Studies of the ultrastructure of spermatozoa under normal and pathological conditions

The ultramicroscopic structure of the normal sperm and pathologic sperms obtained from oligospermic and necrospermic semens has been studied. It has been found that: (a) in oligospermia, a marked cytoplasmic zone surrounds the head, which contains remnants not only of the endoplasmic reticulum but also of the Golgi-apparatus and mitochondria: (b) in necrospermia the fibrillar elements of the tail is impaired. The obtained results allow the conclusion to be made that in these ejaculates the majority of spermatozoa is still in the process of maturation and therefore not apt for fertilization.     

Biochemical study of the human palmar aponeurosis under normal and pathological conditions]

Study of oxyproline content of the palmar aponeurosis connective tissue. The knowledge of the quantity of the above mentioned aminoacid, which is specific of collagen, is considered very important to define the nature of tissue present in Dupuytren's disease and to understand the metabolic defect. After a short bibliographic analysis of the matter, methods used for the examination of total oxyproline content (Kivirikko, 1967) are discussed. The result shows a marked increase of oxyproline proportionally to the pathological aspect of aponeurotical tissue of the hand. Two hypotheses are formulated: a) an increase of the proline-hydroxilase activity. b) a slow breakdown of collagen fibers.     

Blood supply and vascular reactivity of the spinal cord under normal and pathological conditions

The authors present a review of spinal cord blood supply, discussing the anatomy of the vascular system and physiological aspects of blood flow regulation in normal and injured spinal cords. Unique anatomical functional properties of vessels and blood supply determine the susceptibility of the spinal cord to damage, especially ischemia. Spinal cord injury (SCI), for example, complicating thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair is associated with ischemic trauma. The rate of this devastating complication has been decreased significantly by instituting physiological methods of protection. Traumatic SCI causes complex changes in spinal cord blood flow, which are closely related to the severity of injury. Manipulating physiological parameters such as mean arterial blood pressure and intrathecal pressure may be beneficial for patients with an SCI. Studying the physiopathological processes of the spinal cord under vascular compromise remains challenging because of its central role in almost all of the body's hemodynamic and neurofunctional processes.     

Quantification of dendritic cell subsets in human renal tissue under normal and pathological conditions

Dendritic cells (DCs) play critical roles in immune responses and can be distinguished in two major subsets, myeloid and plasmacytoid DCs. Although the presence of DC in all peripheral organs, including the kidney, has been well documented, no accurate estimates of DC subsets in human kidneys have been reported. This study shows a detailed analysis of DC subsets in cryosections of human renal tissue. The cortex of normal kidneys contains at least two different HLA-DR(+) myeloid DC subtypes characterized by BDCA-1(+)DC-SIGN(+) and BDCA-1(+)DC-SIGN(-). The staining for DC-SIGN completely overlapped with CD68 in the renal interstitium. Unexpectedly, BDCA-2(+)DC-SIGN(-) plasmacytoid DCs are also abundantly present. Both subsets are located in the tubulo-interstitium often with a high frequency around, but rarely observed within glomeruli. Quantification of BDCA-1(+), DC-SIGN(+), and BDCA-2(+) cells in normal human renal tissue (pretransplant biopsy living donors; n=21) revealed that BDCA-1 is about four times as frequently present as BDCA-2. A preliminary cross-sectional analysis of DC in diseased kidneys, including rejection and immunoglobulin A nephropathy, revealed that the number of DC as well as their anatomical distribution might change under pathophysiological conditions. In conclusion, we show that human kidneys contain a dense network of myeloid and plasmacytoid DCs and provide the tools for phenotyping and enumeration of these cells to better understand interindividual differences in immune responses.