Acanthocephaloides cyrusi n. sp. (Acanthocephala: Arhythmacanthidae) from southeast African teleost fishes

A new species,Acanthocephaloides cyrusi, is described from the fishesSolea bleekeri andPomadasys commersoni from Lake St. Lucia, Natal, South Africa. It is distinguished from the other species in the genus by the more marked sexual dimorphism in length, the arrangement of hooks, the proboscis with the longest hooks at the anterior-most extremity and the greater size of the proboscis hooks and body spines. An acanthella, which may represent this species, was found in the tanaidApseudes digitalis.     

Clinical Detection of Acute Vestibulocerebellar Disorders

The acute onset of vertigo, nystagmus and postural instability, without brain-stem signs, is commonly attributed to a disorder of the labyrinth, the vestibular, sensory end organ. Identical symptoms can occur, however, with discrete infarctions or hemorrhages involving the central vestibulocerebellum. Whereas acute labyrinthine disorders are usually benign and self-limited, vascular injuries of the cerebellum may produce swelling, compression of the brain stem and acute hydrocephalus one to four days after the onset of symptoms. Therefore it is important to accurately distinguish between labyrinthine and vestibulocerebellar disorders with the neurologic examination. Acute labyrinthine disease causes unidirectional nystagmus with past-pointing and falling in the opposite direction of the nystagmus, environmental vertigo in the same direction and suppression of the nystagmus with visual fixation. Disorders of the vestibulocerebellum do not produce this consistent pattern of findings.     

Lipolytic and Esterolytic Activities in Posterior Lingual Glands of Rat: A Histochemical Study

Catalytic activities of lingual lipase were investigated by enzyme histochemistry in post-mortem tongues from male rats. Sections of fresh-frozen or formalin-calcium fixed tissue were incubated with naphthol-AS-nonanoate and α-naphthyl acetate substrate mixtures. The effects of pH level, sodium taurocholate activator and E600 inhibitor were also examined. The use of cryostat sections of tissues fixed in formalin-calcium and of nonanoate substrate within the range of pH 4.4–6.4, were optimal for localizing maximum reaction product, captured by Fast Blue BB, in acini and demilunes of the posterior deep and superficial lingual glands respectively. The reaction product corresponded with the distribution of secretory granules and failed to develop when taurocholate was omitted from the incubation medium. Similarly localized E600-resistant reaction product occurred with the acetate substrate and hexazotized New Fuchsin at pH 7.4, in the absence of taurocholate. Lipase and conventional esterase activities appear to be superimposed in posterior lingual glands of rat. The ability of their acini and demilunes to hydrolyse nonanoate substrate at an acidic pH optimum, when activated by sodium taurocholate, seems attributable to lipase destined for secretion into saliva – hence convenient for routine histochemical identification of the enzyme.