On the whole, our results show that a tubular overactivation of NF-kappaB and AP-1 and a simultaneous up-regulation of certain proinflammatory and profibrogenic genes are markers of progressive renal disease in humans. Increased activation of solely NF-kappaB and/or AP-1 may merely indicate the response of tubular renal cells to injury.

Llamas are considered to be reflex ovulators. However, semen from these animals is reported to be rich in ovulation-inducing factor(s), one of which has been identified as nerve growth factor (NGF). These findings suggest that ovulation in llamas may be elicited by chemical signals contained in semen instead of being mediated by neural signals. The present study examines this notion. Llamas displaying a preovulatory follicle were assigned to four groups: group 1 received an intrauterine infusion (IUI) of PBS; group 2 received an IUI of seminal plasma; group 3 was mated to a male whose urethra had been surgically diverted (urethrostomized male); and group 4 was mated to an intact male. Ovulation (detected by ultrasonography) occurred only in llamas mated to an intact male or given an IUI of seminal plasma and was preceded by a surge in plasma LH levels initiated within an hour after coitus or IUI. In both ovulatory groups, circulating β-NGF levels increased within 15 minutes after treatment, reaching values that were greater and more sustained in llamas mated with an intact male. These results demonstrate that llamas can be induced to ovulate by seminal plasma in the absence of copulation and that copulation alone cannot elicit ovulation in the absence of seminal plasma. In addition, our results implicate β-NGF as an important mediator of seminal plasma-induced ovulation in llamas because ovulation does not occur if β-NGF levels do not increase in the bloodstream, a change that occurs promptly after copulation with an intact male or IUI of seminal plasma.

No abstract

The subcommissural organ (SCO) is a brain gland secreting glycoproteins into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), where they aggregate forming the Reissner's fiber (RF). By the continuous addition of newly released glycoproteins, RF grows along the cerebral aqueduct, fourth ventricle, and central canal of the spinal cord. At the filum, RF-glycoproteins escape from the central canal and reach the local blood vessels. Despite a century of research, the function of the SCO remains elusive. The aim of the present investigation was to test the hypothesis that RF-glycoproteins, by binding and transporting monoamines out of the CSF, participate in the clearance of these compounds. A protocol was designed that led to the permanent immunoneutralization of the SCO through the maternal delivery of antibodies. This was achieved by transplacental transfer to the fetuses, and through the milk to the pups, of specific antibodies against SCO secretory proteins. The antibodies reached the CSF of the fetuses and pups and blocked the RF formation during the first months of life. Some of these animals died during the first postnatal weeks; those who survived displayed a rise in the CSF concentration of several monoamines, l-DOPA being the one with the highest rise. Adult rats transiently deprived of RF by a single injection of anti-RF antibodies into the CSF showed a transient rise in the CSF concentration of l-DOPA. All these results support the hypotheses that the SCO-RF complex participates in the clearance of monoamines from the CSF.