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Nitric oxide (NO), a labile humoral factor produced by vascular endothelial cells, is a potent vasodilator and an important mediator of pulmonary vascular tone. Nucleophile/NO adducts are a new class of compounds that spontaneously and predictively release NO. We investigated the hemodynamic effects of intravenous (i.v.) infusions of a recently developed NO-donor drug, the diethylamine-nitric oxide adduct (DEA/NO), in 17 intact newborn lambs. At rest, DEA/NO (1-2 microgram.kg-1.min-1) produced dose-dependent decreases in mean pulmonary (from 10.6 +/- 8.6 to 21.2 +/- 7.9%, p < 0.05) and systemic arterial pressure (from 13.2 +/- 11.7 to 31.0 +/- 15.4%, p < 0.05). Similarly, during pulmonary hypertension induced by infusion of U46619, DEA/NO (0.5-2.0 micrograms.kg-1.min-1) produced dose-dependent decreases in mean pulmonary (from 7.3 +/- 5.6 to 24.1 +/- 13.3%, p < 0.05) and systemic arterial pressure (from 2.2 +/- 3.8 to 20.3 +/- 12.9%, p < 0.05). Cardiac output (CO), heart rate (HR), systemic arterial blood gases, and pH were unchanged; atrial pressures decreased at higher doses. Equimolar infusions of S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine, nitroglycerin (NTG), and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) produced similar decreases in pulmonary and systemic arterial pressure. The nucleophile/NO adducts are potent vasodilators; their predictable and quantitative release of NO make them potentially useful research tools. In addition, because these compounds may decrease the incidence of tolerance and the risk from toxic metabolites associated with use of other nitrovasodilators, they may be clinically useful.

Immunoassays have been recently developed that measure the avidity of IgG antibodies to complex microbial antigens and are suitable for serologic diagnosis of infectious diseases. In these avidity ELISAs, protein-denaturing agents are applied either as diluents of patient sera to prevent the immune complexing of IgG (diluting principle), or the preformed complexes are treated with the protein denaturants (eluting principle). We compared four protein denaturants previously used in such assays, in a diagnostic avidity ELISA for rubella IgG. Diethylamine, guanidine, thiocyanate, or urea were applied, by either principle at various concentrations, and thiocyanate, or urea were applied, by either principle at various concentrations, and thiocyanate at an optimum pH. Patient sera obtained recently after primary infection were distinguished from sera representing past rubella immunity by any protein denaturant tested by the eluting principle, which was superior to the diluting principle.

The effect of chronic administration of 0.002% N-nitrosodiethylamine (DENA), 0.002% diethylamine (DEA) and 0.0005% sodium nitrite (SN) on the functional state of the xenobiotic metabolizing system in rat liver was investigated. Administration of DEA and DENA increased concentration of cytochromes P-450 and b5. SN did not affect the enzymes of the monooxygenase system. Coadministration of DEA and SN maximally increased the concentration of cytochrome P-450. It is not possible to explain the phenomenon of combined administration of SN and DEA by simple summation of the effects caused by them separately. The activity of microsomal glutathione S-transferase did not change when DEA and SN were given together, yet increased when they were administered separately. The maximum increase of the total activity of cytosol glutathione S-transferases was observed following DENA. In all four experimental groups a decrease of isoenzyme 5-5 activity was observed. Investigation of Se-independent glutathione peroxidase activity showed the multivariance of response of the glutathione S-transferase family to the compounds studied. The concentration of hepatic free SH-groups increased following administration of DENA and decreased dramatically when SN and DEA were coadministered. When they were given separately the concentration remained at control level.

We have investigated block of sodium channels by diethylamide and phenol, which resemble the hydrophilic tertiary amine head and the hydrophobic aromatic tail of the lidocaine molecule, respectively. Diethylamide and phenol separately mimicked the fast and slow modes of block caused by lidocaine. Experiments were performed using single batrachotoxin-activated bovine cardiac and rat skeletal muscle sodium channels incorporated into neutral planar lipid bilayers. Diethylamide, only from the intracellular side, caused a voltage-dependent reduction in apparent single channel amplitude ('fast' block). Block was similar for cardiac and skeletal muscle channels, and increased in potency when extracellular sodium was replaced by N-methylglucamine, consistent with an intrapore blocking site. Thus, although occurring at 15-fold higher concentrations, block by diethylamide closely resembles the fast mode of block by lidocaine (Zamponi, G. W., D. D. Doyle, and R. J. French. 1993. Biophys. J. 65:80-90). For cardiac sodium channels, phenol bound to a closed state causing the appearance of long blocked events whose duration increased with phenol concentration. This slow block depended neither on voltage nor on the side of application, and disappeared upon treatment of the channel with trypsin. For skeletal muscle channels, slow phenol block occurred with only very low probability. Thus, phenol block resembles the slow mode of block observed for lidocaine (Zamponi, G. W., D. D. Doyle, and R. J. French. 1993. Biophys. J. 65:91-100). Our data suggest that there are separate sites for fast lidocaine block of the open channel and slow block of the "inactivated" channel. Fast block by diethylamide inhibited the long, spontaneous, trypsin-sensitive (inactivation-like) closures of cardiac channels, and hence secondarily antagonized slow block by phenol or lidocaine. This antagonism would potentiate shifts in the balance between the two modes of action of a tertiary amine drug caused by changes in the relative concentrations of the charged (fast blocking) and neutral (slow blocking) forms of the drug.

Nitric oxide, NO, which is generated by various components of the immune system, has been presumed to be cytotoxic. However, NO has been proposed to be protective against cellular damage resulting during ischemia reperfusion. Along with NO there is often concomitant formation of superoxide/hydrogen peroxide, and hence a synergistic relationship between the cytotoxic effects of nitric oxide and these active oxygen species is frequently assumed. To study more carefully the potential synergy between NO and active oxygen species in mammalian cell cytotoxicity, we utilized either hypoxanthine/xanthine cell cytotoxicity, we utilized either hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase (a system that generates superoxide/hydrogen peroxide) or hydrogen peroxide itself. NO generation was accomplished by the use of a class of compounds known as "NONOates," which release NO at ambient temperatures without the requirement of enzyme activation or biotransformation. When Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts (V79 cells) were exposed to hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase for various times or increasing amounts of hydrogen peroxide, there was a dose-dependent decrease in survival of V79 cells as measured by clonogenic assays. However, in the presence of NO released from (C2H5)2N[N(O)NO]-Na+ (DEA/NO), the cytotoxicity resulting from superoxide or hydrogen peroxide was markedly abrogated. Similarly, primary cultures of rat mesencephalic dopaminergic cells exposed either to hydrogen peroxide or to hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase resulted in the degradation of the dopamine uptake and release mechanism. As was observed in the case of the V79 cells, the presence of NO essentially abrogated this peroxide-mediated cytotoxic effect on mesencephalic cells.

Compounds formed by reacting nitric oxide (NO) with various nucleophiles have been shown to dilate aortic segments with a potency that correlates strongly with the amount of NO they release spontaneously in aqueous buffers. We performed experiments aimed at confirming their mechanism of action and using the data to design improvements in their pharmacologic properties. That the vasorelaxant action these agents induce is endothelium-independent was demonstrated by exposure of denuded versus intact aortic segments to the diethylamine/NO complex (DEA/NO); denudation had no significant effect on potency. Similarly, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine, an NO synthase inhibitor, did not affect the action of DEA/NO. However, both the vasorelaxant potency of DEA/NO and the amount of cyclic guanosine monophosphate it induced were significantly diminished by the guanylate cyclase inhibitor, methylene blue. The results support the view that the NO/nucleophile adducts induce vasodilation by spontaneously releasing NO, which then activates guanylate cyclase. This mechanistic conclusion suggests that not only potency but also duration of action, a clinically relevant parameter not studied in the previous investigation, might also be controllable by structural modification. We tested this hypothesis by comparing DEA/NO and the spermine/NO adduct (SPER/NO), whose half-lives (t1/2) are 2.1 and 39 min, respectively, for persistence of their dilatory effects. The response to DEA/NO rapidly peaked (maximum at 5 min) and receded during the 60-min observation period; SPER/NO required 15 min to reach peak relaxation but maintained this level throughout the experiment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cell-mediated antitumor effects have, in part, been attributed to the production of NO. Compounds which generate NO might, therefore, be useful in attenuating the growth of tumor cells. Six nitric oxide/nucleophile adducts that release NO spontaneously in solution were tested for their effectiveness in inhibiting DNA synthesis in A375 human melanoma cells. The complexes of NO with spermine, 3-(n-propylamino)propylamine (PAPA/NO), and diethylamine reduced thymidine incorporation by 50% at concentrations of 24, 44, and 128 microM, respectively. The degree of inhibition was, in general, related to the rate and extent of NO release in solution. A melanoma cell clone sensitive to interleukin 1-mediated cytostasis (A375-C6) was no more sensitive to PAPA/NO than a clone resistant to interleukin 1 (A375-C5), suggesting that the differing inhibitory effects of interleukin 1 in the two A375 cell clones are not due to a differential sensitivity to nitric oxide. Oxymyoglobin (125 microM), a known scavenger of NO, restored the ability of A375-C6 cells to incorporate thymidine in the presence of up to 200 microM PAPA/NO. When PAPA/NO was added to a solution of oxymyoglobin, nitrosylmyoglobin was formed, indicating that the protective effect of myoglobin was due to scavenging of NO. The results are consistent with a nitric oxide-mediated mechanism for NO/nucleophile cytostasis and suggest that such compounds may be useful as tools for investigating the role of reactive nitrogen intermediates in cytostasis and cytotoxicity.

Background: This study is a continuation of a recent study, in which a defect in the immunoglobulin G (IgG) response to some natural antigens (bovine betalactoglobulin [BLG] from cow's milk and antigen p1 from the house dust mite Dermatophagoïdes pteronyssinus), usually presented at the mucosal level, was documented in lung cancer patients. The present study further characterizes this difference in terms of antibody relative functional affinity in the BLG model., Methods: Relative functional affinity was evaluated by solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in terms of the relationship between specific IgG retention, assessed with peroxidase-labeled protein A, and serial dilutions of IgG fractions isolated from 24 sera from lung cancer patients and 24 sera from healthy control subjects matched for their anti-BLG IgG antibody titers. The procedure was performed in the presence and absence of low concentrations of diethylamine, which was expected to prevent low-affinity antigen-antibody binding without affecting the binding of high-affinity antibodies. Anti-BLG IgG antibody affinity also was evaluated in 25 patients with early-stage lung cancer, before and after (5 +/- 1 week) complete surgical excision of the tumor., Results: Results, expressed as the slope of the binding curves and their leftward shift induced by diethylamine, showed different antibody populations between the two groups. Control sera showed a heterogeneous population of anti-BLG IgG antibodies, including antibodies of higher (steeper slope) and lower (more gradual slope) functional affinity. Cancer sera exhibited a less heterogeneous population of anti-BLG IgG antibodies, mostly with lower functional affinity. No change was observed in anti-BLG IgG antibody affinity in the 25 lung cancer patients tested 5 +/- 1 week after complete surgical excision of the tumor., Conclusions: These results document a persistent qualitative immunologic disturbance in patients with lung cancer, regardless of the type and extent of tumor. The potential relationship between this observation and the development of lung cancer, however, is presently unknown.

C20H28NS+.Cl-, 2-(diethylamino)ethyl 1,1-diphenylethyl sulfide hydrochloride (thiodeacylaprophen hydrochloride), M(r) = 349.9, orthorhombic, P2(1)2(1)2(1), a = 8.933 (2), b = 11.710 (3), c = 18.934 (4) A, V = 1980.6 (7) A3, Z = 4, Dx = 1.173 g cm-3, Cu K alpha, lambda = 1.54178 A, mu = 26.70 cm-1, F(000) = 752, room temperature, final R = 4.1% for 1417 reflections with /Fo/ greater than 3 sigma (F). Thiodeacylaprophen crystallized as a tertiary amine hydrochloride salt. The S--C--C--N+ segment adopts a trans configuration as does one of the Cphenyl--C--S--C segments. A comparison of the structure of thiodeacylaprophen with the crystal structures of potent antimuscarinic agents suggests that the relatively weak antimuscarinic activity of thiodeacylaprophen compared to atropine and aprophen may be substantially due to the short intramolecular S...N+ distance of 4.106 (6) A. Other contributing structural factors may include the direction of the N+--H bond and restricted accessibility of the sulfur atom for interatomic interactions.

Mechanisms of Na+ transport into the inside-out subcellular vesicles of alkalo- and halotolerant Bacillus FTU and of Escherichia coli grown at different pH have been studied. Both microorganisms growing at pH 7.5 are shown to possess a system of the respiration-dependent Na+ transport which (i) is inhibited by protonophorous uncoupler, by delta pH-discharging agent diethylammonium (DEA) acetate, by micromolar cyanide arresting the H(+)-motive respiratory chain, and by amiloride, and (ii) is resistant to the Na+/H+ antiporter monensin and to Ag+, inhibitor of the Na(+)-motive respiratory chain. Growth at pH 8.6 strongly changes the activator and inhibitor pattern. Now (1) protonophore stimulates the Na+ transport, (2) DEA acetate is without effect in the absence of protonophore and is stimulating in its presence, (3) amiloride and low cyanide are ineffective, (4) monensin and Ag+ completely arrest the Na+ accumulation in the vesicles. Independent of pH of the growth medium, (a) valinomycin is stimulatory for the Na+ transport, (b) Na+ ionophore ETH 157 is inhibitory and, (c) Na+ transport can be supported by NADH----fumarate as well as by ascorbate (TMPD)----O2 electron transfers. Growth at alkaline pH results in the appearance of ascorbate (TMPD) oxidation resistant to low and sensitive to high cyanide concentrations. These relationships are in agreement with the concept (Skulachev, V.P. (1984) Trends Biochem. Sci. 9, 483-485) that adaptation to alkaline conditions in bacteria growing in the high [Na+] media causes substitution of Na+ for H+ as a coupling ion. The obtained data indicate that under alkaline conditions, Na+ can be pumped from the cell by the Na(+)-motive respiratory chain with neither H(+)-motive respiration nor the Na+/H+ antiporter involved. In the Na(+)-motive respiratory chain of Bac. FTU or E. coli, two Na+ pumps are localized, one in its initial and the other in its terminal spans.

The results of the preliminary pharmacological and microbiological evaluations of certain new derivatives of dialkylaminoethyl-phenyl-ether hydrochloride, as potential long-acting local anaesthetics, are reported. The guinea pig intradermal wheal test was used for determining the activity and duration of local anaesthesia (WT). These were assayed at concentrations of 0.5% w/v. Lidocaine hydrochloride, 1.0% w/v, was employed as the standard and normal saline, 0.9% w/v, as the control. The compounds showed outstanding activity profiles and duration of action with no apparent signs of both local and systemic side effects. In addition, the results of inhibition of the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena pyriformis mobility by the aforementioned compounds are presented. A general relationship between the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of these compounds to inhibit mobility of the whole T. pyriformis cells and the duration of anaesthesia was observed. Moreover, derivatives with tertiary or secondary butyl substituents in the benzene ring, irrespective of position or number, were superior to others and showed prolonged duration of anaesthesia and lower MIC. The dependence of both WT and MIC on partition coefficient (log P) of these compounds indicates that in both biological systems the anaesthetics interact strongly with hydrophobic structures of the T. pyriformis cells membrane resulting in fluidisation and loss of ciliary function.

The reactions of 2,4-dichloro-6-diethylamino-1,3,5-triazine (1) with the secondary amines 2a-g lead to the diamino-1,3,5-triazines 3a-e and the melamines 4a and 4b. The structures of the reaction products were established spectroscopically (IR, 1H-NMR, and MS).

The composition of rat liver cell membrane proteins during the N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced hepatocarcinogenesis was studied using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The effect of the carcinogen on rat liver was controlled by the catalase activity in the microsomal fractions. The plasma membrane protein fractions with Mr of 140 kDa, 135 kDa, 40 kDa and 22 kDa as well as the 36 kDa fraction from endoplasmic reticulum membranes were found to decrease during hepatocarcinogenesis.

Some narcotic drugs have been reported to produce increases in muscle tone in rats. In our laboratory we have found that etonitazine produces a 'lead-pipe' rigidity of the trunk and limb musculature. The reported studies were conducted to characterize etonitazine-induced rigidity more fully, to compare the degree of rigidity with that produced by morphine, codeine and methadone, and to assess the sensitivity of this rigidity to centrally acting muscle relaxants. Of the 4 narcotics tested, etonitazine was far more potent than methadone or morphine for producing rigidity; codeine did not produce peak rigidity comparable to the other 3 narcotics. Etonitazine-induced rigidity occurs at a supraspinal level since the effect was prevented by spinal transsection. Etonitazine-induced rigidity was prevented by the narcotic antagonists cyclazocine, pentazocine and naloxone but not by the serotonin depletor, p-chlorophenylalanine. Etonitazine-induced rigidity was antagonized by centrally acting muscle relaxants, including diazepam, methocarbamol, carisoprodol and zoxazolamine; in agreement with their relative clinical muscle relaxant potencies, diazepam is the most potent antagonist of etonitazine-induced rigidity.

A number of chemical disruption agents were assessed for their ability to dissociate HBsAg:anti-HBs immune complexes and to release both the antibody and antigen component in immunologically active forms. The most appropriate reagent was 0.1 M diethylamine which could elute up to 81% of anti-HBs antibody bound to solid-phase HBsAg and retained 93% of its antigen-combining activity. Complexes formed at various degrees of antigen excess and pre-exposed to 0.1 M diethylamine at room temperature for 18 h before ultracentrifugation on sucrose density gradients were effectively dissociated. The released antibody and antigen banded at their expected densities. However, the affinity of the isolated antibody for the detergent-solubilized polypeptide complex from purified HBsAg (gp30/p25) and cyclical peptides representing amino acids 124-137 and 139-147 of HBsAg were found to be considerably lower than that of the original pooled anti-HBs immunoglobulin used to form the immune complexes. These results suggest that the highest affinity antibody subpopulation may not be completely dissociated from the complex. Care should thus be exercised in the interpretation of the significance of the observed affinity of the antibody isolated by this and other similar dissociation procedures.

1. The rabbit aortic strip, guinea-pig ileum and rabbit skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum preparations were used to determine at which sites and in what manner 8-(N,N-diethylamino)-octyl 3,4,5,-trimethoxybenzoate (TMB-8) interferes with Ca2+ availability in smooth and skeletal muscles. 2. TMB-8 (50 muM) significantly inhibited equivalent responses of the rabbit aortic strip to KCl and noradrenaline. 3. TMB-8 (65 muM) produced no significant alteration in the extracellular space of the guinea-pig ileum as measured with [3H]-sorbitol. 4. The resting cellular Ca2+ influx as well as the resting 45Ca2+ efflux in the guinea-pig ileum preparation were significantly inhibited by TMB-8 (65 muM). 5. TMB-8 (5 muM and 50 muM) had no significant effect on the uptake of 45Ca2+ by the sarcoplasmic reticulum preparation of skeletal muscle; however, TMB-8 (5 muM) did significantly inhibit the caffeine (20 mM)-induced release of 45Ca2+ from this preparation. 6. It is concluded that TMB-8 reduces Ca2+ availability in smooth and skeletal muscles by stabilizing Ca2+ binding to cellular Ca2+ stores and thereby inhibits the release of this Ca2+ by contractile stimuli.

The red half embryos and related quarter embryos (yolk and pigment) of Arbacia lixula, obtained by means of centrifugation of the eggs in sucrose gradient, retain the normal level of sensitivity and supersensitivity to cytotoxic neuropharmaca, antagonists of biogenic monoamines. The white half embryos and clear quarter embryos practically lack supersensitivity whereas the granular quarter embryos restore it to the initial level. The non-pigmented blastomers of stratified embryos are characterized by somewhat weakened supersensitivity. A suggestion is put forward that the supersensitive embryos of A. lixula possess a sensibilizing factor which couples the supersensitivity receptors with the processes of cell division and moves together with the yolk granules upon centrifugation. This factor is not observed in the Strongylocentrotus granularis embryos lacking evident supersensitivity.

Intravenously injected collagenase, detectable in brain microvessels by immunological methods, partially degrades the constituents of the vascular wall and so increases the permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Intravenous administration of collagenase is a model for diseases in which the concentration of endogenous proteases is increased. Peroral treatment of rats with chromocarb diethylamine (CD) significantly reduced the degradation of the vascular wall by intravenous collagenase, as demonstrated by a lesser permeability increase of the BBB, a shorter recovery time, lower hydroxyproline levels in the cerebrospinal fluid and a lesser decrease of the collagen content of the brain capillary basal lamina.

Oxybutynin chloride exerts a moderate anticholinergic effect on rabbit detrusor in vitro, which is reversible and competitive in nature (KB = 4.7 x 10(-9), and midway in potency between atropine and papaverine. In addition, oxybutynin strongly antagonizes BaCl2-induced spasms of detrusor with a potency equivalent to that of papaverine and 10 times that of atropine. This musculotropic spasmolytic effect is slightly greater in rabbit than human or monkey tissue, and noncompetitive (pD2 = 5.5). This direct relaxant effect, unlike that of papaverine, is not mediated by the inhibition of tissue phosphodiesterase, but probably reflects oxybutynin's local anesthetic properties and associated effects on Ca++ fluxes and binding.

New glutarimide compounds were synthesized by incorporating piperidine (compounds 1 to 7), diethylamine (8 and 9), morpholine moities (10 to 13), and alkyl derivatives of 3,5 dicyanoglutarimide (14 to 20) at position -1 of the nitrogen atom. Only compounds 1 to 7 at a dose of 8 mg/kg i.p. caused hypermotility, ataxia, tachypnoea and mild tremors in mice. At higher doses (32 mg/kg i.p.), all compounds induced tonic and clonic convulsions, respiratory paralysis and death. The LD50 values of compounds 1 to 20 in mice range from 152 to 488 mg/kg i.p. and for compounds 21 to 23, the p.o. values are 484, 500 and 525 mg/kg. The relative toxicity of compounds 1 to 7 and 14 to 20 showed inverse ratio in their numbers. Basic compounds 21 to 23 at high dose levels (64 mg/kg i.p.) induced only hypnotic depression. No change was observed in organ-wise histopathological study except patchy necrosis at the site of injection of basic compounds. The CNS pharmacological studies were negative with reference to anti-convulsion, analgesic, antipyretic tests by conventional methods except at higher doses (32 or 64 mg/kg i.p.), which exhibited synergistic effects in mice and rats.

Damage to the lung may be caused by chemicals that gain access to the alveolar zone by inhalation or via the pulmonary circulation. Several agents toxic to the lung have recently been found to bind covalently to pulmonary macromolecules or to disrupt certain metabolic reactions. However, it has also been observed that extensive chemical lung injury is not necessarily preceded by a depression of pulmonary metabolic reactions. One possible explanation for this might be that biochemical changes due to cell death are often masked and/or compensated for by changes associated with lung tissue repair. Substantial cell proliferation as a response to toxic lung damage is a common phenomenon in lung pathology. This makes it necessary to develop models that permit analysis of the biochemical events triggering and accompanying cell growth in lung. We have recently examined some aspects of cell proliferation in mouse lung. Intraperitoneal injection of the antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) produces within 3-5 days extensive hypertrophy, hyperplasia, and general disorganization of the cellular components of the lung. Total lung weight and total DNA per lung almost double within this time and are accompanied by proportional increases in protein and lipids. RNA accumulates at a faster rate than DNA. The changes in lung composition are accompanied by dose-dependent increases in the in vivo incorporation of thymidine into DNA and of leucine into protein. The activities of several enzymes (thymidine kinase, DNA polymerase, uridine kinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and 5'-nucleotidase) increase substantially after BHT. Administration of BHT to mice seems to offer a convenient tool to study cell growth in the lungs of mice.

Experimental data on the effectiveness of p-brombenzothiohydroximic S-diethylaminoethylate (diethyxime) -a new cholinesterase reactivator - are presented. The diethyximetoxicity with its single and multiple administration to animals was studied. The drug is shown to display a marked antidotal action when used in a dosage range of 490-10 mg/kg. Diethyxime is shown capable of restoring the activity of cholinesterase inhibited by dimethyldichlorovenylphosphate, of preventing the neuro-muscular block of the impulses conduction and of normalizing the function of the cardiovascular system. The drug is less toxic than is presently employed reactivator diproxime and it does not produce any side-effects on a number of organs and systems of the organism with its multiple administration to worm-blooded animals.

Large, eosinophilic, nonglycogenic nuclear inclusions were produced in the central nervous system by the drug tilorone. At the light microscope level, the inclusions occurred predominantly in astrocytes. Ultrastructurally, they were identical to the nuclear bodies described in many cell types under many conditions. The bodies were produced by tilorone in small numbers in the median eminence, a part of the hypothalamus that lacks a blood-brain barrier. They were produced in only 2 or 3 days in large numbers adjacent to zones of thermal or traumatic necrosis or in areas of inflammation. These facts, and the distribution of affected astrocytes, indicated that permeability factors and cerebrospinal fluid flow were involved in the development of the nuclear bodies. The large size and large number of nuclear bodies produced by tilorone should facilitate studies of this poorly understood nuclear organelle.

The composition of bulk fatty acids in Chlorella pyrenoidosa under the influence of the carcinogenic dimethylaminoazobenzene and the non carcinogenic diethylaminoazobenzene was examined. In the presence of dimethylaminoazobenzene cultivated algae showed parallel to morphological changes distinct deviations in the composition of their fatty acids compared with the control. This especially concerns the unsaturated C18-fatty acids as the C16:0-, C16:2- and C16:3-acids respectively. By treatment of algae with diethylaminoazobenzene no morphological variations were observed and only little changes in composition of their fatty acids was demonstrated.

2,2'-[(4,8-bis(diethylamino)-pyrimido[5,4-d]-pyrimidine-2,6-diyl)di-(2-methoxyethyl)imino]diethanol), RA 642, combines hypertensive and vasodilating effects. In anaesthetized animals arterial blood pressure was increased by i.v. doses of 0.25-4 mg/kg in cats and 0.025-0.25 mg/kg in dogs. In conscious dogs, 25 mm increase of mean blood pressure was achieved with 0.2 mg/kg i.v. and 18.8 mg/kg p.o. Cerebral blood flow was enhanced and calculated cerebral vascular resistance was reduced by RA 642. Total peripheral resistance was diminished by 0.25-1.0 mg/kg i.v. A vasodilatation of femoral and coronary vessels was shown after intraarterial injection. This effect as well as a BaCl2-antagonism in the isolation ileum is explained by a papaverine-like relaxant effect on smooth muscle. Activity on peripheral adrenergic receptors was excluded. Hypertension was abolished in spinalized cats, indicating a central mechanism of this effect.

Rats were induced to drink either a saline-etonitazene solution or a saline solution with a schedule-induced polydipsia paradigm. When water was freely available, the rats continued to drink the saline solution or the saline-etonitazene solution, rather than the water. When the locations of the solutions were switched, the rats that were drinking saline switched to water (drank at the usual location), but the rats that were drinking saline-etonitazene continued to drink the saline-etonitazene solution (drank from the bottle at the other location). Naloxone administration temporarily eliminated the drinking of saline-etonitazene solution, but not that of saline solution.

RA 642, 2,2'-[14,8-bis(diethylamino)-pyrimido[5,4-d] pyrimidine-2,6-diyl)di-(2-methoxyethyl)-imino]diethanol, has formerly been described to hypertensive when administered systemically. In the present experiments injection of 50 mug/kg RA 642 into the vertebral artery (i.a. vert.) of the cat exerted hypertension, while the same dose given intravenously (i.v.) elicited no effect. Since the drug was still effective in cats of which the brain was removed rostrad of the myelencephalon but not in spinal animals, its site of action was concluded to be in cardiovascular centres of the medulla oblongata. An i.a. vert. injection increased total peripheral resistance of the vasculature. The electrical discharge rate in preganglionic cervical sympathetic nerve fibres increased in parallel to the arterial blood pressure following the i.v. injection of 1 mg/kg of the substance. 1 mg/kg RA 642 i.v. decreased the reflex bradycardia elicited by the i.v. injection of angiotensin in dogs pretreated with a beta-adrenoceptor blocking drug to study the vagal effector reactions of the baroreceptor reflex, and treated with clonidine to facilitate the reflex. Thus, RA 642 increased sympathetic and, following clonidine treatment, decreased vagal reflex activity. RA 642 stimulated the respiration by a central action. The drug had no convulsant action.

Superslow electrical activity was studied after the action of neurotropic drugs on curarized rabbits with gold electrodes implanted in the deep brain structures. Intramuscular administration of 1/5 mg/kg dose of ethimizol, of 5 mg/kg of ethipyrol, or of 1/5 mg/kg of metamizyl led to a reciprocity of the oscillation amplitudes between the field CA-3 of the dorsal hippocampus and the medial nuclear groups of the reticular formation. Ethimizol and ethipyrol, though producing a similar final effect, act differently on the duration and phases of slow oscillations. Micropolarization of the dorsal hippocampus field CA-3 with a 2.5 microampere current lengthened the action of the neurotropic drugs, up to six hours in the case of ethimyzol. A mathematical vector analysis has shown that the angle of the wave amplitude vector in space depends both on the characteristics of the neurotropic drug and the excitability level of field CA-3 of the dorsl hippo-campus. A slow electrical potential reflecting the capacity of the electric field of a brain structure is likely to be one the major components controlling the conformation position of the receptor proteins.