Leishmania donovani and Leishmania braziliensis grown in culture formed millimolar concentrations of allopurinol ribonucleoside 5'-monophosphate from [6-14C]allopurinol. In addition, allopurinol 1-ribonucleoside, oxipurinol riboside 5'-monophosphate, and three new metabolites of allopurinol, namely, 4-aminopyrazolo(3,4-d)pyrimidine ribonucleoside 5'-monophosphate and the corresponding di- and t...

Allopurinol therapy in man interferes with pyrimidine biosynthesis de novo by inhibition of one or both of the two enzymes, orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (OPRT) and orotidylic decarboxylase (ODC), responsible for the conversion of orotic acid to uridine-5'-monophosphate. Inhibition of this pathway in vivo is followed in 1-3 wk by an increase in the activity of both of these enzymes in eryth...

The endogenous reactive oxygen species ("ROS") formation is associated with many pathologic states such as inflammatory diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, brain and heart ischemic injuries, cancer, and aging. The purpose of this study was to investigate the endogenous sources for "ROS" formation in intact isolated rat hepatocytes, in particular, peroxisomal oxidases, monoamine oxidase, xanth...

The endogenous reactive oxygen species ("ROS") formation is associated with many pathologic states such as inflammatory diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, brain and heart ischemic injuries, cancer, and aging. The purpose of this study was to investigate the endogenous sources for "ROS" formation in intact isolated rat hepatocytes, in particular, peroxisomal oxidases, monoamine oxidase, xanth...

Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion is associated with bursts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as superoxide radicals (O(2)(-).). Membrane-associated NADH oxidase (NADHox) activity is a hypothetical source of O(2)(-)., implying the NADH concentration-to-NAD(+) concentration ratio ([NADH]/[NAD(+)]) as a determinant of ROS. To test this hypothesis, cardiac NADHox and ROS formation were measured ...

Hyperoxia increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in vascular endothelium; however, the mechanisms involved in ROS generation are not well characterized. We determined the role and regulation of NAD(P)H oxidase in hyperoxia-induced ROS formation in human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (HPAECs). Exposure of HPAECs to hyperoxia for 1, 3, and 12 h increased the generation of superox...

Arterial hypertension is associated with increased levels of reactive oxygen species, which may scavenge endothelium-derived NO and thereby diminish its vasorelaxant effects. However, the quantitatively relevant source of reactive oxygen species is unclear. Thus, this potential pathomechanism is not yet pharmacologically targetable. Several enzymatic sources of reactive oxygen species have been...

Ischemia is a major cause of brain damage, and patient management is complicated by the paradoxical injury that results from reoxygenation. We have now explored the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in hippocampal and cortical neurons in culture in response to oxygen and glucose deprivation or metabolic inhibition and reoxygenation. Fluorescence microscopy was used to measure the rate...

Hyperuricemia is commonly associated with traditional risk factors such as dysglicemia, dyslipidemia, central obesity and abnormal blood pressure, i.e. the metabolic syndrome. Concordantly, recent studies have revived the controversy over the role of circulating uric acid, hyperuricemia, and gout as an independent prognostic factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In this regard, dif...

The reductive metabolism of 2-nitrofluorene, a carcinogenic air pollutant, in rat skin microsomes and cytosol was investigated. 2-Nitrofluorene was reduced to the corresponding amine by the microsomes with NADPH and by the cytosol with 2-hydroxypyrimidine or 4-hydroxypyrimidine under anaerobic conditions. The cytosolic activity was much higher than that of skin microsomes. The 2- or 4-hydroxypy...