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Biomedical subjects

M K Vaughan

Publications and source records attributed to M K Vaughan.

141 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1974

Arginine vasotocin: effects on development of reproductive organs.

Immature 25-day-old mice were injected daily with 1 microgram of arginine vasotocin for 3 or 4 days and killed 24 hours after the last injection. The ovaries were 30 percent smaller in treated females than in controls. The ventral prostates and accessory organs (seminal vesicles and coagulating glands) were less than half the size of these structures in control males. Similar results were observed when 15-day-old mice were given similar injections and killed 2 weeks after the last injection; furthermore, testis weights were 28 percent smaller than those of controls. It is speculated that arginine vasotocin, which has been found in mammalian pineal glands, might mediate effects of the pineal gland on normal sexual development.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Elevated blood pressure after pinealectomy in the rat.

Previous observations have suggested a role for the pineal gland in regulation of blood pressure. To investigate this possibility, pinealectomy was performed in prepubertal (43-day-old) and postpubertal (55-day-old) male rats. Systolic blood pressure (BP) was measured by the tail cuff method in conscious pinealectomized (Px) and sham pinealectomized (ShPx) rats at various times. In the 3 weeks following surgery, the BP increase after Px was twice that after ShPx (p less than 0.05). During administration of 1% saline as the sole fluid source from day 96-123, hypertension (BP greater than 150 mmHg) was observed in those animals Px at day 43 (p less than 0.05 vs ShPx) but not in those Px on day 55. Moreover, saline consumption was increased in the hypertensive group compared to ShPx controls. There was no significant difference in mean body weight or heart rate between Px or ShPx groups. These data suggest that pinealectomy in the prepubertal period may result in a tendency to hypertension, measurable in conscious rats, which is unmasked by saline administration.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Interaction of ageing, photoperiod and melatonin on plasma thyroid hormones and cholesterol levels in female Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus).

Plasma levels of thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3) and growth hormone (GH) as well as the free T4 and free T3 index (FT4I, FT3I) in 20-month-old female Syrian hamsters kept under long daily photoperiod [light:dark (LD) cycles of 14:10] were significantly depressed compared to the values of 2-month-old animals kept under the same photoperiodic conditions. Cholesterol levels in old females were significantly elevated compared to those in young animals. In a subsequent experiment, young (4 month) and old (15 month) female hamsters were either placed in a short photoperiod (10:14 LD) or a 14:10 LD cycle and given daily afternoon injection of either diluent or 25 micrograms melatonin. After 8 weeks, the old females, regardless of treatment or photoperiod, had significantly lower T4 levels and higher cholesterol and triglyceride levels than did young animals. In 14:10 LD, FT4I and FT3I did not differ between young and old animals, possibly because of the reduced age gap in this experiment. Although the FT4I and FT3I in young females after 8 weeks of treatment with 10:14 LD or melatonin were not significant, the old females did demonstrate a significant suppression of their FT4I and FT3I values.

Aging↗