Parotid gland growth and secretory enzyme levels were studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats following the induction of alloxan diabetes. Diabetes resulted in a retardation of parotid gland, as well as body growth, and in a reduction of parotid gland DNA, RNA, and total protein compared with control rats. Morphologically, parotid glands of diabetic animals were characterized by an intracellular accumulation of lipid within acinar and intercalated ductal cells. Parotid amylase was reduced 40% in diabetic rats compared with control rats. In contrast, peroxidase levels increased by 54%, and DNase was unaffected. Insulin treatment of diabetic rats led to a restoration of gland and body growth. Parotid gland DNA, RNA, total protein, and secretory enzyme levels returned to control values within 7 days. Thus, insulin in vivo may play a major role in the regulation of parotid gland growth and function.

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is a successful and recognised treatment option for patients with a number of haematological and non-haematological malignant and non-malignant conditions. Pulmonary complications both infectious and non-infectious are common after BMT. Multiple factors are thought to contribute to pulmonary complications, including the type and duration of immunological defects produced by the underlying disease and treatment, the development of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and the conditioning regimens employed. These complications are classified as early or late, depending on whether they occur before or after 100 days from transplantation. Early non-infectious pulmonary complications typically include pulmonary oedema, upper airway complications, diffuse alveolar haemorrhage, cytolytic thrombi, and pleural effusion. Bronchiolitis obliterans, veno-occlusive disease, and secondary malignancies occur late after BMT. Idiopathic pneumonia syndrome, GVHD, and radiation induced lung injury can occur in early or late period after BMT.

Rahimian R. Sex differences in mesenteric endothelial function of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats: a shift in the relative importance of EDRFs. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 303: H1183-H1198, 2012. First published September 14, 2012 doi:10.1152 doi:10. /ajpheart.00327.2012 studies suggest that diabetes affects male and female vascular beds differently. However, the mechanisms underlying the interaction of sex and diabetes remain to be investigated. This study investigates whether there are 1) sex differences in the development of abnormal vascular responses and 2) changes in the relative contributions of endothelium-derived relaxing factors in modulating vascular reactivity of mesenteric arteries taken from streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats at early and intermediate stages of the disease (1 and 8 wk, respectively). We also investigated the mesenteric expression of the mRNAs for endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS) and NADPH oxidase (Nox) in STZ-induced diabetes in both sexes. Vascular responses to acetylcholine (ACh) in mesenteric arterial rings precontracted with phenylephrine were measured before and after pretreatment with indomethacin (cyclooxygenase inhibitor), N -nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (NOS inhibitor), or barium chloride (Kir blocker) plus ouabain (Na ϩ -K ϩ -ATPase inhibitor). We demonstrated that ACh-induced relaxations were significantly impaired in mesenteric arteries from both male and female diabetic rats at 1 and 8 wk. However, at 8 wk the extent of impairment was significantly greater in diabetic females than diabetic males. Our data also showed that in females, the levels of eNOS, Nox2, and Nox4 mRNA expression and the relative importance of NO to the regulation of vascular reactivity were substantially enhanced, whereas the importance of endotheliumderived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) was significantly reduced at both 1 and 8 wk after the induction of diabetes. This study reveals the predisposition of female rat mesenteric arteries to vascular injury after the induction of diabetes may be due to a shift away from a putative EDHF, initially the major vasodilatory factor, toward a greater reliance on NO.sex; diabetes; mesenteric arteries; nitric oxide; endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES (CVDs) are the major causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus. Several reports including our recent studies (30,31,36) suggest that hyperglycemia and diabetes affect male and female vascular beds differently. Clinically, premenopausal women have a lower incidence of CVDs compared with age-matched men. However, premenopausal women with diabetes not only lose this sex-based cardiovascular protection but also have a higher risk of CVDs than men (4,20,71). Nonetheless, there is insufficient evidence to establish the mechanism(s) underlying the loss of this female-specific cardiovascular protection in premenopausal patients with diabetes.Endothelial dysfunction is an early sign of diabetic vascular diseases. Endothelial dysfuncti...

The roles of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves in the secretion of saliva from submandibular glands of rats have been tested by electrical stimulation of either nerve for 1 h unilaterally in separate animals. The flows of saliva thereby induced and their protein content were monitored. Structural changes in each gland were assessed by light- and electron microscopy and compared with the unstimulated contralateral control gland, and the extent of the changes was determined morphometrically. Sympathetic nerve stimulation induced a relatively low flow of saliva that was rich in protein and was accompanied by extensive degranulation from both acinar and granular duct cells. In contrast parasympathetic nerve stimulation induced a considerable flow of saliva that had a low protein content and no detectable degranulation occurred from the secretory cells. It is possible, therefore, that some protein in parasympathetic saliva may have arisen from a non-granular pathway.