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Regulatory peptide immunoreactivity in corrigia vitta (trematoda, dicrocoelidea): An immunocytochemical study
246 R E G U L A T O R Y P E P T I D E I M M U N O R E A C T I V I T Y IN C O R R I G I A V I T T A (TREMATODA, D I C R O C O E L I D E A ) : AN I M M U N O C Y T O C H E M I C A L STUDY C.A. MAGEE, C.F. J O H N S T O N I, D.W. HALTON, M. C A H I R I, C. SHAW 1 and I. FAIRWEATHER, C o m p a r a t i v e N e u r o e n d o c r i n o l o g y R e s e a r c h Group, S c h o o l s of B i o l o g y & B i o c h e m i s t r y and iClinical Medicine, The Q u e e n ' s u n i v e r s i t y of Belfast, Belfast BTI2 6BJ, N. Ireland. C o r r i g i a v i t t a inhabits the p a n c r e a t i c duct of the fieldmouse, A p o d e m u s sylvaticus. It o c c l u d e s the duct lumen, t h e r e b y p r e v e n t i n g the flow of p a n c r e a t i c secretions. Preliminary studies, u s i n g ICC t e c h n i q u e s in c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h c o n f o c a l s c a n n i n g laser microscopy, have r e v e a l e d w i d e s p r e a d i m m u n o r e a c t i v i t y (IR) to a p a n c r e a t i c p o l y p e p t i d e (PP), p e p t i d e t y r o s i n e t y r o s i n e (PYY) and F M R F a m i d e w i t h i n the nervous system of the adult trematode. PP-IR was the m o s t predominant, o c c u r r i n g not only w i t h i n the central g a n g l i a and l o n g i t u d i n a l n e r v e cords but also in s u b t e g u m e n t a l p l e x u s e s and in fibres a s s o c i a t e d with the egg forming a p p a r a t u s or ootype. PYY-IR was r e s t r i c t e d to the cerebral ganglia, ventral nerve cords and a s s o c i a t e d cell bodies. I m m u n o s t a i n i n g for F M R F a m i d e e x t e n d e d t h r o u g h both central and p e r i p h e r a l nervous systems. In p a r t i c u l a r it h i g h l i g h t e d i n n e r v a t i o n of the ootype and i m m u n o r e a c t i v e cell bodies around the M e h l i s gland. The F M R F a m i d e - I R w i t h i n the CNS system was v e r y s i m i l a r in l o c a l i s a t i o n to that of PP. The similar d i s t r i b u t i o n s of all t h r e e p e p t i d e s w i t h i n the CNS suggest they are likely to f u n c t i o n as n e u r o t r a n s m i t t e r s or n e u r o m o d u l a t o r s . PP and F M R F a m i d e may also play a role in r e g u l a t i n g egg production.
PARAFOLLICULAR CELLS IN THE TYROID GLAND OF PIGLETS
G. MAJDIC, S. BAVDEK and C. VAILLANT*, Institute for Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, 61000 Ljubljana, Yugoslavia and *Division of Veterinary Anatomy, Liverpool, UK. There have been few morphological studies on parafollicular cells in the pig thyroid, particularly those containing calcitonin. In this study, we have examined these cells using antisera raised against rat (Sera-Lab), human (Dako Ltd) and porcine calcitonin (kindly donated by Professor Cary Cooper, University of Texas). Other methods for demonstrating parafoUicular cells, i.e. the Grimelius silver stain, and immunohistochemical staining for somatostatin and serotonin, were carried out for comparison. Tissues were taken from newborn and three weeks old male piglets and processed for histochemical and immunohistochemical staining. Calcitonin immunoreactivity was detected with anti-porcine calcitonin antiserum but not with antisera against rat or human calcitonin, although both of the latter demonstrated immunoreactivity in rat thyroid. The ammount (Vol %) of parafollicular cells in the whole thyroid, as demonstrated by the Grimelius method, was estimated as 6.82 __+ 0.29% in newborn and 7.1 ± 0.21% in three weeks old piglets, whereas there was a slightly higher volume density of calcitonin-immunoreactive parafollicular cells (around 1% higher in both groups). In contrast, serotonin-immunoreactive cells were rare and the volume density of somatostatin-immunoreactive cells showed individual variation, ranging from almost 0% up to 6.5%. These results indicate that species specific antiserum is required for the immunohistochemical detection of porcine calcitonin and that all parafollicular cells (i.e. Grimelius positive cells) contain calcitonin, but only a minority contain somatostatin or serotonin. Supported by British Council ALIS link 236.
PARAFOLLICULAR CELLS IN THE TYROID GLAND OF PIGLETS
G. MAJDIC, S. BAVDEK and C. VAILLANT*, Institute for Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, 61000 Ljubljana, Yugoslavia and *Division of Veterinary Anatomy, Liverpool, UK. There have been few morphological studies on parafollicular cells in the pig thyroid, particularly those containing calcitonin. In this study, we have examined these cells using antisera raised against rat (Sera-Lab), human (Dako Ltd) and porcine calcitonin (kindly donated by Professor Cary Cooper, University of Texas). Other methods for demonstrating parafoUicular cells, i.e. the Grimelius silver stain, and immunohistochemical staining for somatostatin and serotonin, were carried out for comparison. Tissues were taken from newborn and three weeks old male piglets and processed for histochemical and immunohistochemical staining. Calcitonin immunoreactivity was detected with anti-porcine calcitonin antiserum but not with antisera against rat or human calcitonin, although both of the latter demonstrated immunoreactivity in rat thyroid. The ammount (Vol %) of parafollicular cells in the whole thyroid, as demonstrated by the Grimelius method, was estimated as 6.82 __+ 0.29% in newborn and 7.1 ± 0.21% in three weeks old piglets, whereas there was a slightly higher volume density of calcitonin-immunoreactive parafollicular cells (around 1% higher in both groups). In contrast, serotonin-immunoreactive cells were rare and the volume density of somatostatin-immunoreactive cells showed individual variation, ranging from almost 0% up to 6.5%. These results indicate that species specific antiserum is required for the immunohistochemical detection of porcine calcitonin and that all parafollicular cells (i.e. Grimelius positive cells) contain calcitonin, but only a minority contain somatostatin or serotonin. Supported by British Council ALIS link 236.