Changes in cholinesterase activity of muscle after crushing the sciatic nerve of rats

The subcellular distribution of cholinesterase (ChE) was studied in the gastrocnemius muscle of rats after strong or weak nerve crushing. The ChE activities of muscle were decreased to a greater extent by strong crushing than by weak crushing. In particular, the ChE activity of the fraction containing sarcoplasmic reticulum was most greatly decreased. These results suggest that the change in the ChE activity of the microsomal fraction most finely reflects the strength of nerve crushing.

Metastasis of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the mandible to the Gasserian ganglion

A case of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the mandible in a 47-year-old woman metastasized to the Gasserian ganglion probably through the perineural space of the inferior alveolar nerve. The patient was treated by irradiation after excision of the tumor from the ganglion. She is currently an outpatient in the oral and maxillofacial surgery department; two years and seven months after the first examination, there is no sign of recurrence or metastasis of adenoid cystic carcinoma.

Abnormal response of luteinizing hormone. Follicle stimulating hormone and testosterone to luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone in chronic renal failure

Serum levels of LH, FSH, testosterone and oestradiol were measured by radioimmunoassay in 10 healthy subjects and 7 undialysed and 15 dialysed patients with chronic renal failure. The basal level of serum LH was significantly higher in patients with chronic renal failure than in healthy subjects. The basal level of serum FSH in male subjects was significantly higher in dialysed patients with chronic renal failure than in healthy subjects. Regarding testosterone secretion in male subjects and oestradiol secretion in female subjects, it was shown that the basal level of serum testosterone was significantly lower in patients with chronic renal failure than in healthy subjects, and that serum oestradiol levels were within the normal range in most of the patients with chronic renal failure. Serum levels of LH, FSH and testosterone were determined after iv injection of 100 μg of LH-RH in three groups of subjects. Responses of serum LH and FSH to LH-RH were exaggerated and prolonged in patients with chronic renal failure compared with healthy subjects. The peaks of serum LH and FSH were observed 30 min after LH-RH injection in healthy subjects while those in chronic renal failure appeared at 60 to 120 min. The levels of serum testosterone after LH-RH injection did not change within 120 min.

These findings may indicate that the pituitary gonadotrophin response to LH-RH is abnormal and that the turnover of LH, FSH and LH-RH is decreased in patients with chronic renal failure.

A new method of measuring functional recovery after crushing the peripheral nerves in unanesthetized and unrestrained rats

The distances between the first and fifth digits and between the second and fourth digits of the rat's hind paw were measured after crushing the sciatic nerve. The distances between the digits recovered significantly faster in weak nerve crushing than in strong crushing, and faster in distal nerve crushing than in proximal crushing. These results suggest that this method is available for evaluating the functional recovery after nerve crushing.

[Detection of the antithyroglobulin antibody precipitated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) (author's transl)]

It is well known that the antithyroglobulin (anti-Tg) antibody plays an important role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroiditis (chronic thyroiditis). The anti-Tg antibody is detected by double diffusion in agar gel, the fluorescent antibody technique and the tanned red cell haemagglutination test (TRC). The most widely used method is the TRC test, but it is negative in about 30 percent of the patients with chronic thyroiditis. In this paper, we have reported the detection of the anti-Tg antibody in serum using a modified Farr's method. In our method, PEG was used instead of ammonium sulfate to precipitate the immune complex formed in vitro between labelled Tg and the autoantibody. Percent 125I-Tg precipitated was 4.7 +/- 3.1 percent in normal controls; 20.4 +/- 11.4 percent in TRC negative sera were detected by this method. A good correlation was found between TRC titer and percent 125I-Tg precipitated by the PEG method in patients with chronic thyroiditis. By this method, the anti-Tg antibody was also detected in the sera of rabbits immunised with human Tg earlier than that detected by the TRC and double diffusion tests. The sensitivity and simplicity of this method provide a useful tool in detecting the anti-Tg antibody in clinical as well as in experimental work.

Change of the hepatic cells in parabiosis between old and young rats

The hepatic cells of the parabiotic unions 3 to 9 months after uniting between old and young rats were micrometrically examined. In the older parabiotic partners, it cannot be denied that the character of the findings tended in part towards that of the young controls. In the younger parabiotic partners, the estimated number of hepatic cells was apparently decreased, size of the hepatic cells and their nuclei was significantly increased, and number of binucleate hepatic cells was markedly increased. The findings of the hepatic cells in the younger partners were similar to those in the old controls. From the results, it is inferred that the proliferation of the hepatic cells of the younger parabiotic partners is inhibited by the inhibitory factors for cell division secreted from the hepatic cells of the older partners.

[Effects of a new minor tranquilizer, 10-chloro-3-methyl-1 1b-(2-chlorophenyl)-2,3,5,6,7,11b-hexahydrobenzo [6,7]-1,4-diazepino [5,4-b]-oxazol-6-one (CS-386), on the after-discharge and behavior induced by electrical stimulation of the amygdala in freely-moving cats (author's transl)]

Effects of a new minor tranquilizer, CS-386, on the after-discharge(AD) and behavior induced by amygdaloid electrical stimulation in freely-moving cats were compared with those of cloxazolam, oxazolam, diazepam, chlordiazepoxide, phenobarbital and chlorphromazine. Effects on change of the AD threshold and duration and on facial twitching, salivation and tonic-clonic convulsion were investigated. CS-386, cloxazolam and oxazolam inhibited amygdaloid AD. CS-386 had the most potent inhibitory effect. These drugs depressed all behavior described above. Diazepam had no effects on the AD threshold, but decreased the AD duration and inhibited the behavior. Chlordiazepoxide had no apparent effects on amygdaloid AD and on facial twitching. Salivation was inhibited with high doses of administration. Phenobarbital shortened the AD duration and at a high dose elevated the AD threshold. This drug also inhibited salivation, but inhibitory effects on other behavior required doses as high as 90 mg/kg. These results suggest that CS-386, cloxazolam and oxazolam are compounds belonging to a classification different from that of chlorpromazine. CS-386 in particular, is a more potent drug chlordiazepoxide, diazepam and phenobarbital and acts on the amygdala itself.