Primary human muscle satellite cell culture: variations of cell yield, proliferation and differentiation rates according to age and sex of donors, site of muscle biopsy, and delay before processing.

The present study was performed to determine the influence on human satellite cell yield, proliferation, and differentiation rates of: 1) sex and age of donors; 2) site of the muscle biopsy; and 3) delay before processing of the muscle biopsy sample. We used a standardized primary muscle cell culture procedure on 206 normal muscle samples obtained from different muscle groups of patients aged from 20 to 88 years, at time of orthopedic surgery. Sex of donors did not influence muscle culture parameters.

Modulation of activities and RNA level of the components of the plasminogen activation system during fusion of human myogenic satellite cells in vitro.

Primary cultures of human myogenic stem cells (satellite cells) mimic myogenic differentiation. During this process, the expression of the components of the plasminogen activation system underwent modulation. Activities and mRNA levels of tissue-type and urokinase-type plasminogen activator were increased in a reproducible pattern during differentiation.

DNA excision repair in spontaneously diabetic BB Wistar rats.

BB Wistar rats develop a syndrome characterized by spontaneous diabetes mellitus as well as a wide variety of autoimmune, neoplastic, and degenerative disorders which do not occur in the outbred Wistar strain from which they were derived. This syndrome also includes elements of premature ageing (i.e.

Androgen sensitivity of skeletal muscle: nondependence on the motor nerve in the frog forearm.

The effects of castration and of subsequent androgen administration on fiber size were investigated in several frog skeletal muscles. Four months after castration, cross-sectional cell area decreased by 70% and 14%, respectively, in the flexor carpi radialis and flexor carpi centralis muscles of the forearm and only by 2% in the ileo fibularis muscle of the thigh. Injection of testosterone propionate induced a hypertrophic response that reversed the effects of androgen deprivation; after 6 weeks, complete recovery to the control value was observed in all muscles selected.

Histopathological lesions in the pancreas of the BB Wistar rat as a function of age and duration of diabetes.

Pancreatic histopathology was studied in 121 BBWd, 43 BBWnd, and 33 Wistar rats. Insulitis was the most common inflammatory lesion in both BBW and BBWnd rats. The incidence was inversely associated with age and with duration of diabetes in BBWd rats, but there was no age-related pattern in BBWnd rats.

Serum lipids and lipoprotein composition in spontaneously diabetic BB Wistar rats.

Serum lipid and lipoprotein composition in spontaneously diabetic BB Wistar rats, nondiabetic littermates, and control Wistar rats was studied to elucidate diabetes-related abnormalities of lipoprotein composition. Serum total triglycerides and pre-beta-lipoprotein concentrations of insulin-treated spontaneously diabetic BB and nondiabetic littermate rats were significantly higher than those of control Wistar rats. Serum cholesterol and HDL cholesterol concentrations of spontaneously diabetic BB and nondiabetic littermate rats did not differ from controls.

Abnormal bile acid pool and composition in neonates of spontaneously diabetic Wistar BB rats and its change during development.

Streptozotocin-induced diabetes during pregnancy in rats causes a decrease in primary bile acid pool in neonates. To rule out direct drug effect on the fetus as the basis for this change, studies of bile acid pool and composition at birth and during subsequent development was carried out in neonates of spontaneously diabetic Wistar BB rats and compared to control neonates. The cholic acid pool in neonates of diabetic rats was lower when compared to control neonates at birth.

Central pontine myelinolysis following saline treatment of a diabetic rat for dehydration.

Central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) was observed at necropsy in an emaciated 333-day-old BB Wistar insulin-dependent diabetic rat that had been treated for dehydration by subcutaneous injection of normal saline. There was a large area of nearly complete demyelination involving most of the basal portion of the pons, part of the tegmentum, and the base of the middle cerebellar peduncles. There was a relative sparing of neurons and axons, but some unidentifiable large cells with degenerative changes in the cytoplasm were present.

Spontaneous thyroiditis in BB Wistar diabetic rats.

Spontaneous lymphocytic thyroiditis was observed at necropsy in 36 BB Wistar diabetic rats (63.2%) and in eight of their nondiabetic siblings (42.1%).

Cyclosporine: action, pharmacokinetics, and effect in the BB rat model.

Cyclosporine (Cy) was given to BB rats in an attempt to prevent the onset of diabetes. A dose of 15 to 20 mg/kg/d given orally or subcutaneously was associated with high Cy trough serum levels and caused nephrotoxicity and severe weight loss. Ten mg/kg/d of Cy was tolerated well.

Glomerular manifestations of diabetes in the BB rat.

Morphologic characteristics of the renal glomeruli and tubules of BB rats with spontaneous diabetes mellitus were studied at 30 weeks' duration of diabetes. Whereas the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) was significantly thickened, no changes in the diabetic glomeruli were seen in the peripheral capillary wall area and in the fractional volumes of the mesangial cells or of the mesangial matrix. Light microscopy of the diabetic kidneys were normal, and immunofluorescent examination of diabetic glomeruli showed no increased accumulation of albumin, C3, or IgG.

Pathological lesions in the spontaneously diabetic BB Wistar rat: a comprehensive autopsy study.

A total of 145 BB Wistar diabetic rats, 46 of their nondiabetic siblings, and 43 outbred Wistar rats were autopsied and the frequency of lesions in all organ systems were determined. Common strain-related lesions included pulmonary infections, granulomas, lymphoid hyperplasia, lymphomas, lymphocytopenia, eosinophilia, supradiaphragmatic accessory lobes of the liver, and prostatic atrophy. These suggest some basic strain-related abnormalities of the immune system that were selected by the process of inbreeding.

Supradiaphragmatic accessory lobe of the liver in BB Wistar rats.

Supradiaphragmatic accessory livers were observed in two closely related rats in a series of 172 necropsies on BB Wistar rats. The gross and histological appearance of both accessory lobes are described. This abnormality has been reported in only one other inbred strain of rats where it also arose with a very low incidence.

Hematological Characteristics of the BB Wistar Rat.

Complete blood counts, differential white blood cell and platelet counts were performed on male and female BB Wistar diabetic rats (BBWd), their nondiabetic siblings (BBWnd) and outbred Wistar rats of the line from which the BB Wistar rats were derived. Most of the observed changes were strain-related (those present in both BBWd and BBWnd but not in control rats) rather than diabetes-related (those in BBWd but neither BBWnd nor control rats) and therefore probably due to the inbreeding process. The BBW strain had significantly lower numbers of white cells and platelets, as well as markedly changed differential white cell counts.

Cyclosporin prevents diabetes in BB Wistar rats.

Cyclosporin (U.S.A.

Proximal motor neuropathy in the BB-Wistar rat.

Proximal motor neuropathy is a well-recognized neuropathic complication in human diabetes mellitus, due to microvasculopathic changes. Spontaneously diabetic BB-Wistar rats maintained at a moderate severity of diabetes developed structural proximal motor neuropathy after long-standing diabetes. This was caused by multiple infarcts in the spinal ventral roots.

Testicular atrophy in the spontaneously diabetic BB Wistar rat.

Complete gross and microscopic postmortem examinations were performed on 100 BB Wistar diabetic rats, 27 BB Wistar nondiabetic siblings, and 41 Wistar rats, and the incidence of testicular lesions was tabulated. Testicular atrophy was the predominant finding in all three groups of rats, but atrophy occurred at a much younger age in the diabetic rats. There was a strong relationship between the duration of diabetes and the presence of atrophy, which was stronger than the relationship between age and atrophy.

[Histochemical study of skeletal muscles of the frog, Rana temporaria].

Histochemical profiles of muscles were identified based on staining for myosin ATPase activity. They reveal typical arrangement of muscular fibres with a zoned pattern. Tonic fibres have a unique histochemical profile and are mixed with the most oxydative fast fibres to form toxic zones.

The spontaneously diabetic BB Wistar rat. Morphologic and physiologic studies of peripheral nerve.

The spontaneously diabetic "BB" Wistar rat was examined for evidence of peripheral nerve abnormalities by a combined morphologic and physiologic approach. The studies were done on rats kept severely hyperglycemic and frequently ketotic. The peripheral nerves of the lower extremities, including the most distal nerves of the intrinsic foot muscles, revealed only minimal abnormalities by histologic and morphometric examination.

Spontaneous gastric erosions and ulcerations in BB Wistar rats.

One hundred thirty-four BB Wistar diabetic rats, 31 nondiabetic siblings, and 30 Wistar rats were necropsied. Gastric erosions and ulcers were observed in 43 (32.1%) of the diabetic rats and three (9.

Control of microbial contamination in the use of laboratory rodents.

Historically, laboratory rodents have been used in preference to other animal species for biomedical research. Study disruptions and invalidations often have occurred due to microbial contaminants inherent to laboratory rodents. Today, many commercial suppliers and research institutions are controlling a variety of infectious diseases among laboratory rodents by careful design of animal facilities, by adaptation of managerial techniques employing precise operational policies coupled with careful supervision and attention to detail and the use of various diagnostic programs.

[Histochemical characterization of the tonic fibers in the flexor carpi radialis muscle of frogs (Rana temporaria, L.)].

In the flexor carpi radialis muscle of the Frog, extra-fusal muscular fibres with histochemical characteristics of tonic fibres were identified by reactions for enzyme activities, especially for myofibrillar adenosine triphosphatase. This evidence suggests no difference between the sexes in the organization of this muscle, in spite of a strongly marked sexual dimorphism.