Actions of some transmitters and their antagonists on salivary secretion in a tick

Cholinomimetics (pilocarpine, carbachol, physostigmine, acetylcholine, acetyl-beta-methylcholine) and sympathomimetics (dopamine, epinephrine), when injected into the hemolymph, provoked salivary fluid secretion in the female ixodid tick Amblyomma hebraeum Koch. Atropine, but not tubocurarine or toxiferine, abolished pilocarpine-induced secretion without reducing the response to dopamine. Reserpine and guanethidine likewise selectively attenuated pilocarpine-induced secretion. Following extirpation of the synganglion, pilocarpine no longer provoked a secretory response whereas dopamine did. Thus, the salivary gland appears to be innervated directly by catecholaminergic rather than cholinergic secretory nerves. It is suggested that pilocarpine elicits salivation by interacting with muscarinic-type cholinergic receptors situated either on the cell bodies of the secretory nerves, or alternatively in the integrative or sensory pathway.     

Ocular colobomata, cardiac defect, and other anomalies: a study of seven cases including two sibs.

An association of ocular colobomata and congenital heart disease was observed in seven patients. Two of these were maternal half sisters whose mother also had ocular colobomata. All the patients had normal karyotypes. There was a high incidence of other associated abnormalities involving the central nervous, skeletal, and urogenital systems. Discovery of an ocular coloboma should alert the clinician to search for other abnormalities.     

Components of predation defense behavior in chickens: evidence for endogenous rhythmicity

The manifestation of diurnal periodicity and the extent of its control by the photoperiod was assessed in three predation defense reactions which constitute either components or outcomes of a predator-prey interaction sequence. Two-hundred White Leghorn chicks were reared from hatching for one week in either 24L or 12L and then tested at one of two clock hours previously demonstrated to define peak and trough response for one of the components. Putative evidence was found for an endogenous source of the periodicity manifested in all reactions. Maintenance schedule did not entrain the periodicity, but simple room entry and handling elicited anti-predator reactions, the extent of which varied as a function of clock hour. A general model of predation defense behavior was proposed.     

Facial dyskinesias

The face is prominently or exclusively involved in several involuntary movement disorders, called "facial dyskinesias," in addition to the common buccolingual form of tardive dyskinesia. This review describes the appearance of the most frequently occurring facial dyskinesias: chorea, dystonia, tremor, and tics. Some new treatments are discussed.     

Role of injury in the appearance of “activated” smooth muscle cells

In experiments on rats the ultrastructure of the muscle tissue of the inferior vena cava after disturbance of the outflow of blood, of the muscular coat of the stomach after resection of 50% of its fundus, and of the muscular coat of the cecum after constriction of its ascending portion was studied. Activation of smooth muscles was shown to reflect the phase of injury to the ultrastructure of the cells, followed by processes of intracellular regeneration. Analysis of the ratio between DNA-synthesizing and activated cells showed the local origin of the latter from differentiated myocytes.Institute of General Pathology and Pathological Physiology, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR. No. 4 Main Board, Ministry of Health of the USSR. Institute of Human Morphology, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR. Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. P. Avtsyn.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 84, No. 7, pp. 112–115, July, 1977.     

Quantitation by electron microscopy of the binding of highly specific antibodies to benzo[a]pyrene-DNA adducts

Highly specific antibodies bound to carcinogen adducts in DNAmodified with (+ / - )7ß, 8-dihydroxy-9, 10-epoxy-7,8, 9, 10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (BPDE I) were quantitatedby electron microscopy (EM) visualization and these observationswere compared with quantitation of adducts by enzyme-linkedimmunosorbent assay (ELISA). The antiserum, elicited in rabbitsfollowing inoculation with BPDE I-modified DNA, has been foundto be highly specific in its recognition of BPDE I-deoxyguanosinemoieties. Parallel DNA samples prepared for analysis by ELISAand EM quantitation were randomized, encoded, and analyzed todetermine extents of carcinogen modification in double-blindstudies. After levels of modification were determined by immunoassays,DNA samples were prepared for EM analysis by incubation withamounts of anti-BPdG-DNA serum in excess of that necessary forcomplete binding of antibody to antigenic sites. At equilibrium,samples were enzymatically digested with papain in order tocleave anti-BPdG-DNA IgG molecules into Fab fragments in situ.Following column exclusion chromatography, BPdG-DNA-Fab complexeswere incubated with ferritin-labeled Fab‘ fragments ofgoat [anti-rabbit F(ab’)2] IgG in amounts in excess ofthose necessary for complete binding. When DNA samples weremodified to between 0 and 40 fmol adduct/ µg DNA, excellentagreement was obtained between ELISA quantitation and visualizationby EM of antibodies bound to adducts.