ABSTRACT
The testes of juvenile and adult rats were subjected to a histomorphometric and ultramorphometric examination after a 5-week cyproterone acetate and oestradiol benzoate treatment respectively. In the cyproterone acetate animals only minor changes of spermatogenesis are found in contrast to the oestradiol benzoate ones. The juvenile rats were not differing from those in the control group. In the older rats a reduction of the spermatocytes area portion in the basal zone of seminiferous epithelium can be proven. Oestradiol benzoate leads to an arrest of spermatogenesis at the stage of spermatocytes or the early spermatids respectively. At the same time the median diameter of seminiferous tubulus and the total area of seminiferous epithelium has considerably decreased in comparison to the treatment with anti-androgen. By the applied method an influence of the two substances on the spermatogonia was not recognizable.
Subject(s)
Estradiol/pharmacology , Testis/drug effects , Age Factors , Animals , Cyproterone/pharmacology , Male , Rats , Seminiferous Tubules/drug effects , Spermatogenesis/drug effects , Spermatogonia/drug effects , Testis/pathology , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Foci of apparent peliosis are regularly observed in the mid-zone of the adrenal cortex in female rats older than 600 days. The changes present range from ectasis of the sinusoids to extensive cystic change of the whole organ. This lesion occurs almost exclusively in female animals and was seen in only one of 50 male animals older than 600 days examined. Experimental stimulation or inhibition did not influence adrenal peliosis. Electron microscopically, there was marked pericapillary edema with collapse of the capillaries, and erythrocytes and thrombocytes were seen infiltrating the edema. Fibrin accumulated in the larger foci. Degenerative alterations were not observed either in the epithelial cells of the cortex or in mesenchymal cells. The pathogenesis is unknown, but the possible role of constant estrus in aging female rats will be discussed.
Subject(s)
Adrenal Cortex Diseases/pathology , Aging , Vascular Diseases/pathology , Adrenal Cortex/ultrastructure , Animals , Capillaries/pathology , Edema/pathology , Estrus , Female , Male , Microscopy, Electron , Pregnancy , RatsABSTRACT
The biocompatibility of alumina ceramic was tested by means of macrophage cultures, intraperitoneal (i.p.) and intramuscular (i.m.) application of powdered particles in rats, and by implantation of solid samples in the paravertebral muscles and the condylus femur. No acute cytotoxicity was found in macrophage cultures. The i.p. and i.m. application of powdered particles in the beginning showed a granulocytic reaction, later followed by a histiocytic reaction. Also, the morphological changes in the organs of reticulo histiocytic system (RHS) are shown. In the solid samples implantation, the fibrogenetic stimulus is measured by morphological analysis of the connective tissue membrane around the sample. The importance of the individual cell observation by transmission-electron microscope (TEM) examination is evidenced. The experimental results are compared to the environmental reaction of smaller animal-adapted prostheses and prostheses having been implanted in human patients. Good biocompatibility is confirmed by these investigations; also regarding central position of the macrophages, the environmental reaction due to implant material is shown.
Subject(s)
Aluminum Oxide/pharmacology , Aluminum/pharmacology , Biocompatible Materials , Ceramics , Animals , Bone and Bones/anatomy & histology , Bone and Bones/drug effects , Connective Tissue/anatomy & histology , DNA/biosynthesis , Dogs , Humans , Lymphocytes/drug effects , Macrophages/drug effects , Muscles/anatomy & histology , Muscles/drug effects , Peritoneum/anatomy & histology , Peritoneum/drug effectsABSTRACT
Typical anterior spinal artery syndrome with initially severe pain and paraplegia with sensory disturbances occurred after a fall in a 36-year-old man with a history of lumbago. Multiple emboli of fibrocartilaginous material with nucleus pulposus cells were found in the foci of myelomalacia. The embolism of nucleus pulposus tissue originating from Schmorl's nodules was probably carried via the blood vessels of the neighbouring vertebral bodies with retrograde flow through the perispinal venous plexus into spinal cord veins and hence into the arteries of the spinal cord via veno-arterial anastomoses. A transitory increase in intra-abdominal pressure was probably the cause of the inversion of venous flow.
Subject(s)
Embolism/complications , Intervertebral Disc/blood supply , Paraplegia/etiology , Acute Disease , Adult , Autopsy , Embolism/pathology , Humans , Male , Paraplegia/pathologyABSTRACT
The outer zona fasciculata of 28 Sprague-Dawley rats, 8 weeks old, was studied by means of ultramorphometry. Four males and 4 females each received 1250 mug of testosterone proprionate (TP) or 300 mug oestradiol benzoate (OeB) on the second day of life. Four males and 4 females in oestrus or dioestrus served as controls. The controls showed both sex and cyclic differences: in comparison to the males, females displayed a finely dispersed lipoid pattern; enlargement of the nucleus and an increase in the amount of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) indicated an increased stimulation of the cortex during oestrus. Neonatal administration of TP in females causes a distinct enlargement of cells with an increase in the volumes of nucleus, mitochondria, liposomes, SER and liposomes. The mitochondria and liposomes show a small-dispersed pattern of distribution. All these function-specific morphometric parameters point to an increased activity of the individual cell. The changes are less pronounced after OeB than after TP. In the male, neonatal administration of sex steroids results in an alteration of the sizes of the mitochondria and liposomes. The liposomes are distributed finely dispersed. At the same time there is an increase in the lipoid content. According to these parameters, fasciculata cells fulfil the morphological conditions that are a prerequisite for an elevated functional reaction. This change is more marked following OeB than TP. Sex dimorphism is preserved following neonatal application of sex steroids since the alterations are much more pronounced in females than in males.
