Immunological (ovalbumin) and non-immunological (calcium ionophore A23187) stimulation of guinea pig trachea induces a prolonged contraction that is enhanced by indomethacin (8.5 microM) and inhibited by nordihydroguaiaretic acid (50 microM) pretreatment of the tissue. The mediator released by the a...

Large-conductance calcium-dependent potassium (maxi-K) channels play an important role in regulating the tone of airway smooth muscle and the release of bronchoconstrictive substances from nerves in the lung. Crude extracts of Desmodium adscendens, a medicinal herb used in Ghana as a treatment for a...

Sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis, Kroyer) are a major pathogen of farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). To obtain a better understanding of the host-parasite relationship, we compared protease secretions of L. salmonis into mucus collected from susceptible hosts (Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout, ...

The contractility of intestinal smooth muscle of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) acclimatized to temperatures of 7 and 14 degrees C was compared over a prolonged period of time (9 months) in freshwater. Initial studies were carried out on intestine isolated from Atlantic salmon to estimate optimal con...

Adult and mobile preadult sea lice L. salmonis were incubated with mucus samples from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), coho salmon (O. kisutch), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), and winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) to determine the response of L. salmonis to fish skin mucus as asses...

Skin surface mucus contains a number of biologically active substances, including proteinases, shown or suspected to have a role in the innate (nonantibody) defence system of fish. The objective of this study was to determine whether proteinase activity in the skin surface mucus of fish is altered a...

Enhancement of allergic tracheal constriction and contraction of the trachea by AA in the presence of cyclooxygenase inhibitors may reflect diversion of AA metabolism from the cyclooxygenase pathway.