Adrenergic innervation of lymph nodes and the thoracic duct

By means of incubation of slices in 2% solution of glyoxylic acid distribution of adrenergic fibers in the rabbit lymph nodes and in the thoracic lymphatic duct has been studied. Adrenergic fibers get into parenchyma of the lymph nodes via two ways. The first--the perivascular, when the nervous fibers make a plexus and get into the node along the blood vessels, the second--diffuse nervous fibers get together with trabecules in between the lymphoid nodules. The distribution density of the adrenergic fibers is not the same in different groups of the lymph nodes. In the lumbar nodes it is the highest. In the lymph nodes of the cervical part the density of the sympathetic fibers is, as a rule, lower than in the lumbar, but higher than in the axillary nodes. The lowest density of th adrenergic fibers is in the mesenteric, superficial inguinal lymph nodes and in the lymph nodes, situating near the thoracic part of the aorta. In the lymphatic duct wall small amount of adrenergic fibers are revealed, they form a plexus, predominantly in the cranial part.     

Development of neuron-capillary interrelationships in the nuclei of the anterior portion of the human hypothalamus during ontogenesis

Three periods in the formation of the spatial arrangement of the neuronal nuclei have been stated: 1) from the prenatal period, infancy including--pronounced decrease in the density of the neuronal cells arrangement; 2) from the childhood up to adolescence--relative stabilization in the hypothalamic cellular composition; 3) mature and old age--secondary decrease in the dencity of the neuronal cells arrangement. Certain peculiarities in the nuclear capillary composition and in their neuronal-capillary relationships have been revealed: during the prenatal ontogenesis, the dencity of the neuronal cells arrangement decreases and their size increases that is followed by decrease in their capillary loops. In postnatal ontogenesis no proportional relationship between the dencity of neuronal cells arrangement and that of capillary network in the nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus was noted.     

Plasma enzyme levels in the anaesthetised dog during drainage of thoracic duct lymph.

The effect of continuous removal of thoracic duct lymph on plasma activities of creatine phosphokinase (PCK), glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (PAST); and lactic dehydrogenase (PLDH), uas examined in pentobarbital-anaesthetised dogs over a 5.5-hour period. PCK and PAST declined relative to levels in control dogs while PLDH was unaltered. Lymph/plasma (L/P) ratios for AST and CPK were greater, and for LDH less, than the L/P ratio for total protein. It was concluded that PCK, and to some extent PAST, are normally maintained by introduction of enzyme, escaping from the intracellular compartment, into the circulating blood via the lymphatic system. PLDH and PAST appear to be maintained principally by introduction of enzyme directly from the intracellular to the plasma compartment.     

Effect of lymph removal during drainage of the thoracic lymph duct on the development of disseminated intravascular coagulation syndrome

The experiments on 25 dogs have shown a considerable decrease in the consumption of clotting factors and reduced hyperfibrinolysis with the onset of disseminated intravascular coagulation syndrome in animals poisoned with acetic essence (2 ml/kg).     

Ultrastructure of the human colon during ontogenesis

The ultrastructure of the colon of normal human embryos and fetuses was examined continuously from the 8th to 23rd week of pregnancy. The development of the colonic mucosa could therefore be presented at the moment, where the cellular differentiation nearly resembles those of adults. During the 8th week of pregnancy in the embryonic epithelium endocrine cells begin to differentiate. In the tunica submucosa unmyelinated axon bundles can already be found. The first goblet cells occur on 9 week old fetuses. The superficial epithelium carries a brush border covered by glycocalix. Osmiophile granules and enterochromaffin cells type 4 after Cristina are situated near the basal membrane. Underneath the tunica submucosa a thin layer of circular musculature has developed. From the 13th week onwards a stripe of longitudinal musculature joins the circular muscle layer in direction of the serosa. Between the muscle layers lie nerve bundles of the myenteric plexus. 14 or 15 week old fetuses show crypts. The endocrine cells can be classified into type 1, 2 and 4 after Cristina. In the 22nd week additionally to the lipid granules at the basal membrane, osmiophile bodies appear in the apical cytoplasm. At this stage a certain variety of intermediate forms between goblet- and endocrine cells occurs. Enterochromaffin cells type 3 after Cristina can be defined as well. A lamina muscularis mucosae has not yet arisen.     

Changes in thoracic and right duct lymph flow and enzyme content during skeletal muscle stimulation.

In the pentobarbital-anaesthetized dog the effect of electrical stimulation of hindlimb skeletal muscles on thoracic and right duct lymph flow and enzyme content was examined. Increase in plasma creatine kinase (CK), L-aspartate-aminotransferase (AST) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) during 30-min muscle stimulation were not significantly altered by draining lymph. Both right duct and thoracic duct lymph flow trebled during stimulation. At the same time, the activity of the three enzymes examined decreased in right duct lymph and increased in thoracic duct lymph. Of the latter, only the increase in lymph CK was of a sufficient magnitude to have resulted in a detectable increase in plasma CK. CK was the smallest of the three enzymes studied and apparently preferentially entered the lymph, suggesting that the larger AST and LDH molecules were not likely to have entered the blood plasma directly from skeletal muscle. Rather their entry from some other tissue, possibly the formed elements of the blood, is indicated.     

The origin and significance of macrophages in thoracic duct lymph.

Efferent lymph collected from a thoracic duct fistula initially contains no macrophages. However, the surgical procedures used to insert plastic cannulae into efferent lymphatics incite a vigorous foreign body reaction leading to the contamination of collected lymph with significant numbers of these cells. A sensitive and specific assay for the presence of macrophages in lymphocyte populations was used to quantitate the degree of contamination in rats bearing thoracic duct cannulae. The origin of some of these contaminant cells from the peritoneal macorphage population was established by adoptive transfer of labelled peritoneal cells to cannulated recipients.     

Rate of lymph flow and the protein-electrolyte composition of the lymph from the thoracic duct in experimental acholia

Experimental acholia was reproduced by applying a biliary fistula to the choledochus in cats for 20 days. It was established that acholia was accompanied by considerable changes in the lymph flow and in the protein-electrolyte composition of the lymph. The rate of the lymph flow in animals with acholia was more than 2 times as decreased as compared with control. The electrolyte and protein shifts in the lymph during acholia were manifested by the reduction in the lymph protein and K+ content.     

Cytodifferentiation and dynamics of intercellular relations during early ontogenesis

The paper presents ultrastructural aspects related to zygotes and embryo cytodifferentiation of Sus scrofa d., used in the biotechnology of embryo transfer, from the first division of segmentation to the stage of preimplantational blastocyst. Together with the intense cellular proliferations, the morphostructural and functional differentiation of cells takes place. First, the blastomeres are similar from an ultrastructural point of view and do not present intercellular junctions to the advanced stage of morula. Gradually, the polarity of the cellular surface is more evident (microvilli occupy only certain domains of the cellular surface and junctions of intercellular solidarity of desmosomal type occur). Ultrastructural modifications of nuclei, mitochondria and cytoskeleton are noticed. Embryoblastic cells as well as those to form the trophoblast are morphostructurally and positionally differentiated. In the stage of preimplantational blastocyst, the nuclei of some embryoblastic cells have a characteristic form of a callotte or biconcave lens with passages of nuclear material to the cytoplasm.