Increase in duodenal tissue gastrin in dogs following antrectomy with gastroduodenostomy and after total gastrectomy with oesophagoduodenostomy1

The gastrin concentration in plasma and duodenal tissue was determined in dogs following antrectomy and total gastrectomy as well as in unoperated control animals. The first week after both types of operations, during which time the dogs were parenterally fed the basal plasma gastrin concentration was markedly reduced, and then it slightly increased. The increase in plasma gastrin concentration from the second postoperative week until sacrifice was found to be statistically significant in one of six antrectomized dogs and in two of three dogs in which the whole stomach had been resected. In unoperated controls the gastrin concentration in the proximal third of the duodenum was found to be 6.8±0.8 pmol/g tissue wet weight (mean value ± SE, n=11). Following antrectomy a time dependent increase was seen, the corresponding values being 11.0±2.5 (n=4), 36.4±15.7 (n=6) and 136.1±44.2 (n=6) pmol/g at 3, 9–10 and 14–16 weeks after operation, respectively. A similar increase was seen following total gastrectomy. 8 weeks after this type of operation the concentration was 22.2±12.5 (n=3) pmol/g. The gastrin concentration of the middle and distal thirds of the duodenum was not changed by the operations. The results show that removal of the main source of gastrin, i. e. the pyloric antrum, induces an increase in the tissue level of gastrin in the upper portion of the duodenum.     

Stimulated hemopoiesis and enhanced survival following glucan treatment in sublethally and lethally irradiated mice

Hemopoietic effects of the reticuloendothelial agent glucan were assayed in normal mice and in mice hemopoietically depleted by exposure to 60Co radiation. In normal mice, glucan administration increased the content of bone marrow and splenic transplantable pluripotent hemopoietic stem cells (CFU-s), committed granulocyte-macrophage progenitor cells (GM-CFC), and pure macrophage progenitor cells (M-CFC). Erythroid progenitor cells (CFU-e) were increased only in the spleen. In sublethally irradiated mice (650 rads), glucan increased the number of endogenous pluripotent hemopoietic stem cells (E-CFU) when administered either before or after irradiation. The most pronounced effects were observed when glucan was administered 1 day before, 1 h before, or 1 h after irradiation. In addition, the administration of glucan before lethal irradiation (900 rads) enhanced survival. The most significant results were seen when glucan was administered 1 day prior to irradiation. The possibility of using agents such as glucan to enhance hemopoietic reconstitution and prevent septicemia following chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy is discussed.     

Change in adrenal function in dogs with experimental bronchospasm

I. P. Pavlov First Leningrad Medical Institute. All-Union Research Institute of Pulmonology, Ministry of Health of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 109, No. 6, pp. 541–543, June, 1990.     

Hematopoiesis and vitamin B12 content in dogs after gastrectomy and in experimental hepatitis

Summary Experimental hepatitis was induced in gastrectomized dogs by the intramuscular injection of yellow phosphorus. Hepatitis development was associated with pronounced macrocytic anemia and disturbance of the B₁₂ storing liver function. All these changes were only temporary. No transition to the megaloblastic type of hematopoiesis was observed. Analogous phenomena developed in dogs with experimental hepatitis and intact stomachs. Moreover, formations of the Heinz bodies type appeared in the erythrocytes as a result of the yellow phosphorus injection.(Presented by V. N. Chernigovskii, Active Member of the AMN SSSR) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 50, No. 10, pp. 48–53, October, 1960     

Mechanisms of hemopoiesis in athymic mice

Cell elements of peripheral blood and bone marrow and splenic hemopoiesis were studied in athymic BALB/c mice (nude or thymectomized animals). In athymic animals lympho- and erythropoiesis were suppressed, while granulocyto- and monocytopoiesis were activated. These changes were more pronounced in nude mice.