Introduction: To assess the salivary composition of proteins and minerals in smokers compared with non-smokers.   Materials and Methods: In this study we compared the total protein and Ca, Na, K, Mg, Pb of whole saliva in two groups of men (28 smokers and 31nonsmokers) aged between 29-41years.   Results: Fifty-nine participants were evaluated. The mean age was 33.14±5.32 years among smo...

Ca(2+) is a central player in the excitation-contraction coupling of cardiac myocytes, the process that enables the heart to contract and relax. Mishandling of Ca(2+) is a central cause of both contractile dysfunction and arrhythmias in pathophysiological conditions such as heart failure (HF). Upon electrical excitation, Ca(2+) enters the myocytes via voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels and induces f...

Calcium-45 was injected into single giant barnacle muscle fibers, and the rate of efflux was measured under a variety of conditions. The rate constant (k) for (45)Ca efflux into standard seawater averaged 17 x 10(-4) min(-1) which corresponds to an efflux of about 1-2 pmol/cm(2).s. Removal of external Ca (Ca(o)) reduced the efflux by 50%. In most fibers about 40% of the (45)Ca efflux into Ca-fr...

The interaction between eriochrome black T and Li , Na , K ,Mg and Ca ions in acetone and dimethylsulphoxide solutions has been investigated spectrophotometrically. The formation constants of the resulting 1 : 1 complexes were determined and found to decrease in the order Mg >Ca >Li >K >Na in both solvents used. There is an inverse relationship between the stabilities of the complexes...

Stimulus-dependent elevation of intracellular Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)](i)) affects the expression of numerous genes--a phenomenon known as excitation-transcription coupling. Recently, we found that increases in [Na(+)](i) trigger c-Fos expression via a novel Ca(2+) (i)-independent pathway. In the present study, we identified ubiquitous and tissue-specific [Na(+)](i)/[K(+)](i)-sensitive transcriptomes b...

The Na(+) current component I(Ca(TTX)) is functionally distinct from the main body of Na(+) current, I(Na). It was proposed that I(Ca(TTX)) channels are I(Na) channels that were altered by bathing media containing Ca(2+), but no, or very little, Na(+). It is known that Na(+)-free conditions are not required to demonstrate I(Ca(TTX).) We show here that Ca(2+) is also not required. Whole-cell, te...

Na-Ca exchange is proposed to be an important regulator of myoplasmic intracellular Ca concentration ([Ca]|) and contraction in vascular smooth muscle. We investigated the role of Na-Ca exchange in regulating [Ca], in swine carotid arterial tissues that were loaded with aequorin to allow simultaneous measurement of [Ca], and force. Reversal of Na-Ca exchange, by reduction of extracellular Na co...

Na+- and CA2+-sensitive microelectrodes were used to measure intracellular Na+ and Ca2+ activities (alpha iCa) of sheep ventricular muscle and Purkinje strands to study the interrelationship between Na+ and Ca2+ electrochemical gradients (delta muNa and delta muCa) under various conditions. In ventricular muscle, alpha iNa was 6.4 +/- 1.2 mM and alpha iCa was 87 +/- 20 nM ([Ca/+] = 272 nM). A g...

transport by the human Na ϩ /Ca 2ϩ exchanger expressed in Sf 9 cells. Am. block of the Na ϩ /Ca 2ϩ exchanger was examined in Sf 9 cells expressing the human heart Na ϩ /Ca 2ϩ exchanger (NCX1-NACA1). As predicted from the reported actions of Ni 2ϩ , its application reduced extracellular Na ϩ-dependent changes in intracellular Ca 2ϩ concentration (measured by fluo 3 fluores-cence changes). Howeve...