High accumulation of calcium in human uterine artery with aging

To elucidate compositional changes of the rami of the internal iliac artery with aging, the authors investigated age-related changes of the calcium content in the uterine, internal pudendal, umbilical, and obturator arteries by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. After an ordinary dissection was finished, the uterine, internal pudendal, umbilical, and obturator arteries were resected from 10 female subjects, and the internal pudendal, umbilical, and obturator arteries were resected from 10 male subjects. The female subjects ranged in age from 52 to 96 yr, and the male subjects ranged in age from 63 to 88 yr. The calcium content in the uterine artery began to increase in the seventies and increased markedly in the nineties. In the internal pudendal artery, the calcium content hardly increased up to the eighties and increased significantly in the nineties. In contrast, the calcium content did not change in both the umbilical and obturator arteries with advancing age. It was found that the average content of calcium was the highest in the uterine artery and decreased in the order internal pudendal, umbilical, and obturator arteries. The average content of calcium in the uterine arteries corresponded to 46-fold the amount of the women's obturartor arteries, in which it was the lowest. In the cases of men, the average content of calcium was higher in the order of the internal pudendal, umbilical, and obturator arteries. Regarding the average content of calcium, the order internal pudendal, umbilical, and obturator arteries of the men was consistent with that of the women.     

Decreased Cerebrospinal Fluid Glutamine Levels in Patients with Benign Brain Tumors

Abstract: CSF glutamine concentrations were studied in 12 patients with benign brain tumors (meningioma, craniopharyngioma, or osteofibroma), 12 patients with malignant brain tumors (astrocytoma, medulloblastoma, pinealoblastoma, or chondrosarcoma), 9 patients with non-cerebral tumors, and a reference group of 24 patients. The mean ± SD levels in the benign tumor group (424 ± 124 μ M ) were significantly lower (p < 0.0004) than those in the reference group (642 ± 195 μ M ). There was no significant difference between the CSF glutamine concentrations in the malignant cerebral tumor group (643 ± 210 μ M ) or noncerebral tumor group (599 ± 127 μ M ) and those in the reference group. In patients with benign brain tumors there was indication of an inverse linear relationship between the logarithm of CSF glutamine concentration and tumor diameter.     

Effect of phenylbutazone (PBZ) on luteolysis in the mare induced by uterine biopsy

Uterine biopsy in the mare on day 4 post-ovulation causes an acute inflammatory reaction which results in premature luteolysis. In this study, seven mares (4 to 6 years of age) were used in a switchback experimental design to test the hypothesis that in the mare parenterally administered PBZ will block luteolysis induced by uterine biopsy on day 4 post-ovulation. All mares were allowed two normal estrous cycles (range 18 to 24 days). On the first day of estrus of the third estrous cycle each mare was intravenously given 2 grams PBZ (treatment) or 10 ml 0.9% saline (control) daily until signs of estrus were exhibited. The day of ovulation (day 0) was determined by rectal palpation and subsequently verified by peripheral plasma progesterone concentrations. On day 4 following ovulation all mares were subjected to uterine biopsy, and subsequent estrus detection was performed daily using an andro-genized gelding. A total of 19 estrous cycles (ten for PBZ treatment and nine for controls) were evaluated. Mean number of days (+/-SE) from uterine biopsy to induced estrus was 5.00+/-0.16 for control cycles and was significantly different (P<0.025) when compared with 9.20+/-0.34 days for treatment cycles. Results of this study suggest that PBZ can block luteolysis in the mare induced by uterine biopsy on day 4 post-ovulation, possibly as a result of accumulating PBZ in acutely inflamed uterine tissue and inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis.     

Pentadecapeptide BPC 157 attenuates gastric lesions induced by alloxan in rats and mice

A diabetogenic alloxan regimen produced lesions in all stomachs of treated animals, either rats (200 mg x kg(-1) s.c.) or mice (400 mg x kg(-1) i.p.). In control animals, the lesions, when developed (i.e. 24 h following application), appear to be quite sustained, and consistently present also after 1 or 2 weeks. The application of the pentadecapeptide BPC 157 (10 microg or 10 ng x kg(-1) i.p. coadministered together with alloxan) would significantly attenuate these lesions' appearance. This beneficial effect seems to be present in either rats or mice and in either of the tested intervals. Importantly, the beneficial effect seems to be shared by both microgram and nanogram regimens.     

Effects of Chronic Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor Administration to Rats with Partial Flmbrial Transections on Presynaptic Cholinergic Parameters and Muscarinic Receptors in the Hippocampus: Comparison with Nerve Growth Factor

Abstract: The present study compares the effects of chronic administration of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) on various hippocampal cholinergic parameters in rats with partial unilateral fimbrial transections. Lesions resulted in marked reductions of several presynaptic cholinergic parameters: choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity (by 50%), [³H]-acetylcholine ([³H]ACh) synthesis (by 59%), basal and ve-ratridine (1 μM)-evoked [³H]ACh release (by 44 and 57%, respectively), and [³H]vesamicol binding site densities (by 35%). In addition, [³H]AF-DX 116/muscarinic M₂ binding site densities were also modestly decreased (by 23%). In contrast, [³H]pirenzepine/muscarinic M₁ and [³H]AF-DX 384/muscarinic M₂/M₄ binding site densities were not altered by the lesions, nor were they affected by any of the treatments. Intracerebroventricular administration of bFGF (10 ng, every other day, for 21 days) partially prevented the lesion-induced deficit in hippocampal ChAT activity, an effect that was not markedly different from that measured in the NGF-treated (1 μg intracerebroventricularly, every other day, for 21 days) rats. In rats treated with a combination of bFGF and NGF, ChAT activity was not different from that in rats treated with the individual factors alone. In contrast, the lesion-induced deficits in the other cholinergic parameters were not attenuated by bFGF treatment, although they were at least partially prevented by NGF administration. To determine whether higher concentrations of bFGF are necessary to affect cholinergic parameters other than hippocampal ChAT activity, rats were treated with 1 μg (every other day, 21 days) of the growth factor. In this group of rats, detrimental effects of bFGF, manifested by an increased death rate (46%), and marked reductions in body weight of the survivors, were observed. In addition, this concentration of bFGF appeared to exacerbate the lesion-induced reduction in [³H]ACh synthesis by hippocampal slices; [³H]ACh synthesis in lesioned hippocampi represented 36 and 52% of that in contralateral unlesioned hippocampi for the bFGF-treated and control groups, respectively. In conclusion, although bFGF administration attenuates the deficit in hippocampal ChAT activity induced by partial fimbrial transections, this does not appear to translate into enhanced functional capacity of the cholinergic terminals. This is clearly in contrast to NGF, which enhances not only hippocampal ChAT activity, but also other parameters indicative of increased function in the cholinergic terminals.     

Ultrastructural changes at gap junctions between lesioned crayfish axons

Summary In crayfish, the severed distal segment of single lateral giant axon (SLGA) often survives for at least 10 months after lesioning if this segment retains a septal region of apposition with an adjacent, intact SLGA. In control (unsevered) SLGAs, this septal region usually contains gap junctions and 50–60 nm vesicles near the axolemma of both SLGAs. From 1–14 days after lesioning, the distal segment of a severed SLGA undergoes obvious ultrastructural changes in mitochondria and neurotubular organization compared to control SLGAs or to adjacent, intact SLGAs in the same animal. Gap junctions are very difficult to locate in severed SLGAs within 24 h after lesioning. From two weeks to ten months after lesioning, the surviving stumps of severed SLGAs often appear remarkably normal except that structures normally associated with the presence of gap junctions remain very difficult to find.These and other data suggest that SLGA distal segments receive trophic support from adjacent, intact SLGAs. The mechanism of this support probably could not be via diffusion across gap junctions between intact and severed SLGAs since gap junctions largely disappear after lesioning. However, trophic maintenance could occur via the exocytotic — pinocytotic action of 50–60 nm vesicles which are always present on both sides of the septum between an intact SLGA and a severed SLGA distal segment.This work was supported by NIH research grant NS-14412 and and RCDA 00070 to G.D.B.     

卡泊三醇对白癜风患者血清和皮肤组织中IL-18 及IFN-r水平的影响

目的：探讨卡泊三醇对白癜风患者血清和皮肤组织中IL-18 及IFN-r水平的影响。方法：收集我院收治的白癜风患者122例, 随机分为实验组和对照组。对照组予外用补骨脂酊治疗,实验组给予外用卡泊三醇软膏。观察并比较两组患者治疗前后皮损面 积、不良反应发生情况以及血清和皮肤组织液中IL-18 及IFN-r水平的变化情况。结果：与治疗前相比,两组患者治疗后白斑皮损 面积均显著缩小(P＜0.05),血清及皮肤组织液IL-8 与INF-酌水平均明显降低(P＜0.05)。与对照组相比,实验组治疗后白斑皮损面 积更小(P＜0.05),血清及皮肤组织液IL-18及IFN-r含量较低(P＜0.05)。结论：卡泊三醇能够有效改善白癜风患者的临床症状,且 安全性较高,值得临床推广应用,这可能与其降低白癜风患者血清及皮肤组织液中IL-18 及IFN-酌水平有关。     

Different long-term effects of bilateral and unilateral nucleus basalis lesions on rat cerebral cortical neurotransmitter content

Young adult rats received either unilateral or bilateral ibotenic acid infusions in their nucleus basalis, destroying most of the cholinesterase-staining neurons in that region. Cerebral cortex levels of choline acetyltransferase, somatostatin, neuropeptide Y, and monoamines were then assayed 2.5 and 10 months after bilateral lesions, or, 2.5, 10, and 14 months after unilateral lesions. Entorhinal and cerebral cortex levels of several amino acid transmitters were also measured. As expected, choline acetyltransferase activity was decreased in the frontal cortex ipsilateral to the ibotenic acid infusion in unilaterally or bilaterally lesioned animals. Parietal cortex concentrations of somatostatin and neuropeptide Y were altered by lesioning in a complicated, time-dependent manner. Thus, while unilateral lesions transiently decreased or had no effect on these neuropeptide levels, bilateral lesions elevated the level of each neuropeptide by over 100% at 10 months. Other cortical transmitter systems investigated appeared to be less affected by nucleus basalis-lesions. Unilateral lesions had no effect on prefrontal cortex norepinephrine, serotonin, or dopamine content at 14 months post-lesioning. These different neurochemical effects of unilateral and bilateral nucleus basalis lesions may be important for developing a model for the trans-synaptic effects of cortical cholinergic deafferentation.     

四维子宫输卵管超声造影假阳性与假阴性的原因分析

目的:调查与分析四维子宫输卵管超声造影假阳性与假阴性的原因.方法:选择2015年6月到2019年8月在本院妇产科临床初步诊断为输卵管不孕症患者125例,所有患者都给予X线子宫输卵管碘油造影(Hysterosalp ingography,HSG)与四维子宫输卵管超声造影,记录诊断效果、不良反应,判断假阳性与假阴性的发生原...