Effect of the synthetic cannabinoid nabilone on spermatogenesis in mice

Chronic treatment of mice with the synthetic cannabinoid nabilone (50 mg/kg, 3 times per week) reduced the number of pachytene spermatocytes. Nabilone did not affect other cell types in the testis or the sex organ weights. Nabilone tended to increase the number of abnormal spermatozoa, but this did not reach statistical significance. It is concluded that nabilone causes less testicular toxicity than the natural cannabinoids.     

Effects in man of a total adrenal cortical extract on delayed immunity and lymphocyte sub-populations]

After a 10 day treatment with total adreno-cortical extract, administered to 11 subjects, the following results were obtained: increase of delayed cutaneous responses to various antigens, increase in the number of null lymphocytes, decrease in the number of B lymphocytes. These changes did not occur in 16 control patients who were not treated.     

Beobachtungen zur Fortpflanzungsfähigkeit juveniler Mäuseweibchen

Summary Prepuberal female mice often mate normally, but, although the genital organs are fully developed, a great number of matings is not followed by pregnancy. Progesterone, estrogen or both hormones administered during the first days p.c. did not enhance the number of pregnancies. It is concluded that the impaired fertility of the juvenile female is not due to the failure of one of the factors which bring about pregnancy, but, like in the senescent female, to the imbalance of the various functions.     

Effect of aldosterone and methylprednisolone on cardiac NaK-ATPase.

Aldosterone (15 microgram BID) and methylprednisolone (8 mg QD) administration to female guinea-pigs augmented both the total and the specific activity of NaK-ATPase but not the activity of adenylate cyclase in the cardiac sarcolemma. The rise in NaK-ATPase was due to increase in the number of enzyme molecules; catalytic activity and ouabain-sensitivity of individual molecules did not change.     

Lymph node metastases of EMT6 tumour in nude mice

Metastatic axillary lymph nodes following the injection of EMT6 tumour cells were observed in athymic nude mice, more often in female animals, and had a rapid growth rate. These metastases did not develop in syngeneic hosts. The latency of their appearance was inversely related to the number of injected cells.     

Lack of effect of butylated hydroxytoluene on dimethylhydrazine-induced colon carcinogenesis in rats.

Rats were given 6600 ppm of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) in the diet along with 10 weekly oral doses of dimethylhydrazine (DMH, 30 MG/KG). The incidence and mean number of colonic tumors produced were similar to that of rats given DMH alone. Thus, BHT did not provide any protective effect against colon carcinogenesis.     

Lymph node metastases of EMT6 tumour in nude mice

Summary Metastatic axillary lymph nodes following the injection of EMT6 tumour cells were observed in athymic nude mice, more often in female animals, and had a rapid growth rate. These metastases did not develop in syngeneic hosts. The latency of their appearance was inversely related to the number of injected cells.We wish to thank Charles Gosse for breeding, maintenance and supply of the animals.     

Gnawing activity,dietary carbohydrate deficiency and oothecal production in the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana)

Summary The gnawing activity of adult female cockroaches was assessed by the dry weight loss of cotton fibre supplied to individual insects. In animals maintained on a carbohydrate-deficient diet the use of fibre was significantly less than in animals receiving a balanced diet. A comparison with controls showed that under both dietary regimes access to a fibre source did not significantly increase the mean, total number of oothecae produced.     

Ciliated fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells in the rat uterus

Summary Ciliation in endometrial fibroblasts and myometrial muscle cells of the rat was examined by transmission electron microscopy. Quantification of the number of ciliated cells during the estrus cycle did not show any firm relationship between cilation and ovarian hormonal activity. In the case of most cilia, there is a spatial relationship between their basal centrioles and the Golgi complex, so that a Golgi-cilium complex is created. A possible role of ciliation in uterine fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells is discussed.     

Ciliated fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells in the rat uterus

Ciliation in endometrial fibroblasts and myometrial muscle cells of the rat was examined by transmission electron microscopy. Quantification of the number of ciliated cells during the estrus cycle did not show any firm relationship between ciliation and ovarian hormonal activity. In the case of most cilia, there is a spatial relationship between their basal centrioles and the Golgi complex, so that a Golgi-cilium complex is created. A possible role of ciliation in uterine fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells is discussed.     

Die Wirkung der Ultraviolettbehandlung auf die Überlebensverhältnisse röntgenbestrahlter Mäuse

Summary 300 r whole body X-ray irradiation of mice did not decrease the circulating platelet count, if this dose was preceeded by 24 h of ultraviolet-irradiation. More animals survived the X-ray (500, 550, 600 r) injury, if the irradiation occurred after ultraviolet treatment given 24 and 48 h before. The number of days survived is also increased. The ultraviolet light seems to have some protective effect against injury caused by X-ray.     

Fertilität reduzierende Wirkung langdauernder Noradrenalinbehandlung

Summary Albino rats of both sexes were treated with epinephrine and norepinephrine for 3 months, while the control animals received the same quantity of physiological NaCl. At the end of this period, the rats were allowed to multiply freely in each group. The number of litters was recorded in each case. While epinephrine did not alter the litter-rate, norepinephrine decreased it significantly. The effect of neural stress on reproduction and its relation to the adrenomedullar hormones is discussed.     

Experimental catalepsy: Influences of cholinergic transmission in restraint-induced catalepsy

Summary Possible cholinergic mechanisms in experimental catalepsy were evaluated by using the pinch-induced model in mice. In control, saline-injected mice, the median number of attempts needed to achieve a criterion level of catalepsy was 6. All 3 dose levels of physostigmine reduced this median to about 2 trials; neostigmine did not significantly reduce the number of trials. Opposite effects were obtained with atropine, with which all 3 doses tested increased the number of trials needed to cause catalepsy, and at the higher doses (5 and 10 mg/kg) most of the mice (80%) became insusceptible; atropine methyl bromide had no such effects. Thus, this kind of catalepsy may be mediated by cholinergic mechanisms that are central and not peripheral.     

Distribution of the 1,25 dihydroxy-vitamin D3 receptor in the bursa of Fabricius of chicken.

The vitamin D3 metabolite 1,25(OH)2D3 is probably involved in B lymphocyte ontogeny. We therefore determined the distribution of the 1,25(OH)2D3 receptor in the bursa of Fabricius and spleen cells of 7-day-old chicks, by immunohistochemistry using a monoclonal antibody against the chick intestinal cell 1,25(OH)2D3 receptor. The bursa cells of young (7-day-old) chicks contained large amounts of receptor while the spleen cells did not. The bursa cells of older (35-day-old) chicks contained fewer receptors, but the number of receptors in the spleen increased.     

Ludwig Boltzmann and his influence on science

The life of Ludwig Boltzmann (20 February 1844–5 September 1906) and his influence on science is reviewed. This great Austrian scientist was not only the founder of statistical mechanics and a gifted experimentalist, but his pioneering ideas influenced all the physical sciences. In his honour, many Austrian research institutes carry his name. He had great influence on Albert Einstein whose first papers were, according to his own words, in the spirit of Boltzmann, and intended to proved the reality and the size of certain atoms using the molecular fluctuations postulated by Boltzmann. Max Planck was converted from a ‘Saulus’ to a ‘Paulus’ when he had to use Boltzmann's method to derive his famous law of radiation. In fact, Boltzmann had already used discrete energy levels as early as 1872. Yet his work was heavily criticized by the neopositivists around Ernst Mach and seemed to receive very little attention in the last years of his life when a great number of physicists did not believe in atoms. It is the tragedy of Boltzmann's life that he did not experience the glorius victory of his ideas, but died under the gloomy vision that the work of his whole life was doomed to oblivion.     

Immunochemical similarities among the hemolymph juvenile hormone binding proteins of moths

The hemolymph from various species of moths was analyzed for cross-reactivity with a panel of six monoclonal antibodies made against the hemolymph juvenile hormone binding protein ofManduca sexta. With the exception of one antibody, the immunoreactivity was limited to the sphingid family. One monoclonal antibody cross-reacted with a number of lepidopteran species; however, families such as Noctuidae and Pyralidae, known to have high affinity, low molecular weight juvenile hormone binding proteins, did not cross-react. Immunological cross-reactivity withManduca sexta juvenile hormone binding protein in several primitive moth families supports the current model of phylogenetic relationships in the order Lepidoptera.     

Effect of aldosterone and methylprednisolone on cardiac NaK-ATPase

Summary Aldosterone (15 g BID) and methylprednisolone (8 mg QD) administration to female guinea-pigs augmented both the total and the specific activity of NaK-ATPase but not the activity of adenylate cyclase in the cardiac sarcolemma. The rise in NaK-ATPase was due to increase in the number of enzyme molecules; catalytic activity and ouabain-sensitivity of individual molecules did not change.Acknowledgments. This work was supported by grant 1 R01 HL16611 from the National Heart and Lung Institute of the National Institutes of Health, United States Public Health Service. I thank Mr Kooil Kang for his excellent technical assistance.     

Absence of effects of dibutyryl cyclic guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate on release of alpha-amylase, 45Ca efflux, and protein synthesis in rat pancreas in vitro.

Dibutyryl cyclic GMP did not affect basal, or carbachol stimulated secretion of alpha-amylase from rat pancreas. The nucleotide did not have a significant effect on 45Ca release from the pancreas nor did it alter the response to carbachol. The dibutyryl analogue of cyclic GMP did not duplicate or alter the inhibitory effect of carbachol on 3H-leucine incorporation into pancreatic trichloroacetic acid-precipitable protein.     

Morphological and biochemical effects of excessive amounts of biotin on embryonic development in mice

Pregnant mice received excessive amounts of biotin either subcutaneously (sc) or orally during gestation. There were no differences in the successful pregnancy rates and number of dead or resorbed fetuses between the control and biotin-treated groups. In biotin-treated groups no increased incidence of fetuses with external malformations was clearly demonstrable. However, biotin accumulated in maternal and embryonic organs; especially, the serum biotin level in the biotin-treated dam was 200-fold higher than that in the control dam. There was a difference in biotinidase activity in maternal serum and placenta between the control and biotin-treated groups. It was concluded that excessive amounts of biotin affected the specific activity of biotinidase in pregnant mice, but did not disturb normal reproductive functions and embryonic development.