Our aims were to describe the distribution of alpha-smooth muscle actin (SMA)-containing cells in Dupuytren's tissue in vivo and to determine the effects of selected agents in regulating the expression of SMA in Dupuytren's cells in vitro. In selected hypercellular zones of Dupuytren's nodules up to 40% of the cells contained SMA, as shown by immunohistochemistry. A lower percentage (20%) of SMA-containing cells was found in regions of lower cellularity. A notable finding was that treatment in vitro of Dupuytren's cells with platelet-derived growth factor significantly reduced the content of SMA. Cells from the same patients showed a significant increase in expression of SMA in response to treatment with transforming growth factor, which confirmed recent findings. In addition, interferon-gamma, which has been previously used as a treatment for Dupuytren's disease in a clinical study, had no reproducible effect on the expression of this actin isoform. Our findings are of significance for the conservative management of contractures.
A sensitive and precise assay of guanase was based on the conversion of 14C-guanine to uric acid in the presence of excess xanthine oxidase. The enzyme was entirely soluble in rat tissues and no inhibitors of it were detected. The most active tissues were red blood cells, lung and lactating mammary gland, with more than twice the activity of liver. The contained blood could account for the low activity in adult skeletal muscle and some other tissues. All fetal tissues examined were without activity. Activity in mammary gland rose fourfold during lactation and dropped precipitously during involution, with a secondary rise associated in time with the loss of cells from the gland. Reticulocytes present normally and after hemorrhagic anemia appeared to account for substantially all of the high guanase activity in red blood cells. The guanase level could be used to predict the degree of reticulocytosis in rats within confidence limits of ± 0.2%. The virtual absence of guanase in human red cells was confirmed, even in bloods containing elevated reticulocyte numbers.
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