Vol 135, No 2 (2009)

During the study of all nuclear and paleocortical structures of amygdala, the CART-peptide (cocaine-amphetamine-regulated transcript) expressing neurons were for the first time demonstrated in this region, and their immunoreactivity was shown to be influenced by sex steroids. Immunocytochemical reaction was performed on frontal slices of adult rat brain (7 female rats in estrus stage, 7 female rats in metestrus stage and 7 male rats). The portion of immunopositive neurons in animals in estrus and metestrus was counted in relation to their numbers in adjoining slices (stained using Nissl's method). The relative number of immunoreactive neurons in dorsomedial, posterior cortical nuclei and latero-capsular subnucleus of the central nucleus was found to be significantly greater in estrus than in metestrus. The data obtained show that olfactory and integrative centers of amygdala may be involved in the pathogenesis of drug addiction and indicate the possibility of development of new effective methods of gene therapy with the application of an intranasal route of drug delivery.

Since the majority of the published data on syncytial cytoplasmic anastomoses relate to the autonomic nervous system in the early postnatal period of development, when many nerve fibers are still poorly covered by glia or have no glial sheaths at all, it was suggested that such anastomoses were not present in adults due to the significant development of glia separating individual neurites from each other. To check this assumption, we have performed an electron microscopic study of the adult cat dorsal caudal mesenteric ganglion. The cell neurites were found to be frequently covered by glial sheaths. However, almost in every sample, the syncytial pores were detected between the contacting neurites lacking glial covering layers. Sometimes serial syncytially connected neurites were seen. Axo-dendritic synapses with presynaptic perforations outside the synaptic specializations were described in the autonomic nervous system for the first time. These observations therefore provide evidence of syncytial cytoplasm connections in normal adult animals, however this does not reject the neuronal doctrine.

The aims of the present study were to investigate the structure of the nervous apparatus in different heart regions using the immunohistochemical methods. The study was performed in Wistar rats (n=5). For selective staining of synaptic structures, synaptophysin (Syn) demonstration was used, while neurofilament proteins (NF-M) were used to detect axonal neurofilaments. The innervation apparatuses in the heart were shown to be unevenly distributed. High density of Syn- and of NF-M-positive axons was found in the myocardium near the atrial sinus, vena cava superior and inferior, pulmonary veins, aorta, truncus pulmonalis, as well as in the deep layers of atrial myocardium, and in the myocardium of anterior and posterior ventricle walls. In the heart apex, within the ventricular myocardium, the density of immunopositive axons was low. Using the antibodies against Syn, only the synaptic terminals of the efferent postganglionic nerve fibers and of the parasympathetic vegetative nerve fibers were selectively demonstrated in the heart, as well as the pericellular synapses on the parasympathetic neurons of intracardiac ganglia. NF-M-immunopositive axons, unlike Syn-positive terminals, were found not only in the myocardium, but also in the epicardium and the endocardium within the same regions of the heart. The authors believe that these axons belong to afferent sensory and efferent preganglionic myelinated nerve fibres of PNS.

The structure of leukocyte infiltrates in gingiva of 80 patients of various ages and gender with chronic apical periodontitis was studied using light microscopy with the application of monoclonal antibodies detecting CD38 antigen. Gingival tissues of practically of all the patients with periodontitis contained 2 types of leukocyte infiltrates: infiltrates with the low plasma cell content and high numbers of neutrophils and structures with high number of plasmocytes and low concentration of neutrophilic granulocytes. Within the gingival epithelium in patients with chronic apical periodontitis CD38 + cells were absent. The histogenesis of gingival leukocyte infiltrates in chronic apical periodontitis is discussed with the special emphasis on the role of plasma cells in the development of the pathological process.

The uptake of green fluorescent protein (GFP) by the proximal renal tubules was studied in the anaesthetized rats using laser confocal microscopy after GFP intravenous injection or administration into the small intestine lumen. The specific green fluorescence revealed in the proximal tubule cells after intravenous injection correlated with the logarithm of GFP dose injected intravenously (r=0.96, p<0.05). GFP fluorescence after its intravenous injection was higher than that one after GFP infusion into the small intestine (p<0.05). Following the increase of injected GFP dose, the epitheliocyte cytoplasm, in addition to diffuse fluorescence, demonstrated large intensely fluorescent vesicles, that was confirmed by a graphical analysis. The reported changes in the intensity and pattern of specific fluorescence indicate the enhancement of GFP absorption by the cells of proximal tubules and GFP accumulation in the intracellular compartments during its increased entry into circulation.

This investigation was aimed at the study of lipid-containing and lipid-producing structures of human integument under normal conditions and in death caused by freezing. The skin of interscapular and epigastral areas was studied in 105 cadavers of individuals of both sexes aged 19-83 years, who died as a result of freezing. In the control group, the skin of 10 cadavers of people killed in the car accidents and those who died by the reasons, not associated with the effect of cold, was studied. Paraffin sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. To demonstrate lipids, unfixed cryostat sections were stained with sudan III. The following structures are producing the skin lipids: fat cells of adipose tissue, which is localized not only in subcutaneous fat tissue (hypodermis), but forms the pads, that surround the vascular networks, secretory portions of the gland, hair follicles; keratinocytes, producing lipids as a result of terminal differentiation;a sebaceous glands containing cells (sebocytes) which transform into the sebum as a result of holocrine secretion. The lipids produced by this structures are localized either in situ or are transported to the epidermal surface. Lipid-containing structures of the skin are stratum corneum and a superficial lipid film, which is formed from the secretion of the sebaceous glands - sebum. In people who died as a result of general cooling, the content and distribution of lipids in the skin are significantly changed. In the adipose tissue, the adipocyte dimensions and number is decreased, cells without lipids are found. The thickness of the superficial lipid film was decreased as compared to that in the control group; in some areas it could be absent. In the orifices of hair follicles significant amounts of lipids are deposited.

This investigation was aimed at the evaluation of the morphometric characteristics of the contralateral sides of the facial cranium in adult men and women, the evaluation of asymmetry manifestation degree and the detection of most frequent zones of its localization. The study was conducted on 180 crania (90 - male, 90 - female) of the adults of I and II mature age periods. To detect the asymmetry of the facial cranium, the original "fan" principle of morphometry was developed. This approach has shown the asymmetry in the area of localization of different "fans" ("superior", "inferior", "lateral"), i.e., in the different regions of the facial cranium. On the basis of the data obtained, it can be concluded that in order to identify the asymmetry of the facial l cranium and to estimate the asymmetry manifestation degree it is expedient to take into account the following parameters: the distance from a nasion point to a point on the lateral edge of apertura piriformis, from a nasion point to a frontomolare-temporale point, from a zygomaxillare point to a lateral point on naso-frontal suture, from a zygomaxillare point to a dacryon point, from a subspinale point to a nazomaxillare point and from a subspinale point to a lateral point on naso-frontal suture. As in the series of the male crania asymmetry of the facial cranium was significantly more expressed than in the series of female ones, it is assumed to be associated with the different tone of mimic muscles.

The review presents traditional and new concepts on the development of the trabeculae carneae and intertrabecular spaces (ITS) in the heart ventricles. Myocardial trabeculation preceeds the ventricular septation and at the same time underlies the formation of the interventricular septum. Trabeculae carneae seem to generate the contractile force of the embryonic myocardium. The differences between right and left ventricular trabecular patterns are conditioned by the changes of intracardiac blood flow during the prenatal period. Anatomical characteristics of the right inlet and outlet relief are reviewed. Special emphasis is given to the correlations of the terms «septomarginal trabeculation» and «moderator band». It is noticed that ITS anatomy is still insufficiently studied. The necessity to develop the anatomical criteria of normal intracardiac structures is accentuated.