Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0029713 (immaturity)
 4,335 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

It is proposed an animal model consisting of young male, L-tryptophan-deprived, namely 5-HT-free rats since their ontogenesis. This was obtained by feeding their mothers with a L-tryptophan-free (tf) diet since the day 1 of pregnancy. They were studied and compared with control rats of the same ages fed with a complete diet. Already at birth tf-litters were significantly underdeveloped as compared to the control newborn rats. Postnatal growth was in the tf-rats so poor that it worsened into a stricking dwarfism characterized by physical immaturity, muscular hypotrophy with alterations of motor activity and impairment of the hypothalamo-pituitary-axis. A radioimmunological study of growth hormone (GH) showed in tf-rats dramatic low plasma levels of the hormone, thus confirming the existence of serotonergic hypothalamo-pituitary pathways for GH in normal animals. By histological and ultrastructural examinations, hypotrophy and degenerative alterations of the muscle fibers could be observed. The possible causes for this finding are extensively considered and discussed.
 ...
PMID:Effects of a tryptophan deficient diet on the morphology of skeletal muscle fibers of the rat. Preliminary observations at neuroendocrinological and submicroscopical levels. 1132 86

Sprague-Dawley male rats, fed with a tryptophan-deficient and 8% protein corn-based diet were compared with a group of animals fed with 8% protein alone, and with a group fed with Chow Purina containing 23% protein. Retardation of Bergmann glial cell maturation and a concomitant retardation in granule cell migration were observed in the corn-fed group at 21 days. At 30 days of age, the dendrites of granule cells of both hypoproteic and corn-fed groups were larger than those of the Chow-fed animals. At 60 days of age, dendritic arborization of Purkinje cells was more profuse in both the hypoproteic and corn-fed rats compared with the Chow-fed group. This retardation in granule cell migration could be partially due to Bergmann glial cell immaturity. Consequently, several plastic and maybe compensatory events in both granule and Purkinje cells could have occurred, due to tryptophan deficiency resulting from the corn-based diet.
 ...
PMID:A tryptophan-deficient corn-based diet induces plastic responses in cerebellar cortex cells of rat offspring. 1137 4

The mammalian spinal cord and medulla oblongata harbor unique neurons that remain in contact with the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF-cNs). These neurons were shown recently to express a polycystin member of the TRP channels family (PKD2L1) that potentially acts as a chemo- or mechanoreceptor. Recent studies carried out in young rodents indicate that spinal CSF-cNs express immature neuronal markers that appear to persist even in adult cells. Nevertheless, little is known about the phenotype and morphological properties of medullar CSF-cNs. Using immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy techniques on tissues obtained from three-month old PKD2L1:EGFP transgenic mice, we analyzed the morphology, distribution, localization and phenotype of PKD2L1(+) CSF-cNs around the brainstem and cervical spinal cord central canal. We show that PKD2L1(+) CSF-cNs are GABAergic neurons with a subependymal localization, projecting a dendrite towards the central canal and an axon-like process running through the parenchyma. These neurons display a primary cilium on the soma and the dendritic process appears to bear ciliary-like structures in contact with the CSF. PKD2L1(+) CSF-cNs present a conserved morphology along the length of the medullospinal central canal with a change in their density, localization and dendritic length according to the rostro-caudal axis. At adult stages, PKD2L1(+) medullar CSF-cNs appear to remain in an intermediate state of maturation since they still exhibit characteristics of neuronal immaturity (DCX positive, neurofilament 160 kDa negative) along with the expression of a marker representative of neuronal maturation (NeuN). In addition, PKD2L1(+) CSF-cNs express Nkx6.1, a homeodomain protein that enables the differentiation of ventral progenitors into somatic motoneurons and interneurons. The present study provides valuable information on the cellular properties of this peculiar neuronal population that will be crucial for understanding the physiological role of CSF-cNs in mammals and their link with the stem cells contained in the region surrounding the medullospinal central canal.
...
PMID:Morphology, distribution and phenotype of polycystin kidney disease 2-like 1-positive cerebrospinal fluid contacting neurons in the brainstem of adult mice. 2450 95

Perinatal mortality is high among small-for-gestational age (SGA) piglets and continues to be an economic burden and threat to animal welfare. As the physiological role of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in perinatal development and gastrointestinal function in the pig remains unknown, the aim of this study was to assess the enteric distribution of 5-HT cells and to determine 5-HT together with its precursor tryptophan in the serum of perinatal normal and SGA piglets. For this purpose, proximal and distal parts of the small intestine (SI) were processed for immunohistochemical analysis to assess the presence of 5-HT endocrine cells. Serum 5-HT was measured with ELISA, whereas its precursor, that is, the free fraction of tryptophan (FFT) together with albumin-bound tryptophan and total tryptophan, were analysed with HPLC in postnatal piglets. In addition, the morphological growth patterns of the different intestinal tissue layers of both normal and SGA piglets were stereologically analysed. The stereological volume density of 5-HT enteroendocrine cells showed a significant interaction effect between age and region. Indeed, the amount of 5-HT cells in both the proximal and distal part of the SI tended to decrease according to age, with the lowest values detected at day 3 postpartum. No differences could be observed related to BW. Interestingly, the serum concentration of 5-HT was higher in normal piglets compared with SGA piglets. Moreover, the ratio of FFT to total tryptophan was significantly affected by age and BW. Normal piglets had, on average, a lower FFT/total tryptophan ratio compared with SGA piglets. An approximate linear decrease was observed with increasing age. Finally, the immaturity of the intestinal system of the SGA piglets was not reflected in altered volume densities of the different intestinal layers. To conclude, although no BW effect could be detected in the distribution of enteric 5-HT cells, serum 5-HT and the ratio of FFT to total tryptophan ratio showed significant differences between normal piglets and their SGA littermates.
...
PMID:Enteric and serological distribution of serotonin and its precursor tryptophan in perinatal low and normal weight piglets. 2459 79