Ultrastructural changes in the parenchymal liver cells of rats treated with high doses of rifampicin.

Ultrastructural study of hepatic parenchyma was carried out in female Wistar rats after they had received high doses (400 mg X kg-1) of rifampicin for 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 days. Morphological changes in the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus and mitochondria were observed as early as day 1 of intoxication. These changes corroborate the biochemical data available regarding RFP-induced fatty liver.

[Effects of glucagon and epinephrine on the rat liver: oxidative phosphorylation and ultrastructure]. / Effets du glucagon et de l'adrénaline sur le foie de rat: phosphorylations oxydatives et ultrastructure.

Twenty minutes after i.v. injection of 1.5 micrograms/100 g epinephrine, the phosphorylation rates of rat liver mitochondria were increased by 30-40%. Treatment with cycloheximide or actinomycin D 20 min before epinephrine or glucagon (10 micrograms/100 g, i.v.) injection blocked much of the respiratory activation by these hormones. The treatment with glucagon or epinephrine (20 min) provoked an important development of rough endoplasmic reticulum of which cisternae were closely associated with the mitochondria, and an appearance of abundant ribosomes. We observed close structural contact between mitochondria, and also between smooth endoplasmic reticulum membranes and mitochondria. Thus, glucagon and epinephrine provoked an early stimulation of mRNA and protein synthesis which could be involved in the activation of mitochondrial energy metabolism.

Ultrastructure of the sinus gland and lateral cephalic nerve plexus in the isopod Ligia oceanica (Crustacea Oniscoidea).

Isopod crustaceans have two distinct cephalic neurohemal organs: the sinus gland (SG) and lateral cephalic nerve plexus (LCNP). The present study of Ligia oceanica was designed to ascertain the ultrastructure, during the moulting cycle, of the terminals constituting the SG and LCNP, both of which store and release neurosecretory material, and to trace these terminals to their probable origin in neurosecretory perikarya. The SG was observed to contain four types of terminals (I, II, III, and IV) assigned, on the basis of the appearance of their neurosecretory granules, to four types of neurosecretory cells in the protocerebrum (beta 1, beta 2, B1, and Bu). When the same morphological criteria were applied to the LCNP, two types of terminals were found--III' and IV'. Type III' was thought to originate in the Bp plexus cells and in the B2 cells of the suboesophageal ganglion. The origins of Type IV' terminals were believed to be the Bu and Bm cells of this ganglion. Release from both the GS and LCNP occurred by exocytosis. The discussion attempts to relate the ultrastructural variations observed in the SG and LCNP with existing data on the neuroendocrine regulation of the moult. Such regulation involves the two antagonistic hormones (moult-inhibiting and moult-accelerating) which determine the circulating ecdysteroid level. It is also suggested that the plexus cells are the site of synthesis of a factor controlling the release of the exuviation factor.

Ultrastructural development of the neurohemal organ joined to the ecdysial gland after imaginal moulting in the male isopod Sphaeroma serratum Fab. (Crustacea Flabellifera).

The present ultrastructural study deals with the lateral cephalic nerve plexus of Sphaeroma serratum, a neurohemal organ joined to the Y organ (ecdysial gland). This plexus acts as a storage centre for neurosecretory products from two sources: the two autochtonous cells (plexus cells) within the plexus itself, and the neurosecretory cells in various parts of the central nervous system, particulary the "mandibular ganglion" (A-cells). In prepuberal animals, plexus cells and subesophageal A-cells produce neurosecretory granules of two types measuring 1550 +/- 50 A and 1570 +/- 40 A respectively. Five categories of axon terminals were distinguished in the plexus. The granules found in two of these terminal types are believed to come from the plexus cells and from the "mandibular ganglion" A-cells. Cessation of production of neurosee plexus with concomitant depletion and disappearance of different granule categories. The first axon terminals affected by this process are the two categories containing granules originating in the plexus and "mandibular ganglion" A-cells. Degeneration of the ecdysial gland in male Sphaeroma serratum might be connected with the cessation of granule formation in these two types of cell.