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Bombesin (BN) injected to sodium depleted rats either centrally, particularly into the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) or peripherally by intraperitoneal (IP) route, exerts a potent inhibitory effect on the intake of 2% sodium chloride. To determine whether the area postrema (AP) and the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN), which are known to be involved in the control of ingestive behavior, could be sites for the antinatiorexic activity of BN, we studied the effects of injections of this peptide into the LPBN or, by IP or fourth ventricular route, to surgically AP-lesioned rats. We observed that in sodium depleted rats: 1) injected into the LPBN at a dose of 50, but not of 25, ng per nucleus, BN significantly reduced the intake of 2% sodium chloride; 2) administered either intraperitoneally or into the fourth brain ventricle, BN induced a potent antinatriorexic effect in AP-sham lesioned animals; and 3) in the same experimental conditions, surgical ablation of the AP did not reduce the antinatriorexic effect of the peptide. These data indicate that the LPBN may be, with the PVN, a site for the BN-ergic inhibitory control of salt appetite and that the AP, which has been implicated in BN-induced anorexia, does not play a role in the antinatriorexic effect of this peptide.

In 12 patients with superior vena cava syndrome secondary to malignant disease, duplex Doppler ultrasound (US) was performed in the internal mammary veins. In all patients, flow was retrograde. After stent placement, flow direction was again antegrade on one side (17%) or both sides (83%). During follow-up in the internal mammary veins, blood flow remained unchanged in 10 patients and retrograde flow recurred in two patients at 2 and 5 months, respectively. In these two patients, helical computed tomography showed stent failure. Successful treatment in one patient normalized the direction of flow in the internal mammary vein. Doppler US in the internal mammary veins allowed accurate evaluation of function of superior vena cava stents.

Transcatheter chemoembolization with various drugs is employed for palliative treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. Thirty-seven patients (33 with Child A or B cirrhosis) were treated with 14 mg/m2 of Mitoxantrone and up to 20 ml of Lipiodol, followed by Gelfoam embolization as indicated. Sixty-nine cycles were given, with mean (+/-SD) Lipiodol and emulsified Mitoxantrone doses of 11.3 +/- 3.8 ml and 11.8 +/- 5.2 mg, respectively. Thirteen, 16, and 8 patients received one, two, and three cycles, respectively, with time intervals of 123 +/- 60 days. Thirty patients had Gelfoam embolization at the first cycle, 9 at the second and 4 at the third. At the first cycle, 10 patients underwent serial measurements of serum Mitoxantrone up to two hours after a full dose of emulsified drug. Drug levels resulted much lower than those reported after plain arterial infusion, with AUC levels (+/-SE) of 5924 +/- 1015 and 4381 +/- 429 ng/ml x 120 min in 6 and 4 cases treated with and without Gelfoam, respectively. No treatment related deaths occurred. Complications were mild and transient, including nausea vomiting in most cases, fever38 degrees C 67%, pain 74%, ascites 8% jaundice 3%, bleeding 3%, pancreatitis 3%, myelosuppression 44%, diarrhea 5%. Treatment response rate was 49% (including 16% minor response) with 16% early progressions. With a median follow-up of 12 months, the 12-month response duration and survival rates were 56% and 79% respectively. Transcatheter chemoembolization with Mitoxantrone deserves further evaluation in randomized studies.

Our previous studies have shown that i.c.v. injections of the selective tachykinin NK3 receptor agonist [Asp5,6,MePhe8]substance P(5,11), also referred to as NH2-senktide (NH2-SENK), inhibit salt intake in rats in a two-bottle intake test. The present study evaluated the effect of i.c.v. injections of NH2-SENK on intraoral intake and taste reactivity responses elicited by intraoral infusions of water or NaCl solutions (0.03, 0.15, 0.25 and 0.5 M) in sodium-replete rats. The effect of NH2-SENK on the intake of 0.03, 0.15 and 0.25 M NaCl solutions and of water was also evaluated in a two-bottle intake test. In this test, 31 ng/rat of NH2-SENK significantly reduced the intake of 0.15 and 0.25 M NaCl, but not that of water or of 0.03 M NaCl. The dose of 31 ng/rat of NH2-SENK reduced the intraoral intake of 0.25 and 0.5 M NaCl, while 125 ng/rat reduced the intraoral intake of 0.15, 0.25 and 0.5 M NaCl; neither dose reduced the intraoral intake of water or of 0.03 M NaCl. Taken together, these findings indicate that the effect of NH2-SENK on salt intake is dependent on the concentration of the NaCl solution offered; moreover, the intraoral intake data suggest that the effect of NH2-SENK on salt intake may be exerted to a large extent on the consummatory processes of salt ingestion. NH2-SENK, 31 or 125 ng/rat, altered taste reactivity responses shortly after the beginning of the intraoral infusion. The most peculiar effect was an increase in passive dripping during the first min of intraoral infusion of 0.15, 0.25 and 0.5 M, but not of water or of 0.03 M NaCl. This finding suggests that NH2-SENK elicits a prompt alteration of taste mechanisms for salt, which may account for its antinatriorexic action.

The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is an important cause of ocular disease. Ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) can be a progressive and recurring disease that can threaten visual function. We present 2 cases of recurrent OT in immunocompetent patients for whom prophylaxis prevented recurrence of disease.

Motivations. Metagenomics is experiencing an explosive improvement from the advent of high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies which allows an unprecedented large-scale identification of microorganisms living in almost every environment. In particular, the use of amplicon-based metagenomic approach to explore the diversity of fungal environmental communities is increasingly expanding. At the species level, a number of studies have used the non-conserved internal transcribed spacers (ITS) 1 and 2 of the ribosomal RNA genes cluster as genetic markers to explore the fungal taxonomic diversity. Particularly, ITS1 is gaining an increasing popularity as better discriminating species marker in Fungi because of its higher variability compared to ITS2. Starting from the total DNA extracted from any environmental sample, this locus can be easily amplified with taxonomically universal primers and sequenced by means of high-throughput next generation platforms. Reference databases and robust supporting taxonomies are crucial in assigning phylogenetic affiliation to the huge amount of produced sequences. Even if a large number of ITS1 sequences are collected in public databases, a specialized resource focused particularly on this region, where sequences identity, boundaries and taxonomic assignment are validated, is still needed at present. In this work we present ITSoneDB, a new comprehensive collection of ITS1 sequences belonging to Fungi Kingdom. Methods. ITSoneDB has been generated and populated using a multi-step Python workflow. In the first step the ribosomal RNA gene cluster sequences of Fungi including the target ITS1 region were retrieved from Genbank. Then, ITS1 start and end boundaries were extracted from the Features Tables annotations, if available. In order to infer, validate and, eventually, redesign the ITS1 location, Hidden Markov Model (HMM) profiles of flanking genes for 18S and 5.8S ribosomal RNA, generated from their reference alignments stored in RFAM database, were mapped on the entire collection of retrieved nucleotide sequences, by means of the hmmsearch tool from HMMER 3.0 package. Results. At present, ITSoneDB includes 405,433 taxonomically arranged sequence entries provided with ITS1 both start and end positions defined by GenBank annotations and/or HMM based method. ITSoneDB front-end is a JAVA platform-based website for data browsing and downloading. The database can be queried by species or taxon name, GenBank accession ID or by "expanding" the target rank on a detailed fungal taxonomical tree. The complete ITS1 sequences dataset collected in ITSoneDB is available in Fasta format and the users can extract and locally save all or selected queried ITS1 sequences for further analysis. Availability http://itsonedb.ba.itb.cnr.it/

Brain oxytocin (OT) has been suggested to be involved in the inhibition of sodium appetite in the rat. Sodium depleted male rats showed no decrease in sodium intake after they were given a pulse intracerebroventricular (pICV) injection of either OT (1 microgram/microliter) or the selective OT agonist Tyr4-Gly7OT (1 microgram/microliter). Administration of the OT selective antagonists, d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)-[Orn8]vasotocin and Compound VI [d(CH2)5,Tyr(Me)2,Thr4,Tyr-NH2(9)]OVT (1 microgram/microliter), did not further increase their sodium intake. On the other hand, sodium appetite of sodium depleted female rats were inhibited by the same dose of pICV OT but not by the selective agonist Tyr4-Gly7 OT (1 microgram/microliter). The reduction od sodium appetite in female rats may have been in part due to the competitive behavior of grooming that followed the OT injection. Nevertheless, the OT inhibition in females of the need-free sodium intake and of the sodium appetite that occurs after furosemide but not in adrenalectomized or DOCA treated rats, argue for a mechanism independent from angiotensin or aldosterone alone related sodium appetite and the mechanism involved in the suppression of these salt intakes remain to be clarified.

Cytomegalovirus retinitis is the most frequent ocular opportunistic infection in AIDS patients. In selected cases intravitreal injections of foscarnet may be the sole therapeutic possibility. The retinal toxicity of the drug, however, has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Our present study in the rabbit eye concerns the retinal toxicity of 2, 4, and 6 intravitreal injections of 3.6 mg of foscarnet, using ophthalmoscopy, histology and electrophysiology to evaluate retinal damage. The results show that foscarnet may be employed intravitreally without substantial damage to the retina, but only in short courses of injections when no other therapeutic possibility may be utilized.

The data relative to 13 years' experience with percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty (PTRA) in the 13 major interventional radiology centers in Italy were collected and analyzed to evaluate technical and clinical results. Our aim was to collect homogeneous results in a large series of patients, evaluating both the technical and the clinical success with a long-term follow-up (1 month-13 years). One thousand three hundred forty seven PTRA procedures (including 42 restenoses) in 1,073 patients were retrospectively reviewed. In 807 cases the cause of stenosis was atherosclerosis, in 442 cases fibromuscular dysplasia and in 24 cases arteritis in 12 cases, stenoses were present in patients that had undergone a surgical by-pass. Sixty-two stenoses in patients with solitary kidney and 102 in patients with renal failure were studied separately. The technical success (based on the morphology of the dilated tract) obtained in 91% of cases was considered, together with the clinical success (in 81% of cases), based on the decrease in blood pressure evaluated according to Martin's classification. The blood pressure values collected after the maneuver were also evaluated separately for the different types of stenosis etiology: atherosclerosis, fibromuscular dysplasia or arteritis; moreover, blood pressure was studied in solitary kidney patients and in those with renal failure. Complications were classified as major (4.2%) and minor (4.9%). The high success rate and the low incidence of complications we observed in our series suggest PTRA as the procedure of choice for high blood pressure patients with renal artery stenosis50% of the normal caliber.

A[Sar1, Ile7] AngIII, an angiotensin III analogue apparently devoid of any affinity for vascular angiotensin II (AngII) receptors, inhibits AngII-induced drinking but neither affects cellular dehydration-induced drinking nor produces any intake of water in water replete rats, suggesting that the dipsogenic effect of AngII is not of vascular origin. Thus, [Sar1, Ile7] AngIII is an interesting tool to study the central effects of AngII.

The present study investigated the involvement of capsaicin-sensitive sensory neurons on salt intake control in the rat, following capsaicin neonatal treatment. Capsaicin did not affect salt appetite induced by intramuscular injection of deoxycorticosterone enantate, or by intracranial injection of renin. Moreover, it did not alter salt preference of rats given access to a variety of NaCl concentrations, or the need-free salt intake of multidepleted male rats. On the other hand, in response to furosemide-induced sodium depletion, the salt intake of capsaicin-treated rats was lower than that of controls. However, furosemide-induced Na+ excretion of capsaicin-treated rats proved to be lower than that of controls, thus suggesting that difference in salt intake might be secondary to lower sensitivity of capsaicin-treated rats to the natriuretic action of furosemide. Salt intake is known to be influenced by sensory information from the oral cavity, from the liver and from the intravascular compartment. The absence of effect of capsaicin neonatal treatment suggests that sensory fibers relevant to salt intake control may not be capsaicin sensitive. On the other hand, our findings indicate that capsaicin treatment alters the renal response to furosemide and stimulate further studies on the effects of capsaicin on renal function.

The present study was aimed at investigating which tachykinin receptor subtypes mediate the inhibitory effects of tachykinins a) on salt intake induced by sodium depletion, b) on water intake induced by subcutaneous hypertonic NaCl administration and c) on water intake induced by central angiotensin II injection. The study was carried out by evaluating the potency of action, following intracerebroventricular injection, of several peptides, including both naturally occurring tachykinins and synthetic peptides selective for a given receptor subtype. The results obtained show different rank orders of potency of the agonists in the different behavioral tests, thus suggesting that different receptor subtypes are involved in the effects of tachykinins on water and salt intake. NK-3 receptors appear to be involved in the inhibitory effect of tachykinins on depletion-induced salt appetite. NK-2 receptors apparently mediate the inhibitory effect of tachykinins on drinking induced by hyperosmotic NaCl administration, while NK-1 receptors are probably involved in the inhibition of angiotensin H-induced drinking.

The intracerebroventricular injection of eledoisin (ELE), or of other tachykinins with potent agonist activity at neurokinin B (NK-3) receptors, increases plasma vasopressin in the rat. The effect is antagonized by saralasin pretreatment, thus suggesting that it is mediated by angiotensin receptor activation. Since the magnocellular part of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is very rich in NK-3 receptors, the present study was aimed at investigating the role of this nucleus in the effect of ELE on plasma vasopressin. Direct injection of ELE into the PVN increased plasma vasopressin levels more potently than the injection of the same doses into the lateral ventricle. Lesioning of the magnocellular part of the PVN completely abolished the increase in plasma vasopressin induced by the injection of ELE 100 ng/rat into the lateral ventricle. Pretreatment into the PVN either with saralasin or with captopril resulted in a marked suppression of the effect of ELE on plasma vasopressin. These findings indicate the PVN as a site of action for the central effect of tachykinins on plasma vasopressin and suggest that the angiotensin mediation of the effect might take place in the same nucleus.

Neurokinin A (NKA), which selectively inhibits only cellular dehydration (CD)-induced drinking in adult rats, exerts a more general antidipsogenic effect in pups in which it also inhibits drinking induced by angiotensin II (AII) or suckling deprivation (SD). The inhibition of drinking is precocious (1st-3rd day) and never involves the intake of milk. The inhibition of CD-induced drinking increases with age, while that of AII- or SD-induced drinking progressively decreases and disappears on day 12-15. In the rat, NKA is therefore a precocious and selective inhibitor of drinking behavior and its selectivity is achieved ontogenetically.

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disease characterized by enhanced immune responses at sites of involvement. To elucidate the immunopathogenesis of ophthalmic lesions, cell infiltrates in biopsies from conjunctiva and other tissues involved (lungs, lymph nodes, skin) were studied in 26 patients with active sarcoidosis in order to define the surface phenotype and the distribution of cells in granulomatous lesions. Biopsy specimens were also stained for detection of immunoglobulins, complement and fibrinogen deposits. The data demonstrate a lymphocytes/macrophages interaction in the central core of granulomatous areas as the crucial event that initiates the maintains the state of inflammation: at all sites of disease activity is present a compartmentalization of T-cells expressing a helper-related phenotype which account for the great majority of infiltrating cells both in the early lesions (aggregate of macrophages surrounded by lymphocytic infiltrate) and in well-organized sarcoid granulomata. The presence of plasma cells and immunoglobulin deposits may represent an epiphenomenon in line with the helper infiltration, suggesting a local hyper-reactivity of the B-cells immune system. This study suggests some immunopathogenetic mechanisms leading to the formation and growth of conjunctival sarcoid granulomata.

channel agonist BayK 8644 also changes the biosynthesis of the various constituents in a distinct pattern. The soluble proteins chromogranin B, neuropeptide Y and VGF show a significant induction of their mRNAs already within 24 h. The mRNA levels of the partly membranebound components carboxypeptidase H and glycoprotein III are significantly enhanced after 6 days, while the peptidylglycine a-amidating monooxygenase mRNA increases already after 1 day.

The effects on the main salivary glands of the chronic administration of the naturally occurring peptides eledoisin (ELS) and physalaemin (PHYS) to rats were studied. Our experiments showed that: (1) chronic administration of PHYS, but not of ELS, produced enlargement of the main salivary glands; (2) chronic treatment with ELS did not modify, whilst chronic treatment with PHYS reduced, glandular sensitivity to single injections of ELS; (3) amylase activity of saliva from chronically ELS-treated rats exceeded amylase activity of saliva obtained from controls or chronically PHYS-treated rats, regardless of the inducer employed; (4) in our experimental conditions not only was PHYS a stronger agonist than ELS on a molar basis, but it also produced a saliva chemically different from the one evoked by ELS. The possible role of these modifications in determining the therapeutic effect of PHYS and ELS was discussed.

In this paper the effect on water intake of intracerebroventricular administration of the naturally occurring endecapeptide physalaemin is reported. Drinking was induced by intracerebroventricular injection of angiotensin II (100 ng/rat) or carbachol (300 ng/rat), water deprivation or NaCl load. Physalaemin produced a dose-dependent inhibition of water intake induced by angiotensin II. The inhibition was virtually complete at the dose of 500 ng/rat. The minimum dose employed (50 ng/rat) produced a 6% drinking inhibition. Physalaemin inhibited drinking induced by carbachol. The threshold dose was 125 ng rat . A virtually complete inhibition was produced by physalaemin, 1μg. The effect was dose-dependent. In water deprived rats 10 μg, but not lower doses, of the peptide produced a significant inhibition of water intake. The effect was short-lasting and ceased 30 min after the injection. Physalaemin was completely ineffective in sodium chloride-loaded rats, in spite of the very large doses employed (up to 5 mg/rat). The results of these experiments demonstrate that physalaemin is a potent antidipsogenic agent, but do not allow any conclusion to be made about the mechanism of its inhibitory effect. However, it is reasonable to propose that the effect is specific to the CNS and not simply due to the very marked vascular activity of the peptide.

The tachykinins, eledoisin and physalaemin, given by intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection have been shown to be potent antidipsogenic agents in rats. To evaluate their selectivity of action on rat ingestive behaviors, we compared their effects following i.c.v. injection on the intake of water, of milk containing 3·5 or 15% fat, and of solid food. The two tachykinins inhibited water intake induced by i.c.v. angiotensin II or by cellular dehydration, but did not reduce the intake of 15% fat milk or of solid food. The intake of 3·5% fat milk was inhibited only by the highest dose (1000 ng/rat) of eledoisin which also increased grooming and locomotion. The present findings suggest that in adult rats central eledoisin and physalaemin exert a selective suppressive effect on drinking behavior without affecting feeding.

Bombesin, injected intracerebroventricularly, evoked a potent dipsogenic response in the pigeon. The effect was dose-dependent and apparently specific since no other behavioural alteration was ever observed. The findings suggest that endogenous bombesin-like peptides may be involved in the control of water intake in the pigeon.

Summary The dipsogenic potency of six C-terminal partial sequences of bombesin was determined in pigeons and ducks. The C-terminal endeca-, deca- and nona-peptides were approximately as active as bombesin. The elimination of six or more N-terminal aminoacids of bombesin molecule dramatically reduced the effect on drinking behaviour. Our data confirm the structure-activity relationships for bombesin reported by other authors.

Summary The intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of bombesin to rats, besides inhibiting water and food intake, produced intense grooming, alteration of explorative behaviour and of spontaneous motor activity, but neither neurological nor autonomic modifications. Experimental data suggest that the antidipsogenic effect of bombesin is specific and cannot be considered a mere consequence of other specific or aspecific behavioural alterations.

Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of kassinin produced a prompt and copious drinking response at doses of 10-1000 ng/pigeon, in the absence of other behavioural alterations or of changes in core temperature. Neurokinin A and B evoked drinking, but they were respectively 10 and 100 times less potent than kassinin. Intraperitoneal injection of kassinin elicited drinking, but at doses about 1000 X larger than the i.c.v. ones. The angiotensin antagonist [Sar1, Leu8]angiotensin II did not reduce drinking induced by i.c.v. kassinin, suggesting that its effect is not due to interaction with the central renin-angiotensin system. Moreover, the effect is apparently independent of the mechanisms controlling hypovolaemic and hyperosmotic thirst since exact additivity was found in the dipsogenic response when i.c.v. kassinin was administered in the presence of a hypovolaemic (subcutaneous (s.c.), polyethylene glycol) or hyperosmotic (s.c. hypertonic NaCl) dipsogenic stimulus. The present findings show that kassinin, neurokinin A and B share with the tachykinins already tested (eledoisin, physalaemin, substance P) a common dipsogenic action in pigeons. However, marked differences exist in their dipsogenic potency. This order of potency, eledoisin = kassinin = physalaemin greater than neurokinin A = substance P greater than neurokinin B, is not consistent with the tachykinin receptor subtypes so far proposed.

Summary The antidipsogenic effect and the vasopressin releasing effect of ELS and LEN were studied in WSTR, HEBR and HOBR rats. The results of these experiments suggest for these substances a common or similar mechanism of action. Conversely, they suggest that their antidipsogenic effect is independent from the neuro-hypophyseal control of water conservation.

The results of the present study show that the intracerebroventricular injection of neurokinin A elicited a selective antidipsogenic effect in the rat. Neurokinin A proved to be an extremely potent inhibitor of drinking elicited by subcutaneous administration of hypertonic NaCl, and produced also a statistically-significant inhibition of food-associated drinking. On the other hand, it did not affect drinking evoked by other dipsogenic determinants, such as water deprivation and intracerebroventricular injection of carbachol or of angiotensin II. Thus, neurokinin A shows a spectrum of antidipsogenic activity clearly different from that of substance P, the other mammalian tachykinin so far tested on drinking behaviour in the rat, which appears to be a non-selective antidipsogenic agent. The findings of the present study suggest that different tachykinins, endogenous to the brain of the rat, might subserve distinct roles in the control of drinking behaviour.

The effects of crinia-angiotensin II on water intake and arterial blood pressure were investigated in conscious rats and pigeons. Injected by intravenous route to rats and pigeons, crinia-angiotensin II produced a hypertensive response practically identical to that induced by intravenous angiotensin II. Injected by intracerebroventricular route crinia-angiotensin II proved to be as active as angiotensin II in eliciting water intake in pigeons, while being less effective in rats. These findings, while demonstrating that naturally occurring angiotensins may be as active as angiotensin II itself in eliciting drinking, suggest that different molecular requirements must be satisfied to activate the angiotensin receptors for drinking in rats and pigeons.

1. The effect on water intake of intracranial injections of Substance P was studied in the rat. 2. Substance P strongly inhibited drinking elicited by Angiotensin II, Carbachol water deprivation or sodium chloride load, in that order. 3. The peptide was particularly effective when water intake was induced by injections of Angiotensin II into the preoptic area. In these experiments, drinking was inhibited by doses of Substance P as low as 1 ng. 4. The results suggest that in the rat Substance P may play a role in the brain in the regulation of water intake, acting as a thirst inhibitor.

The effects of gantrisin on oedema-forming and muscle-stimulating activity of eledoisin and physalaemin were studied. Both in vivo and in vitro the sulfanilamide caused a dose-dependent inhibition of the peptides' effects. The antagonism appeared to be of the non competitive as well as of the non specific type.

The angiotensin II analogues Sar 1 ,Ile 8 -,Sar 1 ,Leu 8 - and, to a lesser extent, Sar 1 ,Ala 8 - and Sar 1 -Gly 8 -angiotensin II proved to inhibit angiotensin-induced drinking in the pigeon, but did not significantly affect drinking induced by eledoisin or bombesin. The results suggest that the dipsogenic response elicited by bombesin or eledoisin, although almost identical to that evoked by angiotensin II, is mediated by the activation of central receptors different from those of angiotensin-induced drinking. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that several peptidergic mechanisms are involved in the regulation of water intake.

The effects of caerulein and related substances on the gastro-duodenal junction of the anaesthetized rat were examined by means of three different techniques. Caerulein appeared to be endowed with a potent spasmogenic action on the pyloric sphincter; the threshold dose was as low as 1–5 ng/kg. The C-terminal octapeptide of cholecystokinin was approximately half as active. Desulphated caerulein retained only 1% of the activity of the mother substance, pentagastrin was twice as active as desulphated caerulein. Secretin had a noticeable spasmogenic activity whereas prostaglandin E1 showed a remarkable spasmolytic effect against the pyloric contraction elicited by caerulein. Results obtained with parasympatholytic and sympatholytic drugs suggested that the activity of caerulein is a ‘direct’ one independent of the autonomic nervous system.

1. Physalaemin, an endecapeptide recently found in the skin of the South American amphibian Physalaemus fuscumaculatus, possesses, besides a marked hypotensive action and a powerful sialogogic activity, also a stimulant activity on other exocrine secretions. 2. Exocrine structures which were more potently stimulated by the peptide were lacrimal glands and exocrine pancreas. In the anaesthetized dog the threshold lacrimatory dose was 0·05-0·3 μg/kg; in the rat the threshold dose was 2·5-5 μg/kg. The minimum active dose on exocrine pancreas of the dog was 0·05-0·5 μg/kg. 3. Physalaemin did not influence the gastric acid secretion of the dog at the maximum tolerated dose (40 μg/kg). Gastric acid secretion of the rat was stimulated very little if at all. 4. In the dog the peptide caused some changes in the bile flow which were connected more with contracture of the gall-bladder than with a true secretory stimulant activity. In the rat the peptide was completely ineffective. 5. The results obtained after administration of sympatholytic and parasympatholytic agents suggest that the action of the peptide is at least partly independent from the autonomic nervous system.

Beim Hund wird nachgewiesen, das eine Reizung der visceral-reflektorischen Gebiete (Sinus caroticus, Gallenblase, Choledochus) Veranderungen des Koronarkreislaufes hervorruft, die jedoch unabhangig vom Arteriendruck und von der Herzfrequenz sind. Der Koronarkreislauf wird durch einen in den Sinus caroticus eingefuhrten Thermistor-Fluximeter (nachCasella undDe Caro) kontrolliert. Der Reizeinflus zeigt sich oft in Form von Periodizitats- und Rhythmusanderungen der Spontanschwankungen der Koronardurchblutung, die normalerweise Druckschwankungen zweiter und dritter Ordnung begleiten. Wenn die reflektorischen Gebiete besonders stark und lange gereizt werden, so ist fast immer eine auffallige Herabsetzung der Koronardurchblutung zu beobachten.

Summary Some natural and synthetic caerulein-like peptides were tested in the dog for their ability to stimulate insulin secretion. Most of the compounds examined were less active than caerulein. One natural peptide, namely phyllocaerulein, and one synthetic heptapeptide were found to be 3 and 13 times respectively more potent than caerulein. Structure/activity relationship is discussed and the importance of some amino acid residues and partial sequences is emphasized.