Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Concentration Of Leukotrienes B4 And C4 In Human Periradicular Lesions, Elisabetta Cotti

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The 5-lipoxygenase metabolites of arachidonic acid such as leukotrienes (LT) B₄ and C₄, are potent mediators of inflammation. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the concentrations of LTB₄ and LTC₄ in human periradicular lesions. Specimens from asymptomatic and symptomatic patients were obtained and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen. Periradicular tissues from unerupted third molars as well as chronically inflamed gingival tissues were also obtained, frozen and were used as negative and positive controls respectively. The concentrations of LTB₄ and LTC₄ were determined by the reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatography. Representative …

The Effects Of Moderate Exercise Training On Nutrient Intake In Mildly Obese Women, Leann Onasch

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The relationship between moderate exercise training (five 45 min sessions/week, brisk walking at 62+2% V0_2max for 15 weeks) and changes in nutrient intake was investigated in a group of 36 sedentary, mildly obese women, conducted using a two (exercise, EX and nonexercise, NEX groups) x three (baseline, six-, 15-week testing sessions) factorial design, with data analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. The pattern of change over time between groups for kilocalorie intake tended to be different between groups [F(2,68)=2.50,p=0.089] with the EX group experiencing a significant decrease versus baseline by 15 weeks. Significant group x time interactions were found for …

Proto-Oncogene Regulation By Growth Factors In Bone Cells, Harold Lyndon Merriman

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Previous studies have shown that bone cells in culture produce a number of growth factors that are important in bone regulation. Chick and mouse primary calvarial cultures consist of a mixture of cell types that make it difficult to interpret the results from these model systems. In contrast, MC3T3-E1 cells are a clonal mouse osteoblast-like cell line. Since MC3T3-E1 cells consist of a single population of calvarial cells, they make an ideal system in which to study the autocrine effects of bone growth factors.

Based on this work, MC3T3-E1 cells are now known to produce IGF-I, TGF-beta and IGF-II in …

Development Of Catalytic Rnas As Potential Anti-Hiv-1 Agents, Pairoj Sae Chang

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

RNA molecules with enzymatic activity (ribozymes) targeted to the genome of HIV-1 were developed and demonstrated to mediate site-specific cleavage of the HIV-1 RNA in vitro and to inhibit viral proliferation intracellularly. Two classes of ribozymes that incorporate a "hammerhead" catalytic center were utilized, eotide elements in the viral sequence to provide half of the The first class used nuclcatalytic center. A complementary strand harboring the remaining active site nucleotides was supplied in trans and directed the site-specific cleavage of the HIV-1 RNA target. A second type of ribozyme incorporated the entire catalytic center, minus the site of cleavage, within …

Effect Of Glucose Administration On Hamster Liver S9-Mediated Mutagenesis, Metabolism And Dna-Binding Of Benzo[A]Pyrene And Aflatoxin B1, Daniel C. Rubano

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Hamster liver S9 prepared from control animals and animals given 30% glucose in drinking water 48 h before time of sacrifice was used in studies of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and aflatoxin (AFB₁)-induced mutagenesis, metabolism of BaP and AFB₁, and metabolite binding to calf thymus DNA. BaP-induced mutagenesis in Salmonella typhimurium TA100 was reduced 38.5% while AFB₁-induced mutagenesis was increased 36% by S9 from glucose-treated hamsters. The reduction of [³H]BaP metabolite binding to calf thymus DNA in incubations with S9 from glucose-treated hamsters correlated with a decrease in unknown BaP metabolite-deoxyribonucleoside adducts isolated by …

Characterization Of Hsd::Mudx128 Operon Fusion Mutant Of Escherichia Coli K-12, Marjorie Ann T. Reyno

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The study of the regulation of gene expression in complex genes can be facilitated by the use of operon fusions which place a well characterized lacZ gene under the control of a promoter of interest. An hsd::MudX128 operon fusion mutant of E. coli K-12 isolated by Prakash (1986) was observed to have a high β-galactosidase activity (1000 units), ten to twenty times higher than other hsd::MudX mutants. This β-galactosidase activity was suppressed to a very low level (25 units) by the introduction of an F’ plasmid, F'101, which carries the 98 min to 2 min region of the …

Maternal Immunomodulation Of Neonatal Alloantigen Response, Leh Chang

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Remarkable success has been achieved in the transplantation of allogeneic cardiac grafts into newborn infants at Loma Linda University Medical Center. The superior graft survival rate documented in these patients has not correlated with the degree of immunosuppression rendered, or the selection of genetically matched donors. However, the clinical success has correlated with the age of the recipient at the time of receiving a transplant. Patients receiving an allograft within the first few weeks of life are unique in that they seem to accept the alloantigens of their cardiac graft while responding aggressively to antigens in their environment. These observations …