Acta morphologica Hungarica最新文献

Effects of centrally (intracerebro-ventricularly) administered synthetic substance P on the metabolism of cAMP in 19 brain areas were investigated. Substance P administration increased cAMP levels considerably in the frontal cortex, the central gray matter and in the nucleus of the solitary tract, and to a lesser extent in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and in the anterior hypothalamic nucleus. Cyclic AMP levels were decreased in the globus pallidus, the habenula, the posterior hypothalamic nucleus and in the locus coeruleus while other brain areas showed no changes in cAMP levels.

Authors studied the effects of transection (axotomy) and crush of the rat sciatic nerve, by means of De La Torrés glyoxalic acid fluorescence histochemical technique. It was shown that a simple nerve crush (axocompression) did not induce any major change in the number and fluorescence intensity of unmyelinated axons in the distal stump of the sciatic nerve, even though myelinated axons underwent Wallerian degeneration. By contrast, axotomy resulted in a complete cessation of catecholamine-induced fluorescence; similar effect was exerted by an intense, controlled crush (axocontusion). Supposing that not only postganglionic (syC) but also sensory (drC) unmyelinated axons undergo similar alterations after various mechanical injuries, the apparently controversial results regarding the effects of axotomy and nerve crush, in producing transganglionally mediated depletion of marker substances in the upper dorsal horn, can easily be reconciled.

Examination of vessels' radiograms with the use of microcomputer digital image analysis was adopted to the femoral artery in human foetuses. The system makes it possible to shorten the investigation time as compared with conventional methods and to obtain objective results. Investigations were performed on 100 human foetuses (72 males and 28 females) aged 4th to 8th month. The configuration in the radiograms of the deep femoral artery showed four main origination types.

The brains of kittens prenatally exposed to ethanol were studied by the rapid-Golgi method at PN1 and PN9 days. The sizes of the alcohol damaged brains were different. Delayed gyrification was observed on the brain surface. The neurons in subcortical (thalamic) centres and cortical areas developed later than in normal animals. Between days PN1 and PN9 rapid changes occurred in the development of the structural elements of brains of prenatally alcohol exposed kittens.

Authors give an account of the classification of gastric lymph-circulation and lymph nodes suggested by the Japanese Research Society for Gastric Cancer. The importance of lymphatic structures in the accurate determination of oncological stages of gastric cancer and that of a radical lymphadenectomy during resection is emphasized. Total or subtotal removal of the stomach should be completed with the removal of primary, secondary and tertiary lymph node groups. In cases of stages II-IV, the 5-year survival rate is increased by 30-50% without an increase of postoperative lethality and complications. The operation time is prolonged by 40-60 min if resection is combined with a lymphadenectomy.

The authors should like to contribute to the unsettled problem of the development of varicose venous disease with their own experience. They evaluate parallel the histomorphological observations and certain pathobiochemical changes which can be recognized in exstirpated varicose veins. Fourty five stripped saphenas have been studied. They were divided into two groups: a macroscopically normal and a varicose one. The varicose patients were divided again into two subsamples according to the occurrence or lack of thrombophlebitis in their medical case history. The authors were looking for the appropriate pathobiochemical changes of the vessel walls running parallel to the usual histopathological changes. It seems quite possible that the effect which triggers the development of the disease could be anything which causes hypoxia, alters the energy metabolism of the otherwise bradytrophic vascular tissues. Accumulation of proteoglycans, as well as collagen and elastic fibers in place of the smooth muscle cells may cause a decrease in the elasticity of the veins and may produce favourable conditions to thrombus formation and local inflammation.

On the basis of 10 patients treated at the Orthopaedic Clinic of the Semmelweis University Medical School, the histology, clinical symptoms, recurrence rate and principles of surgical treatment of the disease are discussed. Two further cases are described in detail in which initially a desmoid was diagnosed but later based on the clinica-history and the histological appearance of recurrences the diagnosis of a differentiated fibrosarcoma had to be established. An account of differential diagnostic criteria between desmoid and fibrosarcoma is given.

Changes in differentiation level of cultured atrial (A) and ventricular (V) cardiac muscle cells from 2-week-old rats have been studied to compare the stability of their morpho-functional characteristics. Cultured A and V cells clearly differ in the form, size, spreading pattern and contractile activity. Comparative electron microscopic analysis of A and V myocytes after 7 days in vitro revealed longitudinally arranged and more numerous myofibrils in V myocytes, whereas A cells show less mature contractile apparatus and greater amounts of free components of sarcomeres scattered about the cytoplasm. Both A and V populations were heterogeneous by differentiation level of individual cells: apart from partial dedifferentiation the degree of the contractile apparatus development depends on de novo formation of myofibrils that underlies the redifferentiation process. Leptofibrils commonly connected to Z-lines of myofibrils were observed in V myocytes. A muscle cells actively produce specific atrial granules in the well-developed Golgi complex. Some of V myocytes also possess rare granules similar to the atrial ones. The data obtained indicate preservation of the differences in biology of A and V myocytes under in vitro conditions and are discussed with special reference to their differentiation state in vitro.

The authors performed a comparative lectin histochemical study on lymphoid organs of three species with 12 different lectins. The T and B cell regions and the accessory cells of lymphoid tissues were studied. The species differences show that the BALB/c mouse can be a valuable tool in modelling human lymphoid tissues, whereas Wistar rats exhibit great differences in lectin binding patterns as compared with human tissues. The positivity of peanut agglutinin binding of cortical and the negativity of medullar thymocytes in mice can be regarded as an indicator of cell differentiation. The focal distribution of peanut agglutinin positivity in the centrocytic region of human and rat germinal centres marks a small B cell subpopulation at the early stage of differentiation, while Bandeira simplicifolia binding is characteristic of a broader B cell lineage, but only in rats and mice. Canavalia ensiformis lectin seems to be a reliable marker of accessory cells (dendritic and interdigitating reticulum cells as well as macrophages) in all species studied.

Light and electron microscope studies on normal and experimental material in the lateral superior olive (LSO) of cat revealed the presence of three types of neurons: (i) fusiform cells characterized by the large number of terminals articulating with them and projecting to the nuclei of the lateral lemniscus (NLL) and central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (CNIC) (ii) marginal cells embedded in the neuropil of the fibrous capsule and sharing input and output characteristics with the fusiform neurons (iii) multipolar cells with spinous dendrites, local axonal spread and synaptic relation restricted to few afferents only. Four distinct types of axon terminals were distinguished on the basis of their size, vesicle content, membrane attachments, postsynaptic relations and origin. (i) Large terminals with asymmetrical membrane contacts and round vesicles (AR) were of ipsilateral cochlear nucleus origin and articulated predominantly with fusiform and marginal projection cells. (ii) The majority of small AR type terminals arose from the spherical cells of the ipsilateral nucleus of the trapezoid body (NTB). Their number was larger on the fusiform and marginal cells. (iii) Medium sized terminals of symmetrical membrane apposition and pleomorphic vesicles originated from the ipsilateral NLL and CNIC. Their quantitative distribution indicated preference for the multipolar cells. (iv) Profiles with symmetrical membrane contacts and flattened vesicles (SF) type were considered to be terminals of the spinous multipolar interneurons, thus local in origin.