A comparison of mitochondrial respiration and membrane lipid composition in the rat and marmoset following dietary lipid supplementation.

Rats and marmosets were fed different lipid supplemented diets and the phospholipid fatty acid composition and the respiration rate of liver and heart mitochondria were determined. For both species, diets of differing lipid saturation had little effect on the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids in the mitochondrial membranes, however the omega 6/omega 3 unsaturated fatty acid ratio was significantly altered by diets of different lipid saturation. In comparison to animals fed low fat diets, mitochondrial respiration in the marmoset was reduced by high fat diets irrespective of the dietary level of lipid saturation.

Basal cell carcinoma--a review of treatment results with special reference to cryotherapy.

A retrospective study has been undertaken of all head and neck basal cell cancers treated at the Royal Free Hospital between 1976 and 1980 inclusive. Four methods of treatment were used during the period: simple excision with primary closure (n = 43), skin grafting or trans-position flap (n = 19), radiotherapy (n = 99), and cryosurgical ablation (n = 34). The methods were compared by observing the immediate results, the subsequent tumour recurrence rate and the length of follow-up.

Gated blood-pool studies of cardiac function in the rat and marmoset.

To develop a sensitive, relatively noninvasive method for monitoring cardiac function in small laboratory animals, equilibrium gated blood-pool imaging (with Tc-99m RBC) was adapted for use in an inbred strain of laboratory rats of 400-470 g body weight and in marmosets of 320-400 g body weight. A 2-mm pinhole collimator was fitted to the gamma camera to produce a distinct image of the left ventricle following intravenous injection of 5 mCi of pertechnetate. Reproducible and consistent data for heart rate, left-ventricular ejection fraction, and peak ejection rate were obtained from studies on 13 male rats and five marmosets maintained on constant diets.

The effect of maternal and fetal thyroidectomy on fetal brain development in the sheep.

The combination of maternal and fetal thyroidectomy was found to have a significant influence on brain development in the fetal sheep at 140 days. There was reduced body weight (36%), brain weight (23%), DNA (26%) and protein (34%) content in five fetuses of ewes, subjected to thyroidectomy six weeks before mating and fetal thyroidectomy at 98 days gestation, compared with six sham operated controls. Cholesterol content was also reduced (36%) and water content increased (2.

Late cutaneous and muscular metastases of a uterine leiomyosarcoma after an initial simultaneous presentation with an adenocarcinoma.

A case is reported of late cutaneous and muscular metastases of a uterine leiomyosarcoma following an initial simultaneous presentation with an endometrial adenocarcinoma. Such behaviour is discussed in view of the prognostic features of the original sarcoma.

Ultrastructural detection of the onset of pituitary thyrotroph sensitivity to lowered thyroid hormone concentrations in the fetal sheep.

The goitrogen methylthiouracil was administered orally to pregnant ewes of known gestational ages to induce hypothyroidism in both mother and fetus. Developing pituitary thyrotrophic cells were studied using electron microscopy to detect the earliest gestational age at which morphological changes occurred in response to lowered plasma thyroid hormone concentrations. At 50 days of gestation, the pituitaries of fetuses exposed to the goitrogen were indistinguishable from untreated control glands.

Development of a marmoset colony in Australia.

A breeding nucleus of 15 pairs of Callithrix jacchus jacchus was imported from an established colony in the United Kingdom in 1978, and these have now multiplied to 137 animals. Good reproductive efficiency and growth rates have occurred in this colony, with minimal problems from diseases of nutritional or infectious origin. One episode of cessation of breeding and abortions was attributed to excessive noise and disturbance of the normal routine.

Retarded fetal brain development resulting from severe dietary iodine deficiency in sheep.

Sheep have been used to study the effect of dietary iodine deficiency on the development of the fetal brain. Severe iodine deficiency caused reduction in fetal brain and body weights and in brain DNA and protein from 70 days gestation to parturition. The lowered brain weight and brain DNA at 70 days gestation indicates a reduced number of cells, probably due to slower neuroblast multiplication which normally occurs from 40-80 days in the sheep, and the reduction in DNA and protein after 80 days implies that the development of neuroglia could be slowed also in iodine deficiency.

Myelin basic protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein in human fetal brain.

We demonstrated myelin basic protein (MBP) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in tissue sections of routinely-processes premature human brain employing the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP( method. The MBP immunostain delineated oligodendroglia before the appearance of myelin sheaths. The GFAP immunostain indicated that in addition to the stellate astrocyte, bouquet-shaped glia and radial glia are astrocytic in nature.

The Kangaroo Island strain of pig in biomedical research.

The feral pig from Kangaroo Island, South Australia, has descended from British breeds released onto the Island by early explorers approximately 180 years ago. It has developed into a smaller pig than the modern commercial equivalent, with distinctive and reproducible physical characteristics and a physiology which appears to bestow on it some advantages in terms of fitness and vigour. It has adapted easily to laboratory and intensive piggery conditions where it has reproduced satisfactorily.

A physiologic role for the esterified cholesterol transfer protein: in vivo studies in rabbits and pigs.

The observation that pig plasma is deficient in esterified cholesterol transfer activity has been exploited in an attempt to establish an in vivo role for the esterified cholesterol transfer protein. The plasma high density lipoproteins (HDL) of pigs and also of rabbits (a species known to possess an active esterified cholesterol transfer protein) were labeled with 3H in the esterified cholesterol moiety and with 125I in the apoprotein moieties and reinjected into the respective species. In both rabbits and pigs, the removal of 125I from the recipient HDL fraction was parallel to that from the whole plasma, with negligible 125I appearing in other plasma lipoprotein fractions.

Iodine deficiency and brain development in the rat.

An assessment was made of the influence of low-iodine diet on somatic and brain development at birth (day 0) and 21 days postnatally in the rat. The rat mothers were proven to be iodine-deficient by assay of plasma thyroxine and thyroid stimulating hormone prior to mating, an at 21 days postnatally, when maternal thyroids were removed, weighed and stored for subsequent iodine analysis, along with those of the offspring. There were no significant differences in body weight or brain weight of the offspring at birth, or in the content of DNA or protein.

Low-iodine diet for producing iodine deficiency in rats.

A low-iodine diet has been prepared for rats, using locally available low-iodine ingredients. On analysis it has been shown to consistently contain 15-20 ng iodine/g. When fed to growing female rats, this diet produced severe iodine deficiency while not significantly affecting growth or reproduction.

Production of severe iodine deficiency in sheep using a prepared low-iodine diet.

Extensive tests on dietary materials suitable for ingestion by sheep have led to the preparation of an appropriate diet which, when fed to the sheep, caused severe iodine deficiency. The deficiency was manifested by daily urinary excretion values which fell to levels of less than 20 micrograms iodine and by thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) concentrations in blood plasma which were reduced from more than 90 and 1.80 nmol/l to the low levels of less than 2.

Foetal thyroidectomy and brain development in the sheep.

Sheep foetuses were surgically thyroidectomized at 50-60 days gestation, when thyroid function begins, and the pregnancy was then allowed to continue until 90, 120 or 150 days (term). At these times the foetuses were removed by caesarean delivery, exsanguinated, weighed and dissected. The central nervous system was divided--cerebral hemispheres, brain stem, cerebellum and spinal cord for subsequent analysis.

Experimental oxalate urolith formation in rats.

Urinary calculi composed of calcium oxalate were produced in male hooded Wistar rats fed a vitamin B6 deficient diet over 16 weeks. This basic diet was modified by doubling the phosphate content or loading with vitamin C or D3 in three treatment groups. The number of rats developing oxalate stones was not altered by the addition of vitamin D3 or phosphate, but there was a significant increase in total weight of stone formed and histological evidence of extensive renal damage in rats on the high vitamin D3 diet.

Foetal brain development in the sheep.

The pattern of normal foetal brain development has been described for the Merino sheep. Controlled flock matings were used and foetuses removed by hysterotomy at 40, 54, 67, 81, 90, 95, 109, 121 and 150 days of gestation. Lambs at 7 days after birth and adults were also studied.