 groups with starting levels of larger than or equal to 8 mg%, 6.5--7.9 mg% and less than 6.5 mg%. Correlating the spectral power distribution of the lamps with the bilirubin decomposition found in the experiment, the spectral response function s(lambda)bili, rel was calculated by an integral method. A comparison of our results with data from the literature shows that so far near UV radiation was evaluated too high. A new radiometer for digital measuring the effective irradiance Ebili was developed. On a logarithmic scale a comparatively sharp dose/response relationship could be demonstrated in dependence on the measured effective radiant exposure. Serum bilirubin decrease is directly proportional to log Ebili. A dose of about 2.5 mW - h/cm2 is necessary to achieve a constant serum bilirubin decrease at all. Good results were obtained at doses of about 35 mW - h/cm2 with the most efficient being at 160 mW - h/cm2. Highly effective doses can be applied with different types of lamps. However, there are great differences in the time of illumination required. 24 h are necessary with daylight tubes (Osram L 20 W/19) to apply 20 mW - h/cm2, whereas the same dose is already attained after 4 h with BAM blue tubes (Philips). The accuracy of the radiometer was finally controlled by screening Westinghouse special blue and Osram standard blue tubes with black tapes, so that the effective irradiance (Ebili) corresponded to that of Osram daylight tubes. The bilirubin decrease observed after this manipulation was nearly identical (not exceeding 1 SD of the daylight values). Since bilirubin decrease was sharper in the first few hours of illumination, continuous phototherapy was compared in some tests with 3 intermittent schedules: (a) 4 h light, 4 h dark, 4 h light; (b) 5 h light, 2 h dark, 5 h light, (c) alternately 2 h light and 2 h dark. There was no indication that more bilirubin could be removed per hour with intermittent phototherapy than with continuous illumination.

Does social security support for medical care weaken public health programs?

Social security programs for medical care in Latin American countires have long been regareded as rivals to the Ministries of Health. Although they typically cover only a small fraction of the population theoretically served by the Ministries, they often have larger health budgets; on a per beneficiary basis, their expenditures are invariably much higher. Analysis of relative strengths of social security programs (percentage of economically active persons covered and national per capita outlays), in twelve Latin American countries, however, shows them to have correlation (virtually zero) to the strengths of Ministries of Health (percentage national budgets devoted to public health). It appears that both social security and Ministry of Health expenditures correlate in a strongly positive direction with a country's per capita gross domestic product. There is no evidence that stronger social security programs are associated with weaker Ministries of Health.