Light-at-night exposure affects brain development through pineal allopregnanolone-dependent mechanisms.

The molecular mechanisms by which environmental light conditions affect cerebellar development are incompletely understood. We showed that circadian disruption by light-at-night induced Purkinje cell death through pineal allopregnanolone (ALLO) activity during early life in chicks. Light-at-night caused the loss of diurnal variation of pineal ALLO synthesis during early life and led to cerebellar Purkinje cell death, which was suppressed by a daily injection of ALLO.

Toxoplasma gondii: a simple high-throughput assay for drug screening in vitro.

Toxoplasma gondii is the etiologic agent of toxoplasmosis. Although the combination of sulfadiazine and pyrimethamine is used as therapy for this disease, these drugs can have serious side effects and its use is limited in pregnancy. Therefore there is a need for new anti-T.

Histological analysis of the sublingual gland in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes.

This study was designed to examine whether the sublingual gland parenchyma is influenced by the development of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The sublingual glands of rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes were examined by light and electron microscopy. In order to define the limiting membrane of mucous granules in more detail, samples processed by rapid freezing following by freeze-substitution in addition to chemical fixation were also prepared for electron microscopy.