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Biomedical subjects

R C Collins

Publications and source records attributed to R C Collins.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Comparison of heterologous adult Brugia malayi and homologous Onchocerca volvulus antigen in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for Guatemalan onchocerciasis.

To determine the susceptibility of a heterologous filarial antigen for measuring Onchocerca volvulus antibodies, worms were compared using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. Control serum samples from helminth-free U.S. residents and from helminth-infected but filariae-free Salvadoran residents were tested and compared with serum obtained from microfilariae-positive and -negative Guatemalan residents living in an area of endemic onchocerciasis. The results showed that none of the sera from U.S. residents had positive O. volvulus ELISA titers (greater than or equal to 1:160); however, 8.51% (4/47) had positive B. malayi ELISA titers (greater than or equal to 1:640). The geometric mean titers with the B. malayi ELISA test were higher than with the O. volvulus ELISA test--in sera from 47 U.S. residents (1:219 vs. 1:49), from 108 Salvadoran residents (1:92 vs. 1:71), and from 145 microfilariae-negative (1:539 vs. 1:167) and 303 microfilariae-positive (1:1,270 vs. 1:561) Guatemalan residents. The B. malayi ELISA test exhibited slightly less sensitivity than the homologous O. volvulus ELISA test; nevertheless, a good correlation (r = 0.74) was found between the 2 test antigens, indicating that the B. malayi antigen could be used to measure O. volvulus antibodies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Neostriatal participation in prosencephalic systems: evidence from deoxyglucose autoradiography.

Epileptic foci, produced by small intracortical injections of penicillin, increased the uptake of 2-DG not only in the injected cortical area but also in a number of other formations. Each cortical focus coactivated specific portions of the striatum and thalamus. In certain instances, activation was found also in some other formations. These data suggest that each cortical area is related to a separate subcortical system consisting at least of specific parts of the striatum and the thalamus. The cortex-related heterogeneity of the striatum has been previously demonstrated in neurobehavioral experiments.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Functional anatomy of limbic seizures: focal discharges from medial entorhinal cortex in rat.

Focal seizure discharges were induced in the ventral aspect of the medial entorhinal cortex of awake, freely moving rats, either with cannula injections of penicillin or picrotoxin (0.02 microliters every 10-15 min) or by repetitive tetanic electrical stimulation. [14C]Deoxyglucose autoradiography (DG) was performed when animals were in a 'steady-state' with respect to electrographic discharges and/or behavioral changes. During simple interictal spikes behavior remained normal and DG labeling was increased only in the entorhinal focus and stratum moleculare of the ventral dentate gyrus. With complex spikes and short seizures animals exhibited staring, decreased responsiveness, and occasional wet dog shakes. DG labeling was increased in all layers of the dentate gyrus, Ammon's horn (ipsilateral greater than contralateral) and, to a lesser degree, in ipsilateral amygdala, and the accumbens-ventral pallidum area. During strong seizures, rearing and forelimb clonus occurred and metabolism was strongly activated bilaterally in the hippocampal formation, amygdala, accumbens, substantia nigra, and the anterior and periventricular thalamic nuclei. These studies indicate that the dentate gyrus initially restricts the entry of seizures from entorhinal cortex into the rest of hippocampus. As this is overcome there is rapid bilateral spread through the hippocampal formation with passive interruption of normal behavior. With prolonged seizure discharges there is further capture of amygdala and subcortical extrapyramidal and thalamic nuclei associated with behavioral convulsions.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Recovery from unilateral neglect.

Spontaneous recovery of function occurs in the syndrome of hemisensory neglect in monkeys. We produced this syndrome in 13 macaques by unilateral operative resection of the frontal polysensory association cortex. Using standardized behavioral measures, we documented severe acute neglect and followed the course of its improvement. Using the 2-deoxy[14C]glucose autoradiographic method, we studied animals in the acute phase of neglect and found decrements in local glucose utilization in subcortical structures, but not in cortical regions with known frontal connections. After spontaneous behavioral recovery, mild local glucose utilization decrements remained, but only in nucleus medialis dorsalis of the thalamus. The findings suggest that acute behavioral symptoms are based on widespread depression of neuronal activity in uninjured structures with synaptic relations to damaged cortex, and that return of neuronal activity in those structures is accompanied by restitution of behavioral function.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Diagnosis of Onchocerca volvulus infection in Guatemalan children.

Nodule examination, the Mazzotti test (a provocative challenge with diethylcarbamazine), and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were compared for diagnostic efficacy in children who were born in an area endemic for onchocerciasis in Guatemala and were skin-biopsy negative for microfilaria of Onchocerca volvulus. Four groups of children under 16 years of age were formed based upon the possible combinations of nodule positivity or negativity and ELISA positivity or negativity. Only those children with a positive (greater than or equal to 1:160) ELISA titer had a positive Mazzotti test (9 of 20 tested), regardless of the presence or absence of nodules. These results suggest that the current ELISA serology is highly sensitive for low density infections, and should be considered in surveys for the incidence of new Onchocerca infections.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Focal cortical seizures cause distant thalamic lesions.

Topical application of convulsants to the rat sensorimotor cortex in concentrations sufficient to cause repetitive focal motor seizures resulted in acute neuropathology (dark cell neuronal degeneration and spongiform neurophil changes) involving both the cortical seizure focus and certain thalamic nuclei within seizure pathways. Changes in the cortex were localized primarily in layer IV and those in the thalamus in nuclei having reciprocal connections with the cortical focus. The spongiform neuropil changes consisted of massively dilated presynaptic axon terminals in the cortex and postsynaptic dendrites in the thalamus. The dendritic and dark cell changes resemble the excitotoxic damage caused by glutamate and aspartate. Since these putative transmitters may be released locally from recurrent collaterals and remotely from corticothalamic axons, excessive release of glutamate or aspartate may account for the changes in both sites. The abnormal axons in sensory cortex appear to be terminals of thalamocortical neurons. Swelling of these axons may be caused by excessive anti- and orthodromic firing in the course of focal motor seizures.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Focal seizures disrupt protein synthesis in seizure pathways: an autoradiographic study using [1-14C]leucine.

We have used a new autoradiographic technique developed by Smith et al.22,33 for visualizing rates of incorporation of [1-14C]leucine into protein in brain. Focal seizures caused by topical convulsants resulted in a marked decrease in autoradiographic density. This was primarily confined to the seizure focus, especially marked in pyramidal cell layers, and to subcortical seizure pathways. There were no distinct changes in cortico-cortical pathways beyond the seizure focus. Pure orthodromic pathways through basal ganglia showed an 18% inhibition of leucine incorporation in caudate nucleus and substantia nigra, pars compacta (P less than 0.05). By contrast, thalamic nuclei connected both ortho- and antidromically to the focus showed a 30-63% inhibition (P less than 0.01). The topographic pattern and intensity of the thalamic changes were related to the site, size and intensity of the seizure focus. As seizures became severe there was a more generalized depression of metabolism beyond seizure pathways, especially in the ipsilateral hemisphere. The results suggest that seizures block incorporation of leucine into protein either by an increase oxidation of the precursor, and/or an inhibition of protein synthesis per se. The effect is most severe in neurons undergoing epileptic burst discharge in the focus and in thalamic neuronal beds connected reciprocally with the focus.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Regional cerebral glucose utilization during morphine withdrawal in the rat.

Regional cerebral glucose utilization was studied by 2-deoxy[14C]glucose autoradiography in morphine-dependent rats and during naloxone-induced morphine withdrawal. In morphine-dependent rats, glucose utilization was increased compared with naive controls uniformly (23-54%) in hippocampus, dentate gyrus, and subiculum and reduced in frontal cortex, striatum, anterior ventral thalamus, and medial habenular nucleus. On precipitation of morphine withdrawal by subcutaneous administration of naloxone at 0.5 mg/kg to morphine-dependent rats, glucose utilization was increased in the central nucleus of amygdala (51%), lateral mammillary nucleus (40%), lateral habenular nucleus (39%), medial mammillary nucleus (35%), and medial septal nucleus (35%) (all, P less than 0.01). Significant increases also occurred in several other limbic structures including interpeduncular nucleus, anterior medial and ventral thalamic nuclei, and lateral septal nucleus. Knowledge of the functional cerebral anatomy of the morphine-withdrawal syndrome should facilitate studies directed toward understanding the molecular mechanisms of opiate withdrawal.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Early formation of the nodule in Guatemalan onchocerciasis.

Thirty-eight nodules containing adults of Onchocerca volvulus were removed from 36 patients who had no detectable microfilariae in skin snips. Worms were digested from nodules in collagenase solution, maintained alive in vitro, and the number, sex, and state of fecundity were recorded. A total of 48 female and 8 male worms were recovered; 39 females were in the nodules without the presence of a male. Eleven females (22.9%) had microfilariae in utero or produced microfilariae in vitro; seven of these were found together with males in the nodules while four were not. No nodules were found around male worms unless a female was also present. These observations indicate that the nodule forms only around female worms and that mating probably occurs before or early during nodule formation. Furthermore, the production of microfilariae by the the female is not essential for nodule formation since many nodules contained non-fecund, living females.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Metabolic response to optic centers to visual stimuli in the albino rat: anatomical and physiological considerations.

The functional organization of the visual system was studied in the albino rat. Metabolic differences were measured using the 14-C-2-deoxyglucose (DG) autoradiographic technique during visual stimulation of one entire retina in unrestrained animals. All optic centers responded to changes in light intensity but to different degrees. The greatest change occurred in the superior colliculus, less in the lateral geniculate, and considerably less in second-order sites such as layer IV of visual cortex. These optic centers responded in particular to on/off stimuli, but showed no incremental change during pattern reversal or movement of orientation stimuli. Both the superior colliculus and lateral geniculate increased their metabolic rate as the frequency of stimulation increased, but the magnitude was twice as great in the colliculus. The histological pattern of metabolic change in the visual system was not homogenous. In the superior colliculus glucose utilization increased only in stratum griseum superficiale and was greatest in visuotopic regions representing the peripheral portions of the visual field. Similarly, in the lateral geniculate, only the dorsal nucleus showed an increased response to greater stimulus frequencies. Second-order regions of the visual system showed changes in metabolism in response to visual stimulation, but no incremental response specific for type or frequency of stimuli. To label proteins of axoplasmic transport to study the terminal fields of retinal projections 14C-amino acids were used. This was done to study how the differences in the magnitude of the metabolic response among optic centers were related to the relative quantity of retinofugal projections to these centers. Fast and slow axoplasmic transport were studied using three separate amino acids. In each case over 64% of the radioactivity projecting contralateral from the eye was found in superior colliculus. considerably less isotope was found in dorsal lateral geniculate (11-17%), ventral lateral geniculate (3, 7-6.2%), pretectal nuclei (5-12%), and the accessory optic system (3-7%). The greatest concentration of radioactivity within each optic center was found in the visuotopic aspect subserving the superior visual field; particularly the medial aspects of the superior colliculus, olivary pretectal nucleus, and posterior pretectal nucleus, and the anterior portion of the nucleus of the optic tract. The representation of central vision in the colliculus was relatively pale, as was a zone within the middle of the contralateral dorsal lateral geniculate. The anatomical and physiological results of this study suggest that differences in deoxyglucose metabolism among optic centers are primarily related to the number of retinofugal endings and the kind of visual stimulation. Changes within any one center primarily reflect the density of retinal endings subserving the visual field.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMed1981

Control of enzyme secretion by non-cholinergic, non-adrenergic nerves in guinea pig pancreas.

Depolarization of pancreatic cells by exposure to high potassium solutions is associated with release of amylase. In the guinea pig, but not the mouse or cat, this Ca-dependent amylase secretion is resistant to atropine blockade, thus Scheele and Haymovits concluded that the enzyme secretion evoked by K depolarization does not involve release of transmitter from intrapancreatic nerves but is a consequence of Ca uptake into acinar cells mediated by the membrane depolarization. This hypothesis is inconsistent with current concepts of stimulus--secretion coupling in electrically non-excitable cells. The observation of Scheele and Haymovits could, however, also be explained by the release of a non-cholinergic, secretomotor transmitter as a consequence of the depolarization of intrapancreatic nerves. By adapting the technique of electrical field stimulation of isolated pancreatic segments to our studies of amylase secretion, we have now been able to demonstrate both cholinergic and non-cholinergic, non-adrenergic secretomotor nerves in the guinea pig pancreas. Excitation of the non-cholinergic nerves stimulates amylase secretion by a different intracellular coupling mechanism from that activated by cholinergic nerves or by peptides belonging to the cholecystokinin, gastrin or bombesin families.

Acetylcholine↗