The role of the muscarinic system in regulating estradiol secretion varies during the estrous cycle: the hemiovariectomized rat model

There is evidence that one gonad has functional predominance. The present study analyzed the acute effects of unilateral ovariectomy (ULO) and blocking the cholinergic system, by injecting atropine sulfate (ATR), on estradiol (E(2)) serum concentrations during the estrous cycle. The results indicate that ULO effects on E(2 )concentrations are asymmetric, vary during the estrous cycle, and partially depend on the cholinergic innervation. Perforation of the left peritoneum resulted in lower E(2 )serum concentrations in the three stages of the estrous cycle. At proestrus, unilateral or bilateral perforation of the peritoneum resulted in lower E(2 )serum concentrations. ULO of the right ovary (left ovary in situ) resulted in significantly higher E(2 )concentrations than animals with ULO of the left ovary (right ovary in situ). ATR treatment to ULO rats on D1 resulted in a significant drop of E(2 )serum concentrations. ULO rats treated with ATR on D2 or P, resulted in an asymmetrical E(2) secretion response; when the right ovary remained in situ an increase in E(2) was observed, and a decrease when the left ovary remained in situ. The results obtained in the present study suggest that each ovary's ability to compensate the secretion of E(2 )from the missing ovary is different and varies during the estrous cycle. The results also suggest that the cholinergic system participates in regulating ovarian E(2 )secretion. Such participation varies according to the ovary remaining in situ and the stage of the estrous cycle of the animal. The results agree with previously stated hypothesis of a neural pathway arising from the peritoneum that participates in regulating E(2 )secretion, and also supports the idea of cross-talk between the ovaries, via a neural communication, that modulates E(2 )secretion

Digital data and the 19th century teratology collection

The golden age of descriptive teratology (congenital anomalies) was between 1750 and 1850. During that period, the study of human congenital malformations, especially those dramatic examples designated as 'monsters', attracted special attention. One of the finest collections in this field was Museum Vrolikianum, the collection of father and son, Gerardus (1775-1859) and Willem Vrolik (1801-1863). Willem, a specialist in teratology, described many of these specimens in his Handbook of Pathological Anatomy (1844) and his teratology atlas Tabulae ad illustrandam embryogenesin hominis et mammaliam tam naturalem quam abnormem (1849). This collection is still an integral part of the Museum Vrolik in the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. From 1991 to 1994, the collection of congenital anomalies was re-catalogued and re-described according to contemporary syndromological views. We diagnosed rare syndromes with multiple congenital anomalies, rare skeletal dysplasias, closure defects of the neural tube and conjoined and acardiac twins. We came to the conclusion that some anomalies of the conditions diagnosed have been reported only a few times. Certain cases demonstrate relationships between different malformations, and provide critical 'missing links' in the teratological series. For the diagnosis of the clinical syndromes in some of the specimens magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), spiral CT and radiographical techniques were of crucial importance and are discussed in this pape

Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome diagnosed in a 130-year-old anatomical specimen

The Museum Vrolik collection of human anatomy comprises 360 recently re-described specimens with congenital anomalies. The external findings in one of these specimens, originally described by Willem Vrolik (1801-1863) 130 years ago, were suggestive of Smith-Lemli-Opitz (SLO) syndrome. Cholesterol synthesis was analyzed in skin biopsies, obtained from the suspected SLO specimen and a control specimen. The cholesterol levels in the SLO specimen and in the control specimen were in the proportion of 1 to 45. This confirms the diagnosis in this specimen which, to our knowledge, represents the oldest known case of SLO syndrom

Congenital anomalies in the teratological collection of Museum Vrolik in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. V: conjoined and acardiac twins

The Museum Vrolik collection of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology of the Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, founded by Gerardus Vrolik (1775-1859) and his son Willem Vrolik (1801-1863), consists of more than 5,000 specimens of human and animal anatomy, embryology, pathology, and congenital anomalies. Recently, the collection of congenital anomalies, comprising 360 specimens, was recatalogued and redescribed according to contemporary perspectives. The original descriptions, as far as preserved, were compared with the clinical, radiographic, and magnetic resonance imaging findings. We diagnosed 30 symmetrical conjoined twins (CTs), 11 parasitic CTs, and 16 acardiac twins. Within the group of symmetrical CTs, the following concomitant external anomalies were found in 15 specimens: neural tube defects, holoprosencephaly, cleft lip/palate, umbilical hernia, omphalocele, cloacal exstrophy, peromelia, polydactyly, and facial abnormalities suggestive of a chromosomal abnormality. We discuss the results in the light of historical and contemporary explanations regarding conjoined twinning, including the opinions of Gerardus and Willem Vrolik and of Louis Bolk, one of their successor

Congenital anomalies in the teratological collection of Museum Vrolik in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. II: Skeletal dysplasias

The Museum Vrolik collection of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology of the University of Amsterdam, founded by Gerardus Vrolik (1775-1859) and his son Willem Vrolik (1801-1863), consists of more than five thousand specimens of human and animal anatomy, embryology, pathology, and congenital anomalies. Recently, the collection of congenital anomalies was recatalogued and redescribed according to contempory syndromological views. The original descriptions, as far as preserved, were compared with the clinical and radiographical findings. In 18 specimens the following skeletal dysplasias were diagnosed: achondrogenesis, achondroplasia, Blomstrand chondrodysplasia, Majewski syndrome, osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism, osteogenesis imperfecta type I, osteogenesis imperfecta type II, and thanatophoric dysplasia with and without cloverleaf skull. Radiography did not yield a diagnosis in 4 specimens. The use of additional diagnostical techniques, such as MRI and CT scanning and fluorescence in situ hybridization in these specimens, is currently being investigate