Myelin-axon relationships established by rat vagal Schwann cells deep to the brainstem surface

The central-peripheral transitional zones of rat dorsolateral vagal rootlets are highly complex. Peripheral nervous tissue extends centrally for up to several hundred micrometers deep to the brainstem surface along these rootlets. In some instances this peripheral nervous tissue lacks continuity with the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and so forms an island within the central nervous system (CNS). In conformity with the resulting complexity of the CNS-PNS interface, segments of vagal axons lying deep to the brainstem surface are myelinated by one or more intercalated Schwann cells, contained in peripheral tissue insertions or islands, at either end of which they traverse an astroglial barrier. Intercalated Schwann cells are thus isolated from contact or contiguity with the Schwann cells of the PNS generally. They are short, having a mean internodal length of around 60% of that of the most proximal Schwann cells of the PNS proper, which lie immediately distal to the CNS-PNS interface and which are termed transitional Schwann cells. The thickness of the myelin sheaths produced by intercalated Schwann cells is intermediate between that of transitional Schwann cells and that of oligodendrocytes myelinating vagal axons of the same calibre distribution. This is not due to limited blood supply or to insufficient numbers of intercalated Schwann cells, the density of which is greater than that of transitional Schwann cells. These factors are unlikely to restrict expression of their myelinogenic potential. Nevertheless, the regression data show that the setting of the myelin-axon relationship differs significantly between the two categories of Schwann cell. Thus, the myelinogenic response of Schwann cells to stimuli emanating from the same axons may differ between levels along one and the same nerve bundle. Mean myelin periodicity was found to differ between sheaths produced by intercalated and by transitional Schwann cells.     

Circulating factors that modify lung cell DNA synthesis following exposure to inhaled oxidants. II. Effect of serum and lavage on lung pneumocytes following exposure of adult rats to 1 ppm ozone

Adult rats were exposed to 1 ppm (1.96 mg/m3) ozone or air for 2 wk. Animals were sacrificed at 3, 5, 7, or 14 d after the onset of exposure, and samples of plasma and lung lavage were obtained. Heat-inactivated plasma and lavage from animals exposed to ozone for 5 or 7 d significantly increased DNA synthesis by lung pneumocytes compared with plasma or lavage from air-exposed animals. Fractionation of plasma and lavage samples indicated that the factor responsible had an isoelectric point of 6.45-6.75, and a molecular weight of 38 +/- 3 kDa. This factor has a dose-dependent effect on lung pneumocyte DNA synthesis in culture. It has no effect on cultured fibroblast DNA synthesis, and is distinct from a previously described factor in the plasma of these ozone-exposed animals that enhances fibroblast DNA synthesis. The factor is detectable within 5 d of exposure, and may hold some promise as a marker of early oxidant lung injury.     

The prevalence of peripheral arterial disease and medial arterial calcification in patients with chronic renal failure: requirements for diagnostics

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) is limited because of a lack of uniformity in disease definition and recognition. Furthermore, little is known of the prevalence of medial arterial calcification (MAC) in patients with CRF. Our goal is to study the prevalence of PAD and MAC defined by ankle brachial index (ABI) or toe brachial index (TBI) measurements in a Finnish population of patients with CRF consisting of predialysis and dialysis patients, as well as renal transplant recipients. METHODS: We examined 136 patients with CRF and 59 control subjects. Fifty-nine of the patients with CRF had moderate to severe predialysis CRF, 36 patients were on dialysis treatment, and 41 were renal transplant recipients. Mean age of patients was 51.9 +/- 11.5 years, and 39 patients (29%) had diabetes. ABI and TBI were measured by means of photoplethysmography. The definition of PAD required an ABI value of 0.90 or less, a TBI value of 0.60 or less, or a previous positive lower-extremity angiogram result. ABI values of 1.3 or greater or incompressible arteries at ankle level indicated MAC. The presence of claudication was determined by an interview. RESULTS: Prevalences of PAD on this study were 22.0% in patients with predialysis CRF, 30.6% in patients on dialysis treatment, 14.6% in renal transplant recipients, and 1.7% in the control group (P = 0.001). Prevalences of MAC were 23.7%, 41.7%, 23.1%, and 3.4% (P < 0.001), respectively. Only 9 patients had claudication, and 6 of those patients had PAD. CONCLUSION: Both asymptomatic PAD and MAC are common in patients with CRF. Therefore, we recommend the use of both ABI and TBI measurements in the evaluation of PAD in patients with CRF.     

Shoulder instability: impact of glenohumeral arthrotomography on treatment

We used arthrotomography to study the glenoid labrum in 114 patients. Sixty-nine of the patients had anatomic instability of the shoulder (including recurrent dislocation and subluxation of the shoulder), and 45 patients had functional instability of the shoulder (denoted by chronic pain, clicking of the joint, and the sensation that an unstable condition exists without the objective signs of it). Labral tears were revealed arthrotomographically in 86% of the patients with anatomic instability, while only 40% of the patients with functional instability had labral abnormalities, and these were primarily of minor severity. Fifty-six patients (44 of whom had anatomic instability; 12, functional instability) required surgery. The surgical findings were correlated with the arthrotomographic findings, and no false-positive results were revealed. However, arthrotomography demonstrated only part of the pathologic condition of two patients. These results confirm that there is a strong correlation between labral pathologic conditions and anatomic instability of the shoulder. Arthrotomographic studies have a great impact on the selection of therapy in cases of both anatomic and functional instability of the shoulder.