Vol 143, No 3 (2013)

The aim of this study was to detect structural, spatial and quantitative changes of cellular elements of midbrain paranigral nucleus (PNN) and telencephalic anterior cingulate area (ACA) under different conditions of circulatory hypoxia. PNN anterior-medial part and ACA layers V–VI were examined in adult rats 7 days (n=4) after an occlusion of both common carotid arteries as well as in intact (1st control, n=4) and sham-operated animals (2nd control, n=4). In histological the sections, stained with Nissl cresyl violet, and using the methods of glial fibrillary acidic protein and an Iba1-protein detection, the proportions of unmodified, hypochromic, pyknomorphic neurons and ghost cells were determined as well as the numbers of astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microgliocytes and endotheliocytes. Сell body area of neurons and gliocytes, and the distance between cell bodies and capillaries were measured, a gliocyte-neuronal index was calculated. It was found that brain cellular elements that survive different conditions of a circulatory hypoxia underwent a range of pathological changes. Neurons were in process of nuclear pyknosis, lysis and transformation into the ghost cells. The cells within the hypoxia nuclear zone were prone to death or pyknosis. The neurons located outside the area of hypoxia which were affected only by a humoral impact of reactions of the glutamate-calcium cascade, frequently underwent acute swelling. Microgliocyte reaction in the form of poorly expressed increase in their number and structural signs of activation was an early diffuse manifestation of a prosencephalic focal hypoxia. Endotheliocyte proliferation 7 days after of ischemic challenge was not associated with a chain of cascade reactions and was observed only in the hypoxia focus. Concentration of viable neurons and astrocytes near blood capillaries, as well as an increase in the number of satellite form gliocytes is an adaptation mechanism and a condition for the survival of cells during various types of brain exposure to ischemia.

Using immunohistochemical and morphometric methods, the quantitative composition and structural localization of immunocompetent cells were studied in human spleen (n=20, autopsy material). The detailed morpho-functional characteristics of splenic white and red pulp are presented. Cell subpopulations of T (CD3 +, CD4 +, CD8 +) and B lymphocytes (CD20 +), natural killer cells (CD57 +), tissue macrophages (CD68 +) and dendritic cells (CD35 +, S100 +) were studied. An analysis of the correlations of immunocompetent cells in different regions of white and red pulp may become the basis for optimization of histopathological diagnosis definition in clinical practice

The aim of this work was to study the effect of various doses of vitamins A and E on the morphometric parameters and surface architectonics peculiarities of peripheral blood lymphocytes in veiled Arctic foxes. Using light microscopy, it was found that in the blood of veiled Arctic foxes (n=30) most of the lymphocytes had relatively smooth surface, and only in some cells cytoplasmic protrusions were observed. Large doses of vitamins A and E that were introduced into animal diet, caused significant reduction of morphometric parameters in relatively smooth forms of lymphocytes, while vitamin A changed the microrelief of their surface.

The purpose of this study was to establish the regularities of the anatomical structure of the thyroid gland (TG) in healthy people aged 17–30 years of various somatic types, living in the Rostov region. The complex study of TG was carried out in 306 healthy subjects (150 male and 156 female) with ultrasonography performed according to C. L. Brown (1981). Somatotyping was done using the technique of R. N. Dorokhov and V. G. Petrukhina (1989). Sexual dimorphism of the linear dimensions, right and left lobe volumes and of TG total volume was demonstrated. In men, TG total volume was significantly greater (P<0.05), than that in women (11.7±0.43 and 9.37±0.28 cm 3, respectively). Regional and constitutional features of the thyroid gland in healthy subjects living in the Rostov region were established. Linear dimensions, total TG volume and the volumes of TG lobes were found to be lower in the residents of the Rostov region as compared to these parameters in people living in the northern regions of Russia.

Tissue reactions, accompanying the degradation processes of polylactide (PLA) implants after their placement into the subcutaneous tissue, were studied by the methods of light microscopy in 6 month-old Wag rats (n=24) weighing 180-200 g. It was found that PLА implants became encapsulated by connective tissue. If the implant or its fragment had sharp margins that damaged the tissues, a thick capsule was formed with a distinct inflammatory infiltration and the sclerosis of the surrounding tissues. If the implant had no sharp margins, the capsule was thin, and the activity of inflammation was minimal. In all cases, the giant cells of foreign body type were present in the capsule and next to it. Gradually, during 6 months, the activity of inflammatory process subsided. Inflammation sharply increased 12 months after the implantation, when, as a result of effect of enzymes released by phagocytes and deformation by a capsule, PLA implants were either fragmented or is liquified. PLA-based materials are not totally biodegradable, and may persist in the body for a long time.

The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis on the presence, in intact rat brain, of the cells located outside the ependymal layer, but possessing the structural organization and cytochemical characteristics similar to those of ependymocytes. The study was carried out on Wistar rats (n=10). Ependymocytes were identified using immunocytochemical reactions to ezrin and vimentin and were visualized with light and confocal microscopy. Cells, structurally and cytochemically similar to typical ependymocytes, were found outside the layer of ependymocytes in the nervous tissue of intact rat brain. It is suggested that extraependymal ependymocytes may have a function of reserve population of the neural stem cells in the brain.

In this paper we describe the modern immunohistochemical method detecting the neuronal marker PGP 9.5. The application of this method for the study of the innervation of rat and human heart, the detailed examination of the topography of the cardiac nervous apparatus, as well as their changes in pathological states, is demonstrated. Structural organization and the nature of the terminal branches of nerve apparatus suggest that they have afferent function. Protocol of the reaction demonstrating PGP 9.5 on paraffin sections is presented.