Acta Medica Okayama volume14 issue4

On the median nerve trunk-heart muscle preparation of Limulus the authors studied the effects of atropine and acetylcholine upon the pace maker ganglion cells. The results are summarized as follows: (1) Atropine exerts an excitatory action on the pace maker ganglion cells in a concentration of 1-2 per cent. resulting in an increase of the heart rate. No effect is recognized on the heart beats, where the drug is applied to the heart muscle. (2) Acetylcholine exerts an excitatory action in a lower concentration (0.001-0.10 %) and produces a transitory excitation followed by an inhibition in a higher concentration (1-5 %). No effect is perceptible on the heart beats, when the drug is applied to the heart muscle. (3) Where atropine has been previously applied to the median nerve trunk, acetylcholine applied to the same spot produces always an inhibition of the heart beats. Conversely, when the ganglion cells activated previously by acetylcholine, a subsequent administration of atropine suppresses the activity of the ganglion cells, resulting in an inhibition of the heart beats.

The vector electrocardiographic method was applied on 126 healthy young Korean adults without any evidence of cardiac diseases. The range of the age of the subjects were between 19 and 34. The normal values of the magnitude and direction of the mean QRS, T, P vectors, ventricular gradient and QRS-T angle in frontal plane were presented and discussed in comparison with those previously reported in the literature. Considering the age of the subjects under study, our results were in general agreement with those previously reported by other authors.

The following conclusions were arrived at on the terminal distribution of the hepatic artery and its microscopical structures in the experiments conducted with the livers from human adult, fetus, dogs and toads, to which were given plastics, Indian ink and Indian-ink shock injections into their hepatic blood vessels. 1. There are arterial anastomotic networks of vasa vasorum in the portal wall. 2. The intralobular arterioles (Elias) and the extralobular arterioles (WEATHERFORD) often arise as direct branches without passing through the periductal arteriolar plexus. In the peripheral zone of the liver, this constitutes the main type of origin. 3. Besides the anastomoses between the intralobular arterioles of the adjacent lobules (Fig. 5), the periductal arteriolar plexus of the bile ducts to the neighboring lobules are interconnected by arterial branches surrounding the interlobular vein ("neighboring arteriolar anastomoses" by the author) (Figs. 2, 5). 4. The terminal arterioles reveal a curve and an isthmus (Figs. 1, 3, 5), where they are supposed to have epithelioid cells in the media. 5. The hepatic vein wall is supplied by the branches of the internal thoracic and phrenic arteries. These anastomose with the interlobular arteries in the interdigitation area of vessels. 6. In the toad the terminal distribution is of a simpler form, in which the arterial capillaries, with an S or a parabolic curve, being constricted by the marginal hepatic cells, join the sinusoid in capillary form. 7. In human fetus of the middle stage (Figs. 6, 7), most of the terminal arterial capillaries open directly to the interlobular hemopoietic tissue, and from there the blood flows into the sinusoid. The precapillaries have an S curve and an isthmus, where they have 3 or 4 primordial epithelioid cells. In other portion, the precapillaries form endothelial canals with little adventitia and open infundibularly to the hemopoietic tissue. These have been proved by the Indian-ink shock injection method. 8. In the fetus of the later stage (Figs. 8-11), with the reduction of interlobular hemopoietic tissue, its arterial branches become fewer, and many branches are connected directly to the hepatic sinusoid. They form a sharper S curve and an isthmus, where 4 or 5 epithelioid cells are differentiated. The arterial terminal branches are precapillaries of endothelial canals having little adventitia and no media muscle. 9. The subcapsular branches of the peripheral interlobular arteries anastomose with one another. Besides these, subcapsular branches come around the hilar region from the hepatic artery, furthermore some are derived from the biliary, inner thoracic, diaphragmatic, intercostal, subcostal, suprarenal and renal arteries. Anastomoses are found between all the subcapsular branches of different origins.

Electronmicroscope pictures of the thin sections of the shell of an ovum of Capillaria hepatica have been demonstrated. The shell is of two layers, an outer one with holes and an inner thick one. The inner layer is composed of several opaque sublapes 2 to 3 microns in width. The plug is 4 to 6 microns in diameter and has a granular zone near the outer surface.

Electron microscopic structures of the egg shell and the plug of the ova of Trichuris vulpis have been demonstrated. The shell is of one thick membrane of about 4 microns in thickness and consisted of several opaque and less opaque layers arranged in parallel and alternatively. The plug is of transparent substance having opaque limiting membrance on the surface and being consisted of meshwork of microfibrils.

To reveal the mechanism of liver damage by taking CCl4 the author observed the liver tissues from rats at 1.5, 5, 6, 10, 17, 20, and 22 hours after the CCl4 administration, both by light microscope and electron-microscope. 1. Light microscope observation revealed the swelling of liver cells in the carly stage, the appearance of centrolobular fatty degeneration, focal degeneration area and the appearance of balloon cells, with the circulatory disturbances in accompanying stages and hemorrhage in the later stage. 2. Electron-microscope observation revealed the swelling of mitochondria, appearance of the files of thin ER's in the early stage and the regeneration and degeneration of mitochondria with an increase of microbodies in number. Fat droplets are developed from small ones probably from some microbodies without correlation with mitochondria. 3. From these observations the author is of the opinion that CCl4 arrests the cells at first inducing the swelling of cells and their mitochondria, but later the degenerative changes will become severe being complicated by the anoxia which is induced by the circulatory disturbances caused by the compression of vessels with the swollen cells.

The soluble protein, whole soluble protein, globulin and albumin fraction from human placenta, both normal and toxemic, have been introduced repeatedly into normal and pregnant rabbits and histological changes in the liver were observed. The striking changes in the liver have been induced by treating the animals with the globulin fraction and histologic pictures suggest that the toxemic liver damage is of allergic nature.

1. After spinal transection at the medulla-spinal junction the thoracic respiratory movements no longer appear in the adult animals, nevertheless the sporadic spike discharges can be recorded from the intercostal muscles. 2. Both in the acute and chronic experiments the spinal cord is transected at the two levels of Th7 and Thl1 respectively and all the dorsal rootlets coming into that part of the cord lying between the transections are severed. The sporadic spike discharges with irregular intervals varying about 0.5 to 3.0 sec. can be recorded from intercostal muscles in the 8th to 10th segments of the spinal cord isolated. There can never be found any reflex influence of the skin stimulation upon the discharges, which also disappear provided the intercostal nerves innervating the muscles are severed. 3. From these results it may be concluded that the spinal cord is endowed with an ability to initiate the impulses autochthonously to excite the intercostal muscles, even though it is only poorly developed in the adult animals.