Estrogen alters c-Fos response to immobilization stress in the brain of ovariectomized rats.

Estrogen receptors are widely expressed in the brain, where estrogen modulates central nervous function. In this study, we investigated the effect of estrogen on the emotional stress response in the brain by comparing the CNS patterns of c-Fos expression in response to immobilization stress (IMO) in ovariectomized rats with placebo treatment (OVX + Pla) vs. ovariectomized rats supplemented with 17beta-estradiol (OVX + E2). Increased c-Fos immunoreactive neurons in response to IMO were observed in cerebral cortex, septum, thalamus, hypothalamus, midbrain, pons and medulla oblongata in accordance with previous findings. When OVX + E2/Stress were compared with OVX + Pla/Stress, the numbers of c-Fos immunoreactive cells were significantly lower in the lateral septum, paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus, dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus, medial amygdaloid nucleus, lateral periaqueductal gray, laterodorsal tegmental nucleus and locus coeruleus, while they were significantly higher in paraventricular thalamic nucleus and nucleus of the solitary tract. These data suggest that neuronal activities in these areas are influenced bidirectionally by systemic estrogen level.

Persistent median artery in the hand: a report with a brief review of the literature.

We encountered a persistent median artery in the forearms and hands bilaterally in a 78-year-old Japanese male cadaver during dissection practice at Wakayama Medical University. The brachial arteries divided into the ulnar and radial arteries. The ulnar artery gave off the median and posterior interosseous arteries at the same point, although the anterior interosseous artery was not found. The median artery ran along the median nerve and bifurcated in the hand. In the superficial layer of the palm, one branch of the median artery ran to the ulnar side of the thumb, whereas the other passed to the second interdigital space. The ulnar artery reached the third and fourth interdigital spaces and the ulnar side of the little finger, and showed no anastomosis with the median artery in the superficial layer of the palm. The radial artery did not give off the superficial palmar branch. Therefore, the formation of the superficial palmar arch was incomplete. In the deep layer of the palm, the radial artery formed the deep palmar arch with the deep palmar branch of the ulnar artery and gave off the princeps pollicis artery. In the dorsum of hand, the radial artery passed over the first dorsal interosseous muscle to the index finger and communicated with the palmar pollical artery from the median artery in the first interosseous space. The present study reports an unusual variation of the persistent median artery in the hand and briefly reviews the literature about the median artery.