Ethanol abuse is associated with liver injury, neurotoxicity, modulation of immune responses, and increased risk for cancer, whereas moderate ethanol consumption exerts protective effects against liver injury. However, the underlying signal transduction mechanisms of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) which play an important regulatory role in various metabolism mechanisms are not well understood. We investigated the effects of ethanol-induced p42/44 activity on IGF-I secretion, IGF-I receptor and IGFBP-1 secretion using radioimmunoassay and western blotting in primary cultured rat hepatocytes.

The objective of this study was to identify a possible biochemical marker from bovine follicles with a diameter of more than 10 mm, which could be useful to identify dominant follicles in this species. Follicular liquid (FL) was aspirated from follicles with diameters less than 5 mm, between 5 and 10 mm and more than 10 mm, from both ovaries of 37 slaughtered bovine females. After aspiration, FL was conditioned in identified eppendorfs and frozen. The eletrophoretic patterns in SDS PAGE from FL proteins were determined and it was verified that, the follicles with more than 10 mm presented a polipeptide with a molecular weight between 39 and 43 KDa identified like the IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), which wasn't observed in follicles less than 5 mm and between 5 and 10 mm. This study suggests that this polipeptide may be utilized like a biochemical marker from follicles of more than 10 mm. | O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar um marcador bioquímico de folículos bovinos com diâmetro maior do que 10 mm, o qual poderia ser utilizado para identificar folículos dominantes nesta espécie. Líquido folicular era aspirado de folículos com diâmetros menores do que 5 mm, entre 5 e 10 mm e maiores do que 10 mm, provenientes de ovários de 37 fêmeas bovinas abatidas. Após aspiração, o líquido folicular (LF) era acondicionado em ependorfs etiquetados e congelados. Os padrões eletroforéticos em SDS-PAGE das proteínas do LF foram determinados e verificou-se que os folículos com diâmetro maior do que 10 mm apresentaram um polipeptídeo com PM entre 39 e 43 KDa identificado como a proteína ligante de IGF-3 (IGFBP-3), o qual não foi observado em folículos com diâmetro menor do que 5 mm e entre 5 e 10 mm. Este estudo sugere que este polipeptídeo possa ser utilizado como marcador bioquímico de folículos maiores do que 10 mm.