The articles in this publication represent invited contributions to a symposium on Peripheral Neuroendocrine Interaction, held in Basle, Switzerland, on 30 August, 1977. This formed part of the programme of the Fourth European Anatomical Congress. The subject was selected as appropriate for review and discussion in the light of the rapid progress made in this field since the develop ment of techniques in the functional and morphological identifica tion of peripheral neurons and associated cells with an endocrine or paracrine function. Recent work has demonstrated the functional association...

In 1956, Bruno Kisch (90) discovered a special form of myocyte in the guinea pig heart atrium which contained peculiar, dense inclusions, but it was not before the early 1980s that cardiac hormones were isolated and characterized independently and almost simultaneously by several working groups. In 1964 Jamieson and Palade (84) were the first to postulate the secretory nature of the atrial myocytes and their specific granules. In 1976, Marie et al. (103) revealed the relation of the granular index of these atrial cells with the water- electrolyte balance of the body fluid. The biological...

In this handbook the opportunity has been taken firstly to present the waterbalance in the horny layer and the sweat secretion process with particular emphasis on their relationship to the pharmacodynamical aspects of the micro circulation and permeability of the skin. F. A. 1. THIELE was unable to witness the printing of his life-work concerning the water balance of skin, which he had compiled at the university in Nijmegen with J. W. H. MALI and G. 1. DE JONGH and D. A. REAY from Great Britain. Their contribution concentrates on evaluating the cooling function of the sweat glands with their...