Postnatal differentiation and development of the rat epididymis: A stereological study

Postnatal development and differentiation of the rat epididymis was studied in the rat from 15 to 120 days of life using stereological techniques. Both the relative volume (volume density) and absolute volume of the epithelial, interstitial, and luminal compartments in the initial segment, caput, corpus, and cauda epididymides were determined. In all segments the volume density of the epithelial compartment increased between days 15 and 30 before falling to adult values at 45 days in the initial segment (0.476 ± 0.031), at 60 days in the caput (0.258 ± 0.028) and at 90 days in the corpus (0.245 ± 0.007) and cauda (0.140 ± 0.004). The relative volume of the interstitium decreased, whilst that of the lumen increased over the same period with adult values being achieved earlier in the proximal segments than in the distal segments. In contrast to volume fraction the absolute volume of all compartments in all segments increased from day 15 to day 90. Between 90 and 120 days the absolute volumes of compartments in the initial segment and caput showed little volume change. All compartments in the corpus and cauda showed significant increases in volume over the same period. A similar pattern of development was observed with respect to the surface area of both the luminal and basement membrane aspects of the epithelium; surface area per unit volume (surface density) in all segments reached adult values at approximately 60 days, whilst the increase in absolute area of the surfaces ceased at 90 days in the initial segment and caput and continued to 120 days in the corpus and cauda. The total length of the epididymal tubule showed the same pattern with no increase in length apparent in the initial segment and caput after 90 days. Length however continued to increase in the corpus and cauda between 90 and 120 days. Tubule and luminal diameter reached their definitive values in the initial segment on day 60 but continued to increase until day 90 in the distal segments. Epithelial height increased between 15 and 30 days in all segments; in the caput, epithelial height was greatest on day 30 before decreasing slightly; and in the corpus and cauda maximal epithelial height was observed on day 45 decreasing to stable values on day 60 and 90, respectively. All the data is consistent with a proximal to distal differentiation and development of the epididymis with growth continuing in all segments after the establishment of the definitive architecture. Growth of the distal segments continued after its cessation in the proximal segments. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

急性苯中毒对小鼠末梢血象和骨髓细胞构成的影响

取３２只２～３个月的ＢＡＬＢ／Ｃ小白鼠，随机分为４组，每组８只，第１组为对照组，其余３个组为实验组，实验组小白鼠左腿皮下注射苯０．３ｍｌ（１５ｍｌ／ｋｇ体重）．注射后分别于２４ｈ，４８ｈ，７２ｈ脱颈处死。观察中毒前、后末梢血象、骨髓细胞、骨髓细胞构成的变化。结果表明，苯中毒时骨髓变化先于末梢血象的变化，骨髓的病变为造血细胞变性、坏死，大量毛细血管扩张、充血，骨髓细胞构成降低，而且骨髓细胞构成中细胞成分降低早于外周血粒细胞减少。     

Autopsy findings in two siblings with infantile Refsum disease

Summary Recognition of adrenal atrophy during a review of autopsy findings in two sisters who died at 8 months and 3 1/2 years prompted estimation of very long chain fatty acids, phytanic acid and pristanic acid on wet liver fixed in formalin for 12 years. These were shown to be markedly increased and defects in multiple peroxisomal functions and decrease in particulate catalase were shown in cultured fibroblasts, confirming an abnormality of peroxisomal biogenesis. The patients had presented with failure to thrive, recurrent diarrohea and vomiting, poor mental development, retinal pigmentation, blindness and in the older patient deafness, with only mild dysmorphic features. Autopsy in the older patient showed adrenal atrophy, cirrhosis, and foamy histiocytes in multiple organs. The brain showed no demyelination, little cytoarchitectural abnormality, occasional perivascular histiocytes in the grey matter and meninges and prominent Purkinje cells in the molecular layer of the cerebellum. In the younger patient the changes were very subtle in spite of the marked clinical similarity. Despite the young age at death the clinicopathological features are most suggestive of infantile Refsum disease. In many situations anatomical pathology can be very useful in the recognition and study of peroxisomal disorders.     

Abnormalities in immune regulation precede the development of multiple myeloma.

Immunosuppression of immunoglobulin synthesis seen in patients with multiple myeloma is in part due to immunosuppressive CD5 positive B cells. In a 13 year longitudinal study of an IgA-deficient blood donor who developed multiple myeloma, the presence of immunosuppressive CD5 positive B cells and T cells preceded the diagnosis of overt multiple myeloma and the appearance of immunosuppressive monocytes. These data argue that certain immune defects may be involved in the development of myeloma and are not simply a consequence of overt malignancy.     

胃癌腹腔脱落细胞检查及临床意义

腹膜转移是胃癌常见的转移形式。为在肉眼可见转移前发现亚临床的转移现象,自1981年3月至1982年4月,我们共对胃癌病人142例进行了腹腔脱落细胞检查及临床随诊,发现有腹腔脱落细胞阳性者76例(53.5％)。5年随诊结果发现,腹腔脱落细胞阳性者无一例生存>3年;而腹腔脱落细胞阴性的66例中生存5年者有11例。可见,腹腔脱落细胞检查,对胃癌的诊断,治疗和预后判断有一定价值。     

Histological and morphometric studies on the kinetics of germ cells and immature Sertoli cells during human prespermatogenesis.

Human prespermatogenesis between the 8th week of pregnancy and six months after birth was studied in testis material of 28 male foetuses from spontaneous abortions and 81 infants who died from sudden infant death. The foetuses and infants were grouped in 10 age groups. A first steep raise in the numbers of germ cells per 20 tubular cross sections from 22.3 in the first group up to 69.5 in group 3 was observed, i.e. up to the end of the 22nd week of pregnancy. Thereafter, a continuous decrease could be observed modulated by a second slighter increase during the first 4 months after birth. The ratio of germ cells and immature Sertoli cells improves from about 1:20 at the beginning to 1:8 in group 3; afterwards it changes in favour of the immature Sertoli cells down to 1:140 at the end of the study. The initial augmentation of germ cells is interpreted as the effect of a first proliferation wave comparable to that of M-prospermatogonia in other species. The decrease of germ cells is due to the stop of germ cell proliferation and simultaneous high proliferative activity of the immature Sertoli cells.     

Basic principles of immunology (immune response) for hemapheresis practitioners

Advances in medical knowledge and technology have identified the essential elements involved in the human immune system, their relationships and interactions, and offer more advanced concepts in the design, function, and maintenance of immune response. Immune response begins with the earliest progenitor cell and transfers its legacy of protection through white blood cells and the complement system. A basic understanding of immunology is essential to the hemapheresis practitioner as new treatment regimens requiring hemapheresis interventions develop. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Glutamate-induced calcium signaling in astrocytes

Astrocytes respond to the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate with dynamic spatio-temporal changes in intracellular calcium [Ca²⁺]_i. Although they share a common wave-like appearance, the different [Ca²⁺]_i changes--an initial spike, sustained elevation, oscillatory intracellular waves, and regenerative intercellular waves--are actually separate and distinct phenomena. These separate components of the astrocytic Ca²⁺ response appear to be generated by two different signal transduction pathways. The metabotropic response evokes an initial spatial Ca²⁺ spike that can propagate rapidly from cell to cell and appears to involve IP₃. The metabotropic response can also produce oscillatory intracellular waves of various amplitudes and frequencies that propagate within cells and are sustained only in the presence of external Ca²⁺. The ionotropic response, however, evokes a sustained elevation in [Ca²⁺]_i associated with receptor-mediated Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ influx, depolarization, and voltage-dependent Ca²⁺ influx. In addition, the ionotropic response can lead to regenerative intercellular waves that propagate smoothly and nondecrementally from cell to cell, possibly involving Na⁺/Ca²⁺ exchange. All these astrocytic [Ca²⁺]_i changes tend to appear wave-like, traveling from region to region as a transient rise in [Ca²⁺]_i. Nevertheless, as our understanding of the cellular events that underlie these [Ca²⁺]_i changes grows, it becomes increasingly clear that glutamate-induced Ca²⁺ signaling is a composite of separate and distinct phenomena, which may be distinguished not based on appearance alone, but rather on their underlying mechanisms. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

应用单克隆抗体检测肺癌病人外周血中T细胞亚群

本文应用单克隆抗体检测33例原发性肺癌病人治疗前后外周血中T淋巴细胞亚群变化。结果提示:肺癌病人外周血中T细胞亚群明显有别于正常人,主要表现为T_H细胞降低和T_S细胞升高以及T_H/T_S比值明显倒置。短期观察结果表明,肺癌病人外周血中T_S细胞持续升高和T_H/T_S比值持续降低者,预后不良。临床检测T细胞亚群变化及它们的动态变化可作为判断宿主抗肿瘤免疫功能状态、病情发展和预后的敏感指标。