Effects of senescence and citral on neuronal vacuolar degeneration in rat pelvic ganglia.

A significant part of the morbidity in elderly men involves pelvic organs and their autonomic neural regulation. Environmental stimuli also impair the structure and function of pelvic organs. One of these factors is citral, a widely-used cosmetic fragrance constituent, which causes severe prostatic hyperplasia in rats.

Giant axonal neuropathy with predominant central nervous system manifestations.

The authors describe a 25-year-old woman with giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) and severe CNS involvement. She had been admitted to hospital with generalized seizures, and had gait disturbances followed by progressive mental deterioration since childhood. Neurological examination revealed mental retardation, scanning speech, cerebellar dysfunction, pyramidal signs, mainly in the lower extremities, and peripheral sensory neuropathy.

The prognostic significance of glial fibrillary acidic protein staining in medulloblastoma.

Histologic and immunohistochemical properties of 53 medulloblastomas were analyzed with regard to clinical features and survival rate. No correlation was found between survival rate and histologic features of the tumor, such as desmoplastic reaction, number of mitoses, hemorrhages, necrosis, endothelial proliferation, glomerular arrangement, calcifications, rosettes, or oligodendroglial cells. However 82% of the patients with positive glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) staining in numerous tumor cells survived more than 5 years; only 30% survived that long if their tumor cells were GFAP negative (P = 0.

Immunocytochemistry of epithelial markers in citral-induced prostate hyperplasia in rats.

Immunocytochemical characterization of several epithelial markers using the PAP technique was analyzed during different stages of induced prostatic hyperplasia in rats. Intact adolescent rats (42 days old) were treated with citral (3,7 dimethyl-2,6 octadienal) for 10, 30 and 100 days and their ventral prostate compared to untreated, matched-age animals. Among the epithelial markers studied the prostatic specific acid phosphatase was present in hyperplastic prostates of rats.

Familial myoedema, muscular hypertrophy and stiffness.

A father and son with muscular hypertrophy, stiffness and myoedema are described. The local swelling after tapping the muscle was not accompanied by electrical activity. Histological and histochemical studies of muscle biopsy showed no abnormalities.

Massive pseudophakic pigment dispersion associated with an iris nevus.

A 67-year-old woman examined 12 months following extracapsular cataract extraction had a massive pseudophakic pigment dispersion associated with diffuse corneal epithelial edema, mild uveitis, and secondary glaucoma. She underwent penetrating keratoplasty following removal of a posterior chamber intraocular lens (IOL), anterior vitrectomy, capsulectomy, and iris biopsy. Histopathologic examination revealed a pigmented iris nevus and signs of iris erosion by the IOL loop.

Lectin histochemistry of brains from a murine mutant carrying a storage disorder.

A strain of Balb/c mice with neurovisceral storage disorder exhibits metabolic and phenotypic manifestations similar to those found in Niemann-Pick type C and D patients. The storage material in the brain reacted positively with periodate-Schiff reagent. To identify the chemical nature of the storage material we applied lectin histochemistry on paraffin-embedded and frozen sections, using biotinylated lectins and avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex.

Early and delayed neurotoxicity of mitoxantrone and doxorubicin following subarachnoid injection.

Doxorubicin (DXR) and Mitoxantrone (MXN) were administered into the subarachnoid space of mice or the ventricular system of rats. The maximal non-toxic systemic single dose (zero mortality = LDo) of DXR or MXN was used as reference for planning drug doses for CSF administration. LDo in mice were: 8 mg/kg DXR and 6 mg/kg MXN; in rats: 6 mg/kg DXR and 4.

Indomethacin and dexamethasone treatment in experimental neoplastic spinal cord compression: Part 1. Effect on water content and specific gravity.

Water content and specific gravity were measured in the cervical, high thoracic, thoracic, and lumbar segments in an experimental model of neoplastic epidural spinal cord compression in rats harboring a thoracolumbar tumor. Increased content of water was observed only in the compressed lumbar cord segments of paralyzed rats (P less than 0.04).

Michaelis-Gutmann bodies in a healing brain infarct.

A case of Michaelis-Gutmann bodies in a healing brain infarct is described. Morphologically this was consistent with cerebral malacoplakia. There are only 6 previously reported cases of cerebral malacoplakia, and only 1 of them was a consequence of postpartum stroke.

Acute pancreatitis in rats: a 31P nuclear magnetic resonance study.

High resolution 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to evaluate the severity of acute pancreatitis in rats. Experimental pancreatitis was induced by intraparenchymal injection of 10% sodium taurocholate. pancreases were removed at various time periods and the NMR spectrum of the whole organ was recorded.

Experimental neoplastic spinal cord compression: evoked potentials, edema, prostaglandins, and light and electron microscopy.

Spinal cord compression was induced in Fischer rats by percutaneous inoculation of 10(6) cells of malignant fibrous histiocytoma anterior to the T13 vertebral body. Paraplegia and incontinence occurred in all animals after 14-27 days (median, 23 +/- 3.0 days).

Dysmyelination in NCTR-Balb/C mouse mutant with a lysosomal storage disorder. Morphological survey.

A morphological survey of the central nervous system of a NCTR-Balb/C mouse afflicted by neurovisceral storage disease was performed. It has been demonstrated that this mutant is characterized by primary dysmyelination, which is evident as early as 12 days of age. The failure of myelin formation in the CNS was shown by histochemical and ultrastructural methods.

Alteration of blood-brain-CSF barrier in experimental meningeal carcinomatosis. A morphologic and adriamycin-penetration study.

An experimental model of meningeal carcinomatosis has been produced by subarachnoid inoculation of B16 melanoma cells into C57BL mice. Injection of 10(3) viable cells was sufficient to cause 100% tumor incidence and death within a median survival time of 17 days. The tumor infiltrated diffusely the meninges of the brain and spinal cord and filled the ventricular system.

Adult-onset GM2 gangliosidosis diagnosed in a fetus.

Amniocentesis and subsequent tests are reported on a fetus conceived of a rare mating type: its mother has an intermediate level of beta hexosaminidase A (HEX A), characteristic of carriers of Tay-Sachs disease (TSD), while the father suffers from an adult-onset GM2 gangliosidosis (AOG) with severe HEX A deficiency. Activity of HEX A in the cultured fetal cells was very low when measured by the heat-inactivation method, thus showing the typical biochemical phenotype of TSD fetuses. However, upon separation of HEX isozymes by ion exchange chromatography, residual HEX A (17 per cent of total HEX) was demonstrated.

Early stages of the pathogenesis of rat ventral prostate hyperplasia induced by citral.

Typical lesions of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were induced experimentally in the ventral prostate of adolescent (6 week old) male rats by citral, a nonsteroidal compound. Incipient BPH changes were already observed in the acinar glands 10 days after citral administration. A longer period of treatment (1 month) significantly enhanced epithelial hyperplasia, whereas the stromal elements were less reactive.

Neurological mutation characterized by dysmyelination in NCTR-Balb/C mouse with lysosomal lipid storage disease.

Morphological and biochemical studies were performed on the CNS of neurologically affected NCTR-Balb/C mouse. Histological and electron microscopic techniques demonstrated severe myelin deficiency in the affected brains. Neither the presence of lipid-containing macrophages nor reactive gliosis was apparent.

Involvement of dorsal root ganglia in Fabry's disease.

Bouts of shooting pain along the extremities are common in the early stages of Fabry's disease. No pathological explanation has been advanced to clarify the mechanism of such pain. In the present case neuronal storage of glycolipid was confined to dorsal root ganglia neurones only.

Fatal peripheral neurolymphomatosis after remission of histiocytic lymphoma.

A 32-year-old woman with histiocytic lymphoma was in complete clinical remission after two courses of chemotherapy, when peripheral neuropathy developed fulminantly. Abnormalities included facial nerve paralysis, dysphagia, quadriparesis, myalgia, and incontinence. She died 10 days after onset of these symptoms.