Search

The ultrastructure of the secretory cell of human axillary glands has been described in detail by several authors. However, evidence about the mechanism of secretion in these glands remains largely theoretical. The present study was undertaken to determine whether pharmacologic stimulation would produce more precise information about this process. The results indicate that after epinephrine injection, the distribution, number, and morphology of cytoplasmic organelles do not change significantly. Apical cell membrane changes were seen most consistently, but not universally, at 4 hr and 24 hr after epinephrine injection. The dispersion of particles contained in the secretory granules was most clearly seen 10 min and 4 hr after injection and may occur in connection with the cytoplasmic filaments that are closely associated with the secretory granules. These filaments may play a major role in directing the activities of the secretory cells. two discrete types of granules contain secretory particles: a third type of cytoplasmic inclusion is the initial formation of one type of secretory granule. Whereas mitochondria, which according to some authors are transformed into secretory granules, occasionally become enlarged when they occupy apical sites, no evidence of such secretory transformation was detected. These observation indicate that the mechanism of apocrine secretion is an extremely subtle process which can be clearly understand only with improved technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sweat gland in the ventral side of the goat tail has a glomerular secretory tubule lined with one layer of flat or cuboidal cells. In some segments of the gland, the cell exhibit a typical apocrine pattern of secretory activity. The gland, but not the duct, is invested with a well-developed layer myoepithelium. The opening of the duct is near the orifice of the pilary canal. A nerve net work which contains acetylcholinesterase surrounds the secretory coil of the gland. Sweating produced in these glands by thermal and emotional stimulation was inhibited by dihydroergotamine and phenoxybenzamine, but not by propranolol and atropine. These glands are highly sensitive to adrenalin and noradrenalin but almost totally unresponsive to isopropylnoradrenalin. The glands also respond to such cholinergic agents as acetylcholine, mecholyl, and carbachol, but not to pilocarpine. Axon reflex sweating could not be produced. The pharmacologic response of a apocrine glands in men and other animals is discussed with special reference in their control mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence is presented that apocrine sweat glands are controlled by adrenergic and by circulating catecholamines of adrenomedullary origin. Sympathetic denervation of glands and neural stimulation experiments have demonstrated that a functional nerve supply exists although in some species no nerves can be demonstrated histologically, Adrenomedullary hormones do not supplement the sweating caused by heat exposure, but exercise and asphyxiation may increase adrenalin secretion caused by heat exposure, but exercise and asphyxiation may increase adrenalin secretion sufficiently to cause sweat gland stimulation. Experiments with adrenergic blocking drugs confirm the above findings and demonstrate species differences in the adrenergic receptor site. e.g., α-receptor antagonists inhibit the sweat glands of bovids and β-receptor antagonists those of equids. This kind of sweat gland control is taken as evidence for convergent evolution from a common, but unidentified, primitive form or sweat gland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various techniques were used to obtain cell cultures from benign and malignant tumors removed from human breasts. Cell suspensions were prepared by trypsinizing finely minced tissue or by the "spilling" technique or Lasfargues and Ozzello, and T-flasks or T-flasks coated with collagen were inoculated. Trypsinized tissue yielded predominantly fibroblastic cultures, whereas those obtained by the "spilling" technique were rich in epithelial cells. The mixed cell populations were separated into pure suspensions by density gradient centrifugation. Most epithelial cell cultures grew best when they were collected by the "spilling" technique and inoculated into collagen-coated T-flasks with Eagle's medium enriched with 30% fetal calf serum. However, tears developed in the collagen coat with subsequent peeling which led to the loss of many epithelial cell colonies. Primary epithelial cells did not remain viable for prolonged periods, and attempts to obtain subcultures were unsuccessful. In this Paper the work of several investigators is reviewed and their methods of growing breast tumor cell are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paucity of organelles in the ultrastructure of the normal resting mammary epithelium indicates that secretory activity is carried out only to a limited extent. A band of avascular stroma surrounds the ducts and ductules and is separated from the vascularized stroma by "delimiting fibroblasts." There is reason to believe that the structures lying between the epithelium and the delimiting fibroblasts constitute a morphophysiologic unit (epithelial-stromal junction, ESJ) which mediates the transport of materials to and from the epithelium. The ultrastructural and chemical disruption of this ESJ is likely to affect the evolution of dysplastic lesions. Dysplastic epithelium may appear atrophic and hyperplastic or may resemble the ultrastructure of apocrine epithelium. Hyperplastic epithelium shows prominent organelles which in severe hyperplasias resemble the ultrastructural features of carcinoma cells and support the hypothesis that some hyperplasias lead to neoplastic transformation: definite proof however, is lacking. Basically, the ultrastructure of all types of mammary carcinoma cells is characterized by prominent organelles: the frequent variations from cell to cell suggest various functional states of the neoplastic cells. This basic ultrastructure is retained by carcinoma cells cultured in vitro even after heterotransplantation in nude athymic mice. The basal laminae of intraepithelial mammary carcinomas have gaps through which neoplastic cells sometimes protrude into the stroma and give rise to foci of beginning invasion. The smallest of these foci are detectable only with the electron microscope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The undersurface of the epidermis covering the tip of the nipple is similar to that of tactile surfaces; at the sides it is more shallow than in the areola where it is evenly reticulated. These are the distinctive structural signatures of the areas. Both the nipple and the areola are glabrous and both have galactophores and sebaceous glands. In the nipple these open only at the tip and are grouped mostly toward the center. In the areola are the glands of Montgomery, accompanying sebaceous glands and a few scattered eccrine sweat glands. Hairs of different sizes are always present at the periphery of the areola but not in its middle. Both the galactophores and sebaceous glands contain variable numbers of melanocytes among their epithelial cells. Sensory nerve end organs are found only at the tip of the nipple and sensory nerves are loosely wrapped around the galactophores, lactiferous ducts,and some lactiferous sinuses. Both the nipple and the areola have a bountiful framework of elastic fibers that supply rigidity and support, Anchor smooth muscle fibers, keep the lactiferous ducts and sinuses from collapsing, and attach the epidermis to the dermis. Elastosis frequently takes place in the nipples and areolae, even at comparatively early ages. The nipples and areolae of women, men, girls, and boys are qualitatively identical but quantitatively different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In vitro techniques can be used to analyze human mammary gland physiology. In organ culture, human breast tissue survived intact for up to 16 days in defined medium without supplemental serum or hormones. The alveolar epithelial cells showed a significant level of DNA synthesis and mitosis which could be further augmented by insulin or prolactin. Ultrastructural studies of organ cultures verified that the tissue was healthy. There was some morphologic evidence of protein synthesis but specific signs of milk protein synthesis were lacking. Adding the combination of insulin, hydrocortisone, and prolactin did not result in convincing morphologic evidence or milk synthesis. These findings are at variance with extensive studies of other investigators on the mouse mammary gland. Primary cell cultures were made from pieces of the large collecting ducts after their dissection from the mammary gland. After treatment with trypsin-EDTA, the epithelial cells were separated from the underlying connective tissue and plated out in petri dishes or flasks. Cell shape, growth pattern, and ultrastructural features were most consistent with an epithelial origin. Proliferation occurred at a high level in medium containing 10% fetal calf serum. Hormones had no further effect on proliferation and only a minimal effect on ultrastructural appearance. The ease of propagating these cells should encourage their use in other studies of mammary cell behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using transplantation methods and histocompatibility markers, I studied the cellular composition of normal and neoplastic tissues derived from mammary glands composed of cells of 2 different genotypes. Normal mammary glands consisted of 3 separate cell types: alveolar epithelial, ductal epithelial, and myoepithelial. Different etiologic factors caused the neoplastic transformation of the different cell types. Each type produced a characteristic morphologic class of premalignant lesions which progressed to characteristic malignancies. Alveolar epithelial cells produced alveolar and acinar glandular neoplasia; ductal epithelial neoplasms had ductal-papillary morphology. Myoepithelial neoplasia was usually characterized by epidermoid-mesenchymoid metaplasia. Some neoplastic premalignant epithelial cells were associated with normal myoepithelial cells; malignant variants were not. Some myoepithelial neoplasms contained normal parenchymal cell components, but the neoplastic cells did not require this association. Existing classification systems do not separate mammary neoplasms on the basis of the cell type of origin: this can be done, however, by analyzing variants from premalignant precursors of known cellular composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anatomy and development of mammary tissue and the physiology of lactation show many similarities and significant differences among various mammalian species. Although the mammary glands are skin organs whose significance has been recognized for a long time, there is much new information that is reviewed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A four-month study by serial photography of the progression of comedones in a 17-year-old white boy with untreated, moderately severe acne vulgaris showed that both open and closed comedones (blackheads and whiteheads) can become inflamed and pustular. The lesions tend to resolve in an average 13 days from the start of inflammation. Open comedones sometimes remain unchanged except for size for more than three months before becoming inflamed. Generally, the longer such lesions persist, the longer the ensuing combined periods of inflammation and pustulation. Because of their potential to become inflamed and pustular, the nontraumatic removal of comedones is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a very short time, several significant contributions have been made in what was until recently a largely unexplored field. It appears now that the skin and probably the sebaceous glands themselves participate meaningfully in controlling their own tissue-specific stimulators and inhibitors rather than acting as passive recipients of such regulators brought to them by the circulation. This article deals mainly with those aspects of steroid metabolism that have been rather thoroughly studied in rat and mouse preputial glands. As such, it may shed some light on the mechanisms that control steroid interconversions in sebaceous glands.

The discovery of specific effects produced on a given tissue by a biochemical molecule provides a potentially important base for further studies. Thus the finding that some hormones produce various effects on sebaceous glands adds another dimension to the growing store of information about these glands. Among the hormones from the anterior pituitary, thyroid, adrenal cortex, and gonads reported to affect the structure and function of sebaceous glands, androgens clearly are the most potent. In most species, many glands, especially those of the general body skin, are androgen sensitive and increase in size, and the individual cells become larger.

There are numerous ways of assessing the activity of the sebaceous glands in rodents. For example, gland size and the incidence of mitoses have been extensively used. Gland size is extremely tedious to measure and, since it depends on both the transit time of the sebaceous cells and their production, is not proportional to sebaceous output. Whereas the incidence of mitoses is a true measure of activity in a holocrine structure, it is only one factor in secretion, which also depends on intracellular synthesis. For these reasons, direct measurement of sebaceous secretion is desirable.

Pathologic changes of free sebaceous glands are rare compared to lose of the skin. Two keratin-filled pseudocysts which developed in the excretory ducts of sebaceous glands in the vermilion border of the lower lip in an 86-year-old woman are described. The entity is probably related to milia of the skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulse trains were applied separately to each forefinger and to each hallux of 23 Ss to assess stimulus site effects on the relative amplitudes of skin conductance responses recorded concurrently from each palm and from each plantar surface. A binaurally presented tone was used as a non-lateralized stimulus. Analyses of the ratio of response amplitudes from contralateral recording sites indicated that for both the upper and lower extremities, responses from the volar surface of the stimulated extremity were augmented in amplitude. Responses from the volar surface of the extremity ipsilateral to the stimulus site were also augmented in amplitude, though less than when the stimulus and recording sites involved the same extremity. Analyses of the ratio of response amplitudes from the palmar and plantar surfaces on the same side of the body indicated that the specific effects of stimulation did not cross the body midline. The results were interpreted as indicating a regionally differentiated sympathetic outflow to the volar sweat glands that reflects the locus of cutaneous stimulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing a new silicone sweat impression technique for recording the number and distribution of eccrine units, we have repeatedly tested the same anatomical sites in a group of volunteers to determine whether significant variability in active sweat gland patterns exists. We found that approximately 95 per cent or more of the same sweat gland ostia could be identified in each succeeding impression taken at weekly intervals over a 4- to 8-week period of time. In addition, it was noted that the simplicity and accuracy of this impression technique made it suitable for use as a clinical tool for delineating the borders of localized skin lesions and as an objective measure for following the effects of treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human sebaceous glands were dissected (at 25-40x magnification) under sterile conditions from scalp specimens obtained during neurosurgical procedures. Isolated glands were incubated with 14C-glucose or 14C-branched amino acids in sterile chambered Petri dishes. Lipids were extracted, separated by thin-layer chromatography (TLC), scraped from the thin-layer plate, re-extracted and weighed, and the incorporated radioactivity of each fraction was measured by liquid scintillation counting. Squalene, wax esters, triglycerides and cholesterol were identified by TLC, and their presence was confirmed by the Liebermann-Burchardt reaction. Cholesterol estes were not identified by either technique. Radioactivity was found in most lipid fractions, at least in small amounts. Specific activity was highest in the triglyceride fraction. Although free fatty acids were not visualized by TLC, radioactivity was present in the area to which free fatty acids would be expected to migrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human salivary alpha-amylase was purified by ammonium sulfate-acetone precipitations, and residual impurities removed by adsorption chromatography on hydroxylapatite columns. Subsequent preparative disc electrophoresis indicated that parotid alpha-amylase from one person was a single moiety, whereas alpha-amylase from pooled, whole saliva was separated into two components. One of these had the same electrophoretic mobility as the parotid alpha-amylase. The amino acid compositions of these components were determined and compared with monkey and rabbit parotid alpha-amylase and with the results of an earlier investigation of human alpha-amylase from pooled, whole saliva. Significant differences were not observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present investigation has been to examine whether the histopathologic changes in the minor salivary glands in patients with Sjögren's syndrome are of the same nature as the changes in the major salivary glands. Punch-biopsies were taken from the lower labial mucosa in 14 patients; 12 of these had a verified Sjögren's syndrome. In 10 patients changes in accordance with those of a benign lymphoepithelial lesion were present in the minor salivary glands. The technique was found valuable in the diagnosis of general disorders with salivary gland involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lipofuscin, sometimes known as "wear and tear pigment" and "age pigment" occurs in the skin within cells of the secretory tubules of eccrine (and apocrine) sweat glands. The youngest age at which lipofuscin was demonstrated in eccrine sweat gland in this study was 6 years and granules of the pigment increased steadily in number with the passage of years. Although there have been several recent reports of disease linked to the accumulation of lipofuscin in the nervous system and liver, no evidence was found to suggest that accumulation of lipofuscin in eccrine sweat gland cells had an adverse effect on the glands or on the person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sweat sodium and potassium concentrations were determined in 38 healthy young subjects exposed to a hot, humid environment. Sweat samples were taken from two symmetric areas on the back and /or the arms at 10 minute intervals during 1 hour. Sodium concentration was a little higher on the left than on the right side. The difference became more distinct and significant with an increasing rate of sweating. There was however, no significant difference either in the sweating rate between the left and the right sides of the body or in the potassium concentration. The sweat glands on the left side are less efficient in elaborating a sodium concentration gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which examined the tryptic and chymotryptic activity of stools of healthy newborn infants to establish normal values as a tool in the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. Measurement of pancreatic exocrine functional capacity; Factors that determine the amount of enzyme in the stool.

The differences between the mammary glands of rhesus monkeys and human breasts are mostly in their gross structure: otherwise, their glandular mechanisms and innervation are nearly identical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is possible that the 23rd Symposium on Biology of Skin, was the only full meeting in the history of dermatology to be dedicated almost entirely to mammary glands. The choice of mammary glands as the topic for the 23rd symposium was prompted by the conviction that a meeting of representatives of the various disciplines concerned with both the biologic and the medical aspects of these organs would produce a fruitful and timely discussion. Apocrine glands were also included in the symposium.