Altered oxytocinergic hypothalamus systems in sepsis.

Sepsis is known to affect neuroendocrine circuits: injections of lipopolysaccaride are potent stimulators of oxytocin secretion from the posterior lobe, acute sepsis leads to uterus contractions and spontaneous abort. Here, we report changes in expression and distribution of hypothalamic oxytocin in rats that had been subjected to caecal ligation and puncture which led to acute sepsis. Septic animals showed loss of oxytocin immunostaining in perikarya of the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei and an increase of oxytocin positive fibres, suggesting a shift of oxytocin pools into the axonal compartment. Immunostaining of the posterior lobe revealed reduction of oxytocin in septic rats. Magnocellular neurons in supraoptic- and to a lesser extent in paraventricular nuclei showed nuclear immunoreactivity for the protooncogene c-Fos, indicating stimulation of transcriptional activity upon sepsis. Contrary to magnocellular oxytocin immunoreactivity, we observed increased oxytocin immunoreactivity in cell bodies and processes of periventricular nucleus and in perivascular neurons. Oxytocin neurons in other regions of the hypothalamus and the preoptic region did not appear to be affected by acute sepsis. Our findings suggest a differential activation of neurohypophyseal and cerebrospinal fluid contacting oxytocin systems while centrally projecting oxytocin neurons may not be affected. Systemic oxytocin levels may serve as additional diagnostic marker for sepsis.

Colocalization of androgen binding protein, oxytocin receptor, caveolin 1 and proliferation marker p21 in benign prostate hyperplasia.

Androgen-binding protein (ABP) and oxytocin (OT) are among the factors that control smooth muscle proliferation and tumour growth through oxytocin receptor (OTR). A close functional interaction of OTR and caveolin 1 has been shown to modulate cell growth and proliferation. We investigated samples from 10 patients (mean age 68.3) who underwent transurethral prostate resection because of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) by immunohistochemistry. Post-mortem prostate samples of three young men (age 18, 28, 33) were used as controls. Tissue samples were embedded in epoxy resin and cut into serial 1 microm sections for colocalization of ABP, OTR, proliferation marker p21 and caveolin 1. ABP was found in stroma of the smooth muscle cells in all studied samples. OTR staining occurred in most of these cells in BPH while controls contained only scattered cells positive for OTR. There were no apparent differences in immunostaining for p21 while immunoreactivity for caveolin 1 was observed in most cells in BPH and only in few cells in controls. Caveolin 1 was mostly colocalized with ABP and OTR in BPH samples while controls did only occasionally show this colocalization. Our observations indicate an interaction of ABP and OTR, associated with caveolin 1, which may account in part for known non-genomic actions of gonadal steroids. Androgen dependent prostate growth in BPH may be linked to these mechanisms.

Anterior belly anomalies of the digastric muscle: case report

We report two cases of anomalous digastricmuscles that were found during routine dissectionsof the submental region. Our firstcase was an 84-year old male cadaver who hadbilateral and symmetric accessory anterior belliesof the digastric muscle. A unilateral accessoryanterior belly of the digastric muscle withan accessory muscle bundle lying transversallybetween the two anterior bellies of a 60-year old male cadaver was observed in the second case. In the first case, the anterior bellies and accessory anterior bellies were attached to the mandible digastric fossa. In the second case, anterior bellies and an accessory anterior belly originated from the base of the chin and from digastric fossa and were fused at the beginning.It is important to be aware of possibleoccurrences of such anomalies during surgicalprocedures of the submental regio (AU)

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Changing caveolin-1 and oxytocin receptor distribution in the ageing human prostate.

Several observations suggest that caveolin-1 has an important role in control of cell proliferation and cancerogenesis. For instance, oxytocin provokes a proliferative response in the prostate tissue when the oxytocin receptor is localized mainly in caveolin-1-enriched domains and an anti-proliferative effect when the same receptor is not localized in caveolae. Moreover, oxytocin concentrations are elevated in prostate tissue of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). In this study the expression pattern of the molecules caveolin-1, oxytocin receptor, androgen receptor and p21 (cell cycle arrest indicator) was investigated in the prostate tissue of BPH patients and of young controls. We found that both caveolin-1 and oxytocin receptor expression is drastically increased with age in both smooth muscle and epithelium of the prostate. We also found a significantly increased co-localization of the oxytocin receptor with caveolin-1 in both the muscle and the epithelium, especially in BPH patients. Androgen receptor and p21 staining was found throughout the prostate but did not change significantly with age or in BPH patients. We conclude that oxytocin may have a proliferative effect on the prostate tissue through the caveolae-associated receptors and thus contribute to BPH. This process seems to be androgen receptor independent.

Changes of sex hormone-binding globulin/SHBG expression in the hypothalamo-hypophyseal system of rats during pregnancy, parturition and lactation.

Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is expressed in hypothalamic magnocellular neurons. High co-localization rates of SHBG with oxytocin have been observed in the hypothalamus, indicating that SHBG plays a role in pregnancy, parturition and lactation. Further studies have shown that hypothalamic SHBG expression is malleable to changing steroid conditions. In this study, we have examined SHBG levels in the supraoptic and paraventricular hypothalamic nuclei and in the posterior pituitary lobe of late pregnant, parturient and early lactating rats by IN SITU hybridization, immunocytochemistry, and ELISA. Immunocytochemical and biochemical analysis showed that the SHBG levels increased during late pregnancy in hypothalamic nuclei. During parturition, SHBG levels fell in the magnocellular nuclei but increased in the posterior pituitary lobe. SHBG levels increase again during lactation. At day six of lactation, there was no significant difference in SHBG levels compared to normal cycling female rats, which served as control in this study. IN SITU hybridization showed increased SHBG mRNA signal during late pregnancy. The highest SHBG expression was observed during parturition. Our data indicate that hypothalamic SHBG expression changes during pregnancy, parturition and lactation, parallel to ovarian steroid and co-localized OT levels. This may in part be linked to known steroid actions on synthesis and secretion of magnocellular hypothalamic peptide hormones, important for the control of parturition and lactation.

Androgen-binding protein is co-expressed with oxytocin in the male reproductive tract.

Androgen-binding protein (ABP) and the posterior lobe hormone oxytocin (OT) were co-localized in male rat reproductive organs. Immunostaining of serial semi-thin sections revealed a high rate of coexistence of both antigens in Sertoli cells and in the epithelial cells of the prostate. There was a considerably less co-localization of OT and ABP in epithelial cells of the epididymis, and in the different tissues of the ductus deferens. In situ hybridization with synthetic oligonucleotides complementary to a fragment of ABP mRNA showed specific staining in the same sites that were immunostained for ABP. ABP was isolated by affinity chromatography from homogenates of testis, epididymis, prostate and the content of the prostate lumen. Identical protein patterns could be shown with surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry in all samples except for the epididymis indicating that ABP structure is similar in all these tissues. ABP seems to be expressed in specified cells throughout the male rat reproductive tract. Most of these cells appear to be oxytocinergic. ABP and OT have previously been detected in the ejaculate. The observed epithelial cells are likely to be their source.

The squatting facets on the tibia of Byzantine (13th) skeletons

Squatting is a resting postural complex that involves hyper-flexion at the hip and knee joints, and hyper-dorsiflexion at the ankle and subtalar joints. The effects of squatting stress may induce bone remodeling. Different incidences of these modifications reflect the life style of a population. Stress-induced bone remodeling may be the result of physical and sports performance, especially that of women. We investigated 125 tibia from adult male skeletons from the late Byzantine period (13th century) to see if they had squatting facets or not. Thirty-one tali pairing tibia were also investigated concerning their relationship with the squatting facets of these bones. There were 64 right (51.2%) and 61 left (48.8%) tibia and squatting facets were observed on 30 right (46.9%) and 30 left (49.2%) tibia. Among the 25 paired tibia investigated, squatting facets were seen on 9 (36%) pairs and there was no evidence of side predilection. On the right side, squatting facets occurred on 3 (20%) tibia-tali; on the left side they were present on 7 (43.7%) tibia-tali, and only one tibia had the squatting facet and tali had none. The occurrence of squatting facets in this Byzantine population was greater than that reported for modern Europeans, but less than for Australians and Indians. Therefore, different factors can play a role in the modifications of the distal tibia surface, articulating with the talus (AU)

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A rare case of a multiple variation of the muscles in the upper and lower extremities.

In an anatomy class, dissection led to the discovery of a hitherto unreported multiple variation of the muscles in the upper and lower extremities of a Turkish male cadaver. The variant muscles were the palmaris longus of the reverse type in the right and a double reverse palmaris longus in the left forearm, and the extensor medius proprius in the left forearm and a supernumerary muscle slip originating from the posterior tibialis in the left crus.

Differential expression of acetylcholinesterase in the developing barrel cortex of three rodent species.

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is transiently expressed in several immature axon systems. Its presence in developing thalamocortical afferents has led to the use of enzyme histochemistry to visualize this axon system in rats. Because of the spatiotemporal distribution of the enzyme in the rat neocortex, it has been suggested that AChE plays a role in the establishment of thalamocortical connectivity. We show here that AChE is distributed in a pattern that is markedly different in SI cortex of rats as compared to that of mice and hamsters. In rat pups, AChE-rich patches are distributed in a vibrissa-related array in the SI cortex soon after birth, whereas regions of cortex that lie between individual patches, and between rows of patches, are impoverished in the enzyme. In contrast, sections through flattened cortices from PND3 and older mice and hamsters reveal lightly stained AChE-positive spots in the center of barrel cores, while barrel walls remain devoid of AChE; septae that divide individual barrels are densely enzyme positive. Differences in laminar localization of the enzyme for all three species are also visible. In the thalamus of postnatal rats, both the ventral posterior medial (VPM) and ventral posterior lateral (VPL) nuclei express AChE, correlating with the presence of enzyme-containing patches throughout the barrelfield cortex. In the other two rodents, however, the enzyme is present in VPL but not in VPM, despite the fact that in these species the cortical barrels associated with both thalamic nuclei have very little of the enzyme. Thus, the relationship between the distribution of AChE in nuclei of the thalamic ventrobasal complex and the presence of AChE in the terminals of their cortical axons in the barrelfield is not consistent across different rodent species. Our results call for caution in the use of AChE histochemistry as a universal marker for immature thalamocortical axons, and challenge the generality of currently hypothesized roles for this transiently expressed enzyme during the development of the rodent thalamocortical projection.

Anomalous insertion of abductor pollicus longus: case report.

An unusual insertion of abductor pollicus longus, mainly onto the scaphoid bone, was encountered during routine dissection. This appears to be a unique observation.

Evaluation of the foramen magnum dimensions.

The metric values of the foramen magnum (FM) were studied both by dry skull measurements and tomographic measurements. Anteroposterior (AP) and transverse diameters of 88 skulls in three different groups were taken into consideration. The mean AP value for the 38 skulls of the first group (Late Byzantine Era, A.D. 13th century) was 35.6 +/- 2.3 mm, while the mean transverse value was 29.9 +/- 2.1 mm. Twenty-seven skulls of the 20th century had the mean values of 35.1 +/- 2.8 and 28.7 +/- 2.2 mm for AP and transverse measurements, respectively. The third group consisted of computed tomography (CT) measurements of 23 outpatients in the radiology department. Their mean AP value was 36.4 +/- 2.8 and the mean transverse value was 30.0 +/- 1.4 mm. When the measurements of 88 skulls of the three groups were considered together, the mean AP value was 35.6 +/- 2.7 and the transverse value was 29.5 +/- 2.1 mm. There is no significant difference between the total mean value of the present study and that of other authors. However, if the three groups are considered separately, the mean transverse value shows significant differences, especially that of the second group. Also the radiographic and tomographic measurements of other authors have higher results than the present results, perhaps due to methodologic differences.

Nutrient foramina in the shafts of lower limb long bones: situation and number.

The location and number of the diaphysial dominant nutrient foramina in 305 specimens of the human lower limb long bones were examined. The diaphysial nutrient foramina on the femur were located at between 26.7-84.4% of the total length; while on the tibia between 11.0-67.2%; and on the fibula between 29.8-67.8% of the total length. The number of the diaphysial nutrient foramina and their distribution on the faces of each bone was also studied.