Jan Evangelista Purkinje, a brilliant, multifaceted Czech biologist: nerve tissue / Jan Evangelista Purkinje, um brilhante multifacetado biólogo checo: tecido nervoso

Jan Evangelista Purkinje was a Czech physician with an exceptional capacity for innovative thinking, and he was one of the fathers of experimental physiology, experimental pharmacology, experimental psychology, histology, embryology, and physical anthropology. Several achievements are named after him, from his prodigious productivity. Of special interest of this paper was his pioneering role in the rise of experimental physiology, microscopical anatomy, and histological methods by the 1830´s that allowed him define more accurate data concerning the structure of nerve tissue of animals and humans such as the now known "Purkinje's cells" and others cells of the brain. He investigated the structure of neuronal processes, including the dendrites. Purkinje recognized possible functional differences between a variety of types of neurons and speculated about their interrelations. He was one of the great geniuses of science.

Jan Evangelista Purkinje foi um médico checo com excepcional capacidade de pensamento inovador e um dos pais da fisiologia experimental, farmacologia experimental, psicologia experimental, histologia, embriologia e antropologia física. Várias conquistas receberam o nome dele, de sua produtividade prodigiosa. De interesse especial deste trabalho enaltece-se o seu papel pioneiro no surgimento da fisiologia experimental, anatomia microscópica e métodos histológicos na década de 1830. Isso permitiu que ele definisse dados mais precisos sobre a estrutura do tecido nervoso de animais e humanos, como as agora conhecidas "células de Purkinje" e outras células do cérebro. Ele investigou a estrutura dos processos neuronais, incluindo os dendritos. Purkinje reconheceu possíveis diferenças funcionais entre uma variedade de tipos de neurônios e especulou sobre suas inter-relações. Ele foi um dos grandes gênios da ciência.

Effect of Ethanolic Extracts of Lemon Grass and Mango Bark on the Cerebral Astrocytes of Adult Wistar Rats.

Aims: Lemon grass and mango bark serves as one of the medicinal plants used in Nigeria for the treatment of malaria by traditional herbalists. This study was designed to assess the effects of ethanolic extract of lemon grass and mango bark on the cerebral astrocytes of wistar rats. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria between December 2013 and May 2014. Methodology: Twenty (20) adult wistar rat were divided into four groups, each consisting of five rats. Group A served as the control that received distilled water, while the experimental groups B, C and D received 2000mg/kg ethanolic extract of lemon grass, 2000mg/kg ethanolic extract of mango bark, a combination of 1000mg/kg ethanolic extract of lemon grass and 1000mg/kg ethanolic extract of mango bark orally with the aid of orogastric tube respectively for two weeks and were sacrificed using chloroform. The brain of the rats were harvested and preserved using 10% formal saline. Histological processes were carried out and the tissues were stained using Hortegas. Results: Neurohistological studies carried out revealed hyperplasia of astrocytes in the treated groups B, C and D animals that received 2000mg/kg of ethanolic extract of lemon grass, 2000mg/kg of mango bark and combined 1000mg/kg of ethanolic extract of lemon grass and 1000mg/kg of ethanolic extract of mango bark. There was increased hyperplasia in group B animals that received 2000mg/kg of the lemon grass extract when compared with the control and the treated groups C and D. Conclusion: Thus, ethanolic extract of lemon grass, mango bark and combined extracts of mango bark and lemon grass has the potential to cause neuronal damage as seen in the hyperplasia of cerebral cortex astrocytes.

Observation of the morphological changes of corneal nerve in experimental herpes simplex keratitis in rabbit eyes / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

Objective To observe the morphological changes of corneal nerve in experimental herpes simplex keratitis (HSK) in rabbit eyes. Methods Inoculation of the scarified cornea with herpes simplex virus-Ⅰ(HSV-Ⅰ)leads to herpetic infection of cornea. The HSK was detected by slit lamp and polymerase chain reaction(PCR), and the changes of corneal nerves in various periods with methylene blue vital staining and ultrastructure of corneal nerve were studied. Results Under light microscope, fewer corneal nerve bundles were observed, scattered with lower density of nerve fiber at center of cornea on the 4th day after the infection. At days 7 and 14, the seriously damaged nerve fiber was intermittent. The neuraxon became shorter with little polarity and the density of nerve fiber was extremely low. At day 30, the density was still low while the nerve fiber was approximately normal. Under electromicroscope, at day 4, the lamellar sheath of nerve fiber in the epitheliums appeared intermittent, and the neuroplasm of endings was partly lysed. During day 7 to day 14,neuroplasm was damaged and became vacuolar. The mitochondria swelled with vacuolar crest, and then were destroyed and lysed. The nerves in stroma were also injured. On day 30, neurilemma sheath was still intermittent with the decrease of microfilament and racuole. Conclusion HSK leads to the damage of nerve and the decrease of nerval density, and the damage of corneal nerve repairs very slowly.