Rationale. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in humans is associated with chronic cigarette smoking. At present only an acute model exists for lung fibrosis research. Objective. Describe a chronic animal model of lung fibrosis produced by cigarette smoke exposure. Methods. Six BALB/c mice have been exposed to two unfiltered cigarettes a day, 5 days a week for 6 months. Results. The phenotype was characterized by lung mechanics, histology and gene expression. Tissue elastance (compliance) and resistance was observed to be significantly elevated in the cigarette smoke-exposed mice compared to untreated controls. Histologically, airspace size in lungs of smoke exposed mice assessed by mean Linear Intercept and percent area of tissue was significantly decreased and increased respectively compared to controls. Inflammatory cell counting resulted in a significant increase in neutrophils in experimental mice. Assessment of Collagen type I clearly demonstrated a prominent interstitial deposition in smoke-exposed mice compared to controls. Conclusions. These data demonstrate that BALB/c mice are susceptible to the development of pulmonary fibrosis following chronic cigarette smoke exposure. This model could be an important contribution to the study of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in humans.

No description available.

The goal of this thesis was to elucidate the physicochemical and metabolic bases of Hyperapobetalipoproteinemia (HyperapoB). This disorder, which is likely the commonest metabolic abnormality associated with premature coronary artery disease, was defined as a combination of a normal, or near-normal, LDL cholesterol in the face of an elevated LDL apoB. / LDL, even in normals, is heterogeneous. The experimental findings herein confirm this. They also extend this concept to indicate that familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and HyperapoB each imprint LDL in different and characteristic ways, each an exaggeration of the typical relations between LDL composition and size in normals. At one extreme is HyperapoB, which is characterized by most of the LDL particles being smaller and denser than normal because they contain less cholesteryl ester but the same amount of apoB as normal. At the other is FH, which is characterized by larger, cholesteryl ester-enriched particles. There is, as well, a predictable relation between LDL particle size and the immunoreactivity of certain apoB epitopes. / Turnover studies of hepatic apoB using traditional analytic models showed that hepatic apoB is overproduced in HyperapoB, a finding which stands in marked contrast to the impaired catabolism of apoB in FH. A new multi-compartmental model of LDL metabolism has been developed which appears to elucidate several of the basic mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of HyperapoB. All the data to date indicate that the characteristic abnormalities of LDL in HyperapoB are all consequences of the overproduction of hepatic apoB. Obviously, the goal for future research must be to understand the basis for this overproduction. A preliminary study with adipose tissue suggested that the overproduction of hepatic apoB might be secondary to a defect in peripheral tissue triglyceride biosynthesis.

The general aim of the experiments conducted for this thesis was to determine whether there are morphological changes in the innervation of the skin underlying states of neuropathic pain. More specifically, this thesis was immediately addressing the question of whether autonomic fibers sprout de novo into the upper dermis of the rat lower lip following bilateral chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the mental nerve, a purely sensory branch of the trigeminal. In addition to the main objective, we sought to determine whether and to what extent the peptidergic and non-peptidergic populations of primary afferent sensory fibres were affected following CCI. Due to the results we obtained, we also tested for any up regulation of the high-affinity NGF receptor trkA on primary afferent fibres following CCI as a possible trigger for the sprouting of both sympathetic and peptidergic fibres. Most importantly, we wanted to determine if there was a behavioural correlate to the different patterns of innervation observed by both autonomic and primary afferent fibers following CCI. / Our findings indicate that 4 weeks following CCI injury of the mental nerve there is an abundant sprouting of both sympathetic and parasympathetic fibres into the upper dermis, a region of skin from which they are normally absent. In addition, we have demonstrated that peptidergic population of nociceptive fibres display a robust sprouting into the upper dermis which is maximal at the same time point as autonomic fibre migration. Interestingly however, we also demonstrate that in the epidermis, both populations of sensory fibers experience a significant decrease in density at 2 weeks post-CCI, followed by fibre re-growth at levels above those seen in sham-operated animals at 4 weeks post-CCI; however, this increase was only statistically significant for the nonpeptidergic population. Furthermore, the high-affinity NGF receptor, trkA, is up-regulated on CGRP-IR fibres with a peak at 4 weeks post CCI. Finally, we observed behavioural evidence for spontaneous pain or dysesthesiae at the time point when there is sprouting of both autonomic and sensory fibres.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Biology, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: B, page: 4236. Adviser: Ellen D. Ketterson. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Apr. 21, 2008).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Biology, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-09, Section: B, page: 5665. Adviser: Roderick A. Suthers. Title from dissertation home page (viewed May 8, 2008).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Santa Cruz, 2005. / (UnM)AAI3194057. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-11, Section: B, page: 5851. Adviser: Daniel P. Costa.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: B, page: 3581. Advisers: Esmail Meisami; Philip Best. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-117) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: B, page: 4186. Adviser: Mike Ellis. Includes bibliographical references. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.