Rapid in-office and in-vivo desensitization of an injection phobia utilizing hypnosis.

Above pH 8.5, pepsinogen is converted into a form which cannot be activated to pepsin on exposure to low pH. Intermediate exposure to neutral pH, however, returns the protein to a form which can be activated. Evidence is presented for a reversible, small conformational change in the molecule, distinct from the unfolding of the protein. At the same time, the molecule is converted to a form of limited solubility, which is precipitated at low pH, where activation is normally seen. The results are interpreted in terms of the peculiar structure of the pepsinogen molecule. Titration of the basic NH2-terminal region produced an open form, which can return to the native form at neutral pH, but which is maintained at low pH by neutralization of carboxylate groups in the pepsin portion. The determination of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase by a reaction rate assay using optimal reaction conditions at 37 degrees is described. Specific conditions and instrument settings are described for the LKB Reaction Rate Analyser but the actual assay conditions are applicable to any similar reaction rate system. The precision of the method has been evaluated and a reference range for normal male (less than 45 U/l) and female (less than 30 U/l) subjects determined.