The effects of alimentary whey proteins given, as whole proteins (WP), controlled trypsin and chymotrypsin hydrolysate oligopeptides (WPH), or a free amino acid mixture (AAM), on growth, nitrogen retention, and steatorrhea were assessed in 24 Wistar rats (250 to 300 g) after 72 hr of starvation and 24 to 96 hr of realimentation and in 24 controls. The three diets had the same caloric, nitrogen, vitamin, and mineral contents. Rats had free access to the liquid diets. Only rats which ate the whole diet (90 cal) were included in the study. No differences in steatorrhea and fecal nitrogen were observed. The absorption rate was over 95% on the three diets. In contrast, weight gain was statistically better on WPH (+9% after 96 hr of realimentation) than on WP (+5%) or AAM (+2%). This was associated with a statistically higher nitrogen retention at all time periods studied, which was a result of a significant lower nitrogen urinary excretion. Similar results were obtained in controls. This better growth was a result of a better protein synthesis and lower ureagenesis.

Cryopreserved hepatocytes from various animal species and human beings were tested for their ability to survive and function in primary culture. The freeze/thaw protocol primarily designed for rat hepatocytes was used with slight modifications for the cells of all other species; it consisted of suspending parenchymal cells in the Leibovitz L15 medium containing 10% fetal calf serum and 10% to 16% dimethyl sulfoxide. After transient storage at 4 degrees C cell suspensions were transferred to -20 degrees C and then to -70 degrees C before being plunged in liquid nitrogen. Hepatocytes were stored for a few weeks to 4 yr. Prolonged storage did not augment loss of cell viability and function. Cell viability after thawing was estimated by the trypan blue exclusion test, and attachment efficiency to plastic was estimated by measuring intracellular lactate dehydrogenase content. Similar values were obtained for most species tested; after cryopreservation cell viability and attachment were decreased by 10% to 25% and by 40% to 50%, respectively. A lower attachment rate was found with dog hepatocytes. Total cytochrome P-450 and protein synthesis were compared in fresh and cryopreserved cells from four species after 4, 24, 48 or 72 hr of culture. Similar values were found in both cells after 24 or 48 hr of culture. In addition, drug-metabolizing activities were measured in human hepatocytes from five donors. In most cases phenacetin deethylation activity was decreased whereas procainamide N-acetylation and paracetamol sulfoconjugation and glucuronidation were increased in cryopreserved cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Hepatocytes isolated from adult rat livers were hypothermically preserved for 24 or 48 hr before being plated under conventional culture conditions. They were stored either in the Leibovitz medium, a cell culture medium with and without polyethylene glycol (PEG), a compound known to suppress ischemia-induced cell swelling, or in the University of Wisconsin solution, the most effective solution for cold organ preservation. After 24 or 48 hr of storage at 4.5 degrees C in Leibovitz medium, cell viability and adherence efficiency to plastic dish, were only slightly reduced, whereas University of Wisconsin hepatocytes had a decreased viability and (especially after 48-hr storage) lost their adhesion ability; they did not survive in vitro. The metabolic competence of hepatocytes maintained in Leibovitz medium was retained over the 3 days of culture, as shown by low extracellular levels of the membrane-bound and cytosolic hepatic enzymes, as well as by intracellular glutathione content, albumin secretion rate and several phase I and phase II drug metabolic reactions very close to those found with fresh hepatocytes maintained under similar culture conditions. Addition of polyethylene glycol to the Leibovitz medium resulted in slightly higher viability and function of hepatocytes after cold storage. These results clearly demonstrate that viability of a transplanted liver does not correlate with long-term in vitro viability of isolated hepatocytes after hypothermic preservation in University of Wisconsin solution. They also suggest that nutritional and energy substrates as found in the Leibovitz medium are probably required to define a suitable solution for cold preservation of isolated parenchymal cells. The findings with Leibovitz medium favor the conclusion that hypothermically preserved hepatocytes could be used for various metabolic studies and for the treatment of liver insufficiency.

The effects of starvation (72 h) and refeeding with three liquid diets, differing only in the molecular form of the nitrogen source (whole whey proteins, WP; tryptic whey protein hydrolysate, WPH; and amino acid mixture, AAM), on the jejunal mucosal morphology and brush border enzyme activities (sucrase, S; maltase, M; and neutral aminopeptidase, NA) of male Wistar rats were studied. All three diets produced repair of the fasting-induced mucosal atrophy; the WP diet gave the most rapid growth with maximum villus height (VH) and protein content after 48 h (p less than 0.01). AAM gave the fastest and greatest stimulation of sucrase and maltase activities (p less than 0.01). There were no significant differences in NA activity. In control rats the WPH and AAM diets produced significantly greater villus height and disaccharidase activities than did the WP diet. Jejunal morphology and disaccharidase activities can be modified by the molecular form of alimentary protein and nutritional status interferes with these modifications.

Using this model, it is possible to predict the passage of a P-glycoprotein dependent drug to the brain or its sequestration in brain capillary endothelial cells when this drug is associated with a reversing agent, or its toxicity on the blood-brain barrier integrity.

No abstract

A triazjnoaminopiperidine derivative synthesized as a modulator of multidrug resistance, S9788, was investigated in the human breast adenocarcinoma MCF7"= cell line expressing P-glycoprotein. In addition to being less sensitive to daunorubicin, the resistant cell line showed dramatic alterations in the subcellular distribution of daunorubicin, as observed via fluorescence microscopy and quantified via tritiated daunorubicin nuclear distribution analysis. Compared to verapamil and cyclosporin A at 2 and 5 pmoyliter, S9788 proved to be more potent in restoring the cellular accumulation and the subcellular distribution of daunorubicin in the resistant cells. Significant activity of S9788 was observed at 2 FmoYliter, which is clinically achievable, and S9788 restored the nuclear distribution of the drug to the level observed in the parental sensitive cell line. Consequently, the restoration of the cytotoxicity of daunorubicin by S9788 was nearly complete (>!lo%) at 2 pmoyliter, whereas cyclosporin A reached this level of activity at 5 VmoVliter, and verapamil was always less active at both concentrations. These results suggest that the modulation of multidrug resistance by S9788 is not only related to the enhancement of the cellular accumulation but also especially by the restoration of the subcellular distribution of the drugs to their nuclear sites of action.

Background S9788 and PSC833 were developped as P‐glycoprotein (Pgp) blockers and found to act additionally on daunorubicin subcellular distribution, involving different putative targets. On this basis, combinations of S9788 and PSC833 were evaluated in Pgp‐expressing MCF7DXR cells in which we recently demonstrated that daunorubicin was sequestered in Golgi vesicles (Bour‐Dill et al.: Cytometry, 39: 16–25, 2000). Methods Combinations of S9788 and PSC833 consisted in complementary fractions of iso‐effective concentrations (IEC) leading to 90% (IEC90) and median (IEC50) reversion of daunorubicin resistance. Resistance modulation was assessed using cytotoxicity assays, flow cytometry determination of intracellular daunorubicin, and fluorescence microscopy analysis of daunorubicin subcellular distribution. Results Individually, both S9788 and PSC833 were found to be very potent with IEC90 of 5 and 15 μmol/l, and IEC50 of 0.1 and 0.2 μmol/l, respectively, for S9788 and PSC833. When combined, synergistic cytotoxicity was observed for both IEC90 and IEC50 combinations while intracellular daunorubicin fluorescence was only synergistically increased for IEC90 combinations. For IEC50 combinations, no increase in intracellular fluorescence was observed, and fluorescence microscopy examination of the cells suggested that daunorubicin sequestration in Golgi vesicles could be modulated at concentrations that do not significantly increase daunorubicin cellular concentration. Using immunofluorescence and reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction analyses, multidrug resistance‐associated protein, major vault lung‐resistance protein, and anthracycline‐resistance associated protein were not found to be implicated. Conclusions Synergistic combinations of S9788 and PSC833 might offer alternative ways to decrease the toxicity generated by high‐dose Pgp‐blockers without altering the efficacy of the resistance modulation. Cytometry 41:62–72, 2000 © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.