The processes of digestion in the avian gastrointestinal tract depend on sophisticated control systems that co-ordinate secretion of digestive juices and movement of the luminal contents. In the current study, the distribution of serotonin-, gastrin-, glucagon-and somatostatin-immunoreactive endocrine cells was investigated by immunocytochemical methods in the intestinal tract of the goose. The number of cells immunoreactive for each antiserum was evaluated in different regions of the intestinal tract. Serotonin-, glucagon-and somatostatinimmunoreactive endocrine cells were seen throughout the intestinal tract, but somatostatin-immunoreactive cells were not detected in the colon of the goose. Gastrin-immunoreactive cells were detected only in the duodenum, jejunum and colon mucosa. It is concluded that the distribution pattern of the entero-endocrine cells in the goose is similar to that of most of the mammalian and other poultry species.

The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of follistatin addition on myostatin and follistatin gene expression patterns in C 2 C 12 muscle cells. C 2 C 12 cells were administered with 100 ng/ml recombinant human (rh) follistatin in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium (DMEM) containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 4 mM glutamine and antibiotics daily for three days. Rh follistatin was not added in the control wells. Follistatin and myostatin gene cDNAs were synthesised by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The time course of follistatin gene expression pattern was similar in both the control and the follistatin-treated group. Myostatin mRNA level significantly increased in the follistatin-treated group after 24 h of culture ( Fig. 3, P < 0.01). Amounts then sharply decreased (Fig. 3, P < 0.01) at 48 h of culture, whereas there was no significant difference between the control and the follistatin-treated group at 72 h of culture. Our results demonstrated that myostatin and follistatin mRNA were expressed in C 2 C 12 cells and rh follistatin changed the myostatin expression pattern.

Pancreas in the vertebrates is subdivided into two parts: One of them is exocrine part where digestive enzymes are released and the other one is endocrine part where regulatory hormones are released into blood circulation 1 . The endocrine part, formed by the islets of Langerhans, is multihormonal unit composed of at least four types of cells; the insulin (B cells), the glucagon (A cells), the somatostatin (D cells), and the pancreatic polypeptide (PP cells) 2 .Insulin is synthesized in the B cells of the pancreatic islets and regulates the blood glucose levels. Glucagon

Abstract:The aim of this study was to examine the histometrical and histological structures of goose (Anser anser) spleen.Six healthy female geese were used as material. Tissue samples taken from the spleen were processed routinely, and were then stained with H&E, Crossman's Triple stain and Toluidine blue stain. The spleen surrounded by capsules composed of connective tissue and parts of the capsules were observed increasingly thinning into the spleen as trabeculae. The red pulp area was distinguishable from the white pulp inside the organ; further, the lymph follicles appeared clearly within the white pulp. Histometric measurements revealed that the thickness of the capsules surrounding the organ ranged from 18 to 28 µm. The average thickness of the capsules was measured as 22 µm. The average number of lymph follicles was found to be 2.4 in 1.07 mm 2 . The average width and length of the lymph follicles were measured as 113 µm and 144 µm, respectively.The average diameter of the mast cells was found to be 6 µm. The average number of mast cells was found to be 1.4 in 1.07 mm 2 . Although the histological structures of the geese spleens seemed very similar to those of other animals in several respects, but some specific properties of geese spleens being more similar to that of mammalians were also observed.

The experimental applications performed on mice were carried out with approval from the Kafkas University Animal Experiments Local Ethics Committee (04.04.2007/13).Thirty-six 8-to 12-week-old male Swiss albino mice were used. Mice used in the experiment were divided into 3 groups as experimental (diabetic) (n = 15), sham (n = 15), and control (n = 6). A single dose of 100 mg/kg (9) STZ