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S R Prince

Publications and source records attributed to S R Prince.

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Parvalbumin immunoreactive neurons in the rat septal complex have substantial glial coverage and receive few direct contacts from catecholaminergic terminals.

Our previous studies have demonstrated that septohippocampal neurons in the rat septal complex have substantial glial coverage and have a number of synaptic associations with catecholaminergic terminals. While similar ultrastructural characteristics are observed for septal cholinergic neurons, the morphology and synaptic relations of catecholaminergic terminals with septal GABAergic neurons is largely unknown. Since the GABAergic septohippocampal neurons colocalize the calcium-binding protein, parvalbumin (PVA), the present study examined the ultrastructural relations of PVA neurons with catecholaminergic terminals in the septal complex. Single sections were dually labeled with antibodies to PVA and either tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) or dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH). By light microscopy, processes with TH- and DBH- (TH/DBH) immunoreactivity were near PVA-labeled neurons. By electron microscopy, PVA-labeled perikarya had an average diameter of 14.9+/-6 microm and were ovoid or elongated. PVA-labeled perikarya (n = 124) had a large amount of astrocytic coverage (75+/-14%) and a low amount of terminal coverage (15+/-12%). PVA-labeled perikarya and dendrites mostly were contacted by terminals lacking immunoreactivity for either PVA or TH/DBH (82% of 1,663). Of the TH/DBH terminals or axons near PVA somata and dendrites, few (3% of 1,663) directly contacted them while the majority abutted adjacent glial or neuronal profiles. Some TH/DBH- and PVA-labeled terminals contacted the same dendrites; a few of these contained immunoreactivity for PVA. The results demonstrate that PVA-containing GABAergic septal neurons, like cholinergic neurons, are mostly surrounded by astrocytes and have very little terminal coverage. However, in contrast to cholinergic neurons, PVA-containing neurons are contacted primarily by non-catecholaminergic terminals suggesting that any functional interactions would be indirect. These findings further support the functional diversity of subpopulations of septohippocampal neurons.

Animals↗

Selective changes in hippocampal neuropeptide Y neurons following removal of the cholinergic septal inputs.

The number and distribution of subpopulations of hilar interneurons containing neuropeptide Y (NPY), somatostatin (SOM), or gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) immunoreactivities were examined in the hilus of the dentate gyrus following removal of the cholinergic septal inputs. One, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks after intracerebroventricular injections of immunotoxin, consisting of antibody to the low-affinity nerve growth factor receptor conjugated to saporin (192 IgG-saporin), lesioned rats were processed simultaneously with controls for NPY, SOM, or GABA immunolabeling. Across all time points, the number of NPY-labeled neurons was reduced to a statistically significant level (paired t-test, P = 0.001) in the injected rats (73% of control values, on average). The decrease in the number of NPY-labeled neurons was not limited to any particular subregion rostrally but appeared greater in the central region caudally. The size of NPY-labeled neurons did not differ statistically between control and immunolesioned rats examined at 1, 2, and 24 week time points. In contrast, the number of both SOM- and GABA-immunoreactive neurons in injected rats did not appear to be affected in any consistent manner. Examination of the hilus in adjacent Nissl-stained sections with the optical dissector revealed that although the total number of small nonprincipal cells (5-15 microm in diameter) did not appear affected at the 4-week time point, there was a statistically significant (P = 0.03) reduction across the 8-24-week time points (to 80% of control values, on average). Dual-labeling studies on separate rats showed that a small subpopulation of the NPY- and SOM-labeled neurons, primarily in the infragranular hilus, were colocalized with neurons containing GABA immunoreactivity (18% and 5%, respectively). These studies demonstrate that removal of the cholinergic septal inputs (1) can cause relatively rapid, selective decreases in the number of NPY-immunoreactive hippocampal interneurons and (2) appears to lead to the death of hippocampal interneurons over a longer time course. The changes in NPY immunoreactivity seem to occur in the portion of interneurons that probably does not contain either SOM or GABA immunoreactivity.

Animals↗

Theophylline-induced hypercalcemia.

Sixty patients with theophylline toxicity were hospitalized during a 2-year period. Eleven patients had hypercalcemia; their calcium levels returned to normal as theophylline levels fell to therapeutic or subtherapeutic levels. Serum calcium levels also fell significantly in three additional patients with theophylline toxicity, although the initial serum calcium concentration was not outside normal limits. A significant increase in serum calcium levels associated with therapeutic levels of theophylline in normal volunteers was reversed by propranolol. It appears that theophylline causes elevation of serum calcium by a system subject to beta-adrenergic regulation.

Cyclic AMP↗