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- Henriquez-Hernandez, L. A., et al.
(author)
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Role of pituitary hormones on 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol-induced cholestasis in rat
- 2007
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In: Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. - : American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). - 0022-3565 .- 1521-0103. ; 320:2, s. 695-705
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Estrogens cause intrahepatic cholestasis in susceptible women during pregnancy, after administration of oral contraceptives, or during postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy. 17 alpha-Ethinylestradiol ( EE) is a synthetic estrogen widely used to cause experimental cholestasis in rodents with the aim of examining molecular mechanisms involved in this disease. EE actions on the liver are thought to be mediated by estrogen receptor alpha ( ER alpha) and pituitary hormones. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing metabolic changes induced by EE in livers from hypophysectomized ( HYPOX) and hypothyroid rats. Microarray studies revealed that the number of genes regulated by EE was increased almost 4-fold in HYPOX rat livers compared with intact males. Little overlap was apparent between the effects of EE in intact and HYPOX rats, demonstrating that pituitary hormones play a critical role in the hepatic effects of EE. Consistently, hypophysectomy protects the liver against induction by EE of serum bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase, two markers of cholestasis and hepatotoxicity and modulates the effects of EE on several genes involved in bile acid homeostasis ( e. g., FXR, SHP, BSEP, and Cyp8b1). Finally, we demonstrate a novel mechanism of action of EE through binding and negative regulation of glucocorticoid receptor-mediated transcription. In summary, pituitary- and ER alpha- independent mechanisms contribute to development of EE-induced changes in liver transcriptome. Such mechanisms may be relevant when this model of EE-induced cholestasis is evaluated. The observation that the pharmacological effects of estrogen in liver differ in the absence or presence of the pituitary could be clinically relevant, because different drugs that block actions of pituitary hormones are now available.
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| 2. |
- Olmos, R., et al.
(author)
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Anomalous emissions of SO2 during the recent eruption of Santa Ana volcano, El Salvador, Central America
- 2007
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In: Pure and Applied Geophysics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0033-4553 .- 1420-9136. ; 164:12, s. 2489-2506
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Santa Ana volcano in western El Salvador, Central America, had a phreatic eruption at 8:05 am (local time) on October 1, 2005, 101 years after its last eruption. However, during the last one hundred years this volcano has presented periods of quiet degassing with fumarolic activity and an acidic lake within its crater. This paper presents results of frequent measurements of SO2 degassing using the MiniDOAS (Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy) system and a comparison with the volcanic seismicity prior to the eruption, during, and after the eruption. Vehicle measurements of SO2 flux were taken every hour during the first nine days of the eruption and daily after that. The period of time reported here is from August to December, 2005. Three periods of degassing are distinguished: pre-eruptive, eruptive, and post-eruptive periods. The intense activity at Santa Ana volcano started in July 2005. During the pre-eruptive period up to 4306 and 5154 ton/day of SO2 flux were recorded on October 24 and September 9, 2005, respectively. These values were of the same order of magnitude as the recorded values just after the October 1(st) eruption (2925 ton/day at 10: 01 am). Hourly measurements of SO2 flux taken during the first nine days after the main eruptive event indicate that explosions are preceded by an increase in SO2 flux and that this parameter reaches a peak after the explosion took place. This behavior suggests that increasing accumulation of exsolved magmatic gases occurs within the magmatic chamber before the explosions, increasing the pressure until the point of explosion. A correlation between SO2 fluxes and RSAM (Real Time Seismic Amplitude Measurements) is observed during the complete sampling period. Periodic fluctuations in the SO2 and RSAM values during the entire study period are observed. One possible mechanism explaining these fluctuations it that convective circulation within the magmatic chamber can bring fresh magma periodically to shallow levels, allowing increasing degasification and then decreasing degasification as the batch of magma lowers its gas content, becomes denser, and sinks to give space to a new magma pulse. These results illustrate that the measurements of SO2 flux can provide important warning signals for incoming explosive activity in active volcanoes.
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