Ultrastructural features of the developing hypothalamo-hypophysial axis in the rat

Summary Nerve fibres containing granular vesicles first appear in the median eminence of the rat on the 16th foetal day while secretory granules in the cells of the adenohypophysis are not present till the 17th foetal day. These observations suggest that the differentiation and early activity of pars distalis cells may depend on substances elaborated at nerve terminals in the median eminence. Although the loops of the primary plexus of portal vessels do not develop until the 4th postnatal day, substances released by nerve fibres in the neurohypophysis could reach the pars distalis through vessels already present at the 15th foetal day in the mesenchyme between the diencephalon and the adenohypophysis. This view is supported by the fact that the earliest cells to exhibit ultrastructural evidence of secretory activity are in the rostral pole of the pars distalis, the first region of the gland to become vascularized. The earliest granules to appear in the cells of the pars distalis correspond to those which are considered to contain mucoprotein hormones; somatotrophin type granules were seen only in postnatal tissues.The finding that, in the median eminence, the development of granular vesicles precedes that of agranular vesicles is discussed with reference to the times at which neurosecretory materials and monoamines become detectable in the region.We should like to thank Miss Ann Pearson, Mr. D. Burns, and Mr. J. Nailon for their technical assistance, and Mr. J. Simmons, F.R.P.S., for his help in the preparation of illustrations. This work was supported by grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.     

Corticotrophic cells in the rostral zone of the pars intermedia and in the adjacent neurohypophysis of the rat and mouse

Summary In the mouse, the rostral zone of the pars intermedia is almost exclusively composed of typical corticotrophic cells. They are located around and even within the neural stalk, at the level of transition between stalk and neural lobe. In the rat, the corticotrophic cells of the rostral zone are found in scattered islets among the MSH producing cells, and also in the neural lobe. In both the rat and mouse, these cells are in direct contact with various types of nerve terminals. Synaptoid contacts with aminergic and neurosecretory nerve fibers are observed. Furthermore they are also closely related to the hypophysial portal vessels. Following adrenalectomy, the cells located in the neurohypophysis always react more intensely than tose in the rostral zone. The functional significance of these corticotrophic cells which are subject to both humoral and neural regulation remains as yet hypothetical. Their participation in neurogenic stress response seems probable.     

Immunohistochemical localization of adrenocorticotropin and melanocyte stimulating hormone in pars intermedia of rat hypophysis

Summary The sites of production of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH) are studied by the immunoglobulin-peroxidase bridge technique, using antisera prepared against synthetic porcine 1–24 and 17–39 ACTH, and bovine MSH on the rat adenohypophysis. Presence of ACTH all over the pars intermedia (PI) is indicated by staining with antisera _p 1–24 and _p 17-3-9 ACTH. There are darkly stained ACTH cells in the PI and pars tuberalis (PT), similar to those in the pars distalis (PD). With higher dilutions of the ACTH antiserum, staining intensity disappears or reduces markedly in majority of the PI cells, whereas, the ACTH cells in the PI, PD and PT do not vary much in their staining intensity. Therefore, it is concluded that majority of the PI glandular cells (light glandular and dark cells) contain less corticotropin than the ACTH cells. From these observations, it seems to me that the major amount of corticotropin is supplied by the ACTH cells of the PD, PI and PT, and less by the light glandular and dark cells of the PI. The antiserum is ineffective after absorption, so the staining reaction appears to be specific for _p 1–24 and _b 17–39 ACTH.Presence of MSH all over the PI is indicated by staining with antisera to bovine MSH. Majority of the PI cells are highly stained even with higher dilution of the antiserum. The unstained cells in the PI seem to be ACTH cells and/or marginal cuboidal cells. The antiserum was ineffective after absorption, so the staining reaction appears to be specific for _b MSH.Control over the PD corticotropin through the median eminence portal circulation and the PI and PT control through nervous system is also discussed.This study was supported by MRC of Canada Grant nos. MA-3759, and MA-5160.The author gratefully wishes to thank Drs. P. Desaulles and W. Rittel (CIBA, Basle, Switzerland) for the synthetic _p 1–24 ACTH and _b MSH, Dr. R. F. Phifer for _p 17–39 ACTH, and Dr. S. S. Spicer for providing samples of rabbit anti-porcine 17–39 ACTH and anti-human ACTH sera, Drs. George Sétáló and Paul Nakane for their valuable advice. He also acknowledges the help of Mr. Shankar Nayak to prepare the antisera and the skilful technical assistance of Miss. Elise Poiré.     

Can members of the south‐western Gila robusta species complex be distinguished by morphological features?

The goal for this project was to re‐examine key morphological characters hypothesized to differentiate Gila intermedia, Gila robusta and Gila nigra and outline methods better suited for making species designations based on morphology. Using a combination of meristic counts, morphological measurements and geometric morphometrics, morphological dissimilarities were quantified among these three putative species. Traditional meristic counts and morphological measurements (i.e. distances between landmarks) were not useful for species identification. Geometric morphometrics, however, identified differences among species, while also suggesting an effect of geographic location on morphological variation. Using canonical variate analysis for the 441 fish sampled in this study, geometric morphometrics accurately predicted true group membership 100% of the time for G. nigra, 97% of the time for G. intermedia and 91% of the time for G. robusta. These results suggest that geometric morphometric analysis is necessary to identify morphological differences among the three species. Geometric morphometric analysis used in this study can be adopted by management officials as a tool to classify unidentified individuals.     

毛乌素沙地中间锦鸡儿整株丛的蒸腾特征

中间锦鸡儿(Caragana intermedia)是一种优良的防风固沙灌木。有关其蒸腾作用的测定研究多是通过对单叶或小枝蒸腾速率的测定值推算整株丛的蒸腾耗水。该研究选择在中间锦鸡儿株丛的主根安装“热扩散探针”来测定整株丛的蒸腾耗水。结果表明: 中间锦鸡儿整株丛液流量的日变化可划分为4个阶段: 1)液流量迅速上升阶段(8:00~11:30), 其液流量占全天液流量的21.21%; 2)液流量最高而相对稳定阶段(12:00~18:00), 液流量占全天液流量的58.84%; 3)液流量迅速降低阶段(18:30~21:00), 液流量占全天液流量的10.62%; 4)液流量最低而稳定阶段(21:30~次日8:00), 液流量占全天液流量的9.32%。从所观测的中间锦鸡儿整株丛液流量的日变化可以看出: 在午间(12:00~14:00), 中间锦鸡儿整株丛蒸腾虽因环境因子的影响(如云朵遮阴)会发生较小的波动, 但并没有出现明显的“午休”现象, 而是保持相对稳定的高蒸腾速率。环境因子对中间锦鸡儿整株丛液流量影响的强弱次序依次为: 太阳辐射>空气温度>水蒸气压亏缺>空气相对湿度>土壤温度>风速。液流量对环境因子变化的响应存在着明显的时滞现象。根据所测大、中、小3个中间锦鸡儿整株丛树干液流量数据, 计算出一个中等大小(株高为110 cm, 冠幅为0.6 m², 叶片总干重为51.82 g)的中间锦鸡儿整株丛在测定时间内的日蒸腾耗水量为2.2 kg · d^-1。     

生态脆弱带不同区域近缘优势灌木的生理生态学特性

小叶锦鸡儿、中间锦鸡儿和柠条锦鸡儿分别为中国北方生态脆弱带典型区域——科尔沁沙地、毛乌素沙地和腾格里沙漠的优势灌木。为了探讨生长在地理位置相距很远的不同气候类型区、但亲缘关系较近的沙漠植物种之间特性的差异及近缘种间引种成功的可能性 ,对 3种灌木在原产地和引种地 (腾格里沙漠 )的气体交换、叶绿素荧光参数、β胡萝卜素和脯氨酸累积等特性进行了对比研究 ,结果显示 :各区优势灌木的气体交换特征不同 ,主要依照区域光照和温湿条件的不同组合而变化 ,各区域的环境条件组合最利于其建群种的生长 ;引进种对引种地环境变化的反应调节较乡土种敏感 ;地理位置相距较近的近缘种间生理特性相近 ,引种易于成功     

Structural changes in the pars intermedia of the cichlid teleost Sarotherodon mossambicus as a result of background adaptation and illumination

Summary The pars intermedia of Sarotherodon mossambicus contains two structurally different endocrine cell types. The predominant cell type is assumed to synthesize MSH and related peptides. The second cell type is PAS positive; its function and products are unknown. In this second cell type changes occur in relation to background colour and illumination. Thus, PAS positive cells of fish adapted to a white background are less numerous and metabolically less active than those of fish adapted to a black background, and are most active in fish kept in total darkness. In blinded fish, whether in light or in darkness, the activity of the PAS positive cells is similar to that of the black background-adapted animals. The significance of these responses in relation to the control of background adaptation is discussed.     

贝伐单抗辅助的23G玻璃体切割术治疗严重增生性糖尿病视网膜病变的疗效观察

目的：2011年,我国糖尿病患者人数高达9240万。糖尿病视网膜病变（diabeticretinopathy,DR）作为糖尿病患者的常见并发症,在糖尿病人群中的患病率为37％,是导致成人获得性盲的最主要原因之一。严重增生性糖尿病视网膜病变以牵拉性视网膜脱离、玻璃体出血为特征,具有致盲率大,手术难度高等特点。针对与此,本文主要探讨术前注射贝伐单抗对23G玻璃体切割手术治疗严重增生性糖尿病视网膜病变患者效果的影响。方法：回顾性病例对照研究。共收集严重增生性糖尿病视网膜病变患者70例,药物辅助手术组（A组）21例,术前3—7天行玻璃体腔注射贝伐单抗（1．25mg／O．05mL）;单纯手术组（B组）49例,行23G玻璃体切割术。分析两组术前及术后视力、手术时间、医源性裂孔、电凝、术后出血的不同。结果：在术后3月,两组视力提高有统计学意义（P〈O．05）。A组平均手术时间为74分钟,而B组平均手术时间为85分钟（P〉0．05）。医源性裂孔在A组中有1例,而B组中有16例（P〈0．05）,在A组中有3例使用电凝,B组中有25例使用电凝（P〈0．05）。A组有1例出现术中及术后出血,B组为20例（P〈O．05）。结论：在这个回顾性研究中,我们发现对于严重增生性糖尿病视网膜病变的病人,术前玻璃体腔注射1．25mg／O．05ml贝伐单抗可以显著减少医源性裂孔的发生,减少术中电凝使用及术中术后出血的发生。     

CO2浓度倍增和土壤干旱对两种幼龄沙生灌木碳分配的影响

利用大型环境生长箱研究了两种幼龄沙地优势灌木柠条 (Caraganaintermedia) 和羊柴 (Hedysarummon golicum) 对CO2 浓度倍增和土壤干旱交互作用的响应。CO2 浓度倍增并没有改善两种沙生灌木叶片的水分状况, 而土壤干旱使叶片的相对含水量 (RWC) 显著降低。在土壤水分充足条件下, CO2 浓度倍增促进两种沙生灌木植株生长, 在干旱条件下则主要促进根的生长, 提高根冠比。土壤干旱显著减少了植株生物量, 但相对促进了根的生长, 特别是显著提高了羊柴的根冠比。CO2 倍增使稳定性碳同位素组分 (δ13 C) 降低, 但土壤干旱使之增加。两种沙生灌木叶片与根部的δ13 C值呈极显著线性关系, 羊柴的斜率大于柠条的, 表明前者叶片与根部在光合产物分配上具有较高的生态可塑性, 这和干旱条件下羊柴的根冠比增加相关联。羊柴的“源库”调节特性反映了对土壤水分胁迫具有较高的耐性。     

The effect of reserpine on the pars intermedia of the rat pituitary

Summary Reserpine has a stimulatory effect on the pars intermedia of the rat pituitary, probably mediated by its action on regulatory catecholaminergic nerves. The effect of single intraperitoneal injections of 0.1–20 mg/kg b.w. of reserpine was studied in adult male rats. Reserpine at a dose of 2 mg/kg b.w. induced degranulation, orientation of the secretory granules along the cell membrane and loss of formaldehyde-chloral-induced fluorescence, accompanied by an activation of the granular endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus. With higher doses progressive degranulation and loss of fluorescence were observed. The effect was, however, heterogeneous, and with all doses cells displaying normal ultrastructure and normal fluorescence were regularly present.To study the release of granular products (containing a different components of the pro-opiomelanocortin chain) from individual cells, formaldehyde-chloral induced fluorescence and -MSH- and -endorphin immunoreactivies were demonstrated in consecutive sections from pituitaries of rats given 8 mg/kg body weight of reserpine 24 h before sacrifice. The results indicate coordinated release of these granular products at the cellular level after reserpine treatment.This work was supported by Finska Läkaresällskapet