BACKGROUND Many studies have identified smoking as a risk factor for osteoporosis, but it is unclear whether passive smoking has an effect on bone mineral density and bone turnover and if such an effect could cause osteoporosis.The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of passive smoking on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone turnover and the relationship between BMD and bone turno...

1. Enzymic esterifications of 2-(N-hydroxyacetamido)fluorene and several other hydroxamic acids by liver cytosol were studied. Determination of 2-acetamido-3-methylthiofluorene was used for the assay. 2. With rat liver cytosol, requirement for ATP, Mg(2+) and SO(4) (2-) suggested formation of phosphate and sulphate esters of 2-(N-hydroxyacetamido)fluorene. 3. Rats showed sex and age differences...

Because our previous studies indicated that squalestatin 1 treatment induces CYP2B expression in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes as a direct consequence of squalene synthase inhibition, we investigated possible underlying mechanisms. Cotransfection of cultured Sprague-Dawley male rat hepatocytes with each of the three sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP) transcription factors f...

Hyperglycemia affects male and female vascular beds differently. We have previously shown that 1 week after the induction of diabetes with streptozotocin (STZ), male and female rats exhibit differences in aortic endothelial function. To examine this phenomenon further, aortic responses were studied in male and female rats 8 weeks after the induction of diabetes (intermediate stage). Endothelium...

Repeated treatment of female rats with the synthetic estrogen ethynylestradiol (EE(2)) increases the formation of the cyclosporine A (CyA) metabolites AM1c and AM9 by 3-fold, whereas the formation of AM1 and AM4N is not significantly enhanced. The formation of all four CyA metabolites was inhibited by greater than 80% by the CYP3A-selective substrate midazolam or polyclonal anti-rat CYP3A IgGs ...

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect on hippocampus morphology and learning behavior in rat pups following prenatal exposure to a 900 megahertz (MHz) electromagnetic field (EMF). Female Sprague Dawley rats weighing 180-250 g were left to mate with males. The following day, pregnant rats identified as such by the vaginal smear test were divided into two groups, control (n=3) and E...

We describe 2 cases of a relatively rare tumor diagnosed as pituicytoma in the pars nervosa of rat pituitary. This tumor was spontaneously noted in one 110-week-old female and one 109-week-old male Fischer 344 (F344)/DuCrj rats during 2-year carcinogenicity studies. Although no gross abnormality of the pituitary was detected in the female rat, whitish discoloration and enlargement of the pituit...

The pregnant female human angiotensinogen (hAGN) transgenic rat mated with the male hrenin (hREN) transgenic rat is a model of preeclampsia with increased blood pressure, proteinuria, and placenta alterations of edema and necrosis. The reverse mating of female hRENxmale hAGN does not show preeclamptic features. Because the placenta is well-recognized to be a key contributor to the preeclamptic ...

The ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) is a sexually dimorphic region of the brain related to female reproductive behavior. The effect of estrogen in the adult rat VMH is thought to be mediated predominantly via estrogen receptor (ER)alpha, because this receptor is expressed at considerably higher levels than ER beta. The present study revealed, using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry...