Hormones and the immunological capacity. V. Modification of growth hormone-producing cells in the adenohypophysis of neonatally thymectomized germ-free mice: an electron microscopical study

An electron microscopical study has been carried out to evaluate the effect of neonatal thymectomy on the hypophysis of germ-free mice at different times after the operation. The results fully confirm the previous findings in neonatally thymectomized, conventional mice. Also neonatal thymectomy in germ-free mice results in degranulation of growth hormone-producing cells in the anterior pituitary gland. A large number of these cells show an enlarged endoplasmic reticulum with formation of cisternae and loss of hormone granuli. This alteration of growth hormone-producing cells is similar to that observed in other cells of the hypophysis after removal of other target glands such as thyroid or gonads. The changes in the growth hormone-producing cells in neonatally thymectomized germ-free mice occur even in the first days after birth, when the number of differentiated growth hormone-producing cells is still very low.

Some thymectomized germ-free mice showed symptoms of the wasting syndrome but the alterations in their hypophysis were not more pronounced than those observed in thymectomized germ-free but nonwasting mice. The data fit well our suggestion that the perinatal thymus is under hypophysial control and that immunological maturation depends on endocrine function.

     

Births of normal daughters after MicroSort sperm separation and intrauterine insemination, in-vitro fertilization, or intracytoplasmic sperm injection

The world's first deliveries of normal babies after use of flow cytometric separated human sperm cells (MicroSort) for preconception gender selection are reported. Offspring were of the desired female gender in 92.9% of the pregnancies. Most of these pregnancies and births were achieved after simple intrauterine insemination.      

Hormones and the immunological capacity. III. The immunodeficiency disease of the hypopituitary Snell-Bogg dwarf mouse

The naturally occurring immunodeficiency syndrome of the hypopituitary Snell-Bagg dwarf mice has been characterized. The immunopathological aspects of this syndrome derive primarily from an arrested ontogenetic development of the thymus. The alteration of the thymus function is caused by the failure of the pituitary to produce certain hormones, especially somatotropic hormone. The relation of this syndrome of the dwarf mouse to human immunodeficiency diseases and endocrinopathies is discussed.     

A 3 year retrospective review of intrauterine insemination, using cryopreserved donor spermatozoa and cycle monitoring by urinary or serum luteinizing hormone measurements

Insemination with donor spermatozoa is an integral part of infertility treatment. For the last 3 years in our unit, intrauterine insemination with donor spermatozoa (IUID) has been used in preference to vaginal insemination. In this retrospective study, patients were offered an initial course of five single intrauterine inseminations with cryopreserved donor spermatozoa and treatment was then reviewed. A total of 389 patients received 1465 inseminations. In all, 1119 cycles were monitored using luteinizing hormone serum analyses and 346 cycles using the urine home test kits. The clinical pregnancy rate per insemination for the cycles monitored by the serum assay was 18.0% (202/1119) compared with the urine cycles (13.7%, 46/346) (P <05). The pregnancy loss rate was not significantly different (14.4%, 29/202 and 21.7%, 10/46) (serum and urine cycles respectively). The viable clinical pregnancy rate was significantly higher (P <03) for the serum cycles than for the cycles using the urinary monitoring (15.5%, 173/1119 and 10.4%, 36/346 respectively). The cycles monitored by serum assay had a significantly higher cumulative viable clinical pregnancy rate (P <0001) of 70.2% after nine inseminations compared with the urine monitored cycles of 54.8%. The majority of patients opted for the serum cycles, with a minority self-selecting the urine cycles mainly for travelling convenience. The explanation for the significant differences between the viable clinical pregnancy rates per insemination and the cumulative viable clinical pregnancy rates may be due to the sensitivity of the urine home test kit or the patients' interpretation of the result.      

Striated intramural gallbladder lucencies on US studies: predictors of acute cholecystitis

Ultrasound scans of 51 consecutive patients with gallbladder wall thickening were reviewed, and specific sonographic features were correlated with surgical and clinical follow-up. Two patterns of thickening were identified as specific indicators of the presence or absence of acute cholecystitis. "Striated" wall thickening, consisting of several alternating, irregular, discontinuous, lucent and echogenic bands, was seen in eight of 13 patients (62%) with acute cholecystitis. This pattern was not encountered in any of the patients who did not have acute cholecystitis. Conversely, "three-layer" thickening, consisting of a single circumferential lucent zone between two relatively uniform echogenic layers, was seen in only one of 13 patients (8%) with acute cholecystitis but in 11 of 38 patients (29%) with other diagnoses. Other abnormalities, including the presence of intramural echogenic foci and wall irregularities, were more frequently seen in patients with acute cholecystitis but were not as helpful. Use of these features may suggest or help exclude a diagnosis of acute cholecystitis in those patients in whom the cause of gallbladder wall thickening is otherwise not apparent.     

A technique for eliminating allele specific amplification failure during DNA amplification of heterozygous cells for preimplantation diagnosis

Advances in techniques of molecular biology have made possible the amplification of specific genes from single cells. This has a major clinical application in preimplantation diagnosis of monogenic disorders. However, the incidence of allele specific amplification failure (allele drop out) in heterozygous single cells can lead to misdiagnosis and the transfer of affected embryos. Few studies have been done to investigate the actual cause of allele drop out, although some investigators have succeeded in reducing but not eliminating it. Here we report the efficiency of amplifying both alleles in heterozygous cells lysed according to two different protocols. A total of 177 heterozygous cells from carriers of cystic fibrosis (CF) and haemoglobin C (HbC) were lysed using two different lysis buffers. Interestingly none of the cells that were lysed with sodium dodecyl sulphate/proteinase K showed any example of allele specific amplification failure whereas in those lysed by KOH/dithiothreitol it was present in 17.6 and 4.7% of the CF and HbC cells respectively. Our results suggest that the phenomenon of allele specific amplification failure is at least in part dependent on the lysis buffer used.