ALBERT

Notes: Summary Actin-and myosin-like immunoreactivity is found in cells located in the theca externa of the follicle wall of the human ovary, and corresponding to previously observed myoid cells. The immunocytochemical observation provides direct structural evidence that non-vascular contractile cells are also present in the follicle wall in humans. As expected, perifollicular blood vessels showed a positive immunoreaction for actin and myosin in their smooth muscle walls.

Notes: Summary Maternal and umbilical serum concentrations of atenolol, a hydrophilic, cardioselective beta-adrenoceptor antagonist, were studied at delivery in seven cases of pregnancy hypertension. The drug had been administered to each patient for at least one week. Atenolol was detected in both maternal and umbilical serum in six cases, showing that there is transplacental passage of the drug. In the seventh case, who had stopped taking atenolol more than one day before delivery, neither maternal nor umbilical serum contained a measurable quantity of the drug. Atenolol concentration varied 3- to 6-fold between individuals, but there was no systematic difference between maternal and umbilical levels. It seems reasonable to assume that during steady state conditions the blood level of atenolol in mother and fetus is approximately equal, and that fetal accumulation of the drug does not occur.

Notes: Summary Besides the classical neurotransmitters acetylcholine and norepinephrine the genito-urinary tract contains also neuropeptides. The distribution of substance P- and VIP-containing nerve fibers have earlier been described. Also enkephalin-immunoreactive nerve fibers occur in the male and female genito-urinary organs of the cat. The nerves are more numerous in male than in female genital tract. The prostatic gland and vas deferens receive the largest supply. In the female genital tract the enkephalin-immuno-reactive nerve fibers are regularly seen in the smooth muscle layer of the cervix. Of special interest is the rich occurrence of the enkephalin nerve fibers among the nerve cell bodies in the para-urethral and cervical ganglia supporting the view that enkephalin may play a neuromodulating role.

Notes: Summary The immunocytochemical distribution of substance P (SP), gastrin releasing peptide (GRP), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), peptide histidine isoleucine (PHI), and neuropeptide Y (NPY) was studied in the ovary and the Fallopian tube (oviduct) of rats, guinea-pigs, cows, pigs and humans. Generally, the nerve supply was better developed in the oviduct than in the ovary. GRP fibers were most scarce in all tissues. Nerves containing SP were particularly numerous in the oviduct of rat and guinea-pig, supplying the muscular wall and blood vessels. VIP and PHI coexisted in dense plexuses of nerves, not only around blood vessels but also in the follicular wall and the interstitial gland of the ovary, as well as within the smooth muscle layers and subepithelially in the oviduct. The general distribution of NPY was similar, but these immunoreactive nerves were even more numerous. Sequential staining for dopamine-β-hydroxylase and NPY together with results of chemical sympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine suggested that NPY was stored in the noradrenergic sympathetic nerves.

Notes: Summary The stomach wall from a variety of mammals (mouse, rat, hamster, guinea-pig, rabbit, cat, dog, pig, monkey and man) was analyzed histochemically and chemically for the presence of histamine, arylethylamines and the corresponding amino acid decarboxylases. 1. Apart from adrenergic nerve terminals, the major cellular stores for gastric amines were mast cells, enterochromaffin cells, and a system of morphologically similar cells designated as enterochromaffin-like cells. 2. Using the histochemical o-phthaldialdehyde technique, histamine could be visualized in gastric mast cells from all species. In addition, a yellow formaldehyde-induced fluorescence indicating the presence of 5-hydroxytryptamine or some other indole, was found in the gastric mast cells from mice, rats, rabbits, cats, dogs, pigs and monkeys. In hamsters the mast cells exhibited a green colour rather indicating the presence of a catecholamine. 3. All argyrophilic epithelial cells in the stomach mucosa emitting a formaldehyde-induced fluorescence were classified as enterochromaffin. Yellow-fluorescent, presumably 5-hydroxytryptamine-containing, enterochromaffin cells were recognized in all species. In addition, the stomach mucosa of rabbits and cats contained scattered green-fluorescent enterochromaffin cells; in microspectrofluorometric analysis the fluorophore was identified with the formaldehyde condensation product of dopamine. The presence of dopamine in gastric mucosa of these two species was further confirmed by chemical estimation in combination with thin-layer chromatography. 4. Already the presence of different arylethylamines in the enterochromaffin cells indicates the existence of several distinct cell types. A further classification was made on the basis of a different sensitivity to the amine-depleting action of reserpine. 5. The enterochromaffin-like cells are argyrophil but not argentaffin. A distinguishing feature of these cells is their ability to produce and store arylethylamines, such as dopamine, upon administration of the amine precursor (e.g. l-DOPA), although normally the cells are devoid of fluorogenic amines demonstrable with the formaldehyde method. In addition, the enterochromaffin-like cells of mouse and rat store histamine histochemically detectable with the o-phthaldialdehyde technique. In the mouse and rat these cells appear to be the major site of gastric histidine decarboxylase. In no other species could histamine or histidine decarboxylase be demonstrated in the enterochromaffin-like cells. 6. The regional distribution of the enterochromaffin and enterochromaffin-like cells varied markedly, but the localization of these two cell systems was characteristic for each species. It was very noticeable that the distribution of the cells within the gastric mucosa often was not limited to one or the other of the histologically definable glandular areas. 7. From observations on the regional and topographic distribution of DOPA decarboxylase (i.e. non-specific l-amino acid decarboxylase) it is suggested that the enzyme occurs in both enterochromaffin and enterochromaffin-like cells, in particularly high concentration in the former cell type. 8. The enterochromaffin and enterochromaffin-like cells — i.e. the entire system of gastric argyrophil cells — may have an endocrine function. It is evident that a thorough knowledge of the properties and distribution of the many types of cells comprising this system will assist in defining their respective endocrine mechanisms.

Notes: Summary The urethra and prostate of the guinea-pig contain at least two types of endocrine-like cells in the epithelium. The predominant type is argentaffin and stores 5-hydroxytryptamine. Treatment with reserpine or a dopa decarboxylase inhibitor markedly reduces the 5-hydroxytryptamine content of this cell type. The other less numerous cell type, which is argyrophil but not argentaffin, is devoid of 5-hydroxytryptamine but can be induced to store dopamine if supplied with dopa. Both cell types occur disseminated in the urethral epithelium, whilst only the argyrophyl, non-argentaffin cell type devoid of 5-hydroxytryptamine is found in the prostate. At the ultrastructural level the argentaffin cell type contains numerous electron-dense cytoplasmic 800–1000 Å granules. These granules are argentaffin, suggesting that they are the storage site for 5-hydroxytryptamine. The cells sometimes reach the urethral lumen via a narrow neck, the apex being endowed with microvilli. This arrangement suggests that the cells are capable of responding to stimuli in the urethral lumen. Preliminary attempts to test the effect of depriving or loading guinea-pigs with water failed to induced changes in the 5-hydroxytryptamine content of the urethral endocrine-like cells.

Notes: Zusammenfassung Die Histidin-Decarboxylase-(HD)-Aktivität im Hypothalamus des Kaninchens wurde nach Oophorectomie und Thyroidectomie gemessen. Die Resultate zeigten, dass die HD-Aktivität sich 20 Tage nach der Oophorectomie und der Thyroidectomie verdoppelt. 20 Tage nach kombinierter Oophorectomie und Thyroidectomie stieg die HD-Aktivität ungefär 4mal, verglichen mit der Aktivität des Kontrollmatrials. Sham-operierte Kontrollen zeigten keine Veränderungen der HD-Aktivität im Hypothalamus.

Notes: Zusammenfassung Die Haut von Patienten mit Urticaria pigmentosa und Keloiden wurde mit der histochemischeno-Phthaldialdehyd-Technik untersucht. Die Lokalisation von Histamin konnte durch Fluoreszenzmikroskopie festgestellt werden.

Notes: Zusammenfassung Die adrenergische Innervation der weiblichen Urethra bei der Katze wird mit Hilfe fluoreszenzmikroskopischer Technik dargestellt. Adrenergische Ganglien in der proximalen Urethra bestreiten den Hauptanteil der urethralen adrenergischen Innervation (kurze Neurone). Ein Drittel der adrenergischen Bahnen stammen aus dem Nervus hypogastricus.

Notes: Summary VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide)-immunoreactive nerves were found throughout the genito-urinary tract of the cat; they were less numerous in the guinea pig and in the rat. In the cat, VIP nerves were particularly numerous in the neck of the urinary bladder and proximal urethra, in the uterine cervix and in the prostate gland. The nerves were found in smooth muscle, around blood vessels and in the connective tissue immediately beneath the epithelium. Ganglia were found below the trigonum area of the bladder, in the wall of the proximal urethra, and in paracervical tissue. VIP-immunoreactive nerve cell bodies occurred in all these ganglionic formations. These ganglia probably represent the origin of the VIP nerves of the genital tract since their removal in the female cat greatly reduced the VIP nerve supply. Transection of the hypogastric nerves had no overt effect. Transection of the cervix eliminated the VIP nerves above the level of the lesion, except those in the ovaries, supporting the view that the VIP nerves of the uterus and the oviduct are derived from a paracervical source.