Skulls, jaws and teeth of wild terrestrial small mammals (Sciuridae, Soricidae, Erinaceidae, Talpidae, Gliridae, Arvicolidae, Muridae) are occasionally affected by anomalies and pathologies. The present study documents a total of 362 anomalies and 122 pathological changes across 20 different species. These are all based on data published in Germany, supplemented by our own records. Cases were classified into 14 different categories, according to bone and dental anomalies, fractures and inclusions, bone proliferation, dental disease and extreme wear of teeth. An additional category to specifically account for bone proliferation of the skull was not needed, but such findings are to be expected. The most frequent finding was abnormal tooth growth, particularly the elongation of the upper incisors. In individual cases, there was evidence that small mammals are able to recover even from serious injuries to the skull.
Cestodes of the family Anoplocephalidae Cholodkovsky, 1902, in their adult form, parasitize a variety of hosts, including reptiles, birds and mammals. To complete their life cycle, an intermediate host is required. This study gives a critical review of the life cycles of genera principally important to veterinary medicine (but sporadically infecting man): Anoplocephalinae (Anoplocephala, Anoplocephaloides, Bertiella and Monieziu) and Thysanosomatinae (Avitellina, Stilesia, Thysaniezia and Thysu-nosomu), using data reported by others and our own observations. The accepted paradigm on the biology of the anoplocephalid cestodes is that oribatid mites (Acarina) serve as intermediate hosts. However, as regards the genera Avitellina, Thysaniezia and Thysanosoma, it is still unclear whether oribatid mites are indeed the intermediate hosts, as larval forms (cysticercoids) have also been found in collcmbolans and psocids. Using the controversial biological cycle of Thysanosoma actinioides (Diesing, 1834), a theoretical methodological research proposal for parasitology was constructed which attempts to define a conceptional mark enabling us to predict and explain the parasite-hosts’ related phenomenon. Aspects of this proposal are discussed using the biology of the cestodes of family Anoplocephalidae, as examples.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) treatment of neonatal mice results in a selective damage to the arcuate nucleus (ARC) and development of obesity with increased adiposity at sustained body weight in the adulthood. Feeding pattern of the MSG obese mice is unusual. Our previous results showed that after 24-h fasting, MSG mice consumed negligible amount of food in several hours and therefore, it was impossible to register the effect of peptides attenuating food intake such as cholecystokinin (CCK) or cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) peptide. To overcome this problem, two findings were used: firstly, orexigenic effect of neuropeptide Y (NPY) was attenuated both by CCK or CART peptide in lean fed mice and secondly, orexigenic effect of NPY was preserved in fed rats with MSG obesity. In this study, short-term food intake in fed lean and MSG obese C57BL/6 male mice was measured after simultaneous central administration of orexigenic NPY with either CART peptide or peripherally administered CCK. Anorexigenic action of exogenous CART peptide was preserved in MSG obese mice. On the other hand, satiety effect of exogenous CCK was completely lost in MSG obese mice. In conclusion, effective leptin signaling in ARC is necessary for satiety effect of CCK., B. Železná ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury