Giant cells and macrophages play important roles in defence and in reparative functions of the body. This paper describes a giant cell and macrophage present in an inflammatory mass in the temporal bone. X-ray microanalysis performed at the ultrastructural level revealed the presence of a very high iron content in the electron dense precipitates observed in both types of cells. The high iron content is probably due to phagocytosed haemosiderin, a breakdown product of free haemoglobin since there was evidence of haemorrhage present in the biological sections. As the tissue was chemically fixed, it also demonstrates that there is still a place for electron probe microanalysis in tissues (including archived specimens) which have undergone chemical fixation.

The present study describes neuronal changes in the superior cervical ganglion of hamsters following injection of Ricinus communis agglutinin-60 (RCA-60) into the ipsilateral vagus nerve in the cervical region. There were no noticeable structural changes in the ganglion 1 day after injection. Between 3 and 15 days after injection, a small number of neurons located in the caudal part of the ganglion underwent degenerative changes including disappearance of rough endoplasmic reticulum and cytoplasmic vacuolation. The structural alterations were most acute 7 days after the injection when some neurons showed signs of total vacuolation and lysis. A second phase of neuronal change occurred after longer survival periods extending from 60 to 120 days after injection. The most striking feature of such neurons was darkening of their dendrites associated with abnormally high density cytoplasm that contained mitochondria with disrupted cristae. As distinct from the early phase in which cell necrosis was observed, there was no evidence of cell death of neurons bearing darkened dendrites. Since examples of exfoliation of the affected dendrites and their phagocytosis by satellite cells were extremely rare, it is postulated that these structural alterations are probably reversible but over an extended period. The significance of the two phases of degenerative change is discussed in connection with the acute and possible chronic effects of the toxic lectin. The present study also confirms the presence of postganglionic sympathetic axons in the cervical vagus nerve.

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Vanadium has recently been reported to induce interphase and M-phase (mitotic) programmed cell death via the generation of hydroxyl free radicals (OH*). In this paper, the effects of antioxidants on: (a) vanadyl[IV]-generated OH* free radical levels; and (b) cellular glutathione in vanadyl [IV]-treated Chang liver cells were evaluated. The surface morphology of vanadyl-treated mitotic cells was studied by confocal and scanning microscopy. The free radical scavengers zinc chloride, glucose and thiourea reduced the levels of vanadyl-induced OH* free radicals and partially prevented the depletion of cellular glutathione. Concurrent with OH* free radical production, vanadyl-treated telophase cells exhibited excessive cell blebbing and cell shrinkage. The morphological features demonstrated in vanadyl-induced mitotic programmed cell death as a consequence of oxidative stress is novel.