Increased numbers of extra-adrenal chromaffin cells in the abdominal paraganglia of senescent F344 rats: a possible role for the glucocorticoid receptor

Adrenocorticotropic hormone in the aetiology and regression of neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is predominantly a paediatric neoplasm of the sympathetic nervous system. Despite the aggressive nature of the disease, spontaneous regression is frequently observed in infants diagnosed under the age of 12 months; especially with a specific stage referred to as stage 4s. Discovering the conditions, the elements, the mechanism and the indices behind this regression phenomenon could have therapeutic potential for prevention and cure. A review of the literature has implicated adrenocorticotropin hormone in both the aetiology and spontaneous regression of neuroblastoma. Manipulation of adrenocorticotropin hormone may offer hope for prevention and cure. Ingestible products such as retinoic acid, glycyrrhizic acid, salsolinol and ketoconazole acting in concert, could represent instrumental tools in a therapeutic manipulation process.

Bromodeoxyuridine: a diagnostic tool in biology and medicine, Part III. Proliferation in normal, injured and diseased tissue, growth factors, differentiation, DNA replication sites and in situ hybridization

This paper is a continuation of parts I (history, methods and cell kinetics) and II (clinical applications and carcinogenesis) published previously (Dolbeare, 1995 Histochem. J. 27, 339, 923). Incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) into DNA is used to measure proliferation in normal, diseased and injured tissue and to follow the effect of growth factors. Immunochemical detection of BrdUrd can be used to determine proliferative characteristics of differentiating tissues and to obtain birth dates for actual differentiation events. Studies are also described in which BrdUrd is used to follow the order of DNA replication in specific chromosomes, DNA replication sites in the nucleus and to monitor DNA repair. BrdUrd incorporation has been used as a tool for in situ hybridization experiments.