Leena Aaltonen

Comparison of radioreceptor assay and radioimmunoassay for atropine: pharmacokinetic application

SummaryA membrane suspension prepared from rat brain was able to bind the potent muscarinic antagonist quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB). The KD for binding was 0.48 nM and Bmax was 1.42 pmol/mg protein. Atropine competitively inhibited the binding of tritiated QNB to muscarinic receptors. This new radioreceptor assay (RRA) for atropine has been compared with a radioimmunoassay (RIA) for atropine. The RRA measures only the active component of atropine, 1-hyscyamine and in this respect it differs from the RIA. As little atropine as 1.25 ng/ml (4.33 nmol/l) in a 25 µl serum sample could be reliably assayed by the RRA. Using both assay techniques the pharmacokinetics of atropine was studied after a single 0.02 mg/kg i.v. dose given to 8 anaesthetized patients. The half-life calculated by the RRA was 3.7±2.3 h (m ± SD) and by the RIA 4.3±1.7 h. Both the volume of distribution and the total clearance were higher according to the RRA than the RIA: 3.9±1.5 vs 1.7±0.71/kg and 15.4±10.3 vs 5.9±3.6 ml/min/kg, respectively. The AUC measured by the RRA and RIA was 29.8±18.9 and 103.9±110.7 µg·h/l, respectively. The differences in the pharmacokinetics according to the 2 methods are presumably due to preferential tissue uptake of the l-form.

Midazolam as an intravenous induction agent in the elderly: a clinical and pharmacokinetic study.

Midazolam, the first benzodiazepine derivative with water-soluble salts, was studied as an induction agent in general anesthesia for the elderly. In group 1 (n = 14), 5 or 10 mg oral diazepam was used as premedication, but in group 2 (n = 9), both oral (W mg dixyrazin as a night-time sedative) and intramuscular (0.01 mg/kg atropine + 1 mg/kg meperidine) premedicants were used. Serum concentrations of benzodiazepines were determined using both gas-liquid chromatographic (unchanged midazolam) and radioreceptor assays (binding equivalents of benzodiazepines plus their active metabolites). In general, midazolam, 0.15 mg/kg, intravenously resulted in smooth induction of anesthesia, although the time required for induction was rather long and a sudden but transient decrease in blood pressure was found in a significant number of patients. The course of anesthesia was otherwise satisfactory. A marked amnesic effect was observed, especially when diazepam was used as premedication. The pharmacokinetic parameters based on gas-liquid chromatographic measurements were quite comparable with those in young, healthy persons published earlier. In both groups, the binding equivalents measured with radioreceptor assay (reflecting total benzodiazepine activity) were higher than the levels of unchanged midazolam determined with gas-liquid chromatography. The relatively low dose of 0.15 mg/kg of midazolam needed for anesthetic induction in the elderly indicates not pharmacokinetic, but pharmacodynamic, alterations in older patients. We conclude that midazolam is a new intravenous induction agent for use in the elderly, but careful titration of the dosage according to the response of the patient is required. Diazepam premedication prior to midazolam causes a marked anterograde amnesic effect.

Preparation and partial characterization of a Lactobacillus lactis bacteriophage.

High-titer lysates of a bacteriophage active against Lactobacillus lactis were prepared from liquid cultures as well as from areas of confluent lysis in soft-agar overlayers. Phage concentration and purification were accomplished by means of polyethylene glycol precipitation, differential centrifugation, and cesium chloride gradient centrifugation. The buoyant density of this phagein cesium chloride was 1.4795 g/ml. Characterization of phage growth cycle by one-step growth experiments under optimal conditions showed that the latent period was about 120 min, that the rise period lasted approx. 130 min, and that the average burst-size was about 80.

Benzodiazepine Receptors in the Human Fetus

The existence of benzodiazepine receptors in the human fetal brain, liver and placenta has been studied. At 12-15 weeks of gestation specific binding to fetal brain occurs. The dissociation constant of [3H]-flunitrazepam-specific binding was 1.5-2 nM and the maximum number of binding sites was 2.3-3.8 fmol/mg of total brain tissue. In the fetal liver and placenta some specific binding exists, yet the nonspecific binding is more extensive.

DNA, RNA and protein synthesis in OLL55-infected Lactobacillus lactis.

Lactobacillus lactis cells were infected with the bacteriophage ØLL55. The changes in DNA, RNA and protein synthesis were studied by following a long-term (over 3 h) incorporation of radioactive precursors into acid-insoluble material. Stimulation of DNA synthesis caused by phage occurred 30–35 min after infection and thymidine incorporation continued for about 70 min ceasing 10–20 min before the cells started to lyse. Cumulative (14C)-uracil incorporation into RNA continued at the level of uninfected cells for 30–40 min before starting to slow up. Protein synthesis in the infected cells followed that of a control culture for 40–50 min before the further incorporation of (14C)-leucine began to decrease.The additions of antibiotic inhibitors of RNA and protein synthesis (rifampicin and chloramphenicol, respectively) at various times before or during the prereplicative period showed that rifampicin, added up to 15 min after infection and chloramphenicol, added as late as 20–25 min after infection completely prevented the initiation of phage-genome replication. The later addition of these drugs did not prevent the out-burst of thymidine up-take, but promoted, however, a deduction in the initiations of new replication cycles. The results indicate that certain genes of ØLL55 genome must be expressed at the early stages of infection to confirm a proper onset and continuation of phage DNA replication.