Phosphorus In Rats Research Articles

On the Function of the Pineal body.

Summary.1. The phosphorus turnover of the pineal has been studied with the aid of radioactive phosphorus in rats of different ages and compared with the turnovers of the adenohypophysis, neurohypophysis, tuber cinereum and cerebellum. The activities in these organs with exception of cerebellum are lowest during the first 10 weeks of the life of an animal. In the fertile age the activity remains at a constant high level and with exception of the neurohypophysis increases somewhat during senility. The activity of the cerebellum remains unchanged.2. Of the 42 organs and parts of the brain investigated, the phosphate metabolism decreased only in the ovaries after epiphysectomy to a statistically probable extent. Considerable increases in the turnover were also observed in the adenohypophyss, neurohypophysis and tuber cinereum in females.3. After castration an increased phosphorus turnover was obtained in the pineal body and the adenohypophysis. This increase was most pronounced in females.4. It appears to follow from these results that the pineal exerts an influence, directly or indirectly, especially upon the ovaries. There appear to be reciprocal effects of a similar nature between the ovary and the epiphysis as between the adenohypophysis and the ovaries.We wish to express our thanks to Professor Manne Siegbahn for his kindness in placing radioactive phosphorus at our disposal.

Hyperlipemia in Experimental Trypanosomiasis of Rabbits.

Although changes in the lipoid content of the blood have been described in a variety of physiological and pathological conditions, they have not been sufficiently studied in animals with protozoal infections. Nakanishi observed some increase in the serum cholesterol, fatty acids and phosphatides in the early stage of syphilis in rabbits but all these elements decreased when generalized infection was established. Santos and Borel, et al., found that in patients suffering from malaria the serum cholesterol was subnormal. On the other hand, a slight increase in the blood cholesterol in filariasis was described by Boyd. Linton demonstrated some increase of plasma lipoid phosphorus in rats acutely infected with Trypanosoma equiperdum. In a study of anemia produced by the same organism Dubin found in one dog a slight increase in total lipoid of whole blood and plasma accompanied by a decrease of cholesterol. Lannoy and Lagodsk noted some elevation in the serum cholesterol of rabbits infected with Trypanosoma annamense without mentioning any variation in the total lipoid content. The changes so far recorded have not been constant and the variation from normal limits has been rather slight. In view of the meagre information available regarding the abnormalities of blood lipoids further investigation of the changes of these substances in the course of an experimental protozoal infection seems desirable. The present study was, therefore, undertaken to determine whether or not there is any change in the plasma lipoids of rabbits infected with Trypanosoma brucei, a strain which hitherto has not been used for the study of blood chemistry.