Changes in several biomarkers in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) during an early stage of lung injury induced with oleic acid were examined in guinea pigs. In addition, a possible contribution of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase and xanthine oxidase to the oxidative changes in the lung injury was investigated. An intravenous injection of oleic acid increased the levels of lipid peroxidation products, lactate dehydrogenase, and total proteins, decreased the ratio of glutathione to glutathione disulfide in the BALF, and also affected the levels of other oxidative biomarkers such as superoxide dismutase and catalase in the BALF in a dose-dependent manner. Diphenyleneiodonium chloride, a NADPH oxidase inhibitor, inhibited the oxidative changes in the BALF and the decrease in partial pressure of oxygen in artery induced with oleic acid, while allopurinol, a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, had no inhibitory effects. The results demonstrate that oxidative stress would be an important mechanism of oleic acid-induced lung injury, and indicate that the NADPH oxidase-dependent pathway contributes significantly to the generation of reactive oxygen species in oleic acid-induced lung injury.Key words oleic acid; acute lung injury; oxidative stress; nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase; diphenyleneiodonium chloride; bronchoalveolar lavage fluid 424

An intravenous injection of oleic acid into animals can produce a lung injury with hypoxaemia and pulmonary vascular hyper-permeability. Although oleic acid lung injury is used as a model of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the precise mechanisms of the lung injury are still unclear. We have investigated whether thromboxane A(2) (TXA(2)) participated in the lung injury and have evaluated the efficacy of ozagrel, a TXA(2) synthase inhibitor, on the lung injury in guinea-pigs. Oleic acid injection increased the plasma level of TXB(2), a stable metabolite of TXA(2), and the time-course of plasma TXB(2) was similar to that of the decreased partial oxygen pressure of arterial blood (Pao(2)) induced with oleic acid. Ozagrel administered intravenously 30 min before oleic acid injection prevented the decrease in Pao(2) and pulmonary vascular hyper-permeability. It also prevented increases in lactate dehydrogenase activity, a measure of lung cell injury, TXB(2 )and its weight ratio to 6-keto prostaglandin F(1alpha) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Although ozagrel administered simultaneously with oleic acid ameliorated the decrease in Pao(2), post treatment showed little effect. We suggest that TXA(2) participated in the oleic acid lung injury, as an "early phase" mediator, and rapidly-acting TXA(2) synthase inhibitors were effective in the prevention of acute lung injury.

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Determination of lead isotopes of the standard and archeological samples using ion microanalyzer has been conducted and compared with the results obtained by other mass spectrometric method. The measurement for the metallic samples, NBS SRM981 and ancient bronze coin, was made at the mass resolution of 2500, using 02+ ion with net energy 12.3 keV and ion current 0.3-2 µA as a primary ion beam, while for other non-metallic samples a primary ion beam of 0-ion, net energy 9.8 keV and ion current 40-250 nA, was used to eliminate surface charging.Isotope ratios 204Pb/206Pb, 207Pb/206Pb, 208Pb/206Pb were determined with precisions 0.1-0.5%. Upon the measuring conditions examined, ten ancient glasses and glazes of faience excavated in Japan and in Iraq were analyzed. From the data obtained as well as those reported, it has been inferred that the glass sample found in Mikumo, Kyushu, was imported in Yayoi period from the north of China presumably as a Zenkankyo (Mirror of the Earlier Han), while four glass samples found in Heiankyo, Kyoto, were imported in Heian period from the south of China as Gokankyo (Mirror of the Later Han). Glazes of faience excavated in Iraq showed different lead isotope ratios from either of the glass samples excavated in Japan.