We demonstrate here that human necrosis factor-alpha, a potent neutrophil activator, induces rapid (within 3 h) apoptosis of these cells, i.e. neutrophils treated with this cytokine exhibit (i) light and electron microscopic changes characteristic to apoptotic cells, (ii) reduced propidium iodide binding to DNA, and (iii) the ladder form of DNA, as shown by agarose gel electrophoresis. These results suggest that apoptosis acceleration may be involved in processes by which neutrophils are prevented from damaging tissues.

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Endocrine cells immunoreactive for somatostatin, gastrin, glicentin, glucagon, secretin, cholecystokinin, m o t h and neurotensin were identified immunocytochemically in the gastrointestinal mucosa of the horse. Somatostatin-, glicentinand glucagon-immunoreactive cells were very numerous in the cardiac and fundic regions of the stomach, whereas most gastrin-immunoreactive cells were confined to the pyloric region. Somatostatin-immunoreactive cells also were detected in all portions of the small intestine while gastrinimmunoreactive cells were confined exclusively to the upper portion and glicentin-immunoreactive cells were limited to the lower portions of the small intestine. Secretin-, cholecystokinin-and motilin-immunoreactive cells were observed only in the duodenum, while neurotensinimmunoreactive cells were confined primarily to the ileum. In the large intestine, somatostatin-and glicentinimmunoreactive cells were detected in the colon and rectum. The preferential location of endocrine cells provides additional information for future studies on the physiological roles of gastrointestinal peptides in the gastrointestinal tract of the horse.

Abstract:In the previous paper (Takeda et al, Int. Immunol

A monoclonal antibody (RP-3) that depletes rat neutrophils selectively in vivo was developed by hybridization of mouse myeloma cells (P3-X63.Ag8.653) and spleen cells of BALB/c mice sensitized with peritoneal neutrophils of WKA/Hok rats. RP-3 reacted with rat neutrophils but not with lymphocytes, macrophages, natural killer cells, basophils, eosinophils, or tissues of various organs. The mitogenic responsiveness to concanavalin A (ConA), phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of rats given RP-3 was not significantly different from that of normal rats. Administration of RP-3 into the peritoneal cavity of rats that had been kept under specific pathogen-free (SPF) or clean conditions induced selective depletion of circulating neutrophils to under 100/mm3 (0.5% WBC). The numbers of monocytes, lymphocytes, and platelets were not changed. Administration of 2 ml of RP-3 reduced blood neutrophils to under 100/mm3 for approximately 24 h, and administration of 1 ml caused depletion for approximately 12 h.

The occurrence and distribution of endocrine cells in the gastrointestinal tract of the lesser mouse deer, Tragulus javanicus were studied immunohistochemically. Fourteen types of endocrine cells immunoreactive for serotonin, somatostatin, enteroglucagon, pancreatic glucagon, bovine pancreatic polypeptide (BPP), gastrin, substance P, motilin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP), cholecystokinin (CCK), methionine-enkephalin-Arg⁶-Gly⁷-Leu⁸ (MENK-8), secretin, neurotensin, peptide tyrosine tyrosine (PYY) and chromogranin were revealed. Chro-mogranin-, serotonin-, somatostatin- and enteroglucagon-immunoreactive cells were detected in all regions examined, while pancreatic glucagon-immunoreactive cells, except in the proper gastric gland region, were not found in other regions of the gastrointestinal tract. Few BPP-immunoreactive cells in either the proper gastric gland or pyloric gland regions and abundant gastrin-immunoreac-tive cells in the pyloric gland region were observed. Restricted distributions of substance P-, GIP-, gastrin-, motilin-, CCK-, MENK-8-, secretin-, neurotensin- and BPP-immunoreactive cells in the small intestine, and BPP-, substance P-, PYY- and motilin-immunoreactive cells in the large intestine were noted. The important findings include the presence of BPP-immunoreactive cells in the abomasum, pancreatic glucagon-immunoreactive cells in the proper gastric gland region, and substance P- and motilin-immunoreactive cells in the large intestine. It is suggested that the distribution pattern of gut endocrine cells in the lesser mouse deer is more similar to that in the pig than in the domestic ruminants so far reported.

The distribution of nerves containing immunoreactivity for substance P (SP), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), leucine-enkephalin (LENK), gastrin-releasing polypeptide (GRP), and somatostatin (SOM) was studied in the reticulorumen and the reticular groove of the calf and cow, use immunohistochemistry. Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) antiserum was used to determine the general distribution of nerves, which was then compared to distribution of immunoreactive (IR) nerves stained for five kinds of peptides. Nerve fibers and cell bodies were observed in all segments examined; however, both elements showed considerable variation in different segments and age groups. The densities of nerve fibers and ganglia were most concentrated in the reticular groove and least numerous in the ruminal wall. VIP-, SP-, and LENK-IR nerves were detected in all segments, whereas GRP- and SOM-IR nerves were detected only in the reticular groove. NSE-IR nerves were moderately abundant in the reticulorumen, but peptide-IR nerves composed only a minor population of nerves with VIP-IR nerves being most abundant. SP-IR nerves were less abundant and LENK-IR nerves were rarely observed. Abundant nerves were detected in the lips of the reticular groove and of these, SP-IR nerves were most abundant, and in order of decreasing abundance, VIP-, LENK-, SOM-, and GRP-IR nerves were observed also. Immunoreactive nerves were more abundant in the calf than in the cow. The reduced abundance of immunoreactive nerves in the cow as compared to calf was striking, particularly with regard to the SP-IR nerves located in the lips of the reticular groove.