Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) from cows were matured under normal (38.5°C) and elevated temperatures (41°C) simulating heat stress and their maturation was assessed based on measurement of cumulus expansion in both groups. There was a significant reduction (P

BACKGROUND Several renal disorders affect the glomerular podocytes. Compensatory structural and functional changes have been observed in animals that have undergone unilateral renal ablation. These changes occur as a pliant response to quench the increased functional demand to maintain homeostasis of fluid and solutes. Nestin is an intermediate filament protein present in the glomerular podocyt...

Comparison of ultrastructural and biochemical response to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in superfused adrenals or cell suspension and in adrenals of hypophysectomized rats showed that (a) steroidogenic response can take place in superfused glands that have suffered gross structural damage and contained no detectable intact mitochondria; (b) steroidogenesis of cell suspensions takes place w...

The ultrastructural and biochemical changes in the brain tissue of 20 mice were studied. The mice, separated into acute and chronic groups, were injected with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) to trigger the release of free radicals. Malondialdehyde measurement and electron microscopic examination were applied for the evaluation of the effects of the free radicals. The level of lipid peroxide in ...

Secondary hyphae of Lyophyllum ulmarium were shown to tolerate slow freezing, which allowed extracellular freezing, to -196 degrees C. A freeze-fracture study showed that under this non-lethal freezing condition, the plasma membrane of the secondary hyphae did not show any ultrastructural changes as compared with the control, except gross cellular shrinkage. Tertiary hyphae of Lyophyllum ulmari...

The midgut in the freshwater shrimp Neocaridina davidi (previously named N. heteropoda) (Crustacea, Malacostraca) is composed of a tube-shaped intestine and a large hepatopancreas that is formed by numerous blind-ended tubules. The precise structure and ultrastructure of these regions were presented in our previous papers, while here we focused on the ultrastructural changes that occurred in th...

OBJECTIVE The cause of meconium stained amniotic fluid in term healthy pregnancies is not clearly understood yet. The aim of this study was to investigate the placental ultrastructural changes and placental apoptosis in pregnancies complicated with meconium stained amniotic fluid. MATERIAL AND METHOD The study group was composed of mothers (n: 13) and their term, appropriate for gestational a...

Ultrastructural and cytochemical features of phagosome degradation were examined in the tapetal retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of the opossum. Didelphis virginiana. The tapetal RPE cells of the opossum measure as much as 100 micrometers in thickness, and the phagosomes traverse these cells so as to occupy a narrow region along the basal border. Both ultrastructural and cytochemical observatio...

The ultrastructural changes in diabetic and idiopathic gastroparesis are not well studied and it is not known whether there are different defects in the two disorders. As part of the Gastroparesis Clinical Research Consortium, full thickness gastric body biopsies from 20 diabetic and 20 idiopathic gastroparetics were studied by light microscopy. Abnormalities were found in many (83%) but not al...

The ischemic state of the myocardium of the isolated working rat heart after induction of normothermic ischemic cardiac arrest was assessed by the interrelationship among changes in myocardial ultrastructure, mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, and tissue high energy phosphate contents. At all time intervals (10-40 minutes) studied, the ultrastructural changes were more severe in the suben...