40 research outputs found
The somatotopy of the spinal cord: a comprehensive descrption.
For the benefit of medical students, in this paper we examine the somatotopic organization of the spinal cord, which shows a similar organization in mammalians. The dorsal horn is comprised of sensory nuclei with deutoneurons; the lateral horn contains preganglionic visceral motoneurons; the ventral horn is subdivided into a medial column innervating the paravertebral muscles, a central column, C3-C6, innervating the diaphragm, and a lateral column innervating the limb muscles. In the lateral column of the ventral horn, the dorsal motoneuron groups innervate the intrinsc arm muscles; the dorsal posterior motoneuron groups innervate hand muscles; the lateroventral motoneuron groups innervate the shoulder. Furthermore, the rostral and caudal motoneuron groups innervate the proximal and the distal muscles, respectively. In cat spinal cord, the medial columns 1-2 innervate the paravertebral muscles, and columns 3-6 are divisible into groups, each innervating specific muscle groups. In human spinal cord, 11 motor columns have been identified: column 1 is located in the medial part and columns 2-11 in the lateral part of the ventral horn. Columns 1-2 extend to S3, while columns 3-8 are confined to the cervical and T1 segments, and columns 9-11 are situated in the lumbosacral segments
Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and oxytocin-expression in the adult and mouse cerebellum
Abstract
Background: Many studies are in the literature on the ANP and oxytocin-presence in the brain, but very few studies
with controversial results are reported on the presence of these peptides in the cerebellum. This immunohistochemical
study investigates on the ANP and oxytocin-presence in the cerebellum of the adult rat and mouse rodents.
Results: This study, firstly, evidences the ANP- immunopositivity in cerebellar cortex of both rat and mouse rodents. In
rat the molecular layer presents some few immunopositive fibers, but no neuron resulted immunopositive; the
granular and Purkinje cells are immunopositive. In mouse the cerebellar cortex ANP-immunopositivity is present in all
layers. The oxytocin-presence in the rat the afferent fibers are immunopositive are in the granular layer; in mouse the
OT-immunopositivity is in the molecular layer only.
Conclusions: This study, firstly, shows that ANP and OT are present in the cerebellar cortex both in rat and mouse
rodents. In the mouse cerebellar cortex ANP-presence is more diffuse and OT- localization differences in the two species
Oxytocin and vasopressin expression in the turbinates of patients with chronic sinusitis
Many peptides are present in the nasal mucosa, but few studies have investigated the presence or absence of the oxytocin and vasopressin peptides. This immunohistochemical study on the inferior turbinates of patients affected by chronic sinusitis shows, for the first time, that these peptides are present in the epithelium of both nasal mucosa and glands. Their presence could be related to the presence of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), like previously demonstrated in other organs such as heart and prostate, since in some circumstances they play in antagonism
SOMATOTOPIC ORGANIZATION OF THE CRANIAL NERVE NUCLEI INVOLVED IN EYE MOVEMENTS: III, IV, VI.
The oculomotor nucleus is divided into: 1. somatic medial column innervating the superior rectus muscle
and somatic lateral column, further subdivided into a lateral column innervating the inferior rectus,
inferior oblique and medial rectus muscles; 2. central nucleus innervating the levator palpebrae superioris
muscle; 3. visceral nucleus innervating the pupillary sphincter muscle, consisting of the following two
groups of neurons: cholinergic, preganglionic neurons supplying the ciliary ganglion, termed the Edinger-
Westphal preganglionic (EWpg) neuron population, and the centrally projecting, peptidergic neurons,
termed the Edinger-Westphal centrally projecting (EWcp) population. A detailed understanding of the
position of both nuclei and their subgroups supplying the individual muscles is an essential prerequisite
for eye movement assessment, offering a simple clinical method for diagnosing eventual dysfunctions of
eye movement generation pathways
Presence of atrial natriuretic factor in normal and hyperplastic human prostate and its relationship with oxytocin localisation
In this work, we showed the presence of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) in human prostate and compared its localisation in normal and hyperplastic conditions. ANF was localised in epithelial and stromal cells, being increased in hyperplasia, mainly in the stromal component. Moreover, we compared ANF and oxytocin positivity in the same glands, focusing on the possible relationship between the paracrine effects of these two hormones
ANP Ontogeny in rat developing in the lateral choroid plexus.
An immunohistochemical study was carried out to verify whether ANP is present in the lateral plexus in adult and embryos rats. The results evidenced the ANP presence in ependymal cells of the plexus in adult rat and also at 16\ub0 day of foetal life suggesting the imnportant role of ANP in the development and maturation of brain
Atrial natriuretic peptide secretion during development of the rat supraoptic nucleus
Since a relationship between atrial natriuretic peptide and oxytocin was recently demonstrated in the heart (Gutkowska et al., 1997), the aim of this study was to determine whether a relationship between the two peptides is present also in the rat hypothalamus. For this purpose, we measured ANPontogeny in the rat hypothalamus immunohistochemically and compared it with oxytocin-ontogeny which we previously studied. The results showed that the ANP-peptide and mRNA-ANP start at the 18th day of the fetal life. Our earlier data for oxytocin in the rat hypothalamus showed that only mRNA-oxytocin appeared the 18th day of foetal life (Farina Lipari et al., 2001); thus, at the 18th day of foetal life, mRNA-ANP, ANP-peptide and mRNA-oxytocin are present.We conclude that in the hypothalamus, differently from that in the heart, ANP might play a role on the synthesis of the oxytocin since ANP and its mRNA appear earlier than oxytocin
Modifications of atrial natriuretic peptide and vasopressin peptides in the rat hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus during resistance training
Many studies have demonstrated the involvement of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and vasopressin (VP) in the homeostasis of body fluids, but few studies have regarded the hypothalamic magnocellular neurosecretory system during physical exercises. The aim of the present immunohistochemical work is to study the activity of ANP and VP secreting neurons of the hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus during and after resistance training. The study was carried out in Wistar rats trained by a physical resistance-type exercise, using a rung ladder and a varying load fastened to the tail of each rat; the exercise lasted 20 min everyday for periods of 15, 30 and 45 days. Animal groups were sacrificed at the end of each training period and one group was sacrificed after 60 days from the beginning of training, i.e.15 days after completing a 45 day training. The results show that ANP and VP-immunopositivity is at first lesser in the trained rats than in the corresponding controls and then increases from the 15th to the 45th day of training; the increase of the immunopositivity in the trained rats indicates a decreased degranulation of the neurons.The comparison between VP and ANP-immunopositivity suggests that in the early phase of training VP-release in the bloodstream is higher than ANP-release, therefore the antidiuretic action of VP is expected to prevail on ANP action and an electrolyte unbalance may occur