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Urine growth hormone determinations compared with other methods in the assessment of growth hormone secretion. Acta Paediatr Scand [Suppl] 337:74, 1987.Urinary excretion of hGH was studied in children with short stature using a sensitive sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique. Urinary hGH excretion, in terms of hGH: creatinine ratio, showed excellent correlation with the mean and peak hGH values during physiological and pharmacological tests. It seems that the urinary hGH levels reflect serum hGH profiles during the urine collection period. A border zone for the lower limits of normal hGH levels in the urine was 7.5-13.4 ng/g creatinine for the physiological test at night (from 2000 hours to 0600 hours) and 17.4-35.0 ng/g creatinine for the pharmacological tests. Assessment of hGH secretory status by the urinary hGH levels showed good agreement with the serum hGH response. Measurement of urinary hGH could be used as a diagnostic test for impaired hGH secretion, and the multiple blood drawing required in physiological and pharmacological tests might be replaced by urine sampling. Key words: Urinary hGH, enzyme immunoassay, short stature, hGH deficiency.

The production of riboflavin from vegetable oil was increased using a mutant strain of Ashbya gossypii. This mutant was generated by treating the wild-type strain with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). Riboflavin production was 10-fold higher in the mutant compared to the wild-type strain. The specific intracellular catalase activity after 3 d of culture was 6-fold higher in the mutant than in the wild-type strain. For the mutant, riboflavin production in the presence of 40 mM hydrogen peroxide was 16% less than that in the absence of hydrogen peroxide, whereas it was 56% less for the wild-type strain. The isocitrate lyase (ICL) activity of the mutant was 0.26 mU/mg of protein during the active riboflavin production phase, which was 2.6-fold higher than the wild-type strain. These data indicate that the mutant utilizes the carbon flux from the TCA cycle to the glyoxylate cycle more efficiently than the wild-type strain, resulting in enhanced riboflavin production. This novel mutant has the potential to be of use for industrial-scale riboflavin production from waste-activated bleaching earth (ABE), thereby transforming a useless material into a valuable bioproduct.

Three strains of Mn-oxidizing fungi were isolated from manganese-rich aquatic environments: sediment in a stream (Komanoyu) in Mori-machi and inflow to an artificial wetland in Kaminokuni-cho, Hokkaido, Japan. The characteristics of each strain were then established. Genetic analysis based on the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene was performed to clarify their classification. The sequences of the 18S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS1)-5.8S rRNA-ITS2 genes showed that all three strains are Ascomycetes. Based on its morphology, it seems probable that the KY-1 strain from Mori-machi belongs to the genus Phoma or Ampelomyces. The phylogenetic analysis indicates that this strain belongs to Phoma rather than Ampelomyces. Morphological identification of WL-1 and WL-2 strains from Kaminokuni-cho was impossible because of the lack of a sexual stage and specific organs. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequence in the ITS1-5.8S rRNA-ITS2 gene suggests that the WL-1 strain corresponds to Paraconyothyrium sporulosum and that WL-2 also belongs to the genus Paraconiothyrium. Because the ability to oxidize Mn has not been evaluated for most species of Phoma or Paraconiothyrium (Coniothyrium), further study is needed to confirm the status of these three strains.

During hemodialysis, amino acid loss through the dialysate remained a significant problem and was not clear in some dialyzers; therefore, we investigated amino acid loss with hydrophilic and nonhydrophilic polyester-polymer alloy membranes and polyacrylonitrile membranes. Nine maintenance hemodialysis patients were studied to assess amino acid loss during hemodialysis with the three membranes. Total amino acid losses were 85.7 ± 27.2 mg/L, 83.3 ± 16.1 mg/L, and 72.1 ± 22.5 mg/L with the hydrophilic, nonhydrophilic polyester-polymer alloy, and polyacrylonitrile membranes, respectively. Amino acid losses were greater with the hydrophilic membrane compared with the polyacrylonitrile membrane for ornithine (2.0 ± 0.6 vs. 1.4 ± 0.4 mg/L, P = 0.025), phenylalanine (2.4 ± 0.9 vs. 1.8 ± 0.8 mg/L, P = 0.012), and tryptophan (0.6 ± 0.2 vs. 0.4 ± 0.2 mg/L, P = 0.023). Amino acid losses were greater with the nonhydrophilic membrane than with the polyacrylonitrile membrane for ornithine (2.0 ± 0.4 vs. 1.4 ± 0.4 mg/L, P = 0.017), phenylalanine (2.3 ± 0.5 vs. 1.8 ± 0.8 mg/L, P = 0.018), tryptophan (0.7 ± 0.2 vs. 0.4 ± 0.2 mg/L, P = 0.003), and cystine (3.2 ± 0.7 vs. 2.0 ± 0.7 mg/L, P = 0.005). In conclusion, greater losses of ornithine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and cystine were observed with polyester-polymer alloy than with polyacrylonitrile membranes during hemodialysis. Constant attention should be paid to the amino acid loss profile to improve nutritional control in hemodialysis patients.

Two endothelium-derived factors, endothelin (ET), a vasoconstrictor, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), an angiogenic factor are thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic vascular complications. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of an angiotensin II type I (AT-1) receptor antagonist and an ACE inhibitor on the pathogenesis of VEGF and ET-1-mediated kidney disease in STZ-induced diabetic rats. Two days after STZ administration, diabetic rats were treated for 8 weeks with enalapril maleate, an ACE inhibitor, candesartan cilexetil, an AT-1 receptor antagonist, or saline. Urinary albumin and N-acetyl beta-D glucosaminidase (NAG) excretion as well as the VEGF protein content in the kidney were all found to be elevated in diabetic rats. Administration of enalapril maleate or candesartan cilexetil decreased the level of microalbuminuria and NAG excretion in diabetic rats. Administration of enalapril maleate also suppressed the elevated renal VEGF protein content in these animals while candesartan cilexetil treatment had no effect. Serum ET-1 and VEGF levels were unchanged by these treatments. These data support a role for AT-1 receptor antagonists and ACE inhibitors in the prevention of diabetic nephropathy, and suggest that the former may work by reducing renal VEGF levels.