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Biomedical subjects

M Fonseca

Publications and source records attributed to M Fonseca.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Calbindin immunoreactivity in normal human temporal neocortex.

Calbindin immunoreactivity in the temporal neocortex was examined in 4 subjects with no neurological, metabolic or malignant disease. The brains were obtained between 1 and 4 h after death and rapidly fixed by perfusion with 4% paraformaldehyde through the carotid arteries, cut into slabs, cryoprotected and stored at -80 degrees C. Sections of the whole left temporal lobe obtained with a freezing microtome were processed free-floating with a well known monoclonal antibody against calbindin according to the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method. Calbindin-immunoreactive (CaBP-ir) neurons were found to be local-circuit neurons (interneurons) mainly distributed in the upper cortical layers (layers I, II and III), and were categorized as small multipolar neurons with ascending dendrites ramifying in the molecular layer, small bitufted cells, pyramid-like cells in layer II, horizontal neurons in the molecular layer, multipolar neurons with long descending dendrites, and large double-bouquet cells, some of them exhibiting a very long dendrite with claw-shaped terminals in layer V. Less than 10% of all CaBP-ir neurons were localized in the remaining cortical layers. Pyramidal cells were only very weakly or not stained at all. In addition, CaBP-ir fibres formed a dense plexus in the molecular layer, and vertical bundles 8-10 microns thick and 500-600 microns long, separated by blank spaces 20-40 microns wide were distributed in layers III and V/VI.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged

Parvalbumin immunoreactive neurons in normal human temporal neocortex and in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Parvalbumin-immunoreactive (PARV-ir) neurons were studied in the temporal neocortex of 4 normal subjects and in 7 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) whose brains were removed from the skull between 1 and 4 h after death and immediately fixed by perfusion through the carotid arteries to minimize pitfalls related to delayed tissue processing. Freezing microtome sections were immunostained free-floating for PARV using a well characterized monoclonal antibody diluted at 1:5000 and the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method. PARV-ir cells predominated in layers III, IV and V and were classified as bitufted cells and small, medium and large multipolar neurons according to their dendritic arbors. Immunoreactive cell processes surrounding the soma of neighbouring cells and immunoreactive vertical strings of buttons were consistent, respectively, with terminal axons of basket cells and chandelier neurons. The number of PARV-ir cells in the superior (T1), middle (T2) and inferior (T3) temporal gyri was variable from one case to another in both normal and pathological cases. Only 1 of 7 patients with AD had significantly reduced numbers of PARV-ir neurons, thus suggesting that PARV-ir cells in the neocortex are relatively resistant to degeneration in Alzheimer's disease.

Aged

Naturally occurring cell death in the cerebral cortex of the rat and removal of dead cells by transitory phagocytes.

Regressive phenomena are common during the development of the nervous tissue. Among them, naturally occurring cell death has been observed in several regions of the nervous system. Cell death in the somatosensory cortex and medial cortical regions (hind limb, frontal cortex 1, frontal cortex 2, retrosplenial agranular, retrosplenial granular [Zilles K. et al. (1980) Anat. Embryol. 159, 335-360]) as well as in the cortical subplate (future subcortical white matter) in the rat mainly occurs during the first 10 days of postnatal life with peak values of 3.1 dead cells per 1000 live neurons at the end of the first week. Cell death progresses from birth to day 7 with a predominance of dead cells in the subplate and in layers II-III. Later, dead cells are more dispersed in the cerebral cortex, but a significant amount is still present in the subcortical white matter. This pattern correlates with the arrival and settlement of cortical afferents at the different cortical levels, as described in other studies, and points to the likelihood that transitory cellular populations are important clues in the modelling of the cerebral cortex during normal development. Transitory populations of macrophages (amoeboid or nascent microglial cells) that appear in great numbers during the same period and in the same regions are involved in the removal of dead cells.

Aging

Correlation of serum vitamin A and its transport protein (RBP) in malnourished and vitamin A deficient children.

Eighty nine children were studied for retinol (vitamin A) estimation and its transport protein--retinol-Binding Protein (RBP). Serum levels of retinol, RBP and serum protein and albumin were found to be low in children with signs of vit. A deficiency irrespective of their nutritional status. Serum levels of retinol and RBP were risen significantly almost double, after the oral and parenteral administration of vitamin A. PEM interferes with hepatic synthesis of RBP and the release of RBP from the liver depends on vitamin A. Vitamin A is a limiting factor, the presence of which is required for the release of apo-RBP from the liver.

Blood Proteins