1. Using the kidney of the rabbit weighing approximately 1.5kg the LDH isozymes, LDH-l through 5, were analyzed on the acetate strip by electrophoresis and it was found that the LDH-3 was the least active isozyme followed by the LDH-2, -4, -1, and -5 in increasing order of activity both in that cortex and the medulla, showing a specific distribution pattern in the two tissues. 2. The difference in the isozymic distribution pattern between the cortex and the medulla was confirmed by separating the H-and M-LDH by DEAE-cellulose, the ratio of M-/H-LDH being l. 441t the medulla and 3. O3 in the cortex, showing more active anaerobic metabolism in the latter than in the former. 3. The total activity of LDH in the 20% homogenate of the total kidney tissue was 10. 55 units/ml the cortical 2.98 units/ml. and the medullary 7. 37 unite/ml. 4. In the unilaterally nephrectomized rabbit. the cortex of the remaining kidney showed increased activities of both H- and M-LDH, but the medullary H-LDH decreased, resulting in increases of the ratio M-,H-LDH both in the cortex and in the medulla 5. In the unilaterally pedicle-clamped rabbit, LDH of the clamped kidney medulla decreased while that of the cortex increased, and LDH of the unclamped kidney showed elevated activity both in the cortex and in the medulla, yielding an increase in the ratio of M-/H-LDH. 6. The specific difference in distribution pattern of LDH igozymes between the cortex and the medulla of the rabbit kidney and an increase of the ratio of M-/H.LDH resulting from functional compensation following unilateral nephrectomy or pedicle clamping have been briefly discussed.
Compensation and Redress ; Constriction ; DEAE-Cellulose ; Electrophoresis ; Isoenzymes ; Kidney Medulla ; Kidney* ; Metabolism ; Nephrectomy ; Oxidoreductases*

Adrenomedullin (AM) is a multi-functional peptide discovered in human pheochromocytoma. Initially, it was suggested that AM was synthesized only by tumor cells, however, subsequent studies revealed that it was produced also by normal adrenal medulla as well as by many other tissues. Now it is well established that AM functions as a circulating hormone and local paracrine mediator with multiple biological activities. AM stimulated cAMP production in human platelets and exerted potent and long-lasting hypotensive activity in the rat. AM is a physiologically relevant regulator in fluid and electrolyte homeostasis; inhibition both water and salt intake, increase renal blood flow, and cause diuresis and natriuresis. The up-regulation of cardiac AM system in hypertension may be a protective mechanism decreasing myocardial overload due to vasodilatory and natriuretic properties of AM, as well as limiting further myocardial hypertrophy and remodeling. AM may protect the kidney against ischemia-reperfusion injury. AM is also suggested as antiapoptotic, anti-inflammatory and angiogenic factor. In this review, I offer a review of our current knowledge on AM and give the putative role of AM in water-electrolyte balance, hypertension and kidney disease.
Adrenal Medulla ; Adrenomedullin* ; Angiogenesis Inducing Agents ; Animals ; Diuresis ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertrophy ; Kidney Diseases ; Kidney* ; Natriuresis ; Pheochromocytoma ; Rats ; Renal Circulation ; Reperfusion Injury ; Up-Regulation ; Water-Electrolyte Balance

Pheochromocytoma is a catecholamines secreting tumor that usually appears in the adrenal medulla, sympathetic ganglia and extra-adrenal chromaffin tissue. About 10% of this disease is detected in the extra-adrenal chromaffin tissue which is called paraganglioma. The three major clinical symptoms of pheochromocytoma are headache, syncope and hypertension. Approximately 0.1% of hypertensive patients have pheochromocytoma. The extra-adrenal paraganglioma is found in abdominal sympathetic nerve ganglion or Zukerkandle's organ with great frequency, but it also appears, albeit rare, in the cervical ganglion, thoracic cavity, bladder, and pelvic cavity. Some cases of paraganglioma in bladder are being reported internationally, but domestic reports are rare. We report a case of paraganglioma originating in the urinary bladder of patient who visited with acute renal failure associated with malignant hypertension. We treated him with phenoxybenzamine and later with partial cystectomy. High blood pressure was well controlled and acute renal failure was resolved.
Acute Kidney Injury* ; Adrenal Medulla ; Catecholamines ; Cystectomy ; Ganglia, Sympathetic ; Ganglion Cysts ; Headache ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertension, Malignant ; Paraganglioma* ; Paraganglioma, Extra-Adrenal ; Phenoxybenzamine ; Pheochromocytoma ; Syncope ; Thoracic Cavity ; Urinary Bladder*

Hemangioblastoma is one of the benign tumors in the central nervous system. It is often associated with von Hippel-Lindau disease(VHL disease), a well known autosomal dominant hereditary tumor syndrome. We have experienced three cases of hemangioblastoma associated with von Hippel-Lindau disease in a same family, mother(case 1, 58 years old), son(case 2,19 years old, dead) and daughter(case 3, 17 years old). All of them had cerebellar hemangioblastomas. Renal cyst was associated in the case of mother, but not in the son or daughter. Hemangioblastoma associated with von Hippel-Lindau disease frequently occurres in multiple regions such as cerebellum, spinal cord, medulla oblongata. Also it is frequently presented with renal cell carcinoma, pheochromocytoma, cyst in pancreas, kidney and liver, and epididymal cystadenoma. The age of onset of von Hippel-Lindau disease in the second generation was younger than that of the first generation in this family.
Age of Onset ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Central Nervous System ; Cerebellum ; Cystadenoma ; Hemangioblastoma* ; Humans ; Kidney ; Liver ; Medulla Oblongata ; Mothers ; Nuclear Family ; Pancreas ; Pheochromocytoma ; Spinal Cord ; von Hippel-Lindau Disease

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Inflammation plays a key role in ischemic acute renal failure (ARF). The present study investigated the infiltration of macrophages in the early phase of ischemic ARF in mice. METHODS: Ischemic ARF was induced by renal clamping for 22 min, while the control mice underwent sham surgery (no clamping). The serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels were measured in the control and post-ischemia mice. Immunofluorescence staining was used to measure the number of CD 11b-positive cells in the kidney tissue sections to determine the amount of post-ischemic macrophage infiltration. Lipo-Cl2MBP (clodronate) for macrophages depletion was injected via a tail vein 5 d before ischemia induction and again 2 d before ischemia induction. RESULTS: The study found that the post-ischemia mice had higher levels of serum creatinine and BUN at 16 and 24 h compared to the controls. Immunofluorescence staining showed there were more macrophages in the post-ischemic tissue at 2, 8, 16 and 24 h compared to the control tissue, and that most of these macrophages were located in the outer medulla. The mice treated with clodronate prior to ischemia induction were found to have lower levels of serum creatinine compared to those mice that weren't treated with clodronate. CONCLUSIONS: There was significant infiltration of macrophages from the early phase of ischemic ARF, and this peaked at 16-24 h. Macrophage depletion using clodronate was protective against ischemic ARF.
Animals ; Antigens, CD11b ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Clodronic Acid ; Creatinine/blood ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Inflammation/*physiopathology ; Ischemia/*complications/pathology/physiopathology ; Kidney Failure, Acute/blood/etiology/*pathology/physiopathology ; Kidney Medulla/*pathology ; *Macrophages ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Perfusion ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVE: Brainstem metastases are rarely operable and generally unresponsive to conventional radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Recently, Gamma Knife Radiosurgery (GKRS) was used as feasible treatment option for brainstem metastasis. The present study evaluated our experience of brainstem metastasis which was treated with GKRS. METHODS: Between November 1992 and June 2010, 32 patients (23 men and 9 women, mean age 56.1 years, range 39-73) were treated with GKRS for brainstem metastases. There were metastatic lesions in pons in 23, the midbrain in 6, and the medulla oblongata in 3 patients, respectively. The primary tumor site was lung in 21, breast in 3, kidney in 2 and other locations in 6 patients. The mean tumor volume was 1,517 mm3 (range, 9-6,000), and the mean marginal dose was 15.9 Gy (range, 6-23). Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was obtained every 2-3 months following GKRS. Follow-up MRI was possible in 24 patients at a mean follow-up duration of 12.0 months (range, 1-45). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to evaluate the prognostic factors. RESULTS: Follow-up MRI showed tumor disappearance in 6, tumor shrinkage in 14, no change in tumor size in 1, and tumor growth in 3 patients, which translated into a local tumor control rate of 87.5% (21 of 24 tumors). The mean progression free survival was 12.2 months (range, 2-45) after GKRS. Nine patients were alive at the completion of the study, and the overall mean survival time after GKRS was 7.7 months (range, 1-22). One patient with metastatic melanoma experienced intratumoral hemorrhage during the follow-up period. Survival was found to be associated with score of more than 70 on Karnofsky performance status and low recursive partitioning analysis class (class 1 or 2), in terms of favorable prognostic factors. CONCLUSION: GKRS was found to be safe and effective for management of brainstem metastasis. The integral clinical status of patient seems to be important in determining the overall survival time.
Brain Stem ; Brain Stem Neoplasms ; Breast ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Karnofsky Performance Status ; Kidney ; Lung ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Medulla Oblongata ; Melanoma ; Mesencephalon ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pons ; Radiosurgery ; Survival Rate ; Tumor Burden

The present study was undertaken to examine the effects of microinjection of adrenomedullin (AM) into rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) on mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) in 34 anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats. The results obtained are as follows. (1) Following microinjection of AM (10 micromol/L, 200 nl) into the RVLM, MAP, HR and RSNA were significantly increased from 99.09+/-3.32 mmHg, 370.78+/-7.84 bpm and 100+/-0% to 113.57+/-3.64 mmHg (P>0.001), 383.28+/-7.38 bpm (P>0.001) and 123.72+/-2.74% (P>0.001), respectively. (2) Pretreatment with microinjection of calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist CGRP8-37 (100 micromol/L, 200 nl) did not change the effects of AM. (3) L-arginine (100 mg/kg, 0.2 ml, i.v.), an NO precursor, abolished the effects of AM. This study demonstrates that AM acting at the rostral ventrolateral medulla may produce significant cardiovascular responses, the effects are not mediated by CGRP receptor but may be abolished by NO.
Adrenomedullin ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Blood Pressure ; drug effects ; Heart Rate ; drug effects ; Kidney ; innervation ; Lateral Thalamic Nuclei ; drug effects ; Medulla Oblongata ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sympathetic Nervous System ; drug effects ; physiology

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the expression and localization of Nrf2 mRNA in rats according to the changes of K-diet. METHODS: Nrf2 gene was isolated using DNA chip microassay. Northern and Western blot analysis and in situ hybridization (ISH) were performed. RESULTS: Northern analysis of normal rat demonstrated that Nrf2 mRNA was abundantly expressed in stomach, moderately in testis, kidney, distal colon, duodenum, and adrenal gland, and weakly in brain, heart, spleen, salivary gland, liver, and lung. In the kidney of K-restricted groups, Nrf2 mRNA and protein expressions were gradually increased in K-restricted kidney. By ISH, hybridization signal for Nrf2 gene of normal group was prominent in the S3 segment of proximal tubule, distal tubule, and cortical collecting duct, and weak in outer and inner medullary collecting duct. In K-restricted groups, the localization of hybridization signal was the same as in normal group. Signal intensity of K-restricted groups was markedly increased in outer and inner medullary collecting ducts compared with normal group. But, that of the distal tubule and cortical collecting duct was decreased. mRNA for Nrf2 gene of normal group was detected in the cells of the basal portion of intestinal gland of distal colon and stomach, spermatogonia and spermatocytes of seminiferous tubule of testis, small lymphocytes of germinal center of spleen, and adrenal medulla cells of adrenal gland. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that expression of Nrf2 is different in various tissues and increased expression of Nrf2 gene in outer and inner medullary collecting ducts of hypokalemic kidney could regulate the ion transporter genes by these segments.
Adrenal Glands ; Adrenal Medulla ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Brain ; Chimera ; Colon ; Duodenum ; Germinal Center ; Heart ; Hypokalemia ; In Situ Hybridization ; Intestinal Mucosa ; Ion Transport ; Kidney ; Liver ; Lung ; Lymphocytes ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Potassium ; Rats ; RNA, Messenger ; Salivary Glands ; Seminiferous Tubules ; Spermatocytes ; Spermatogonia ; Spleen ; Stomach ; Testis ; Transcription Factors