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Gland Weight (gland + weight)
Selected AbstractsAge-dependent effect of prenatal stress on hippocampal cell proliferation in female ratsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 3 2009Muriel Koehl Abstract Stressors occurring during pregnancy can alter the developmental trajectory of offspring and lead to, among other deleterious effects, cognitive deficits and hyperactivity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. A recent feature of the prenatal stress (PS) model is its reported influence on structural plasticity in hippocampal formation, which sustains both cognitive functions and stress responsiveness. Indeed, we and others have previously reported that males exposed to stress in utero are characterized by a decrease in hippocampal cell proliferation, and consequently neurogenesis, from adolescence to senescence. Recent studies in females submitted to PS have reported conflicting results, ranging from no effect to a decrease in cell proliferation. We hypothesized that changes in cell proliferation in PS female rats are age dependent. To address this issue, we examined the impact of PS on hippocampal cell proliferation in juvenile, young, middle-aged and old females. As hypothesized, we found an age-dependent effect of PS in female rats as cell proliferation was significantly decreased only when animals reached senescence, a time when adrenal gland weight also increased. These data suggest that the deleterious effects of PS on hippocampal cell proliferation in females are either specific to senescence or masked during adulthood by protective factors. [source] The otic ganglion in rats and its parotid connection: cholinergic pathways, reflex secretion and a secretory role for the facial nerveEXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 1 2006Nina Khosravani Otic ganglionectomy in rats was found to have affected the parotid gland more profoundly than section of the auriculotemporal nerve as assesssed by reduction in gland weight (by 33 versus 20%) and total acetylcholine synthesizing capacity (by 88 versus 76%) 1 week postoperatively and, when assessed on the day of surgery under adrenoceptor blockade, by reflex secretion (by 99 versus 88%). The facial nerve contributed to the acetylcholine synthesizing capacity of the gland. Section of the nerve only, at the level of the stylomastoid foramen, reduced the acetylcholine synthesis by 15% and, combined with otic ganglionectomy, by 98% or, combined with section of the auriculotemporal nerve, by 82%. The facial nerve was secretory to the gland, and the response was of a cholinergic nature. The nerve conveyed reflex secretion of saliva and caused secretion of saliva upon stimulation. Most of the facial secretory nerve fibres originated from the otic ganglion, since after otic ganglionectomy (and allowing for nerve degeneration) the secretory response to facial nerve stimulation was markedly reduced (from 23 to 4 ,l (5 min),1). The persisting secetory response after otic ganglionectomy, exaggerated due to sensitization, and the residual acetylcholine synthesizing capacity (mainly depending on the facial nerve) showed that a minor proportion of pre- and postganglionic nerve fibres relay outside the otic ganglion. The great auricular nerve, which like the facial nerve penetrates the gland, caused no secretion of saliva upon stimulation. Avulsion of the auriculotemporal nerve was more effective than otic ganglionectomy in reducing the acetylcholine synthesizing capacity (by 94 versus 88%) and as effective as otic ganglionectomy in abolishing reflex secretion (by 99%). When aiming at parasympathetic denervation, avulsion may be the preferable choice, since it is technically easier to perform than otic ganglionectomy. [source] RISKS AND CONSEQUENCES OF INCIDENTAL PARATHYROIDECTOMY DURING THYROID RESECTIONANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 1-2 2007Rebecca S. Sippel Background: Inadvertent removal of the parathyroid glands during elective thyroid surgery occurs more frequently in certain high-risk patients and can lead to symptomatic hypocalcaemia. Methods: A case,control study was carried out at a tertiary referral, academic medical centre between May 1994 and August 2001. Five hundred and thirteen patients underwent thyroid resection. Pathology reports were reviewed to identify patients who had the inadvertent removal of a parathyroid gland during their thyroid surgery. Thirty-three (6.4%) patients had inadvertent resection of a parathyroid gland. The outcomes of these 33 patients (INCIDENTAL) were compared with the other 480 patients who did not have resection of parathyroid tissue (NO INCIDENTAL). Results: Risk factors for inadvertent parathyroid resection included younger age (P = 0.003), bilateral thyroid resection (P = 0.001) and malignant pathology (P = 0.002). Factors that did not increase the risk of incidental parathyroidectomy included gland weight, sex, presence of a goitre, previous neck exploration and concurrent lymph node dissection. In the INCIDENTAL group 24% had a postoperative calcium levels less than 7.0 mg/dL (P = 0.001). Symptomatic hypocalcaemia developed in 12% of INCIDENTAL patients, compared to 4% in the NO INCIDENTAL group (P = 0.06). Conclusion: Incidental removal of parathyroid tissue occurred in 6.4% of thyroid resections. Younger patients undergoing a total or subtotal thyroidectomy for malignancy were at the highest risk. These patients had lower postoperative calcium levels, but the majority (88%) experienced no clinical consequences. [source] Identification of quantitative trait loci for growth-related traits in the Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai InoAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 8 2007Xiande Liu Abstract The locations and effects of quantitative trait loci (QTL) were estimated for nine characters for growth-related traits in the Pacific abalone (Haliotis discus hannai Ino) using a randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), amplification fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and SSR genetic linkage map. Twenty-eight putatively significant QTLs (LOD>2.4) were detected for nine traits (shell length, shell width, total weight, shell weight, weight of soft part, muscle weight, gonad and digestive gland weight, mantle weight and gill weight). The percentage of phenotypic variation explained by a single QTL ranged from 8.0% to 35.9%. The significant correlations (P<0.001) were found among all the growth-related traits, and Pearson's correlation coefficients were more than 0.81. For the female map, the QTL for growth were concentrated on groups 1 and 4 linkage maps. On the male map, the QTL that influenced growth-related traits gathered on the groups 1 and 9 linkage maps. Genetic linkage map construction and QTL analysis for growth-related traits are the basis for the marker-assisted selection and will eventually improve production and quality of the Pacific abalone. [source] | ||||||||||