Studies on the Reproductive System in the Guinea-Pig: Intravitam Staining; Fat Production; Influence of Hormones

Nicol, Thomas (1935) Studies on the Reproductive System in the Guinea-Pig: Intravitam Staining; Fat Production; Influence of Hormones. MD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This research was begun in 1929, and a preliminary account of some of the results of the investigation was published in the Journal of Anatomy, January 1932. The following brief summary indicates the contents of the preliminary paper. A series of unimpregnated animals after parturition were injected with trypan blue, and killed at different intervals of time after parturition. Each animal was treated with similar amounts of the dye according to a weight basis, and received the same number of injections before being killed, the technique of preparation of the sections being the same in all cases. It was recorded that during the first half of the oestrous cycle, which is normally one of about 16 days, only a very small amount of dye appeared in the mucous membrane of the uterus, but that during the second half of the cycle dye appeared in increasing amount in the endometrium up to the time of "heat. on the 16th day post partum. The intense staining with the dye was for the most part subepithelial and practically confined to the stratum compactum; and the dye-carrying cells were large mononuclears, some of which were irregular in outline and appeared to be shedding the dye. A striking feature was that the intensity of the dye was most marked around the anti-mesometrial half of the uterine lumen, and especially at the anti-mesometrial side, i.e. over the implantation zone. In a short series of virgin animals, the series being established by determining the date of heat by the vaginal smear method (Stockard and Papanicolaou, 1917), practically identical results were obtained. No dye reaction was observed in the mucosa of the Fallopian tube at any time in the cycle. Furthermore, no intense dye reaction was found in sexually immature animals. In regard to the nature of these dye-carrying cells, the following questions were formulated:1. Are they enlarged endometrial cells laden with some chemical substance destined after implantation of the blastocyst for the supply of nourishment to the embryo? 2. In view of the enormous amount of destruction which takes place Immediately after implantation, are these cells related rather to destructive than to constructive processes, e.g., enzyme formation responsible for tissue destruction or digestion? 3. Are they cells which wander, like the large mononuclear cells found in great numbers in the resolution phases of peritoneal inflammation, and which experimentally have been shown to take up vital dye, and which generally are regarded as macrophages (Cappell, 1930)?

• Item Type: Thesis (MD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Medicine, Endocrinology
• Date of Award: 1935
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1935-80047
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 03 Mar 2020 10:02
• Last Modified: 03 Mar 2020 10:02
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/80047