Male Fischer rats (n=43) were used in a diet-diet/ exercise design to investigate the apparent protein sparing effects of exercise. The animals were divided into five groups: INITIAL (baseline), SEDENTARY (control), DIET, DIET/EXERCISE, and EXERCISE. Carcasses were analyzed for body composition, the blood for plasma alanine concentration and the urine for urea nitrogen concentration. The results showed no significant differences between groups in urinary urea nitrogen, plasma alanine, body weight, or carcass weights. The EXERCISE group had a significant increase in percent protein and a significant decrease in percent fat and grams of fat when compared to all other groups (p <.05).

Ten caucasian male quadriplegics were compared with eight sedentary caucasian male controls in regards to left ventricular dimensions and mass obtained from echocardiograrns. The interventricular septum (IVS), left ventricular posterior wall (LVPW) and left ventricular internal diameter (LVII) were within normal limits for both groups. However, the INS in the SCI were significantly thicker than controls (p <0.05). Myocardial thickness was larger in SCI subjects (p <0.05). Absolute left ventricular mass (LVM) and total left ventricular volume was not different ( p > 0.05), but SCI subjects had significantly greater LVM to lean body mass ratios. Echocardiographically, SCI patients demonstrate concentric hypertrophy. This suggests adaptive response to chronic increase in afterload pressure secondary to their daily activities and muscle spasticity.

Two separate experiments were designed to measure urinary cyclic AMP and renal papillary cyclic AMP, respectively, Results suggest that urinary cyclic AMP excretion rate is unchanged and cannot be used as an index of tubular sensitivity to either vasopressin or fluoride. However, renal papillary tissue cyclic AMP increased significantly (p<0.05) at plasma fluoride concentrations which result in polyuric renal failure. Further, it appears that fluoride independently stimulates cyclic AMP in the papilla, demonstrated by the additive effect with vasopressin. It was postulated that the defect in water reabsorption induced by fluoride must be at a step subsequent to the generation of cyclic AMP, because one would expect to see an antidiuresis, not a diuresis with increased tissue cyclic AMP.

A method for purification and radiolabelling phosphoglucose isomerase was devised in order to develop a sensitive quantitative radioimmunoassay for the detection of the enzyme irrespective of its catalytic activity. For four genetic variants of PGI no difference in the molecular specific activity was observed. In one variant (PGI-Denton), liver and heart tissue extracts, and in mature erythrocytes (as compared to normal erythrocytes), a decreased molecular specific activity was observed which initially may imply that these samples contain cross-reactive material which is not catalytically active.