No abstract

When rat muscles were incubated in Ca2+-free media, their rates of protein break-down were significantly lower than in complete medium (2.58 mM Ca2+). Dantrolene and 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic acid 8-(diethylamino)octyl ester, inhibitors of Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, also reduced muscle proteolysis. When Ca2+ was added (up to 5.16 mM), proteolysis increased progressively up to 70% in the intact soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles and up to 300% in the cut diaphragm preparation. Addition of Ca2+ did not affect the muscles' ATP or phosphocreatine content and increased protein synthesis slightly or not at all. Sr2+, Ba2+, and Mn2+ also increased proteolysis, but were less effective than Ca2+. Mg2+ inhibited the enhancement of proteolysis by Ca2+. This stimulation by Ca2+ was not affected by inhibitors of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels, calmodulin, metalloendoproteases, microfilament or microtubule formation, or mersalyl. High Ca2+ levels also increased prostaglandin (PG) E2 production, although a rise in PGE2 did not appear essential for the increased proteolysis. The proteolysis induced by Ca2+ was prevented in muscles treated with Ep-475 or leupeptin. By contrast, these inhibitors of thiol proteases did not affect protein breakdown in Ca2+-free medium. Thus extracellular Ca2+ activates and Mg2+ inhibits a proteolytic pathway involving thiol proteases.

No abstract

Anecdotal reports suggest that smoking may be beneficial for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as nicotine may act through inflammatory mediators within the colonic mucosa. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that cytokines play a pathologic role in IBD. Our aim was to determine the effects of cigarette smoking on cytokine levels in the colonic mucosa of patients with and without IBD. Mucosal biopsies were obtained from 10 patients with Crohn's disease (CD), 10 with ulcerative colitis (UC), and 10 healthy controls. Five of 10 patients in each of the three groups were smokers and five were nonsmokers. Concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-2, IL-6, and IL-8 were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cytokine levels of smokers were compared with nonsmokers in each group and with controls. Results were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test; significance was set at p<0.05. The concentration of IL-8 was significantly higher in healthy controls who smoke compared with nonsmokers and significantly reduced in smokers with CD compared with nonsmokers with CD. Moreover, concentrations of IL-1beta and IL-8 were significantly reduced in smokers with UC compared with nonsmokers with UC. Smokers had significantly elevated levels of IL-8 in the colonic mucosa. Smokers with IBD had a significant reduction in cytokine levels; specifically, IL-1beta and IL-8 for patients with UC and IL-8 for patients with CD. Further studies are warranted to determine if this reduction in cytokine levels is histologically and clinically significant.