Showing papers by "University of Texas Medical Branch published in 1968"

The Cells of Human Colostrum. I. In Vitro Studies of Morphology and Functions

Abstract: Extract: The morphology and certain functions of human colostral cells were studied in vitro. Colostrum from 60 human females contained neutrophils, small lymphocytes, macrophages and occasional epithelial cells. The median concentration of neutrophils in colostrum from breast-feeding mothers was 150/mm3 as compared to 7000/mm3 in colostrum from those who did not breast feed. The median concentration of lymphocytes in human colostrum was 205/mm3. Eighty to ninety percent of colostral lymphocytes in culture underwent blastoid transformation after exposure to phytohemagglutinin. Ten to twenty-five percent of cultured lymphocytes were transformed after the addition of specific antigens to the cultures. The synthesis of DNA by blast forms was demonstrated by radioautographic studies with H3-thymidine. The median concentration of macrophages in colostrum was 2100/mm3. Colostral corpuscles (corpuscles of DONNE) were classed with these cells since they displayed identical features. These included glass-adhesive properties, ameboid activity, phagocytosis and presence of abundant lysosomes. Two types of lymphocyte-macrophage interactions were found in fresh and cultured colostrum. These findings suggested that the interactions occurred in vivo as well as in vitro. Speculation: These observations indicate that immunologically active cells are normal constituents of human colostrum. The possibility is advanced that these cells may influence the host response of the neonatal recipient.

An electron microscopic study of the relationship between axon diameter and the initiation of myelin production in the peripheral nervous system.

Abstract: Mid-thoracic dorsal and ventral roots from adult rats, cats and cows were prepared for electron microscopy using standard techniques. Axon diameters were measured on photographs of known magnification. Minimal diameters of the unmyelinated fibers in the spinal cords of these animals were measured also. With the exception of a few overlapping diameters unmyelinated fibers were smaller than the smallest myelinated fibers in all the material examined. In the dorsal roots of the cow, the unmyelinated fibers, as a group, were larger than those of the rat and cat, and very few were enclosed by any one Schwann cell. The largest unmyelinated fibers were singly enclosed. In addition, the dorsal root of the cow contains many more small myelinated fibers than those of the other two species. In the ventral roots, a progressive increase in the size and relative numbers of myelinated preganglionic fibers from rat through cat to cow was noted. These facts indicated that myelination is directly dependent on fiber diameter irrespective of age, species or function although less precisely than was indicated by the earlier studies of Duncan ('34). Although the critical diameter for myelination in the peripheral nervous system is about one micron, in the central nervous system it is 0.3 μ or less.

On the presence of peripheral-like nervous and connective tissue within irradiated spinal cord

Abstract: Cells with elongated nuclei resembling those of fibroblasts and/or Schwann cells had been noted previously in x-irradiated portions of rat spinal cords. The present experiment was undertaken to determine the identity and fates of these cells. For this experiment, a 5 mm length of lumbosacral spinal cord was irradiated (4000 R) in three-day-old Holtzman rats. Groups of these rats and their litter mate controls were killed at intervals from 11 through 60 days following irradiation. Most of the spinal cords were prepared for light microscopic examination; a few were prepared for ultrastructural studies. Light microscopic examination revealed that the cells in question became observable near the dorsal roots within and immediately caudal to the irradiated area in a few rats as early as 15 days post-irradiation and in all rats by 19 days following irradiation. The number of cells increased rapidly and in some cases filled the dorsal funiculi. Axons that were intermingled with these cells usually became myelinated approximately 25 days post-irradiation. The myelin that formed on these axons resembled peripheral rather than central myelin. Reticular fibers were also abundant in the cell aggregations. The ultrastructural studies confirmed these observations. The data indicate that these cells were involved in formation of peripheral-like nervous tissue within the spinal cord of all irradiated rats.

Cell division in injuried spinal cord.

Abstract: Thymidine-H3 radioautography was used to study the proliferative response to penetrating wounds of the mouse spinal cord. In one group of animals mononuclear leukocytes which infiltrate nervous tissue wounds were labeled by injecting thymidine-H3 prior to injury. In two other experimental groups the cells which synthesized DNA in the nervous tissue following the injury were labeled by giving either a single injection of isotope shortly before sacrifice or by giving four injections during the 24 hours prior to sacrifice. The animals were sacrificed over a five day period following spinal cord injury. Although the labeled nuclei in all three groups were similar in appearance, their distribution about the lesion was very different. The labeled blood cells were greatly concentrated at the wound, while the cells that responded to injury by DNA synthesis were much more evenly spread throughout the tissue. When these distributions were converted to straight lines and compared statistically, there was a very low probability that the group of cells labeled before injury and the two groups labeled after injury were samples from the same population. Although mononuclear leukocytes do proliferate in and around nervous tissue wounds, other cells originally present in the nervous tissue wounds, other cells originally present in the nervous tissue must also proliferate.

Bezoars—A complication of the postgastrectomy state

Abstract: Bezoars have not been readily recognized as a postgastrectomy complication. A review of the literature and this report of 2 cases stress the importance of this phenomenon. Roughage, delayed emptying, narrow stoma, and decreased gastric secretions, as well as improper mastication and inadequate teeth, play a role in producing bezoars. Prevention, with emphasis on the avoidance of foods with high fiber content and on good oral hygiene, is the preferred measure. However, a short trial of papain and surgery are indicated once the bezoar has formed.

Idiopathic, nonobstructive cardiomyopathy in children.

Abstract: Eight cases of idiopathic, nonobstructive cardiomyopathy in children have been studied; 7 were of the congestive (pulsus alternans) type and 1 of the restrictive type. The congestive cases were characterized by moderate to marked cardiac enlargement, pulsus alternans and, in 3, cerebral emboli. The electrocardiograms indicated left ventricular hypertrophy in 5, anterolateral myocardial necrosis in 1, and suggested anterior myocardial necrosis in 2. The case of the restrictive type had impaired right and left ventricular filling due to marked biventricular hypertrophy. The atria were greatly enlarged and the ventricular cavities small. Of the 8 patients, 4 died. When last seen, 1 in whom the heart size had returned to normal and 1 with slight cardiac enlargement were asymptomatic and 1 other was moderately symptomatic, with cardiac enlargement. One was lost to follow-up study. Autopsies were performed in 3 cases, and right ventricular biopsy in 1. Interstitial and endocardial fibrosis and mild, focal myocardial fiber degeneration were characteristic. Left ventricular thrombi were observed at autopsy in 2 cases. The clinical picture seems sufficiently characteristic to enable a clinical diagnosis of cardiomyopathy to be made, and the congestive and restrictive forms to be distinguished.

Changes in nuclear RNA of brain induced by olfaction in catfish.

Abstract: — —Studies were undertaken to correlate the changes in the synthesis of brain nuclear RNA during olfactory stimulation in saltwater catfish (Galeichthys felis). Catfish allowed to swim for 1 hr in sea water containing morpholine (10−4 M) showed an increase in brain nuclear RNA and a change in base ratios in contrast to controls in plain sea water. These changes in brain nuclear RNA were reversed within 24 hr to the levels of unstimulated controls when morpholine stimulated fish were transferred to fresh sea water. In a split-brain preparation in an isolated catfish head, one naris was washed with morpholine in sea water (10−6 M), while the other naris was washed with plain sea water. The stimulated half of the brain, compared to the unstimulated half, showed the same changes in nuclear RNA as those noted in free swimming catfish. Brain cytoplasmic fractions did not exhibit any changes in RNA following olfactory stimulation. Amyl acetate, shrimp extract, and extracts from red fish skin as odorants also elicited changes in brain nuclear RNA. With each odorant there was an increase in amount of RNA and also a change in base ratio, where the base ratio changes were different for each odorant tested. With camphor as an odorant, there was an increase in brain nuclear RNA, while with menthol as an odorant, there was a decrease in brain nuclear RNA. In both instances the base ratio of the RNA did not change in contrast to the controls. These studies suggest that olfactory stimulants affect a change in content and character of the RNA in brain nuclei, whereas irritants to the olfactory epithelium change the content of brain nuclear RNA but do not alter the base ratio.

Vincristine in acute leukemia of childhood.

Abstract: Ninety‐four children with acute leukemia refractory to other forms of chematherapy were treated by three dosage regimens of vincristine. Complete remission occurred in 21.8% of the children experiencing adequate drug trial, with partial remission in 25.4% and bone marrow remission in 37.4%. Rapidity of response was variable with bone marrow remission occurring between the fourteenth and eighty‐fifth day of therapy and optimum response between the twenty‐first and one hundred and thirteenth day. Remissions, lasting only 20‐154 days, on maintenance therapy with vincristine tended to be relatively short‐lived, compared with those maintained by other agents. Toxicity of vincristine proved to be a limiting lactor, requiring alteration of therap in over 25% of the children treated. Vincristine, nevertheless, is firmly established as a valuable agent for the induction of remission in acute leukemia. Continuing studies indicate that the rate of remission reinduction is markedly increased by the combination of vincristine with prednisone.

The potentiation of rat uterine inhibitory responses to noradrenaline by theophylline and nitroglycerine.

Abstract: 1. Dose response curves for noradrenaline were determined before, during and after pretreatment with a variety of agents. The inhibitory response to noradrenaline on the isolated rat uterus was measured according to its ability to inhibit an acetylcholine induced contraction. 2. Theophylline, an agent that inhibits phosphodiesterase and increases cyclic AMP levels in the rat, potentiated the response to noradrenaline. 3. Pretreatment with cocaine had no significant effect on the potentiation of the noradrenaline response by theophylline. 4. Theophylline potentiated the inhibitory response to nitroglycerine. 5. Pretreatment with nitroglycerine also potentiated the inhibitory response to noradrenaline. 6. Theophylline appears to produce a potentiation of the inhibitory effect of noradrenaline on the rat uterus by means of a non-specific mechanism.

Cinemicrographic observations of the effects of contrast media on the microcirculation.

Abstract: * Supported in part by a grant from The Texas Heart Association. † Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. ‡ Department of Physiology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. ’ Angiography has found increasing usefulness in the evaluation of vascular related pathology. Since the introduction of iodinated compounds for arteriography by Brooks in 1924,1 continued refinement in contrast media has progressively improved the safety of these procedures. Much of this progress has been made possible by extensive investigation into the potential toxicity of these compounds. Excluding anaphylactic reactions, early investigators believed additional damaging effects of x-ray dyes were secondary to reflex vasoconstriction.2> 3 Wore recently attention has been focused on the effect of the contrast material on blood cellular elements .4-9 High speed cinematography afforded the opportunity of studying the effects on the vascular physiology of the microcirculation. In addition, by projecting the recorded high speed film at a rate 100 times slower than the original filming sequence it

Chromosomes of the sterile hybrid duck.

Abstract: The hybrid duck resulting from the mating of a Muscovy male and a White Pekin female is sterile. Utilizing a technique for the culture of blood cells, chromosome preparations were made of the parental

Chronic paronychia in children.

Abstract: Thumb-sucking is the most frequent predisposing factor of chronic paronychia in children.There are two basic components in chronic paronychia. One is a pocket which holds moisture and allows the sur vival of many different organisms. The other is an anatomic deformity of round ing out and retraction of the posterior nail fold because of foreign material in the dermis. The dermal change with the subsequent rounding out and retraction assures the continuing presence of the pocket.Chronic monilial disease usually local izes at sites of pre-existing defects. Mo nilia contribute to the disease process by irritation on the surface and by penetra tion of debris into the dermis. This debris stimulates chronic inflammation which in turn often aggravates the original defect.

Fine structure of the down feather during its early development.

Abstract: The down feather of the chick embryo has been examined by electron microscopy during three distinct stages of its early development; the presumptive stage, represented by dorsal skin of an area from which the feather organ will arise; the thickening stage, during which areas of the basal epidermis form spurs projecting into the mesenchyme, and the latter condenses under a thickened area of the epidermis; the elevation stage, at which time the basal epidermis flattens, the entire epidermis increases in thickness, and the underlying mesenchyme becomes more compact. As development proceeds the rough endoplasmic reticulum of the epidermal cells dilates, but during the elevation stage begins to flatten, and Golgi is observed with increasing frequency. The mitochondria do not appear to differ except for those in the periderm during the presumptive stage, in which case they reveal a vacant matrix and irregular cristae. Evidence is presented for actual contact between basal epidermal spurs and filopodia of cells within the mesenchyme, some of which contain numerous vesicles. The basal epidermal spurs are also seen in intimate association with collagen and anchor filaments and a network of reticulin. Evidence is also presented for the presence of neuronal elements within the mesenchyme during the thickening stage. Cross sections of cell processes within the condensations of the mesenchyme resemble unmyelinated nerve fibers, and cross sections of filopodia similar to arborizing axons abound at and within the basal lamina of both the thickening and elevation stages. Further support for the presence of nerve fibers within the mesenchyme comes from positive staining results with Bodian's and Ungewitter's methods. This comparative study of three stages of early development of the feather organ serves as a basis for more detailed investigations of each stage.

Psoriasis--a defect in inflammation.

Abstract: In 1924, Civattei suggested that the primary histologic lesion in psoriasis and in seborrheic dermatitis is the intraepidermal pustule. He suggested that the pustule occurs in seborrhea as the result of external organisms and in psoriasis because of an internal defect. Recently, Pinkus and Mehregan^ reviewed the ideas of Civatte on the development of Munro's abscess. They agreed that the pustule was the primary histologic lesion, but they could not rule out a preceding biochemical event in the epidermis. Their theory, based on the histologic examination of clinical disease, essentially states that the papilla becomes edematous and its capillary becomes engorged. The capillary squirts a load of serum and leukocytes into the suprapapillary epidermis, thereby damaging the keratinocytes in this region. The leukocytes then move upward with the epidermal cells. In their discussion, they niade it clear that they felt that this is a broad mechanism involving skin diseases.

Release of thromboplastin after thermal injury

Abstract: Summary Microcirculatory flow following a severe burn is hindered by the formation of aggregates of erythrocytes which frequently completely fill the lumena of small arteries, arterioles, and venules. On the arterial side, clusters of cells are often too large to enter branching vessels; large aggregates grow from smaller clusters, and vessels fill with packed, adherent erythrocytes for some distance proximal to divarications. However, if erythrocytes enter capillaries, they move independently of other erythrocytes and are transformed into hollow paraboloids as they are in the absence of trauma to tissue or in the absence of infused thromboplastin. The hypothesis that aggregation of erythrocytes is caused either directly or indirectly by release of thromboplastins from damaged tissue is based upon the following evidence: 1) Following a severe burn the observed phenomena in cinephotographic film recorded at conventional film speeds and up to 3200 frames per sec, are similar to those observed following the infusion of thromboplastin. 2) Changes in clotting and fibrinolytic components following a severe burn can be duplicated by the infusion of canine thromboplastin. The most pronounced alteration is the shortening of the Stypvin time which is highly dependent upon the concentration of phospholipids. 3) Complete fibrinogenolysis results in improvement in microcirculatory flow following a severe burn and following the infusion of thromboplastin, indicating that an altered fibrinogen, or possibly fibrin, is involved in the adherence between erythrocytes in both experimental conditions.