Cold-blooded vertebrates evolved organized germinal center-like structures.

Germinal centers (GCs) or analogous secondary lymphoid microstructures (SLMs) are thought to have evolved in endothermic species. However, living representatives of their ectothermic ancestors can mount potent secondary antibody responses upon infection or immunization, despite the apparent lack of SLMs in these cold-blooded vertebrates. How and where adaptive immune responses are induced in ectothermic species in the absence of GCs or analogous SLMs remain poorly understood.

Impact of Social Conformity on Ethanol Preference in Wistar Rats.

Introduction: Social conformity is considered a possible promoter of alcohol use disorder in humans. The goal of this study was to explore the impact of conformity as one of the social factors that might contribute to the alcohol preference in a rat model of ethanol intake.

Methods: To model social conformity, 105 Wistar rats were group housed (3 animals per cage) with a different number of rats drinking either 10% ethanol or water during daily drinking sessions.