Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M A Warren

Publications and source records attributed to M A Warren.

59 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

The effects of undernutrition during early life on the rat optic nerve fibre number and size-frequency distribution.

Male rats undernourished from the 18th day of gestation till 100 days of age were nutritionally rehabilitated until 200 days of age. Six control and six experimental rats at each of 25, 50, 100, and 200 days of age were killed by perfusion with buffered 2.5% glutaraldehyde. Pieces of optic nerve from just behind the left eye of each rat were postfixed in osmium tetroxide and embedded in resin. Estimates of the total number of fibres and their mean diameter and size-frequency distributions were made for each nerve. Rats undernourished until 25 days of age had a mean +/- SE of 57,464 +/- 6,778 fibres per optic nerve. This represented a 36% deficit (P less than 0.01) compared with the 25-day-old control value of 89,778 +/- 6,625. In addition, these undernourished rats had proportionately more small fibres than the age-matched controls. This resulted in a significant deficit in mean fibre diameter at this age. These deficits and distortions disappeared in all the older rats studied, despite the continued undernourishment of some animals up to 100 days of age. It appears that even the lengthy period of undernutrition imposed in the present experiments could not produce a permanent deficit in optic nerve fibre number, size, and size distribution. It is suggested that the deficits seen initially at 25 days of age may have been due to a temporary delay in the growth and development of these nerve fibres.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Synapse-to-neuron ratios in the visual cortex of adult rats undernourished from about birth until 100 days of age.

Male rats undernourished from the 18th day of gestation until 100 days of age were nutritionally rehabilitated until 200 days of age. Six control and six experimental rats at each of 100 and 200 days of age were killed by perfusion with buffered 2.5% glutaraldehyde. Pieces of visual cortex from each rat were postfixed in osmium tetroxide and embedded in resin. Stereological procedures at the light and electron microscopy levels were used to estimate the synapse-to-neuron ratios in cortical layers II to IV. Rats undernourished until 100 days of age had a mean +/- S.E. of 10,350 +/- 470 synapses associated with each neuron. This represented a 13% deficit (P less than 0.05) when compared to the control value of 11,950 +/- 530. Following nutritional rehabilitation till 200 days of age it was found that the previously undernourished rats had about 23% more (P less than 0.05) synapses-per-neuron than their age-matched controls. This was due almost entirely to a substantial increase in the ratio in the previously undernourished animals; the value of controls did not alter significantly between the two age groups. It appears that the deficit in the synapse-to-neuron ratio seen after a lengthy period of undernutrition is not permanent, at least in rats subsequently allowed nutritional rehabilitation. In fact, such animals seem to be capable of not only "catching-up" but "overshooting" the values found in age-matched controls.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Changes in basement membrane thickness in the human endometrium during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle.

We have examined aspects of the fine structure of the basal laminae associated with the luminal and glandular epithelium and small blood vessels in the human endometrium. Four short studies are presented and reviewed. Study 1 examined biopsies from 20 fertile women taken on days after the luteinizing hormone surge (LH): LH +2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. The basal lamina (both lamina densa and lucida) increased in thickness over the period studied. Study 2 again studied the glandular epithelium and examined the effect of RU486 (a progesterone receptor blocker) administered on day LH +3 and biopsied on day LH +6. The basal laminae were found to be the same as LH +2 control group but thinner than LH +6 control. Study 3 documented increased thickness of the basal laminae between LH +6, 8 and 13 in the luminal epithelium. The within-group coefficient of variation was 16% and 27% for LH +6 and LH +13 groups but only 2 % for LH +8. Study 4 demonstrated an increase in basal lamina thickness associated with small blood vessels between LH +6 and LH +10 in normal fertile women. The basal lamina provides the interface between epithelial and mesenchymal environments; changes in its structure can alter the phenotypic expression of the epithelia. It is one of the maternal barriers that must be transgressed by the trophoblast during implantation. Together, these combined studies provide quantitative baseline structural information on the electron microscopical appearance of the basal lamina during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle.

Basement Membrane↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A morphometric comparison of the nuclear morphology of fresh and frozen-thawed human zona-bound and unbound sperm.

The role of sperm nuclear morphology in zona binding and the effect of cryopreservation on sperm nuclear morphology have been investigated using objective criteria. The nuclear dimensions of fresh and frozen-thawed sperm heads that had been prepared by the swim-up (SU) technique, and bound to human oocytes in vitro, were measured using a computer-assisted image analyzer. These were compared with each other and also to sperm in the SU samples and those that had not bound to the zona pellucida. The unbound (UB) sperm and SU sperm had very similar nuclear morphology. In contrast, the nuclear morphology of the zona-bound (ZB) sperm differed significantly (P < 0.05) from that of the SU and UB sperm. These differences were found specifically between area, breadth, and roundness in the SU and ZB sperm preparations, and between area and roundness in the UB and ZB sperm preparations; the ZB sperm had smaller but rounder nuclei than either the SU or UB sperm. In addition, the frozen-thawed sperm in the SU and UB groups showed a trend towards smaller nuclei than the corresponding fresh groups, whereas the frozen-thawed ZB sperm had significantly (P < 0.05) smaller nuclear dimensions than the fresh ZB sperm. From the present study it appears that the ZB sperm are a morphologically distinct population, although it is not yet clear whether these differences reflect functional events that occur in the sperm head during its maturation or changes at the level of the sperm's DNA after the initial stage of zona binding.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cell Nucleus↗