Neuronal development of the chick cerebral cortex. A Golgi study

The neuronal morphological development of the avian telencephalic cortex (DMC) is studied in Golgi-stained brain sections. The neuronal types at embryonic days 10, 13, 16, as well as of newborn chick are identified. The immature neurons are characterized by the presence of hair-like processes, growth cones and dendritic varicosities. These characteristics are absent in neuronal types of newborn chick. There are five patterns of differentiation, which produce six neuronal types in the newborn chick: horizontal neurons, pyramidal neurons, bipyramidal neurons, short axon multipolar neurons, long axon multipolar neurons and periventricular neurons. The morphological features of migrating embryonic cells are described. The dendritic spines appear in 16-day embryos in the majority of neuronal types.     

Labially displaced ectopically erupting maxillary permanent canine: interceptive treatment and long-term results.

This case report demonstrates how extracting a maxillary deciduous canine affects the eruption path of a labially displaced ectopically erupting permanent canine. A long-term follow-up is presented, and the biologic mechanisms are discussed.     

Prospective study of antigenemia,plasma viremia and lymphocytic viremia in HIV-infected hemophiliacs

A total of 186 blood samples from 24 HIV-1 seropositive hemophiliac patients, monitored every four months for 29 months, were investigated for the presence of viral antigen in plasma. In addition, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were cultured for HIV-1, using normal PBMC as a target for replication. Antigenemia was detected in 51 % of the patients and from PBMC in 87.5 % of the patients. The incidence of HIV isolation in asymptomatic patients (42.8 %) was similar to that found in symptomatic patients (51.4 %). Patients with opportunistic infections had a higher incidence of lymphocytic viremia (p<0.05). Plasma viremia was closely associated (p<0.05) with low CD4+ counts and infection progression. The persistence of antigenemia was also a marker of a poor clinical course. In treated patients, plasma viremia was the marker that better correlated with the clinical course, and it did not appear during the first nine months of therapy. Zidovudine doses of >500 mg/day significantly lowered the appearance of antigenemia and lymphocytic viremia (p<0.05).     

Variations in peroxisomal catalase of neonatal rat hepatocyte subpopulations

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is teratogenic and induces severe alterations in hepatocytes. In the hepatocyte peroxisomal system, ethanol is converted in the presence of H₂O₂ to acetaldehyde and water. Therefore, peroxisomal catalase also acts as an antioxidant defence mechanism by removing H₂O₂ and preventing the formation of hydroxyl radicals in the cell. Alterations in peroxisomal catalase after pre- and pre+postnatal alcohol exposure were investigated in the rat. The effect of pre- and postnatal exposure to ethanol on hepatocyte subpopulations was analysed in isolated hepatocytes originating from periportal, intermediate and perivenous zones. Analysis of catalase revealed that the total activity and content of this enzyme were higher in 12-day-old cells than in cells from newborns and that this increment was more pronounced in treated cells. In controls, the amount of peroxisomal catalase increased mainly in periportal cells, whereas alcohol exposure induced a significant increase in the catalase of perivenous hepatocytes. We conclude that pre- and postnatal alcohol exposure mainly affects the perivenous hepatocyte peroxisomes and that the increase in peroxisomal catalase could constitute a defence mechanism against free radical generation induced by alcohol exposure during the perinatal period.     

Ontogenesis of the pyramidal cell of the mammalian neocortex and developmental cytoarchitectonics: a unifying theory.

The prenatal development of the mammalian neocortex has been analyzed, with the rapid Golgi method, in a variety of experimental animals (hamster, mouse, rat, and cat) and in humans. A new developmental conception of the structural organization of the mammalian neocortex is discussed. Neocortical development begins with the establishment of the primordial plexiform layer (PPL) which precedes and is a prerequisite for the subsequent formation of the cortical plate (CP). The formation of the CP occurs, in its entirety, within the PPL. During its development, three fundamental neuronal events occur: migration, early differentiation, and late maturation. All migrating neurons, travelling on radial glial fibers, reach layer I, develop an apical dendrite, and establish contacts with its elements. These newly differentiated neurons assume similar morphology resembling embryonic pyramidal cells. As such, an early differentiation stage common to all neurons of the CP is established. During the late maturation stage, all CP neurons acquire their specific phenotypic structural and functional features. Only pyramidal neurons retain and expand their original connections with layer I while other neuronal types lose these connections. The pyramidal cell is redefined in developmental terms: the neocortex's pyramidal cell is both structurally and functionally locked into position between layer I and the cortical depth of its soma. During mammalian evolution pyramidal cells are forced to structurally and functionally elongate their apical dendrite outwardly to accommodate an increasing amount of information without losing either their original anchorage to layer I or their cortical depth. This unique property of pyramidal neurons is considered to be a mammalian innovation. Based on these observations, a unifying developmental cytoarchitectonic theory applicable to all mammals is proposed. The theory considers the CP to be a mammalian innovation and to represent a single, stratified, and expanding telencephalic nucleus. The theory envisions the mammalian neocortex as an open biological system capable of progressive expansion by the recruitment and transformation of primitive neurons from upper layer II into pyramidal cells. Hence, the number of pyramidal cell strata increases over the course of mammalian phylogeny. The developmental roles of layer I in the migration of neurons, formation of the CP, unique morphology of pyramidal cells, and overall structural organization of the mammalian neocortex are emphasized.     

Late postpartum eclampsia. Apropos of a case

We report the case of a 32-year-old multipara who presented preeclampsia on the fourth day after childbirth without receiving proper treatment that progressed to eclampsia 4 days later. Pregnancy and delivery had been uneventful. The patient presented proteinuria (30 mg/dl), serum total proteins 5.3 g/dl and serum albumin 3.3 g/dl. Blood pressure was controlled with methyldopa, 500 mg at six-hour intervals by intravenous route. The patient presented hypoxemia secondary to bilateral pleural effusion and aspirative pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation and invasive hemodynamic monitoring. Treatment with cefotaxime, 1 g at six-hour intervals by intravenous route and clindamycin, 600 mg at six-hour intervals by intravenous route was initiated. Sedation was maintained with thiopental sodium, 3 mg/kg/hour in continuous infusion. At dismission, the patient was completely recovered from her clinical picture and needed no antihypertensive therapy. Physiopathologic features and the aforementioned complications are discussed with particular reference to differential diagnosis.