Vascular Permeability In Rabbit Skin Research Articles

Characterisation of a haemolysin related to Vp-TDH produced by a Kanagawa phenomenon-negative clinical isolate of Vibrio parahaemolyticus

The production of a family of haemolysins--thermostable direct haemolysin (Vp-TDH), Vp-TDH-related haemolysin (Vp-TRH) and Vp-TDH/I--has been reported in clinical isolates of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. This paper describes a fourth type of haemolysin--Vp-TDH/II--produced by a Kanagawa phenomenon-negative clinical isolate of V. parahaemolyticus (O13:K, untypable). Vp-TDH/II was purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation and successive filtrations on DEAE-cellulose, hydroxyapatite, Sepharose 4B and Mono Q columns. Vp-TDH/II was biophysicochemically and immunologically similar to, but not identical to Vp-TDH, Vp-TRH and Vp-TDH/I. Vp-TDH/II stimulated vascular permeability in rabbit skin and was lethal to mice. Purified Vp-TDH/II and viable cells of the Vp-TDH/II-producing strain both induced fluid accumulation in ligated rabbit intestine. The plasmid-determined structural gene for Vp-TDH/II was cloned and the nucleotide sequence determined. The deduced amino acid sequence of Vp-TDH/II differed from those of Vp-TDH, Vp-TRH and Vp-TDH/I.

Isolation of a polypeptide from Phoneutria nigriventer spider venom responsible for the increased vascular permeability in rabbit skin

Fractionation of Phoneutria nigriventer venom by Sephadex G-10 followed by ion-exchange chromatography yields a fraction (fraction XIII) which increases microvascular permeability in rabbit skin in vivo by activating the tissue kallikrein-kinin system. One polypeptide (PNV3) with the ability to increase microvascular permeability in the rabbit skin in vivo was isolated from fraction XIII and biochemically characterized. PNV3 has 132 amino acid residues with a calculated mol. wt of 14,475. This polypeptide showed the following N-terminal sequence: AVFAIQDQPC. Amino acid analysis indicated the presence of six disulfide bridges and a high content of Glx (20%). Pairwise comparison of PNV3 amino acid sequence with 27 other spider venom polypeptides and proteins indicated that PNV3 presents high similarity (60–70%) with other toxins (Tx2.1, Tx2.5 and Tx2.6) isolated from P. nigriventer venom.

Location of the enterotoxin gene from Salmonella typhimurium and characterization of the gene products.

The enterotoxin gene (stn) in Salmonella typhimurium (Q1 strain) was confined to an 800 bp ClaI-EcoRI genomic DNA fragment (pCE3) that coded for two polypeptides (25 and 12 kDa) under the control of the T7 RNA polymerase/promoter system. The appearance of the 25 kDa protein corresponded to the enterotoxic activity, as determined by elongation of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, fluid accumulation in rabbit intestinal loops, and altered vascular permeability in rabbit skin. The stn gene products (STN) caused an elevation of intracellular cAMP in CHO cells. These values were at control levels in stn mutants devoid of enterotoxicity, and the 25-kDa protein concurrently disappeared. The biological activity of the heat-labile enterotoxin was blocked by GM1 ganglioside and neutralized by affinity-purified antibodies made against cholera toxin. The 12 kDa protein however was not correlated with an enterotoxic response.

Activation by Phoneutria nigriventer (armed spider) venom of tissue kallikrein-kininogen-kinin system in rabbit skin in vivo.

1. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the mechanisms by which venom from Phoneutria nigriventer spider induces increases in vascular permeability in rabbit skin. 2. Local oedema formation, in response to intradermally-injected agents, was measured in male New Zealand white rabbits as the local accumulation of i.v. injected 125I-labelled human serum albumin into skin sites. 3. Phoneutria nigriventer venom (10-30 micrograms/site) increased vascular permeability, which was inhibited by trasylol (10 micrograms/site) and the bradykinin B2 receptor antagonists D-Arg,[Hyp3,Thi5,8,D-Phe7]-BK (3 nmol/site) and Hoe 140 (0.3 nmol/site). In addition, the oedema induced by the venom was potentiated by the kinase II inhibitor, captopril (1 nmol/site). The lipoxygenase inhibitor, BWA4C (10 nmol/site) and the PAF antagonist, WEB 2086 (100 nmol/site) had no effect on the venom-induced increase in vascular permeability. 4. Incubation of rabbit plasma with Phoneutria nigriventer venom in vitro did not cause bradykinin formation. Further, the plasma kallikrein inhibitor, soybean trypsin inhibitor (10 micrograms/site), had no effect on the venom-induced increase in vascular permeability in rabbit skin. 5. These results indicate that the oedema produced by Phoneutria nigriventer venom is dependent on the activation of the tissue kallikrein-kinin system.

Enterotoxicity ofVibrio furnissii isolated from eels

Fourteen strains ofVibrio furnissii, isolated from different ulcerated areas of eel, were tested to check their enterotoxicity in an animal model. Most strains caused fluid accumulation in ileal loop tests after serial passages and culture filtrates of most of the strains caused induration and increase in vascular permeability in rabbit skin. Production of extracellular haemolysin was also detected in all the culture filtrates. All of these observations clearly establish the enterotoxicity of these organisms.

Characterization of interleukin-1 activity in tunicates.

1. Eight North American species of tunicates were examined for the presence of interleukin-1 (IL-1) like activity. 2. The tunicates studied produce molecules with readily detectable lymphocyte activation factor (LAF) activity. 3. G50 column chromatography separated molecular species that were directly mitogenic for thymocytes (mol. wt greater than 50,000) from those that were comitogenic in an IL-1 assay (mol. wt 20,000). 4. Tunicate fractions with LAF activity induced increased vascular permeability in rabbit skin. 5. Tunicate LAF activity was neutralized by polyclonal anti-human IL-1 antisera. 6. These data further support the conclusion that IL-1 is an ancient and functionally conserved molecule.

Purification and characterization of Vibrio metschnikovii cytolysin.

An extracellular cytolysin produced by Vibrio metschnikovii was purified by acid precipitation, phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B chromatography, and rechromatography on a phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B column and high-performance liquid chromatography on a Mono Q (anion-exchange) column. The purified cytolysin had a molecular weight of 50,000 and an isoelectric point of 5.1. It was inactivated by heating at 60 degrees C for 5 min and was inhibited by Zn2+, Cu2+, and high concentrations of cholesterol. Lysis of calf erythrocytes by cytolysin was temperature dependent and occurred only above 18 degrees C. Moreover, no lysis was observed at high concentrations of erythrocytes, suggesting that the cytolysin lyses erythrocytes by a multihit mechanism. This cytolysin had no immunological cross-reactivities with hemolysins from other Vibrio species tested, indicating that it is a new cytolysin. V. metschnikovii cytolysin lysed erythrocytes from several animal species (calf, rabbit, guinea pig, mouse, human, sheep, chicken, and horse) and cultured cells (Vero and Chinese hamster ovary), caused fluid accumulation in the intestines of infant mice, and increased vascular permeability in rabbit skin.

New synthetic antagonists of bradykinin.

1 A new synthetic bradykinin analogue was found to be an antagonist of bradykinin-induced vascular permeability in rabbit skin. It was effective in equimolar concentrations. 2 These analogues also antagonized the action of bradykinin in contracting the guinea-pig isolated ileum. The mean pA2 values of five different antagonists ranged from 5.3-6.4 respectively, on this preparation. 3 Our observations, together with those of others suggest that these antagonists act on the same receptor types, viz., B2, in rabbit blood vessels and in smooth muscle of guinea-pig ileum. 4 Our results support the view that the way is now promising for the synthesis of potent specific antagonists of bradykinin for experimental and therapeutic use.

局所適用によるＰｒａｎｏｐｒｏｆｅｎ‐ｇｅｌの抗炎症作用

The anti-inflammatory activity and mode of action of topically applied pranoprofen-gel were investigated in comparison with indomethacin-gel in experimental animals. Applied topically, 0.3 approximately 3% pranoprofen-gel inhibited carrageenin-induced paw edema, fracture-induced paw edema, carrageenin-induced increase in vascular permeability and adjuvant arthritis in rats and ultraviolet ray-induced erythema in guinea pigs dose-dependently, with a potency slightly greater than that of indomethacin-gel. In addition, pranoprofen-gel inhibited dose-dependently the formation of granuloma caused by a cotton pellet implantation, without affecting the weight of the thymus or adrenals and without inducing gastrointestinal lesions. Moreover, applied topically to carrageenin-treated rats, pranoprofen-gel inhibited dose-dependently, and more potently than indomethacin-gel, the production of a prostaglandin E2 (PGE2)-like substance in both the exudate of the carrageenin air pouch and the inflamed synovial membrane. Both drugs inhibited the potentiation of bradykinin-induced vascular permeability in rabbit skin by arachidonic acid, but not by PGE2. Pranoprofen was only one third as potent as indomethacin in inhibiting the production of PGE2 from the phagocytosing of killed bacteria by rat peritoneal leucocytes in vitro. These results show that pranoprofen-gel, applied topically, permeates well from the skin to the deep inflammatory site, relieving potently and long lastingly the inflammation by inhibiting PG production. As a topical anti-inflammatory agent, pranoprofen-gel is at least as effective as indomethacin-gel, so it may have good clinical use.

Purification and some properties of a non-o1 Vibrio cholerae enterotoxin that is identical to cholera enterotoxin.

Cholera-like enterotoxin was isolated and purified from the culture supernatant of a non-O1 strain of Vibrio cholerae, E8498, isolated from the environment. Enterotoxin was purified by aluminum hydroxide absorption and elution and successive gel filtrations on Sephadex G-100, Bio-Gel A-5m, and Sephadex G-75. Purified enterotoxin gave a single stained band on polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis, and the mobility was the same as that of cholera enterotoxin. The specific biological activity of the purified enterotoxin was almost the same as that of cholera enterotoxin in the Chinese hamster ovary cell assay, fluid accumulation in mouse ligated intestine, increase in vascular permeability in rabbit skin, and passive immune hemolysis. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis showed that the purified enterotoxin consisted of subunits A and B, identical to those of cholera enterotoxin, and Ouchterlony double gel diffusion tests indicated that the two toxins were immunologically identical. Enterotoxins prepared from several non-O1 strains isolated from human patients were also immunologically identical to cholera enterotoxin.

Isomers of leukotriene B 4 possess different biological potencies

Rat elicited polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs), when exposed to the ionophore A23187, release three isomers of leukotriene B 4. The three isomers have been purified and tested for their ability to induce the chemokinesis of human PMNs in vitro, the aggregation of rat PMNs in vitro and changes in vascular permeability in rabbit skin in vivo in the presence of PGE 2. The results demonstrate that all three isomers are biologically active and that the enzymatically produced isomer, in which the conjugated triene contains one cis and two trans double bonds, is more potent than the two diastereoisomers of LTB 4 which contain all trans double bonds in the conjugated triene and which are produced by non-enzymatic hydrolysis.

Cecal toxin(s) from guinea pigs with clindamycin-associated colitis, neutralized by Clostridium sordellii antitoxin.

The cecal contents of guinea pigs with clindamycin-associated colitis contained a heat-labile toxin. This toxin was lethal for guinea pigs and mice, produced vascular permeability in the skin of rabbits, and was cytotoxic in tissue culture. The lethality in mice, vascular permeability in rabbit skin, and cytotoxicity in tissue culture monolayers were neutralized by Clostridium sordellii antitoxin.

ANTIBIOTIC-INDUCED COLITIS IMPLICATION OF A TOXIN NEUTRALISED BY CLOSTRIDIUM SORDELLII ANTITOXIN

A toxin(s) has been demonstrated in the stools of two patients with antibiotic- associated colitis. This toxin(s) was heat-labile, wasrapidly lethal for hamsters, increased vascular permeability in rabbit skin, and was cytotoxic for cells in tissue-culture. It was neutralised by Clostridium sordellii antitoxin but not by antitoxins prepared against otherclostridia; Escherichia coli, and Vibrio cholerœ toxins. These characteristics were identical to those of a toxin implicated in the ætiology of antibiotic-induced colitis in the hamster. One patient improved rapidly after treatment with oral vancomycin, and at the same time the toxin disappeared from the stool.

Characterization of human platelet vascular permeability-enhancing activity.

Human platelet acid extract obtained from both whole platelets and from isolated subcellular granules was partially purified by DEAE-cellulose chromatography and Sephadex gel filtration. The heat-stable, nondialyzable cationic protein fraction with a mol wt of approximately 30,000 produced a biphasic increase in vascular permeability in rabbit skin and also had antiheparin activity. The acute (15 min) increase in vascular permeability was blocked by prior treatment of the animal with antihistamine and was characterized histologically by edema of perivascular tissues and dilation of capillaries and veinules. The delayed (3 hr) permeability effect was not blocked by antihistamine and was characterized histologically by leukocytic infiltration into the skin. The experiments described suggest that human platelet lysosomal release of cationic proteins may increase vascular permeability by several mechanisms including endogenous histamine release as well as delayed chemotaxis.