[Crystalline inclusions of the mouse thyroid. Effect of chronic treatment with lithium gluconate]. / Les inclusions cristallines de la thyroïde de souris. Effet d'un traitement chronique au gluconate de lithium.

Intracytoplasmic crystalline bodies of various sizes are found in thyroid cells of 10-month-old mice and in younger animals under chronic lithium treatment. They are frequently surrounded by small microvesicles and dense bodies or enclosed in larger vesicles having a dense content. The crystalline skeleton is a network of protein fibers assembled in a characteristic axis with a periodicity of 8 nm. A deficiency of thyroid cell metabolism related to aging or lithium gluconate treatment would lead to an accumulation of substances of a crystalline pattern.

[Kinetic study of the distribution of stable iodine and radioiodine in the thyroid vesicle and cell using analytical ionic microscopy]. / Etude cinétique de la distribution de l'iode stable et du radioiode dans la vésicule et la cellule thyroïdiennes, en microcopie ionique analytique.

Images of the distribution of 127I and 129I have been obtained by means of SIMS, in Mouse thyroid gland, after tracer injection. Profiles analysis performed on 60 microns area express the relative amount of iodine in thyroid vesicles. Isotopic ratio show a large discrepancy from a follicle to an other which is in situ in agreement with the functional heterogeneity of the gland. The interest of the method to study the kinetics of iodine pools is discussed.

[Ultrastructural modifications in the thyroid glands of mice treated with lithium gluconate]. / Modifications ultrastructurales de la thyroïde de Souris traitée au gluconate de lithium.

The various morphological and functional changes produced by lithium gluconate treatment of Mouse thyroid and ultimobranchial cells show complex interactions, involving direct and indirect effects. In most of the cases these effects determine metabolism (thyroid cells) or differentiation (ultimobranchial cell) disturbances. In most of the cases analysed changes do not concern the whole gland and should not have important consequences on its general activity-so it is more likely that at low concentration the effects of lithium gluconate on the thyroid gland of manic depressive patients might be neglected at the level of the functional state of the whole gland.