J. H. Pena

Angiotensin I-converting enzyme activity in puromycin aminonucleoside-nephrotic syndrome

Puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN)-nephrotic rats have high serum angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) activity. We studied ACE activity in serum, urine, and tissues from PAN-nephrotic rats on days 2, 6, 11, and 16 after PAN injection. Proteinuria and hypoproteinemia were evident on days 6 and 11. Though significantly decreased, proteinuria was still evident on day 16. Serum ACE activity increased on days 2, 6, and 11. Urinary ACE activity became evident on days 6, 11, and 16 and correlated positively with proteinuria, suggesting that the source of urine ACE is the blood serum. ACE activity increased in testis on days 2 and 6, in lungs and aorta on days 6 and 11, in adrenal glands and small intestine on day 11, and in kidney on days 11 and 16. Heart ACE activity decreased on days 2 and 6, and increased on day 16; brain ACE activity decreased on day 6 and increased on day 11. These data implicate that changes in tissue ACE content may contribute to elevate serum ACE in PAN-nephrotic rats.

Kinetic and inhibitory characteristics of serum angiotensin-converting enzyme from nine mammalian species.

1. Serum angiotensin-converting enzyme activities were obtained from nine mammalian species: rat, mouse, horse, sheep, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, dog and man. 2. Kinetic constants (Km and Vmax) using hippuryl-L-histidyl-L-leucine as substrate and inhibitory constants (I50 and Ki) for captopril were determined for the serum ACE of each species. 3. There were important differences in the kinetic and inhibitory constants (Kms went from 6.6 mM to 1.21 mM for hamster and guinea pig; I50 ranged from 2100 nM to 3 nM for mouse and sheep) as well as differences in enzyme activity of the different species (values varied from 938 to 13 nmol hippuric acid/ml/min for guinea pig and dog serum).

Pertussis toxin enhances the beta-adrenergic and blocks the alpha-adrenergic regulation of renin secretion in renal cortical slices

The adrenergic regulation of renin secretion was studied in renal cortical slices from control and pertussis toxin-treated rats. Pertussis toxin was used to study the role of adenylate cyclase in the control of renin release. It was observed that isoproterenol and epinephrine stimulated renin secretion and that clonidine decreased both basal and isoproterenol-stimulated renin secretion in the control group. Pertussis toxin: a) increased significantly basal renin secretion, b) displaced to the left the concentration-response curve for isoproterenol and epinephrine and magnified the response to epinephrine and c) abolished the inhibitory effect of clonidine on renin secretion. This work confirms our previous results obtained in vivo and suggests a direct effect of pertussis toxin on the cells that secrete renin.

Do the Pre-Main Sequence δ Scuti Stars Really Exist?

Recently, new views of the current status of δ Scuti stars have been developed by Rodriguez & Breger (2001) who carried out an excellent review, listing 8 pre-main-sequence (PMS) δ Scuti candidates and examined the possibility of the existence of PMS δ Scuti variable stars. Here we discuss the nature of 4 stars from their list: 2 said to be members of NGC 2264 and 2 of NGC 6823.

Physical Parameter Determination for the δ Scuti Star HD 200925

HD 200925 is an unusual star: the period is stable on a time scale of many years, yet it shows variations which are either large and irregular, or small, suggesting a possible Blazhko effect (Poretti 1984; Joner & Johnson 1985); it has larger values of T eff and log g derived from uvbyβ than those of dwarf Cepheids of similar period; and it has a somewhat higher metal abundance, [Fe/H], than the Hyades. Furthermore, in conflict to what Joner and McNamara (1983) determined – that m 1 index shows no variation with temperature – HD 200925 shows a definite variation, unlike that predicted in Crawford (1979). No explanation of this has yet been found. Johnson & Joner (1986) also derived an unusual and unexpected value of [Fe/H]. Finally, with respect to the pulsation periods of this star, Mantegazza & Poretti (1986) determined the existence of two periods: one definite, 0.26730 d and a possible second one of 0.2138 d which yield a ratio of P 2 / P 1 = 0.800, the theoretical ratio expected between the first and the second overtones, found in other pulsating variables. All of these facts make HD 200925 an interesting star, motivating the present study.