CORRELATION OF FINE STRUCTURE AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE INNERVATION OF SMOOTH MUSCLE IN THE GUINEA PIG VAS DEFERENS

An electron microscope study of the innervation of smooth muscle of the guinea pig vas deferens was undertaken in order to find a structural basis for recent electrophysiological observations. The external longitudinal muscle coat was examined in transverse section. Large areas of the surfaces of adjacent muscle cells were 500 to 800 A apart. Closer contacts were rare. A special type of close contact suggested cytoplasmic transfer between neighbouring cells. Groups of non-myelinated axons from ganglia at the distal end of the hypogastric nerve ramified throughout the muscle. Some small axon bundles and single axons lay in narrow fissures within closely packed muscle masses. Many axons contained "synaptic vesicles." About 25 per cent of the muscle fibres in the plane of section were within 0.25 µ of a partly naked axon; of these 15 per cent were within 500 A of the axon, and about 1 per cent made close contact (200 A) with a naked axon. It is unlikely that every muscle fibre is in close contact with an axon, and it is not possible for every fibre to have many such contacts. Muscle fibres are probably activated by both diffusion of transmitter from naked portions of axons a fraction of a micron distant, and electrotonic spread of activity from neighbouring cells.     

PHYSIOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT OF THE CLIMACTERIC

Women in the climacteric should have a thorough medical investigation, reassurance, and endocrine therapy when indicated.Estrogens give prompt relief to the large number of women with sympathetic nervous system symptoms during the climacteric.Estrogens are most effective when given parenterally followed by short periods of oral administration.Estrogens should be given only for actual need and withdrawn after symptoms disappear.Androgens are useful in the immediate control of functional bleeding and also for alleviating symptoms in patients who respond poorly to estrogens or for whom estrogens are contraindicated.The addition of vitamin B to parenteral endocrine therapy apparently enhances the effect of the hormone.     

豚鼠卵巢囊淋巴孔的发现及卵巢囊超微结构研究

本实验通过扫描电镜等方法研究豚鼠卵巢囊及卵巢囊淋巴孔的结构,并探讨了卵巢囊及其淋巴孔的种属差异.实验结果首次报道豚鼠卵巢囊内、外层上皮均存在淋巴孔;豚鼠卵巢囊结构在输卵管走行、囊闭合程度及囊表面超微结构等方面与金仓鼠存在差异.结果提示豚鼠卵巢囊内、外层淋巴孔是沟通卵巢囊腔、卵巢囊淋巴系及腹膜腔的形态基础,可能是三者间物质转运的重要途径.卵巢囊淋巴孔可能影响物种的繁殖并参与囊腔内局部免疫反应.卵巢囊结构和发育程度与对应的输卵管伞端等结构及其他生殖特点相适应,研究结果丰富了生殖形态学和比较解剖学资料.