By use of the fetal mouse liver cell assay, serum erythropoietin (SEp) concentration was measured in 135 patients at various stages of chronic renal failure and in 59 healthy subjects. In patients with creatinine clearances (CCr) ranging from 2 to 40 ml/min/1.73 sq m, endocrine renal function was found to deteriorate in parallel to excretory renal function. The known negative correlation betwee...

In a previous work, we characterized a Crassostrea gigas cDNA (Cg-timp) encoding a protein which presents all the features of vertebrate tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP). The expression pattern of this gene led us to propose that Cg-timp is an important factor in oyster wound healing and defense mechanisms. Here we describe the analysis of Cg-timp expression in oysters challenged by...

Deladenus valveus n. sp., isolated from packaging wood originated from South Korea and intercepted in Ningbo, P.R. China, is described and illustrated. Both mycetophagous and infective forms were recovered and are described. The new species D. valveus n. sp. resembles other Deladenus species in which the excretory pore is situated anterior to the hemizonid: in mycetophagous females, the excreto...

The excretory transport of toxic ammonia across epithelia is not fully understood. This review presents data combined with models of ammonia excretion derived from studies on decapod crabs, with a view to providing new impetus to investigation of this essential issue. The majority of crabs preserve ammonotely regardless of their habitat, which varies from extreme hypersaline to freshwater aquat...