‘Here come “Chelsea” of Sweden’:Djurgården football club on tour in apartheid South Africa

In this article we argue that while apartheid, boycotts and South African sport have received significant coverage and focus, this has primarily been restricted to Britain and former white colonies of the Commonwealth such as Australia and New Zealand. In addition, sports such as cricket and rugby receive most attention. We argue that it is useful to consider other countries and sports engaged in apartheid South Africa. We consider Swedish engagement with apartheid South Africa and focus the case study of our analysis on the tour by champions Djurgården to the country in 1955. The tourists received favourable and widespread support in South Africa and Sweden. Yet towards the end of the tour sections of the Swedish press asked critical and probing questions of the club's tour to South Africa. We contend that the tour can be viewed as naïve and apolitical and in a similar vein to the organization of Swedish sports at that time. Only after the intensification of suppression of opposition to apartheid in South Africa from the 1960s onwards do we see a change in stance on the part of Swedish sports authorities. © 2013 © 2013 The British Society of Sports History.

Novel dipeptidyl peptidase IV resistant analogues of glucagon-like peptide-1(7-36)amide have preserved biological activities in vitro conferring improved glucose-lowering action in vivo

Although the incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a potent stimulator of insulin release, its rapid degradation in vivo by the enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) greatly limits its potential for treatment of type 2 diabetes. Here, we report two novel Ala8-substituted analogues of GLP-1, (Abu8)GLP-1 and (Val8)GLP-1 which were completely resistant to inactivation by DPP IV or human plasma. (Abu8)GLP-1 and (Val8)GLP-1 exhibited moderate affinities (IC50: 4.76 and 81.1 nM, respectively) for the human GLP-1 receptor compared with native GLP-1 (IC50: 0.37 nM). (Abu8)GLP-1 and (Val8)GLP-1 dose-dependently stimulated cAMP in insulin-secreting BRIN BD11 cells with reduced potency compared with native GLP-1 (1.5- and 3.5-fold, respectively). Consistent with other mechanisms of action, the analogues showed similar, or in the case of (Val8)GLP-1 slightly impaired insulin releasing activity in BRIN BD11 cells. Using adult obese (ob/ob) mice, (Abu8 )GLP-1 had similar glucose-lowering potency to native GLP-1 whereas the action of (Val8)GLP-1 was enhanced by 37%. The in vivo insulin-releasing activities were similar. These data indicate that substitution of Ala8 in GLP-1 with Abu or Val confers resistance to DPP IV inactivation and that (Val8)GLP-1 is a particularly potent N-terminally modified GLP-1 analogue of possible use in type 2 diabetes.

A collagen IV matrix is required for guinea pig gastric epithelial cell monolayers to provide an optimal model of the stomach surface for biopharmaceutical screening

The surface epithelial cells of the stomach represent a major component of the gastric barrier. A cell culture model of the gastric epithelial cell surface would prove useful for biopharmaceutical screening of new chemical entities and dosage forms. Primary cultures of guinea pig gastric mucous epithelial cells were grown on filter inserts (Transwells®) for 3 days. Tight-junction formation, assessed by transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and permeability of mannitol and fluorescein, was enhanced when collagen IV rather than collagen I was used to coat the polycarbonate filter. TEER for cells grown on collagen IV was close to that obtained with intact guinea pig gastric epithelium in vitro. Differentiation was assessed by incorporation of [ 3H]glucosamine into glycoprotein and by activity of NADPH oxidase, which produces superoxide. Both of these measures were greater for cells grown on filters coated with collagen I than for cells grown on plastic culture plates, but no major difference was found between cells grown on collagens I and IV. The proportion of cells, which stained positively for mucin with periodic acid Schiff reagent, was greater than 95% for all culture conditions. Monolayers grown on membranes coated with collagen IV exhibited apically polarized secretion of mucin and superoxide, and were resistant to acidification of the apical medium to pH 3.0 for 30 min. A screen of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs revealed a novel effect of diclofenac and niflumic acid in reversibly reducing permeability by the paracellular route. In conclusion, the mucous cell preparation grown on collagen IV represents a good model of the gastric surface epithelium suitable for screening procedures. © 2005 The Society for Biomolecular Screening.