Effect of testosterone propionate on fine structure and gonadotrophin content of the female rat and hamster anterior pituitary

Summary The effect of long-term testosterone propionate treatment on the adult female rat and hamster anterior pituitary was investigated by means of combined bioassay and electron microscopy. In the rat, a marked hypertrophy and enhancement of secretory activity of FSH cells occurred which correlated well with a marked increase of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) stores. A moderate decrease of luteinizing hormone (LH) stores was not accompanied by changes in so-called LH cells. Alterations in acidophilic cell types were also observed. Somatotrophs were atrophic and showed evidence of decreased secretory activity, while lactotrophs appeared to be stimulated by testosterone treatment. There were similar changes in the hamster.     

Ultrastructural study of the pericardial organ-anterior ramifications complex neurosecretory terminals

Summary The pericardial organ-anterior ramifications complexes of Uca pugilator and Callinectus sapidus were studied by transmission electron microscopy. Five morphologically distinguishable groups of granules and two groups of vesicles were identified. These granules and vesicles are present in approximately the same proportions in the pericardial organs and anterior ramifications of both species. Two of the granule groups are never mixed in the same axon terminals and are believed to represent different hormone-protein complexes. The remaining granule and vesicle groups are believed to be products of neurosecretory hormone release. Evidence that at least some of these granules and vesicles arise from intraaxonal release of neurosecretory material is presented.This work was supported by USPHS-NIH Training Grant GM-00669 and by the University of Texas Institutional Grant No. 5 SO 1 RR 05426-11.     

不同手术时机治疗颅内前循环动脉瘤破裂疗效及预后分析

目的:比较不同手术时机治疗颅内前循环动脉瘤破裂患者的疗效及对患者远期预后的影响。方法:回顾性分析我院2010年3月~2015年10月收治的120例颅内前循环动脉瘤破裂患者的临床资料,所有患者均接受显微手术夹闭治疗,按手术时机分为超早期组(24 h,n=43)、早期组(24-72 h,n=36)、延期组(≥10 d,n=41),比较各组术后颅内动脉栓塞改善程度,统计各组术中及术后并发症发生情况,采用格拉斯哥量表(GOC)评定患者术后恢复情况,采用改良Rankin(m RS)表评定患者远期预后。结果:超早期组完全栓塞率略高于早期组、延期组,但对比差异无统计学意义(P0.05);超早期组术中、术后各并发症发生率略低于早期组、延期组,但对比差异无统计学意义(P0.05);术后6、12、24个月,超早期组、延期组GOS评分高于早期组、m RS评分低于早期组,超早期组GOS评分高于延期组,m RS评分低于延期组(P0.05)。结论:不同手术时机治疗颅内前循环动脉瘤破裂手术效果无明显差异,但超早期、延期手术患者术后恢复及预后评分稍优于早期手术。     

禄丰古猿前部牙齿的釉面横纹与牙冠形成时间

釉面横纹的数目可用于推断个体牙齿的牙冠形成时间,在生长发育研究中具有重要的意义。本研究运用数码体视显微镜和扫描电镜观察了云南石灰坝禄丰禄丰古猿(简称禄丰古猿)30枚齿冠完整的前部牙齿,包括上下颌中门齿6枚、侧门齿10枚和犬齿14枚。根据唇侧面釉面横纹计数的观察结果,分别以7天和9天芮氏线生长周期,估算各齿型的牙冠形成时间,结果显示:以生长周期7天计算,中门齿牙冠形成时间约为3.6-4.1年,侧门齿牙冠形成时间约为2.7-3.7年,犬齿牙冠形成时间约为4.2-7.0;以生长周期9天计算,中门齿牙冠形成时间约为4.4-5.2年,侧门齿牙冠形成时间约为3.4-4.7年,犬齿牙冠形成时间约为5.2-8.8年。为更深入地了解禄丰古猿牙冠形成时间在不同齿型及性别间足否存在明显差异,本文用SPSS软件对其进行显著性差异检验。采用小样本平均值的t值假设检验(置信区间为95%),结果如下:禄丰古猿前部牙齿的牙冠形成时间在各类牙齿的上下颌中不存在显著性差异;犬齿牙冠形成时间存在非常显著的性别差异,雄性牙冠形成时间明显长于雌性,侧门齿也存在显著的性别差异,而中门齿性别间则无显著性差异。此外对禄丰古猿中门齿,侧门齿和犬齿的牙冠形成时间进行单因素方差分析并两两对比,结果显示中门齿与侧门齿的牙冠形成时间不存在显著性差异,而犬齿与中门齿和侧门齿均存在显著性差异,犬齿牙冠形成时间明显长于门齿。同时也对禄丰古猿前部牙齿的牙冠形成时间与齿冠高进行相关性分析,其结果表明两者有显著的正相关性。将禄丰古猿与其他古猿和现生大猿、南方古猿以及人属成员进行对比,结果显示其前部牙齿牙冠形成时间长于原修康尔猿、南方古猿、傍人、人属成员,接近于蝴蝶禄丰古猿和大猩猩,而明显小于黑猩猩、华南化石猩猩及现生猩猩。     

Evolution of Otx paralogue usages in early patterning of the vertebrate head

To assess evolutional changes in the expression pattern of Otx paralogues, expression analyses were undertaken in fugu, bichir, skate and lamprey. Together with those in model vertebrates, the comparison suggested that a gnathostome ancestor would have utilized all of Otx1, Otx2 and Otx5 paralogues in organizer and anterior mesendoderm for head development. In this animal, Otx1 and Otx2 would have also functioned in specification of the anterior neuroectoderm at presomite stage and subsequent development of forebrain/midbrain at somite stage, while Otx5 expression would have already been specialized in epiphysis and eyes. Otx1 and Otx2 functions in anterior neuroectoderm and brain of the gnathostome ancestor would have been differentially maintained by Otx1 in a basal actinopterygian and by Otx2 in a basal sarcopterygian. Otx5 expression in head organizer and anterior mesendoderm seems to have been lost in the teleost lineage after divergence of bichir, and also from the amniotes after divergence of amphibians as independent events. Otx1 expression was lost from the organizer in the tetrapod lineage. In contrast, in a teleost ancestor prior to whole genome duplication, Otx1 and Otx2 would have both been expressed in the dorsal margin of blastoderm, embryonic shield, anterior mesendoderm, anterior neuroectoderm and forebrain/midbrain, at respective stages of head development. Subsequent whole genome duplication and the following genome changes would have caused different Otx paralogue usages in each teleost lineage. Lampreys also have three Otx paralogues; their sequences are highly diverged from gnathostome cognates, but their expression pattern is well related to those of skate Otx cognates.     

Mesenchymal stem cells and collagen patches for anterior cruciate ligament repair

AIM: To investigate collagen patches seeded with mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) and/or tenocytes(TCs) with regards to their suitability for anterior cruciate ligament(ACL) repair. METHODS: Dynamic intraligamentary stabilization utilizes a dynamic screw system to keep ACL remnants in place and promote biological healing, supplemented by collagen patches. How these scaffolds interact with cells and what type of benefit they provide has not yet been investigated in detail. Primary ACL-derived TCs and human bone marrow derived MSCs were seeded onto two different types of 3D collagen scaffolds, Chondro-Gide?(CG) and Novocart?(NC). Cells were seeded onto the scaffolds and cultured for 7 d either as a pure populations or as "premix" containing a 1:1 ratio of TCs to MSCs. Additionally, as controls, cells were seeded in monolayers and in co-cultures on both sides of porous high-density membrane inserts(0.4 μm). We analyzed the patches by real time polymerase chain reaction, glycosaminoglycan(GAG), DNA and hydroxyproline(HYP) content. To determine cell spreading and adherence in the scaffolds microscopic imaging techniques, i.e., confocal laser scanning microscopy(c LSM) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM), were applied.RESULTS: CLSM and SEM imaging analysis confirmed cell adherence onto scaffolds. The metabolic cell activity revealed that patches promote adherence and proliferation of cells. The most dramatic increase in absolute metabolic cell activity was measured for CG samples seeded with tenocytes or a 1:1 cell premix. Analysis of DNA content and c LSM imaging also indicated MSCs were not proliferating as nicely as tenocytes on CG. The HYP to GAG ratio significantly changed for the premix group, resulting from a slightly lower GAG content, demonstrating that the cells are modifying the underlying matrix. Real-time quantitativepolymerase chain reaction data indicated that MSCs showed a trend of differentiation towards a more tenogenic-like phenotype after 7 d.CONCLUSION: CG and NC are both cyto-compatible with primary MSCs and TCs; TCs seemed to perform better on these collagen patches than MSCs.     

Metric variability in the anterior dentition of African colobines

The anterior dentition of three species of African colobines (Colobus polykomos, C. badius, and C. verus) was investigated metrically and the results analyzed for three characters: (1) intraspecific tooth size relations, (2) sexual dimorphism, and (3) interspecific relations. Based on incisor size sequences C. polykomos and C. badius appear to be more closely related to each other than either is to C. verus. However, incorporating the results of a previous study on postcanine dentition the three species appear to be equally closely related. The magnitude of sexual dimorphism in canine size decreases from C. badius to C. verus to C. polykomos. Interspecific differences in the degree of canine size dimorphism may be attributed to differential intensities of male intrasexual selection; however, the interspecific differences in canine size dimorphism do not correspond to the interspecific differences in body size dimorphism.     

Effects of Neuropeptide Y (NPY) on the release of anterior pituitary hormones in the rat

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) has been recently localized in several hypothalamic nuclei in the mammalian brain. In order to investigate the possible role of NPY on neuroendocrine function, we have investigated the effects of the peptide on the release of anterior pituitary hormones in the rat. Both intravenous (300 μg) or intraventricular (2 to 15 μg) injection of NPY produced in gonadectomized male rats a significant and long-lasting decrease of plasma LH levels. A short duration stimulating effect on prolactin plasma levels was also observed after the intravenous but not after the intraventricular injection of NPY. Plasma levels of the other pituitary hormones were not significantly modified after NPY injection. When incubated in vitro with anterior pituitary cells in monolayer culture, NPY produced no significant change in release of pituitary hormones. Thus NPY seems to exert a selective effect on LH release. Since this effect can be observed after both intravenous and intraventricular injection, it might be hypothesized that NPY could affect LHRH release in two areas which lack blood-brain barrier: the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis (OVLT) which contains LHRH cell bodies and NPY fibers and the median eminence which contains both LHRH and NPY fibers. The effect on prolactin release needs to be carefully evaluated in different experimental conditions.     

Premaxillary-maxillary suture fusion and anterior nasal tubercle morphology in the chimpanzee

The anterior nasal spine (ANS) is considered by some to be a unique characteristic of modern humans; however, it has been reported to occur in chimpanzees. Among human populations, ANS size correlates with facial prognathism and timing of premaxillary-maxillary sutural fusion, which may have implications for models of midfacial growth. To investigate these questions, skulls from 55 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) (29 male, 26 female), ranging in age from infants to adults, were examined. None of the 55 specimens examined had a true ANS, but a number of specimens exhibited raised anterior nasal prominences or tubercles (ANT) on the nasal surface of the premaxilla. Female specimens had significantly (P less than .05) more ANTs and more extensive fusion of both the palatal and facial components of the suture than did the male specimens. Results from the present study document the presence of an ANT in a sample of chimpanzee crania and are consonant with associations predicted by a septal-traction model of midfacial growth.     

A correlative radioimmunoassay and immunohistochemical study of LHRH-induced LH depletion in the anterior pituitary of male and female neonatal rats in vitro

Summary After an exposure of 24 h to synthetic LHRH (100 ng/ml) in vitro, the anterior pituitaries of 4-day-old rats show a notable loss of immunoreactive material in most LH cells in males, but not in females. When radioimmunoassayed without incubation, the pituitary LH content of 4-day-old female rats is 2.8 times higher than that of males of the same age. LHRH treatment stimulates a higher rate of LH discharge in females than in males, but if LH release is expressed as a percentage of the initial pituitary LH content, there is no apparent difference. In both sexes, more than 70% of the initially stored LH is discharged into the medium after 24 h of LHRH stimulation. In males, this discharge produces a pronounced depletion, but in females, the pituitary still contains 78.2% of the initial LH content despite the large amount of hormone released.From these results, it is concluded that in newborn rats the LH synthetic rate in females is higher than that in males. This high synthetic activity, together with the large store of LH, may explain why prolonged LHRH treatment fails to cause LH depletion in females. At 4 days of age LHRH had no stimulatory effect on pituitary synthesis of LH in either sex.