The posthatch physiology of the turkey poult--II. Hematology

Packed cell volume, total leukocytes, total erythrocytes, hemoglobin, mean cell volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration of the poult were analyzed daily for the first 10 days posthatch. Sexually dimorphic effects on hematological parameters were not apparent, but there was a sex X day interaction for all parameters except hemoglobin indicating that males were slower to develop/respond to critical stimuli. The study revealed a latency in production of erythrocytes and leukocytes in posthatch males and females which coincided temporally with early poult mortality.     

Role of lipid peroxidation in changes in the structure of Ca-ATPase in skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum during hypercholesterolemia

Using the method of spin labels it was shown that in hypercholesterolemia (HCh), the following parameters decreased: the velocity of maleimide spin label binding to sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca-ATPase of rabbit skeletal muscles, the accessibility of spin-labeled thiol groups of the enzyme to potassium ferricyanide and sodium ascorbate, and the mobility of the Ca-ATPase molecule fragment to which the spin label was attached. In addition, intensification of lipid peroxidation was demonstrated in SR membranes. Supplementation of the high-cholesterol diet with alpha-tocopherol resulted in the decreased rates of lipid peroxidation in SR membranes and increased values of the above parameters relative to the values found under HCh. It is concluded that the effect of alpha-tocopherol in vivo on the structure of the Ca-ATPase proteolipid complex in HCh is due mainly to antioxidant properties of the diet-supplementing substance.     

Neuronal responses of an isolated slab of cat auditory cortex to intracortical stimulation

Neuronal responses of an isolated slab of auditory cortex (area AI) to intracortical stimulation at the level IV were studied in curarized cats by extracellular recording 3 weeks after isolation. Dispersion of response latencies in the isolated slab was reduced (compared with that observed soon after isolation); the predominant responses were mono- and disynaptic, and the number of discharges consisting of bursts of spikes increased. However, despite simplification of the structural and functional organization of the chronically isolated slab of auditory cortex, the conditions for complex polysynaptic interaction between neurons of all layers were preserved in it, and in each layer the character of such interaction depended on the distance of the neuron from the focus of origin of the excitation. [In the chronically isolated slab of auditory cortex, just as in the acutely isolated slab, late reponses of over 40 msec were absent.]I. I. Mechnikov Odessa State University. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 14, No. 5, pp. 462–469, September–October, 1982.     

Mast cell and blood coagulation functions during prolonged noradrenaline administration

During the long term noradrenaline injection (0.56 microgram/kg/min-2 hours during six days) the number of connective tissue mast cells decreases in dogs. Mature cells disappears and the percentage of young forms increases. Marked degranulation develops. 5-10 cell groups and chains are formed. The increase of free heparin level and the activation of anticoagulant unit hemostasis correspond to these changes. It is due to mast cells discharge of biologically active heparin which is an unspecific adaptogen.