Calcified deposits in joint structures have long been recognised radiographically and the early report of Werwath in 1928 drew attention to an association with synovitis. Further interest in the subject was stimulated by two clinical studies, the first presented in 1957 by Zitrian and Sit’aj (1963), who observed this combination in several families and named it “chondrocalcinosis articularis (f...

Ferric pyrophosphate citrate (Triferic) is a water-soluble iron salt that is administered via dialysate to maintain iron balance and hemoglobin in hemodialysis patients. This double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, single-, ascending-dose study was conducted to evaluate the pharmacokinetics and safety of intravenous ferric pyrophosphate citrate in 48 healthy iron-replete subjects (drug, n...

Casbene is a macrocyclic diterpene hydrocarbon that is produced in young castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) seedlings after they are exposed to Rhizopus stolonifer or other fungi. The activities of enzymes that participate in casbene biosynthesis were measured in cell-free extracts of 67-hour castor bean seedlings (a) that had been exposed to R. stolonifer spores 18 hours prior to the preparatio...

Recent studies on cholesterol biosynthesis have demonstrated that the biosynthesis of squalene from its immediate precursor, farnesyl pyrophosphate, is accompanied by the exchange of 1 hydrogen atom at C-l, in 1 of the 2 precursor molecules, for a hydride ion derived from reduced triphosphopyridine nucleotide (l-3). Thus, Popjak et al. obsrrved that the farnesol of farnesyl pyrophosphate biosyn...

Replacement of the thiazolium ring of thiamine pyrophosphate with a triazole gives extremely potent inhibitors of pyruvate decarboxylase from Z. mobilis, with K(I) values down to 20 pM; this system was used to explore pyrophosphate mimics and several effective analogues were discovered.

Sclerochoroidal calcification is an uncommon condition. Metabolic evaluation and clinical examination are important to exclude associated systemic conditions such as the Bartter and Gitelman syndromes. It has been suggested that the lesions seen in sclerochoroidal calcification are calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals. This report describes the first documented case in the UK of sclerochoro...

An inhibition in the conversion of mevalonate to cholesterol has been demonstrated in liver of cholesterol-fed rats by both in vitro and in vivo methods. Synthesis decreased to 30% of the control value after 1 week and 20% after 1 month on a 1% cholesterol diet. After a year, synthesis from mevalonate was almost completely inhibited. The rate of conversion of squalene to cholesterol was not con...

DNA-directed RNA polymerase from Escherichia coli can break down RNA by catalysing the reverse of the reaction: NTP + (RNA)n = (RNA)n+1 + PPi where n indicates the number of nucleotide residues in the RNA molecule, to yield nucleoside triphosphates. This reaction requires the ternary complex of the polymerase with template DNA and the RNA that it has synthesized. It is now shown that methyleneb...