A. P. Krueger

Effects of Gaseous Ions on Tracheal Ciliary Rate.

Recent experiments have shown that + and − air ions have marked effects on ciliary rate and other properties of the mammalian trachea, both in vitro(3) and in vivo (4). It seems reasonable to conclude that these effects stem from physiologically significant alterations in state of gases present in ambient atmosphere and that deliberately produced changes in composition of this atmosphere would be reflected in the response of the tracheal tissue. The following experiments were performed to test this assumption. Methods. Anesthetized rabbits were tracheotomized and placed in humid-air ionizing chamber according to technic already described (4). Gases used were warmed to 25-28°C, bubbled through water, and blown continuously into the chamber. Since earlier work(2) had shown that presence of smog or cigarette smoke in ambient atmosphere altered the action of air ions on bacterial suspensions, cigarette smoke was employed in some of these experiments. It was produced in mechanical device operating under negative pressure, and then treated in the same way as gases. For N2 and CO2 experiments it was necessary to sacrifice the rabbits with an overdose of nembutal; experiments with O2 and cigarette smoke permitted exposure of living as well as sacrificed animals. As in previous work(1-4): (a) ions were generated by β radiation from sealed tritium foils, a rectifying circuit allowing selection of + or − ions, (b) the same stroboscopic method was employed to determine rate of ciliary beat (accuracy ± 50 beats/min.), and (c) atmospheric temperature in exposure chamber varied from 25-28°C on different days, while relative humidity remained close to 90%. Results. When administered in unmodified humid air, − air ions increase ciliary rate by about 200 beats/min (reaching maximum effect within 10-20 minutes), while + air ions lower ciliary rate by about 300 beats/min or abolish ciliary activity altogether (reaching maximum effect within 15-20 minutes).

Effects of air ions on isolated rabbit trachea.

Evidence has recently accumulated indicating that negative air ions are beneficial in certain cases of hay fever and asthma(2). Positive ions, on the other hand, are reported to produce nasal obstruction, dryness of the mucous membranes, and headaches (6,8). In order to test whether these clinical observations could be correlated with any measurable changes in the pulmonary clearing mechanism (including ciliary rate, rate of mucus flow, and smooth muscle tone), the following in vitro experiments were undertaken. Methods. Pieces of fresh rabbit† trachea 2-3 cm long were cut along the anterior wall, spread open, and pinned to small blocks of wood. These blocks were then placed in glass-and-plastic chambers (Fig. 1) containing air of 80-100% relative humidity. By means of a 10X dissecting microscope and a Strobotac-Strobolux combination it was possible to observe the surface of the tissue and determine the ciliary rate ± 50 beats/min. Rate of mucus flow was determined by timing the progress of air-bubbles or of added grains of talc (averaging .01 mm in diameter) in the mucous layer. Clearing efficiency was gaged by the ability of a tissue to remove talc grains applied evenly over its surface with a medical powder blower. The experiments were conducted at room temperature, which varied from 21-23°C. Air ions were generated by beta radiation derived from tritium which was contained in sealed foils; a reversible rectifying circuit made it possible to select positive or negative air ions at will(5). Measurements made with the Beckett probe and Beckman micro-microammeter(3) established that 1 × 109 air ions of either charge impinged on each cm2 of exposed tissue/sec. Results. 1. Effect on Ciliary Rate. Under conditions described above, the initial ciliary rate averaged between 1400 and 1500 beats/min.

Virolysin: a Virus-Induced Lysin from Staphylococcal Phage Lysates.

SummaryPhage infection of staphylococcal cells results in the formation and release of a lytic enzyme which causes the lysis of killed cells, and in conjunction with virus material, lyses living ce...

Electric fields, small air ions and biological effects.

Early growth of barley seedlings supplied with ion-depleted air in a controlled microenvironment was used as the criterion of physiological action in experiments designed to separate electrical field and air ion effects. The essential element in this work was the fact that3H foils, functioning as bias electrodes at applied voltages of 67.5-955 V and providing field strengths of 4.6 V/cm to 90 V/cm will produce 2.7×104–1.7×105 small air ions/cm3 — concentrations sufficient to yield a statistically valid increase in growth rate. In contrast, seedlings exposed to equivalent electrical fields in ion-depleted air exhibited no increase in rate of growth. These results indicate that this particular physiological response is produced by small negative air ions and is not dependent on the accompanying electrical fields.

Air ion action on bacteria

Earlier work by three different investigators suggests that a biologically active radical is formed when small air ions react with water. Experiments undertaken to determine whether the hypothetical radical participates in the lethal action of negative air ions on M. pyogenes aureus revealed no evidence of such an effect. Evidently, lethality requires direct contact of air ions with microorganisms.

Effects of Air Ions on Trachea of Primates.

Conclusion Positive air ions depress ciliary activity of trachea of monkeys and man, while negative ions increase it.

Phage Multiplication on Two Hosts. Isolation and Activity of Variants of Staphylococcus Phage P1

Summary Analysis of phage activity by titration on two hosts has revealed the presence of variants hitherto undetected in stock phage P1. One isolate, Phage 14, exhibits great changes in titration ratio on passage through the two hosts K1 and WF 145. Produced on K1 cells, the ratio of free phage assayed on two hosts is 1.3, whereas made on 145 cells, the free phage titrates in a ratio 145/K1 of ca 40. This occurs regardless of the host employed in previous passage and is reproduced in the very first burst from infected cells. Attempts to isolate different strains from this phage by usual plaque isolation technics were not successful. The high ratio obtained with free phage made on 145 cells could not be explained on the basis of differences in adsorption onto or latent periods in the two hosts. The difference was traced to the production of a large number of particles from host 145 which adsorbed on K1 but formed no plaques. No evidence was found for an inhibitor of K1 activity associated with phage 14 production on 145 cells. Heat inactivation destroyed phage activity for K1 cells much more rapidly than for 145 cells. There was no interaction of heat killed and active phage on exposure to 59°C. Evidence has been accumulated which indicates that the phage P14 is altered on passage through host 145. The fact that phage particles surviving a heat treatment which destroyed all activity for K1 cells produce on strain 145 a mixture of two phages (one active on K1 and one—or both—active on strain 145) points to an unusual host effect on virus reproduction.

Long-term Biological Effects of Air Ions and D.C. Electric Fields on Namru Mice: First year Report

This report describes for the first time the effects of long-term continuous exposures of animals to small air ions and D.C. electric fields. In this study we exposed 200 female NAMRU mice (25/cage) to the following conditions: ± high ions (2×105/cm3), ± low ions (2×103/cm3), ± field only and ground (ion depleted, no field). Specially designed cages provided a defined D.C. field of about 2 kV/meter in ionized environments, with somewhat lower values in the field only cages. Detailed mapping of ion flux originating from a tritium foil generating system (multiple sources in an overhead plate) indicated a well defined, but heterogenous pattern with eight peak areas. Using a 100 cm2 probe, ion flux values ranged from 10−12–10−14 A/cm2, with an average flux of 8.7±6.8×10−13 A/cm2 in high negative ion cages, with good reproducibility between cages.Measurements of serum glucose, cholesterol, and urea nitrogen (samples taken every three months) showed a number of small but consistent and statistically significant differences between animals maintained in different environments during the first year of exposure. Serum globulin and whole blood serotonin, however, did not show any significant environmental effects. Interestingly, pairwise comparisons between high negative and low negative ion conditions, or between high positive and low positive ion conditions, or between the two ground conditions, revealed no significant differences between cages. This argues for a similarity of environmental responses for the mice maintained in each of the compared conditions.The results of a multiple classification analysis for the entire first year showed a preponderence of effects for the ionized cages, although other conditions also had highly significant differences as compared to the grand mean value. While this study has shown effects of only small magnitude (compared to normal physiological variations) in the female NAMRU mice studied here, the significance of these results strongly validates the precept of long-term air ion effects in animals. Given the known variability of different species and strains, future studies will have to determine the actual range of responsiveness of animals exposed on a long-term basis to defined air ion and electromagnetic environments.

Further studies of gaseous ion action on trachea.

Summary The trachea of the living rabbit was observed during exposure to un-ionized and ionized N2, O2 and CO2 using a separate airway for respiration. Positively charged CO2 was found to be responsible for: reduction of ciliary activity, contracture of smooth muscle, ischemia and enhanced vulnerability to trauma.

Thermal Inactivation of a New Vibrio Phage.

Conclusions 1. Susceptibility of the Vibrio phage to thermal inactivation is influenced by the nature of the suspending fluid. Decrease in rate of inactivation with time occurs in all of the fluids tested. 2. Several possible explanations for deviation of the inactivation curves from the plots predicted by the Mass Law have been considered.