Gender differences in the human cervicothoracic ganglia

Researchers still further have a morphological interest in sympathetic ganglia. Functionally, paravertebral ganglia are involved in many physiological and pathological aspects of neuropathic, vascular, visceral pain syndromes, the Raynaud’s syndrome and hyperhydrosis. Several interventions on ganglia as surgical and chemical sympathectomy, the ganglion block, and the chemical or thermal sympatholysis are applied for treatment of the pathological conditions. Accurate knowledge about the structure and the location of ganglia is required for a successful aftereffect of these procedures. In scientific literature there are many facts about the structural variations of the sympathetic ganglia related to development, age, pathology, lateral asymmetry and gender. The last one is the indeterminate factor, and the data about it are few and controversial. Still we were missing the information about the gender role on morphometry of human sympathetic ganglia and particularly of the cervicothoracic ganglion. The goal of our present study was to evaluate gender differences in the human ganglia. In our study we found that male cervicothoracic ganglia were longer than female ganglia, 21.33±4.74 mm vs. 14.87±1.84 mm, wider 9.51±1.48 mm vs. 8.76±1.14 mm, and thicker than female ganglia 5.19±0.77 vs. 4.29±0.36 mm. The dissected ganglia exhibited the three main distinguishable shapes: spindle, dumbbell and inverted “L”. We defined gender differences: the female ganglia were mainly of spindle shape (78%), whereas the male ones equally expressed all the three types of the shape (35%, 30%, and 35%). In summary, we determined the gender differences in human cervicothoracic ganglia. We note that these differences are important for interventions on ganglia

Complexity of the frog intracardiac neurons. Intracellular injection study

The goal of this study was to determine the structure of intracardiac neurons in the frog Rana temporaria. Fifty-six intracardiac neurons from 8 animals were labelled ionophoretically by the intracellular markers AlexaFluor 586 and Lucifer Yellow CH. Among the labelled neurons, we found the cells of unipolar, bipolar, multipolar and pseudounipolar types. Multiple neuronal processes originated from the soma, the axon hillock and the initial segment of axon. With respect to the soma, the neuron contained (Mean ± SE) 3.5 ± 0.3 long and 5.5 ± 0.6 short processes. Most neurons had the spine, the bubble or the flake like extensions on their soma surface and were classified as Golgi I typeneurons. Few Golgi II type neurons, the presumptive interneurons, were also found. Our findings contradict to a general view that the frog intracardiac ganglia contain only the adendritic neurons of the unipolar type. Our findings demonstrate that the frog intracardiac neurons are structurally complex and diverse. This diversity may account for the complicated integrative functions of the frog intrinsic cardiac ganglia

Application of a novel molecular method to age free-living wild Bechstein's bats

The age profile of populations fundamentally affects their conservation status. Yet, age is frequently difficult to assess in wild animals. Here, we assessed the use of DNA methylation of homologous genes to establish the age structure of a rare and elusive wild mammal: the Bechstein's bat (Myotis bechsteinii). We collected 62 wing punches from individuals whose ages were known as a result of a long‐term banding study. DNA methylation was measured at seven CpG sites from three genes, which have previously shown age‐associated changes in humans and laboratory mice. All CpG sites from the tested genes showed a significant relationship between DNA methylation and age, both individually and in combination (multiple linear regression R2 = 0.58, p < 0.001). Despite slight approximation around estimates, the approach is sufficiently precise to place animals into practically useful age cohorts. This method is of considerable practical benefit as it can reliably age individual bats. It is also much faster than traditional capture–mark–recapture techniques, with the potential to collect information on the age structure of an entire colony from a single sampling session to better inform conservation actions for Bechstein's bats. By identifying three genes where DNA methylation correlates with age across distantly related species, this study also suggests that the technique can potentially be applied across a wide range of mammals

Remodelling of the intracardiac ganglia in diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats: an anatomical study

BACKGROUND: Although cardiac autonomic neuropathy is one of major complications of diabetes mellitus (DM), anatomical data on cardiac innervation of diabetic animal models is scant and controversial. We performed this study to check whether long-term diabetic state impacts the anatomy of intracardiac ganglia in Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats, a genetic model of type 2 DM. METHODS: Twelve GK rats (276 ± 17 days of age; mean ± standard error) and 13 metabolically healthy Wistar rats (262 ± 5 days of age) as controls were used for this study. Blood glucose was determined using test strips, plasma insulin by radioimmunoassay. Intrinsic ganglia and nerves were visualized by acetylcholinesterase histochemistry on whole hearts. Ganglion area was measured, and the neuronal number was assessed according to ganglion area. RESULTS: The GK rats had significantly elevated blood glucose level compared to controls (11.0 ± 0.6 vs. 5.9 ± 0.1 mmol/l, p < 0.001), but concentration of plasma insulin did not differ significantly between the two groups (84.0 ± 9.8 vs. 67.4 ± 10.9 pmol/l, p = 0.17). The GK rats contained significantly fewer intracardiac ganglia, decreased total area of intracardiac ganglia (1.4 ± 0.1 vs. 2.2 ± 0.1 mm(2), p < 0.001) and smaller somata of ganglionic neurons. Mean total number of intracardiac neurons in GK rats was 1461 ± 62, while this number in control rats was higher by 39% and reached 2395 ± 110 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Results of our study demonstrate the decreased number of intracardiac neurons in GK rats compared to metabolically healthy Wistar rats of similar age. It is likely that the observed structural remodelling of intracardiac ganglia in GK rats is caused by a long-term diabetic state