Granular Bodies (granular + body)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Effects of lithium carbonate on rat seminiferous tubules: an ultrastructural study

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ANDROLOGY, Issue 6 2006
O. Zarnescu
Summary Lithium salts are commonly used for treatment of bipolar disorder but prolonged treatment with therapeutic doses induces substantial toxic effects. In the present study we examined the effects of lithium carbonate on the ultrastructure of rat seminiferous tubules. Rats were exposed to lithium carbonate at doses of 35 mg/kg/day for 21 days. After lithium treatment, the tunica propria widened and folded together with convolutions of the basement membrane, myoid cells and lymphatic endothelium. In the seminiferous epithelium loss of germ cell attachment and appearance of expanded intercellular spaces between spermatogenic cells were observed. Early stages of spermatogenic cells showed nuclear protrusions or swellings because of an extensive enlargement of the outer nuclear membrane. Round spermatids exhibited abnormally shaped acrosomes and dilation of the subacrosomal space. Many abnormal, degenerated late spermatids with random orientation were seen towards the basal and adluminal compartments of the seminiferous epithelium. In addition, spermatids exhibited alteration in F-actin bundle ectoplasmic specialization and contained many mitochondria-associated granular bodies. [source]


Clinicopathological and immunohistochemical features of three pilomyxoid astrocytomas: Comparative study with 11 pilocytic astrocytomas

PATHOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2009
Vishwa J. Amatya
Pilomyxoid astrocytoma, first described by Tihan et al., was recently included as an established variant of pilocytic astrocytoma in the World Health Organization classification of CNS tumors. Histologically, it much resembles pilocytic astrocytoma, but monomorphic myxoid tumor of pilocytic cells with prominent angiocentric growth pattern without Rosenthal fibers or eosinophilic granular bodies is characteristic of pilomyxoid astrocytoma. Pilomyxoid astrocytoma is thought to be more aggressive with more frequent local recurrence as well as cerebrospinal spread. The authors recently encountered a case of pilomyxoid astrocytoma, therefore the purpose of the present study was undertake a retrospective review of pilocytic astrocytomas previously diagnosed during the past 10 years. Consequently, two of them were found to have histological features suggestive of pilomyxoid astrocytoma and both involved multiple recurrence, suggesting aggressive behavior in comparison to pilocytic astrocytoma. Therefore, knowledge of this entity is essential to surgical pathologists and clinicians for patient management. [source]


Neurofibromatosis type 1-associated unusual pleomorphic astrocytoma displaying continual malignant progression

PATHOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 7 2001
Hideaki Yokoo
Patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) often have gliomas as a complication, most of which are benign pilocytic astrocytomas which have arisen in optic pathways. In the present case, a 17-year-old girl (at death) with stigmata of NF1, initially had a bulky tumor mass in the left thalamus, developing into the lateral ventricle, at 13 years of age. Partially resected tissue samples showed pleomorphic astrocytoma with abundant xanthoma cells and degenerative structures such as Rosenthal fibers (RF) and eosinophilic granular bodies. Fine eosinophilic granules identical to RF, both immunophenotypically and ultrastructurally, were also seen. The residual tumor was subtotally resected 6 months later, and the tumor histology was essentially similar as before, accompanying the regenerative structures; this was believed to be a good prognostic indicator. However, several anaplastic features such as mitosis, necrosis and vascular proliferation appeared even in areas rich in the regenerative structures. After a 2-year, disease-free interval, multiple tumor relapse occurred in June 1997. Partially resected tumor tissues were composed of monotonous small anaplastic cells with prominent proliferative activity. Surprisingly, the tumor cells had retained eosinophilic granules within the cell bodies. Postoperative chemotherapy with procarbazine, MCNU and vincristine (PCV) suppressed the residual tumor dramatically, but the regrowing tumor finally became uncontrollable, leading to the patient's death. TP53 mutation was not detected, while p27 immunopositivity was constantly high during malignant progression, suggesting acquisition of proliferative activity to overcome p53 and p27 inhibitory functions. A review of previously published reports failed to reveal any cases of this type. [source]


Theoretical investigation of the cavity expansion problem based on a hypoplasticity model

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 5 2001
V. A. Osinov
Abstract The problem of the symmetric quasi-static large-strain expansion of a cavity in an infinite granular body is studied. The body is assumed to be dry or fully drained so that the presence of the pore water can be disregarded. Both spherical and cylindrical cavities are considered. Numerical solutions to the boundary value problem are obtained with the use of the hypoplastic constitutive relation calibrated for a series of granular soils. As the radius of the cavity increases, the stresses and the density on the cavity surface asymptotically approach limit values corresponding to a so-called critical state. For a given soil, the limit values depend on the initial stresses and the initial density. A comparison is made between the solutions for different initial states and different soils. Applications to geotechnical problems such as cone penetration test and pressuremeter test are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]