Plasma renin activity (PRA) and aldosterone concentration were measured before and during submaximal exercise in 10 male monozygotic twin pairs who were discordant for smoking. In nine twin pairs PRA was higher in the smoker both at rest and during exercise. The mean PRA was 99% higher at rest and 84% higher during exercise than in nonsmokers. Plasma aldosterone levels were higher at rest in se...

We examined the radioprotective effect of aminothiol 2-N-propylamine-cyclo-hexanethiol (20-PRA) on a human leukemic cell line (K562) following various radiation doses (5, 7.5 and 20 Gy) using a source of 60Co gamma-rays. At 5 Gy and 1 nM 20-PRA, a substantial protective effect (58%) was seen 24 h after irradiation, followed by a decrease at 48 h (11%). At the high radiation dose (20 Gy) a low p...

More than 70 species of mycobacteria have been defined, and some can cause disease in humans, especially in immunocompromised patients. Species identification in most clinical laboratories is based on phenotypic characteristics and biochemical tests and final results are obtained only after two to four weeks. Quick identification methods, by reducing time for diagnosis, could expedite instituti...

Phosphoribosylamine (PRA) is an intermediate in the biosynthetic pathway that is common to thiamine and purines. Glutamine phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP) amidotransferase is the product of the purF gene in Salmonella enterica and catalyzes the synthesis of PRA from PRPP and glutamine. Strains lacking PurF require exogenous addition of purines for growth. However, under some growth conditio...

The nuclear receptor for the female hormone progesterone (PR) is widely expressed in uterine cancer. PR is expressed as two proteins (PRA and PRB) with different functions, and in vitro evidence reveals PRA to inhibit PRB function, so the cellular ratio of PRA:PRB is likely to be an important determinant of progesterone action. The relative expression of PRA and B and their involvement in the p...

The hemodynamic effects of increases in airway pressure (Paw) are related in part to Paw-induced increases in right atrial pressure (Pra), the downstream pressure for venous return, thus decreasing the pressure gradient for venous return. However, numerous animal and clinical studies have shown that venous return is often sustained during ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP)...

To characterize the renln-angiotensin system in the Aokl-Okamoto spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) more fully, serial measurements of plasma renin activity (PRA), plasma renin concentration (PRC), renin reactivity (as relative index of circulating modifiers of the renin reaction) and renin substrate concentration were made in 6to 64-week-old SHR and in age-matched Wistar-Kyoto normotensive r...

Current study evaluated the hsp65 Nested PCR Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis (hsp65 Nested PCR-PRA) to detect and identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex directly in clinical samples for a rapid and specific diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). hsp65 Nested PCR-PRA was applied directly to 218 clinical samples obtained from 127 patients suspected of TB or another mycobacterial i...

Renin-secreting tumor, though rare, should be considered in assessing severe hyperreninemic, hypertensive patients. We studied an 18-year-old girl with hypokalemic hyperreninemic hyperaldosteronism. No angiographic lesion could be detected. The plasma renin activity (PRA) of the right/left renal vein was 7 3 . With a presumptive diagnosis of renin-secreting tumor (RST), the patient was operated...