Variations in the gonadal artery with a single common trunk: embryological hypotheses by observation

Background: A gonadal artery originates as a branch of the abdominal aorta and renal artery inferior to the level of origin of the renal arteries. Variations in multiple right testicular arteries (RTAs) arising from the abdominal aorta are common. We aimed to re-evaluate the unusual courses of gonadal arteries with a single common trunk in relation to the inferior vena cava and left renal vein and explain the developmental anatomy. Materials and methods: The observational cross-sectional study was performed on 54 Japanese adult cadavers (29 men and 25 women). We examined the literature and developed embryological hypotheses on the single common trunk of the gonadal artery. Results: The gonadal artery, testicular artery, and ovarian artery arose from the abdominal aorta in 93.1%, 96.3%, and 89.6% of cases, respectively, and from the renal artery in 4.9%, 3.7%, and 6.3% of cases, respectively. We found two rare variations in the RTAs observed during the routine dissection of two male cadavers; in these two cases, a single common trunk of the RTAs originated from the abdominal aorta. A single common trunk was found in 3.7% of cadavers, 2.0% of sides, and 2.0% of arteries in the gonadal artery and in 6.9% of cadavers, 3.8% of sides, and 3.7% of arteries in the testicular artery. All cases of the single common trunk, including those in past reports, were observed only in men. Conclusions: Knowledge of the variations in RTAs has important clinical consequences for invasive and non-invasive arterial procedures. In addition, this variation provides a new interpretation of the embryology of the gonadal artery. Variations similar to our findings have not been previously reported. Therefore, different variations concerning the RTA should be considered during surgical and non-surgical evaluations

Terretonins E and F, Inhibitors of the Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain from the Marine-Derived Fungus Aspergillus insuetus

Supporting Information Available: 1D and 2D NMR spectra for terretonins E and F. This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.[EN] Two new meroterpenoids, terretonins E and F (1, 2), together with three known compounds, aurantiamine (3), linoleic acid, and uridine, were isolated as fermentation products of the marine-derived fungus Aspergillus insuetus, which was associated with the sponge Petrosia ficiformis. Structures of all isolates were elucidated employing spectroscopic methods, mainly by two-dimensional NMR techniques. Compounds 1-3 showed activity as inhibitors of the mammalian mitochondrial respiratory chain.We acknowledge ICB and ITQ NMR Service (D. Melck and E. Mateos) and E. Estornell and V. Romero for biological assay support. We would like to thank the R&D&I Linguistic Assistance Office, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (Spain), for granting financial support for the linguistic revision of this paper. This work has been supported through European Social Fund (ESF).López Gresa, MP.; Cabedo Escrig, N.; Gonzalez-Mas, MC.; Ciavatta, ML.; Avila, C.; Primo Millo, J. (2009). Terretonins E and F, Inhibitors of the Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain from the Marine-Derived Fungus Aspergillus insuetus. Journal of Natural Products. 72(7):1348-1351. doi:10.1021/np900085nS1348135172