0000000000353808
AUTHOR
C. Guerri
Effects of chronic alcohol consumption on enzyme activities and active methionine absorption in the small intestine of pregnant rats.
The present study evaluates the effect of chronic alcohol intake on the intestinal transport of methionine during pregnancy. For this purpose, we have used an in vitro technique that allows measurement of the unidirectional influx of the amino acids across the brush-border membrane of the rat mid-jejunum, and the basolateral membrane enzyme Na+, K+-ATPase was also evaluated in the duodenum and jejunum. For chronic alcohol treatment, the rats were fed a liquid diet containing ethanol (36% of calories) or an isocaloric diet-(pair-fed control) for 5 weeks before and during pregnancy. Animals were killed at 21 days of gestation. Results from the kinetic analysis revealed that chronic ethanol tr…
Influence of Chronic Alcohol Intake on Intestinal Taurine and Antipyrine Transport in Pregnant Rats
Taurine is a nonessential amino acid that plays a critical role in development. However, biosynthetic capacity is almost negligible in the fetus and must be supplied by the mother. Therefore, when maternal taurine status is depressed during gestation, fetal tissue taurine concentrations can also be compromised. In the present study, the effect of chronic alcohol intake on the intestinal transport of taurine during pregnancy has been investigated by an in vitro technique that allows measurement of the unidirectional influx of the amino acid across the intact rat mid jejunum. The influence of alcohol intake on the passive component of the intestinal transport was also investigated with antipy…
Acamprosate blocks the increase in dopamine extracellular levels in nucleus accumbens evoked by chemical stimulation of the ventral hippocampus.
Recently, we have shown that acamprosate is able to modulate extracellular dopamine (DA) levels in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and may act as an antagonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Neurochemical studies show that chemical stimulation (using NMDA) of the ventral subiculum (vSub) of the hippocampus produces robust and sustained increases in extracellular DA levels in the NAc, an effect mediated through ionotropic glutamate (iGlu) receptors. The present study examines whether acamprosate locally infused in the NAc of rats could block or attenuate the increase in NAc extracellular DA elicited by chemical stimulation (with 5 mM NMDA) of the ventral subiculum of the hippocampus. …
Kinetic study of acamprosate absorption in rat small intestine.
Acamprosate (calcium bis acetyl-homotaurine), a homotaurine derivative, a structural analogue of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and an upper homologue of taurine, is a relatively new drug used to prevent relapse in weaned alcoholics. When administered orally as enteric-coated tablets at relatively high doses, this drug has a bioavailability of about 11%; however, the intestinal absorption mechanism has not been studied in depth. The present study was therefore planned to characterize the intestinal transport of acamprosate in the rat and the effect of chronic alcohol treatment on this process, quantifying its kinetic parameters and investigating possible inhibitors. Using an in vitro techni…
Flow cytometric analysis of concanavalin A binding to isolated Golgi fractions from rat liver.
Flow cytometry (FCM) has been used repeatedly to study lectin binding to whole cells. However, there are very few attempts to analyze glycoconjugates in isolated subcellular organelles. We have applied FCM to quantitate the specific binding of fluorescein-conjugated concanavalin A (FITC-Con A) to isolated cis and trans fractions of rat liver Golgi complex, the cell compartment involved in glycoprotein maturation and sorting. Our results show similar intensities of Con A-specific binding in the two fractions. Using this method we show a decreased FITC-Con A binding to both Golgi fractions in ethanol-treated rats, which is consistent to previous work on alcoholic effects on galactosyltransfer…