The chemicals between us-First results of the cluster analyses on anatomy embalming procedures in the German-speaking countries.

Hands-on courses utilizing preserved human tissues for educational training offer an important pathway to acquire basic anatomical knowledge. Owing to the reevaluation of formaldehyde limits by the European Commission, a joint approach was chosen by the German-speaking anatomies in Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) to find commonalities among embalming protocols and infrastructure. A survey comprising 537 items was circulated to all anatomies in German-speaking Europe.

New aspects of neuroinflammation and neuroimmune crosstalk in the airways.

Neuroimmune interaction has long been discussed in the pathogenesis of allergic airway diseases, such as allergic asthma. Mediators released during inflammation can alter the function of both sensory and parasympathetic neurons innervating the airways. Evidence has been provided that the inflammatory response can be altered by various mediators that are released by sensory and parasympathetic neurons and vice versa.

Secondary Metabolites in Allergic Plant Pollen Samples Modulate Afferent Neurons and Murine Tracheal Rings.

Plant pollens are strong airborne elicitors of asthma. Their proteinaceous allergens have been studied intensively, but little is known about a possible contribution of pollen secondary metabolites to the nonallergic exacerbation of asthma. Pollen samples originating from 30 plant species were analyzed by HPLC coupled to PDA, ESIMS, and ELSD detectors and off-line NMR spectroscopy.

The nervous system of airways and its remodeling in inflammatory lung diseases.

Inflammatory lung diseases are associated with bronchospasm, cough, dyspnea and airway hyperreactivity. The majority of these symptoms cannot be primarily explained by immune cell infiltration. Evidence has been provided that vagal efferent and afferent neurons play a pivotal role in this regard.

Cholinergic activation of the murine trachealis muscle via non-vesicular acetylcholine release involving low-affinity choline transporters.

In addition to quantal, vesicular release of acetylcholine (ACh), there is also non-quantal release at the motor endplate which is insufficient to evoke postsynaptic responses unless acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is inhibited. We here addressed potential non-quantal release in the mouse trachea by organ bath experiments and (immuno)histochemical methods. Electrical field stimulation (EFS) of nerve terminals elicited tracheal constriction that is largely due to ACh release.