Targeted nanoparticles containing the proresolving peptide Ac2-26 protect against advanced atherosclerosis in hypercholesterolemic mice.

Chronic, nonresolving inflammation is a critical factor in the clinical progression of advanced atherosclerotic lesions. In the normal inflammatory response, resolution is mediated by several agonists, among which is the glucocorticoid-regulated protein called annexin A1. The proresolving actions of annexin A1, which are mediated through its receptor N-formyl peptide receptor 2 (FPR2/ALX), can be mimicked by an amino-terminal peptide encompassing amino acids 2-26 (Ac2-26).

A sailor's pain: Veterans' musculoskeletal disorders, chronic pain, and disability.

A few years after leaving the navy, a 50-year-old Veteran* presents to a new family physician with chronic knee and back pain. He is seeking a new physician for opioid and benzodiazepine refills, referrals for ongoing acupuncture and massage therapy, and completion of Veteran Affairs Canada (VAC) disability claim forms for his back. He was medically released at the rank of Petty Officer owing to knee impairment secondary to a fracture sustained aboard ship.

X-chromosome-linked immune-deficient mice have B-1b cells.

The B lymphocyte subsets of X-chromosome-linked immune-deficient (XID) mice were examined by flow cytometric analyses of spleen and peritoneal cells. As shown in prior studies, young adult XID mice had reduced representation of the CD5+ (B-1a) subset in their peritoneal cavity. However, the CD11b+ (B-1b) B-cell subset was present and exhibited the IgM(hi) CD45(lo) CD23- phenotype characteristic of most B-1 cells.

B-1 B cell subset composition of DBA/2J mice.

Studies of B cell subpopulations have focused upon BALB/c mice and related strains. The B cell subset composition of DBA/2J mice, a prototype strain for BALB/c mice, has been investigated less thoroughly. This report provides the results of a study of the B-1 B cells of DBA/2J mice.

Age-dependent increase of peritoneal B-1b B cells in SCID mice.

The impact of increasing age upon immunoglobulin production and B-lymphocyte generation in "leaky" severe combined immune-defective (SCID) mice was examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and flow cytometry. By 1 year of age, the mice had normal numbers of B cells in their peritoneal cavity, while their spleen had very few immunoglobulin M-positive (IgM+) cells. The majority of B cells expressed the CD11b marker characteristic of the B-1b subset.

Immunocytochemical demonstration of chicken hypophyseal thyrotropes and development of a radioimmunological indicator for chicken TSH using monoclonal and polyclonal homologous antibodies in a subtractive strategy.

The production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) toward the chicken pituitary glycoproteins are described. MAbs were first subdivided on an immunocytochemical (ICC) basis: one category of mAbs reacts with both thyrotropic and gonadotropic cells whereas another stains exclusively gonadotropic cells. The hypothesis that the former are anti-glycoprotein alpha and that the latter are anti-beta LH and/or anti-beta FSH mAbs was further elaborated in a homologous tracer binding assay.

Autoradiography of pituitary cells stimulated by castration or methimazole feeding.

It has been argued that the increase in size of the pituitary of castrated cockerels is due to hypertrophy of gonadotropic cells, some of which have been converted from other pituitary basophils. A counter argument could maintain that new gonadotropes are recruited from chromophobes that are replaced by mitotic division of undifferentiated cells. Since mitosis requires thymine for DNA replication, labelled thymine (H3-thymidine) incorporated in DNA identifies new cell formation.

Role of ovarian steroids in the control of moult induction in laying fowls.

1. Thirty-five Warren SSL hens were selected on the basis of variation in moulting response following a force-moult at 81 weeks of age. Fourteen hens were from a group which returned to layers mash ad libitum from day 9, while 21 came from a group with dietary restriction prolonged to day 28.

Effect of exogenous LH on plasma concentrations of progesterone and oestradiol in relation to the cessation of egg laying induced by different moulting methods.

Artificially induced cessation of egg laying caused regression of the reproductive tract in hens, as well as changes in circulating concentrations of sex steroids. Hens were bled at several stages during and after artificial moult induced by fasting or overfeeding a diet low in calcium or high in zinc. Hens received a single injection of 200 i.

Growth hormone stimulates the peripheral conversion of thyroxine into triiodothyronine by increasing the liver 5'-monodeiodinase activity in the fasted and normal fed chicken.

Normal fed and 2 days fasted Warren chickens were injected intravenously with 100 micrograms of ovine growth hormone (GH) and ovine prolactin and plasma concentrations of thyroid hormones were assayed prior and up to 2 h after injection. Fasting alone decreases T3, but increases T4. An injection of GH resulted in increases of plasma T3 concentrations in two fasting experiments by 40% (after 3/4 h) and 104% (after 1 h).

The influence of castration and methimazole on deoxyribonucleic acid content of the pituitary and thyroid glands of White Leghorn cockerels.

The pituitary gland of birds is known to increase in weight with castration and decreases with chemical thyroidectomy. Whether these changes are due to alterations in mitotic activity or to cell size changes has been examined by measurement of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and protein content of these glands. The DNA content of the enlarge pituitary of castrated cockerels is the same as that in the pituitary of normal cockerels.

The effects of castration and/or methimazole feeding on the pituitary response to temperature extremes by cockerels.

The pituitary of goitrogen-treated White Leghorn cockerels is smaller in size than control birds and the pituitaries of castrated cockerels is nearly twice the size of control birds. The pituitary cells generated by these treatments may not be functional thyrotrophs or gonadotrophs and may not be able to respond to their usual stimuli. Low ambient temperature is a well-known stimulus to the thyroid gland acting through pituitary TSH.

Some effects of photoperiod on the pituitary/thyroid axis of castrated cockerels.

Pituitary cyclic adenosine monophosphate-dependent protein kinase (cAMP-PK) activity ratios of castrated cockerels on a short photoperiod are highest 2 weeks after testosterone removal in castrated birds and remain high through a 3rd week. Castrated cockerels on long photoperiods have a decline in cAMP-PK activity ratios after an elevation at 1 week following testosterone removal. This is interpreted to mean that the pituitaries of cockerels on short photoperiods are sensitive to testosterone inhibition but that this sensitivity disappears in long photoperiod-stimulated birds.

Muscle fiber types in the dystrophic puboischiofemoralis of commercial broilers.

Muscle fiber types, their diameters, lipid content, and nuclei distributions were studied in normal and necrotic puboischiofemoral muscles from commercial broiler chickens of the Hubbard strain. Three categories of puboischiofemoral fiber morphology (alpha R, beta R, and alpha W) occur in the cranial and caudal portions of the pars lateralis and in the cranial, medial, and caudal portions of the pars medialis. The greatest amount of necrosis occurred in the caudal portion of the pars medialis of the puboischiofemoralis.

Age-related changes in pituitary/thyroid function in chickens.

Pituitary cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (cAMP-PK) activity ratios are not increased in response to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) in old chickens (retired White Leghorn breeders). This reduced responsiveness may be due to reduced hypothalamic function, reduced thyrotrope function, or to a reduction in TRH membrane receptors. The thyroid cAMP-PK activity ratio of old males does not respond to TRH treatment but the thyroid of old females does have an increased activity ratio ater TRH injection.

Comparative effects of three goitrogenic treatments on White Leghorn chickens.

White Leghorn chickens respond to dietary goitrogenic compounds by forming either colloidal or hyperplastic goiters. Thiourea does not cause increases in DNA above that seen in controls, although thyroid weight increases. This may be due to a secondary toxic effect of thiourea on the chick thyroid, which inhibits cellular replication.

The effect of rapeseed meal and methimazole on levels of plasma hormones in growing broiler cockerels.

The effects of feeding a heat treated rapeseed meal, which has goitrogenic properties, on the concentrations of plasma pituitary and thyroid gland hormones was investigated in broiler cockerels of between 3 and 10 weeks of age. For purposes of comparison, two other groups were included in the study; one was fed the goitrogen, methimazole, and the other a normal control diet. The hormones measured were thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), growth hormone (GH), prolactin, and luteinizing hormone (LH).

Localization of cells producting thyroid stimulating hormone in the pituitary gland of the domestic drake.

Cells binding anti-bovine TASH beta serum were found exclusively in the rostral lobe of the adenohypophysis of the drake using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase complex unlabelled antibody method. The specificity of the binding of the anti-serum to TSH cells was established by relating the morphology and relative abundance of immunochemically stained cells to the TSH content of the adenohypophysis after experimentally altering the activity of the pituitary-thyroid axis. The TSH activity of the adenohypophysis was assessed indirectly, by the weight of the thyroid glands, and directly, by bioassay.