Elsa Rosengren

Occurrence and distribution of dopamine in brain and other tissues.

Dopamin kommt im Gehirn aller untersuchten Säugetiere ausschliesslich im Corpus striatum vor. In andern Organen der untersuchten Tierarten ist der Dopamingehalt sehr gering, mit Ausnahme einzelner Organe bei Schafen und Kühen. Die Veränderung der Motorik von Versuchstieren durch Arzneimittel, welche den Dopamingehalt der Basalganglien beeinflussen, und die Lokalisation von Dopamin im Gehirn sprechen dafür, dass Dopamin für die Funktion der Basalganglien von Bedeutung ist.

MOBILIZATION AND FORMATION OF HISTAMINE IN THE GASTRIC MUCOSA AS RELATED TO ACID SECRETION.

The present work originated in two independent studies. First, it was decided to investigate the acid secretion in rats in which the histamine content of the gastric mucosa had been strongly reduced by subjecting the animals to inhibition of bistamine formation. It was known that semicarbazide injected in rats fed on a pyridoxine-deficient diet would very greatly diminish both the rate of formation and the content of histamine to a small fraction of normal in various tissues, particularly in the gastric mucosa (Kahlson & Rosengren, 1959; Kahlson, Rosengren & Thunberg, 1963). Under such inhibition it was found that the gastric mucosa secreted normally in response to injections of gastrin. At an early stage of the present work it thus appeared uncertain whether the histamine present in the mucosa was essential for the excitation of acid secretion. Concurrently experiments were done to investigate whether the phenomenon of increased mitotic index of certain gastric mucosal cells of rats on re-feeding, which was noted by Hunt (1957), would be accompanied by a corresponding increase in the level of histidine decarboxylase. This search was considered of interest since a correlation between cell renewal and level of histidine decarboxylase activity (Histamine-Forming Capacity, HFC), had been found in various tissues (for references see Kahlson, Rosengren & Steinhardt, 1963). In the course of this investigation it was found that re-feeding as well as injection of purified gastrin evoked an elevation of HFC of the parietal cell-carrying mucosa (corpus) to many times the fasting level. Even the small fraction of histidine decarboxylase activity persisting after inhibition of histamine formation was found to be similarly elevated by feeding or gastrin. With this latter discovery it was decided to confine the study mainly to experiments on the part played by mucosal HFC in inciting acid secretion. A preliminary communication of some of these observations has been given to the Physiological Society (Kahlson, Rosengren, Svahn & Thunberg, 1963).

On the distribution in brain of monoamines and of enzymes responsible for their formation

Im menschlichen Gehirn kommen grosse Mengen von 3-Hydroxytyramin im Nucleus Caudatus und dem Putamen vor. Injektion von 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanin in Kaninchen bringt eine schnelle Akkumulation von 3-Hydroxytyramin in den Gehirnteilen, die reich an Katecholaminen sind, zustande. Die Fähigkeit das akkumulierte 3-Hydroxytyramin abzubauen scheint im ganzen Gehirn dieselbe zu sein. Hemmungsversuche und Aktivitätsuntersuchungen der Fermente in verschiedenen Gehirnteilenin vitro sprechen dafür, dass 5-Hydroxytryptophan und 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanin von einem und demselben Ferment decarboxyliert werden.

Accelerated mobilization and formation of histamine in the gastric mucosa evoked by vagal excitation

1. The changes in the rate of histamine formation and in the histamine content of the parietal cell containing region of the gastric mucosa have been studied in rats under the influence of agents which evoke or abolish vagal excitation.

Histamine: Entering physiology

Die hier geschilderte Periode der Histaminforschung ist durch die Erkenntnis gekennzeichnet, dass grosse Veränderungen in der Geschwindigkeit der Histaminbildung unter physiologischen Verhältnissen vorkommen. In der Magenmucosa bedingen Gastrin und Nahrungszufuhr eine Mobilisierung von Histamin und eine Erhöhung der Aktivität der Histidindecarboxylase. Bei verschiedenen Formen von normalem und malignem Wachstum wird in den Geweben «Nascent-Histamin» gebildet, dessen Wirkung exogenes Histamin nicht ausüben kann und auch nicht mit Antihistaminen antagonisiert wird65.

Localization of ornithine decarboxylase by immunocytochemistry

Abstract The present work describes for the first time the cellular localization of ornithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.17) (ODC ★ ) by immunocytochemistry. The kidney of gonadectomized male mice contained no demonstrable immunoreactive ODC. Testosterone administration resulted in the appearance of numerous ODC-containing cells in the tubules of the renal cortex. The glomeruli and the medullary part of the kidney were devoid of immunoreactivity. Exposure of the antiserum to purified mouse kidney ODC effectively blocked the immunostaining of the cortical cells. Additional facts supporting the specificity of the ODC-immunoreaction are presented.

Alterations in the activities of ornithine and histidine decarboxylases provoked by testosterone in mice

1 The urinary excretion of putrescine has been determined in female mice before and during repeated injections of testosterone. 2 Testosterone administration effected a striking increase in the excretion of free putrescine. 3 Ornithine decarboxylase (l‐ornithine carboxy‐lyase; E.C. 4.1.1.17) and histidine decarboxylase (l‐histidine carboxy‐lyase; E.C. 4.1.1.22) activities of mouse kidney and liver were examined. In the kidney, following testosterone administration, ornithine decarboxylase activity was found to be substantially elevated, whereas that of histidine decarboxylase was depressed. In the liver, by contrast, the activity levels of these enzymes were not significantly altered by testosterone treatment. 4 The possibility of a functional interrelation between putrescine and histamine, via the two enzyme activities investigated, is discussed.

The role of the antrum and the vagus nerve in the formation of gastric mucosal histamine

1. The effects of the vagus nerve and of antral gastrin on the rate of histamine formation (histamine forming capacity, HFC, i.e. histidine decarboxylase activity) in the parietal cell region of the gastric mucosa has been investigated in the following stomach preparations: gastric fistula, denervated Heidenhain pouch, antral resection with gastrojejunostomy, gastrojejunostomy with exclusion of the duodenum and in the intact stomach. The determinations of mucosal HFC were made on fasting rats and on re‐fed animals when the effect of feeding was studied.

Histamine formation in human wound tissue

Wund- und Granulationsgewebe bildet beim Menschen nach Hautschnitt in den ersten Tagen erhebliche Mengen von Histamin durch Dekarboxylierung von Histidin. Diese Fähigkeit zur gesteigerten Histaminbildung kann dabei nicht den Mastzellen zugeschrieben werden.

Increased formation of diamines and polyamines in the pregnant rat.

1. The urinary excretion of histamine, methylhistamine, putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine and spermine was examined before, during and after pregnancy in rats. 2. During the last third of undisturbed pregnancy a distinct and steep rise occurred in the excretion of all amines studied except spermine. The peak values were found a few days before the birth of the young. In spermidine excretion a second peak was observed one or two days after delivery. 3. Before and during the first 2 weeks of gestation on a molar basis putrescine excretion was the greatest one. During the last trimester histamine was excreted in the largest amount. 4. Under the influence of the diamine oxidase inhibitor aminoguanidine the general pattern of excretion of diamines and polyamines in pregnant rats remained essentially unchanged but the total amount excreted increased. Most conspicuous was the great elevation of urinary contents of putrescine and cadaverine.