Translation of N.B.K. Sänger’s (1871) “Peripatus capensis Gr. and Peripatus leuckartii n. sp.” (Onychophora), along with remarks about the author and significance of his work

ABSTRACT The basic biology of onychophorans was revealed slowly and controversially during much of the 19th century. Communications were in Latin, French, Spanish, German and English. This information was synthesised in the monumental monographs of Bouvier in 1905 and 1907. However, amongst this multicultural endeavour is a significant Russian contribution by Nikolai Sänger, a student of Professor Leuckart of the Zoological Institute in Leipzig, Germany. Sänger requested a specimen of Onychophora from the Institute’s collection for serial sectioning. This resulted in a detailed account of the anatomy of Peripatopsis capensis. Sänger’s description of the extensive slime glands was the first to recognise them as the hallmark of onychophorans for defence and prey capture, and not the male reproductive system as previously claimed. Based on these morphological observations, he correctly concluded that onychophorans are not hermaphrodites and, furthermore, are “predominantly predaceous” animals. He further appropriately assigned the slime glands and salivary glands to the slime papilla segment, despite the lack of embryological data at that time. Sänger also identified the excretory organs (nephridia) and their openings, although he erroneously assigned them to a dual role of excretion and respiration. Moreover, he highlighted the importance of the position of the genital opening as a diagnostic character, described the ventral/preventral organs as “subcutaneous glandules”, identified the neurilemma enclosing the central nervous system, and recognised “oval holes of different sizes” in each nerve cord that were subsequently demonstrated to represent giant fibres. Of interest to parasitologists, he discovered a larval acanthocephalan encysted within the cutaneous muscles of his specimen of P. capensis, suggesting that onychophorans act as a secondary host for this parasite. Sänger’s memoir concludes with a brief but important description of the first species of Onychophora recorded from Australia, “northwest of Sydney, New Holland”. This species is now known as Euperipatoides leuckartii with a neotype designated from a specific location northwest of Sydney.

2. Energy

This chapter focuses on energy as just one aspect of body function. The chapter describes the energy-harvesting chemical reactions which happen in all human cells. For them to be possible, these cells must have access to glucose and oxygen, and must be able to dispose of the waste products, carbon dioxide and water. In a large organism such as a human, even these apparently simple requirements are challenging and are met by a complex set of physiological systems, in particular the digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular, and excretory organs of the body.

A REVIEW ON DIAGNOSTIC VALUES OF SWEATING IN UNANI MEDICINE: A UNIQUE FEATURE OF SKIN

Sweating is a physiological phenomenon to eliminate the waste as well as excess matter from the body. Importance of sweating was discussed thousands of years back in Greek Arab system of medicine under the heading of Tareeq or Arq. In this system of medicine, abundant literature is available regarding sweating and its significance. Regime and diaphoretic drugs used to induce therapeutic sweating are described. Actually physis of body works continuously to manage everything. Ancient Greek Arab scholars explained that the sweating occurs for cleansing of blood or to reduce the workload of other excretory organs. They also described the importance of sweating as a regime in different diseases. Literature related to sweating is in scattered manner in classical books. Present paper is an effort to compile the relevant literature.

Intra-individual dynamic comparison of 18F-PSMA-11 and 68Ga-PSMA-11 in LNCaP xenograft bearing mice

Recently, a 18F-labeled derivative of the widely used 68Ga-PSMA-11 was developed for PET imaging of prostate cancer. Although 18F-PSMA-11 has already been evaluated in a Phase I and Phase II clinical trial, preclinical evaluation of this radiotracer is important for further understanding its dynamic behavior. Saturation binding experiments were conducted by incubation of LNCaP cells with 18F-PSMA-11 or 68Ga-PSMA-11 for 1 h, followed by determination of the specific and aspecific binding. Mice bearing LNCaP or PC-3 xenografts each received ± 3.7 MBq 18F-PSMA-11 and 68Ga-PSMA-11 followed by dynamic acquisition of 2.5 h as well as ± 15 MBq 18F-FDG followed by static acquisition at 1 h post injection (p.i.). Uptake was evaluated by comparison of uptake parameters (SUVmean, SUVmax, TBRmean and TBRmax). Mice underwent ex vivo biodistribution where 18F-PSMA-11 activity was measures in excretory organs (kidneys, bladder and liver) as well as bone fragments (femur, humerus, sternum and skull) to evaluate bone uptake. The dissociation constant (Kd) of 18F-PSMA-11 and 68Ga-PSMA-11 was 2.95 ± 0.87 nM and 0.49 ± 0.20 nM, respectively. Uptake parameters were significantly higher in LNCaP compared to PC-3 xenografts for both 18F-PSMA-11 and 68Ga-PSMA-11, while no difference was found for 18F-FDG uptake (except for SUVmax). Tumor uptake of 18F-PSMA-11 showed a similar trend over time as 68Ga-PSMA-11, although all uptake parameter curves of the latter were considerably lower. When comparing early (60 min p.i.) to delayed (150 min p.i.) imaging for both radiotracers individually, TBRmean and TBRmax were significantly higher at the later timepoint, as well as the SUVmax of 68Ga-PSMA-11. The highest %ID/g was determined in the kidneys (94.0 ± 13.6%ID/g 1 h p.i.) and the bladder (6.48 ± 2.18%ID/g 1 h p.i.). No significant increase in bone uptake was seen between 1 and 2 h p.i. Both radiotracers showed high affinity for the PSMA receptor. Over time, all uptake parameters were higher for 18F-PSMA-11 compared to 68Ga-PSMA-11. Delayed imaging with the latter may improve tumor visualization, while no additional benefits could be found for late 18F-PSMA-11 imaging. Ex vivo biodistribution demonstrated fast renal clearance of 18F-PSMA-11 as well as no significant increase in bone uptake.

A single origin of animal excretory organs

Excretion is an essential physiological process, carried out by all living organisms regardless of their size or complexity(1–3). Most animals, which include both protostomes (e.g. flies, flatworms) and deuterostomes (e.g. humans, sea urchins) (together Nephrozoa(4, 5)), possess specialized excretory organs. Those organs exhibit an astonishing diversity, ranging from units composed of just three distinct cells (e.g. protonephridia) to complex structures, built by millions of cells of multiple types with divergent morphology and function (e.g. vertebrate kidneys)(6, 7). Although some molecular similarities between the development of kidneys of vertebrates and the regeneration of the protonephridia of flatworms have been reported(8, 9), the molecular development of nephrozoan excretory organs has never been systematically studied in a comparative context(6). Here we show that a set of highly conserved transcription factors and structural proteins is expressed during the development of excretory organs of six species that represent major protostome lineages and non-vertebrate deuterostomes. We demonstrate that the molecular similarity witnessed in the vertebrate kidney and flatworm protonephridia(8) is also seen in the developing excretory organs of other Nephrozoa. In addition, orthologous structural proteins forming the ultrafiltration apparatus are expressed in all these organs in the filter-forming cells. Our results strongly suggest that excretory organs are homologous and are patterned by the conserved set of developmental genes. We propose that the last common nephrozoan ancestor possessed an ultrafiltration-based, ciliated excretory organ, a structure that later gave rise to the vast diversity of extant excretory organs, including the human kidney.Significance statementMost of the bilaterally symmetrical animals excrete through specialized excretory organs, such as kidneys and nephridia. However, due to the morphological diversity of these organs, it remains unknown whether those structures evolved from a common ancestral organ or appeared several times independently during evolution. In order to answer the question about the origin of excretory organs we investigated the molecular pathways and structural genes involved in the development of nephridia in 6 animal species representing major evolutionary lineages. We show that diverse excretory organs share an ancient molecular patterning and structural molecules. Our results provide strong evidence that all excretory organs originated from a single, simple organ that performed urine production by ultrafiltration in deep geological past.

How Bank Vole-PUUV Interactions Influence the Eco-Evolutionary Processes Driving Nephropathia Epidemica Epidemiology—An Experimental and Genomic Approach

In Europe, Puumala virus (PUUV) is responsible for nephropathia epidemica (NE), a mild form of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). Despite the presence of its reservoir, the bank vole, on most of French territory, the geographic distribution of NE cases is heterogeneous and NE endemic and non-endemic areas have been reported. In this study we analyzed whether bank vole-PUUV interactions could partly shape these epidemiological differences. We performed crossed-experimental infections using wild bank voles from French endemic (Ardennes) and non-endemic (Loiret) areas and two French PUUV strains isolated from these areas. The serological response and dynamics of PUUV infection were compared between the four cross-infection combinations. Due to logistical constraints, this study was based on a small number of animals. Based on this experimental design, we saw a stronger serological response and presence of PUUV in excretory organs (bladder) in bank voles infected with the PUUV endemic strain. Moreover, the within-host viral diversity in excretory organs seemed to be higher than in other non-excretory organs for the NE endemic cross-infection but not for the NE non-endemic cross-infection. Despite the small number of rodents included, our results showed that genetically different PUUV strains and in a lesser extent their interaction with sympatric bank voles, could affect virus replication and diversity. This could impact PUUV excretion/transmission between rodents and to humans and in turn at least partly shape NE epidemiology in France.

How bank vole-PUUV interactions influence the eco-evolutionary processes driving nephropathia epidemica epidemiology: An experimental and genomic approach

In Europe, Puumala virus (PUUV) is responsible for nephropathia epidemica (NE), a mild form of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFSR). Despite the presence of its reservoir, the bank vole, on most of French territory, the geographic distribution of NE cases is heterogeneous and NE endemic and non-endemic areas have been reported. In this study we analyzed whether bank vole-PUUV interactions could partly shape these epidemiological differences. We performed crossed-experimental infections using wild bank voles from French endemic (Ardennes) and non-endemic (Loiret) areas, and two French PUUV strains isolated from these areas. The serological response and dynamics of PUUV infection were compared between the four cross-infection combinations. We showed that the serological response and the presence of PUUV in excretory organs were more important in bank voles infected with the PUUV endemic strain. Moreover, the within-host viral diversity in excretory organs was higher than in other non-excretory organs for the NE endemic cross-infection, but not for the NE non-endemic cross-infection. Altogether, our results showed that genetically different PUUV strains, and in a lesser extent their interaction with sympatric bank voles, could affect virus replication and diversity. This could impact PUUV excretion/transmission between rodents and to humans, and in turn at least partly shape NE epidemiology in France.

Cell Types, Morphology and Evolution of Animal Excretory Organs

Excretion and osmoregulation are fundamental processes of the organism, as they prevent the accumulation of toxic waste products in the body and control the osmotic differences between the cells and the environment. In most of the animals these phenomena are taking place through specialized organs, namely excretory organs, composed of diverse cell types that are performing tasks such as secretion and ultrafiltration. Although the morphology and embryology of excretory organs can differ dramatically, the common spatial arrangement of structural proteins and transporters as well as the similar transcriptional developmental programs underlying their formation suggests the homology of their cell types. In this chapter we discuss the current understanding of the evolution of excretory organsfrom a comparative morphological, developmental and functional perspective, flanked by an additional, cell-type perspective. We argue that a putative homologization of certain excretory cell types does not necessarily reflect the homology of the resulting organs, and that integrating all different levels of comparison is crucial for addressing evolutionary questions.