scholarly journals First case of intestinal leiomyosarcoma in a bearded dragon: Ultrasonographic findings

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 303-306
Author(s):  
Anna Łojszczyk-Szczepaniak ◽  
Anna Śmiech ◽  
Nadia Chlebicka ◽  
Klaudiusz O. Szczepaniak ◽  
Paweł Klimiuk

The paper presents a case of leiomyosarcoma of the gastrointestinal tract in a bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) with an ultrasound and histopathological description of pathological changes. According to our knowledge, leiomyosarcoma of the gastrointestinal tract and its ultrasound features have not been reported in lizards yet. A male bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps), aged 4 years, was referred for radiological and ultrasound examination with a history of apathy and loss of appetite. A preliminary diagnosis of an advanced neoplasia process in the caudal coelomic cavity was established by diagnostic imaging methods. The owner decided to euthanize the animal and agreed to a post-mortem examination. After euthanasia, a histopathological examination was performed. In a radiological examination, an irregularly marginated radiopacity measuring 5.8 x 4.0 cm was visible in the central part of the coelom. Serosal margin details in the coelomic cavity were decreased, and differentiation of coelomic organs was impossible. An ultrasound examination confirmed a large amount of free echogenic fluid in the coelomic cavity. The liver had increased echogenicity, and a hypoechoic focal lesion was found in the right lobe. Mixed echogenicity masses were visible in the caudal coelom adjacent to the small intestinal loops. In one of the adjacent intestinal loops, a focal thickening of the small intestinal wall was observed with loss of the normal layered architecture. The mass had complex and mostly low echogenicity with a cystic lesion present in the centre. Necropsy confirmed the presence of proliferative lesions in the body cavity, originating from the intestine and infiltrating the mesentery and the lumbar spine area as well as the gonads located at this site. On the basis of the histological structure of the intestinal tumour, the neoplastic proliferation was classified, according to the WHO classification, to a group of malignant tumours with characteristics of leiomyosarcoma and arising from the smooth muscles. The ultrasonographic features of gastrointestinal leiomyosarcoma in that lizard corresponded to features found in dogs, in which such tumours occur as eccentric, poorly echogenic masses with anechoic cavities in large changes. Leiomyosarcoma in reptiles can be locally invasive as well. Metastatic foci are also possible, especially in the liver.

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-276
Author(s):  
Komenda Dominik ◽  
Dolenšek Tamara ◽  
Švara Tanja ◽  
Kastelic Marjan ◽  
Proks Pavel ◽  
...  

AbstractA 6.5-year-old female bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) was presented with a swollen right pelvic limb. A tissue core biopsy from the swollen area was performed and a presumptive histopathological diagnosis of adenocarcinoma was made. This diagnosis was confirmed after limb amputation. Two months after amputation a sudden deterioration in the overall health of the patient occurred. Ultrasound examination of the coelomic cavity revealed hypoechoic lesions in the liver. The patient was euthanized and submitted for necropsy which revealed a severely enlarged liver with multiple coalescing yellowish nodules. Cholangiocarcinoma of the liver with metastases to the spleen, left mesovarium and right pelvic limb was diagnosed after histopathological examination.


2010 ◽  
pp. 2201-2204
Author(s):  
D.G. Thompson

The gastrointestinal tract is a hollow tube stretching from the oral cavity through the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon, and rectum to the anal sphincter. Its function is the transport, digestion, and elimination of ingested material to supply nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes that are essential for life, together with the protection of the rest of the body from injurious or allergenic material. The stomach acts as a storage, sterilizing, and digestive tank; the small intestine is the major site of digestion and absorption; the colon’s function is to salvage water and electrolyte from the small intestinal effluent; and the rectum provides a storage function, enabling the elimination of colonic residue (defecation) to be restricted to times of personal convenience....


2020 ◽  
pp. 2721-2726
Author(s):  
Michael E.B. FitzPatrick ◽  
Satish Keshav

The gastrointestinal tract is a hollow tube stretching from the oral cavity through the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon, and rectum to the anal sphincter. Its function is the transport, digestion, and elimination of ingested material to supply nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes that are essential for life, together with the protection of the rest of the body from injurious or allergenic material. The stomach acts as a storage, sterilizing, and digestive tank; the small intestine is the major site of digestion and absorption; the colon’s function is to salvage water and electrolytes from the small intestinal effluent; and the rectum provides a storage function, enabling the elimination of colonic residue (defecation) to be restricted to times of personal convenience.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 975-990
Author(s):  
Jan Jankowski ◽  
Kamil Otowski ◽  
Krzysztof Kozłowski ◽  
Piotr Pietrzak ◽  
Karolina Ferenc ◽  
...  

AbstractIt was hypothesized that dietary copper (Cu) nanoparticles, as a substitute for the commonly used copper sulfate, could contribute to lowering the dietary inclusion levels of Cu without compromising growth performance or reducing Cu digestibility and utilization in turkeys. An experiment was carried out on 648 one-day-old Hybrid Converter turkeys divided into 6 groups with 6 replicates per group in a two-factorial design with 3 dietary inclusion levels of Cu (20, 10 and 2 mg kg−1) and 2 dietary sources of Cu, copper sulfate and Cu nanoparticles (Cu-SUL and Cu-NPs, respectively). The apparent digestibility coefficients of minerals were determined after 6 weeks, and tissue samples were collected after 14 weeks of experimental feeding. A decrease in the dietary inclusion levels of Cu from 20 to 10 and 2 mg kg−1 did not reduce the body weights of turkeys at 42 and 98 days of age. In comparison with the remaining treatments, the lowest dietary inclusion level of Cu significantly decreased MDA concentrations in small intestinal tissue (P=0.002) and in the bursa of Fabricius (P=0.001). The replacement of Cu-SUL with Cu-NPs differentially modulated the redox status of selected tissues, i.e., enhanced SOD activity in small intestinal tissue (P=0.001) and decreased total glutathione levels in the bursa of Fabricius (P=0.005). In general, neither the different levels nor sources of additional dietary Cu (main factors) exerted negative effects on the histological structure of the duodenum and jejunum in turkeys. The intestinal digestibility of Cu increased with decreasing dietary Cu levels, and as a consequence, the highest apparent digestibility coefficient of Cu (and zinc) was noted in turkeys fed diets with the addition of 2 mg kg−1 Cu-NPs. Therefore, the environmental burden of excreted Cu was substantially reduced along with decreasing dietary Cu levels but it did not depend on the Cu source.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioannis P. Kosmas ◽  
Antonio Malvasi ◽  
Daniele Vergara ◽  
Ospan A. Mynbaev ◽  
Radmila Sparic ◽  
...  

: In recent years, the development of Assisted Reproductive Technique, the egg and embryo donation changed substantially the role of the uterus in recent years. It provided a higher chance for a pregnancy even in women over 45 years or post-menopause. In fact, the number of aged patients and in peri/post-menopause in pregnancy is nowadays increasing, but it increases obstetrical and neonatal related problems. The human uterus is richly innervated and modified especially during pregnancy and labor, and it is endowed with different sensory, parasympathetic, sympathetic and peptidergic neurofibers. They are differently distributed in uterine fundus, body and cervix, and they are mainly observed in the stroma and around arterial vessel walls in the myometrial and endometrial layers. Many neurotransmitters playing important roles in reproductive physiology are released after stimulation by adrenergic or cholinergic nerve fibers (the so called sympathetic/parasympathetic co-transmission). Immunohistochemical study demonstrated the localization and quantitative distribution of neurofibers in the fundus, the body and cervix of young women of childbearing age. : Adrenergic and cholinergic effects of the autonomous nervous system are the most implicated in the uterine functionality. In such aged women, the Adrenergic and AChE neurofibers distribution in the fundus, body and cervix is progressively reduced by increasing age. Adrenergic and AChE neurotransmitters were closely associated with the uterine arteries and myometrial smooth muscles, and they reduced markedly by ageing. The Adrenergic and AChE neurofibers decreasing has a dramatical and negative impact on uterine physiology, as the reduction of pregnancy chance and uterine growth, and the increase of abortion risk and prematurity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A737-A737
Author(s):  
Loise Francisco-Anderson ◽  
Loise Francisco-Anderson ◽  
Mary Abdou ◽  
Michael Goldberg ◽  
Erin Troy ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe small intestinal axis (SINTAX) is a network of anatomic and functional connections between the small intestine and the rest of the body. It acts as an immunosurveillance system, integrating signals from the environment that affect physiological processes throughout the body. The impact of events in the gut in the control of tumor immunity is beginning to be appreciated. We have previously shown that an orally delivered single strain of commensal bacteria induces anti-tumor immunity preclinically via pattern recognition receptor-mediated activation of innate and adaptive immunity. Some bacteria produce extracellular vesicles (EVs) that share molecular content with the parent bacterium in a particle that is roughly 1/1000th the volume in a non-replicating form. We report here an orally-delivered and gut-restricted bacterial EV which potently attenuates tumor growth to a greater extent than whole bacteria or checkpoint inhibition.MethodsEDP1908 is a preparation of extracellular vesicles produced by a gram-stain negative strain of bacterium of the Oscillospiraceae family isolated from a human donor. EDP1908 was selected for its immunostimulatory profile in a screen of EVs from a range of distinct microbial strains. Its mechanism of action was determined by ex vivo analysis of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and by in vitro functional studies with murine and human cells.ResultsOral treatment of tumor-bearing mice with EDP1908 shows superior control of tumor growth compared to checkpoint inhibition (anti-PD-1) or an intact microbe. EDP1908 significantly increased the percentage of IFNγ and TNF producing CD8+ CTLs, NK cells, NKT cells and CD4+ cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). EDP1908 also increased tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells (DC1 and DC2). Analysis of cytokines in the TME showed significant increases in IP-10 and IFNg production in mice treated with EDP1908, creating an environment conducive to the recruitment and activation of anti-tumor lymphocytes.ConclusionsThis is the first report of striking anti-tumor effects of an orally delivered microbial extracellular vesicle. These data point to oral EVs as a new class of immunotherapeutic drugs. They are particularly effective at harnessing the biology of the small intestinal axis, acting locally on host cells in the gut to control distal immune responses within the TME. EDP1908 is in preclinical development for the treatment of cancer.Ethics ApprovalPreclinical murine studies were conducted under the approval of the Avastus Preclinical Services’ Ethics Board. Human in vitro samples were attained by approval of the IntegReview Ethics Board; informed consent was obtained from all subjects.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliano Borriello ◽  
Jacopo Guccione ◽  
Antonio Di Loria ◽  
Antonio Bosco ◽  
Paola Pepe ◽  
...  

A complete ultrasound examination (cUS) of the liver was performed on 172 female sheep and compared to the performance of a fast-focused ultrasound technique to diagnose echinococcal cysts. The scanned area was divided in: HYP (right hypocondrium), zone (Z)1 from HYP to the 11th intercostal space (IS), Z2 (10th–8th IS) and Z3 (7th–5th IS). Contiguous scans were also examined (HYP + Z1, Z1 + Z2, Z2 + Z3). Furthermore, during the procedures, the sheep were divided into three groups according to the body weight: Group (G) 1 (lighter), G2 (medium), and G3 (heavier). Finally, diagnostic outcomes were compared with necropsy findings. cUS obtained the highest values of sensitivity (Se) (91%), Specificity (Sp) (80%), and positive-zones (124/138, 90%), as compared to the other scans. cUS was also characterized by high values of Se and Sp and was able to identify a great number of positive-zones, when sheep were divided by body-weight groups. Similar performances were obtained in G1 by HYP (Se: 91%–Sp: 82%; 18/20, 90% of positive-zones) and HYP + Z1 scans (Se: 91%–Sp: 82; 90% of positive-zones, 18/20). Thus, in lighter breeds, the examination of HYP and HYP + Z1 scan windows could be considered reliable techniques for identifying the infected animals, while in heavier sheep the cUS still represents the best option.


1995 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris T. McAllister ◽  
Steve J. Upton ◽  
Elliott R. Jacobson ◽  
Wayne Kopit

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoto Jimi ◽  
Shinta Fujimoto ◽  
Mami Takehara ◽  
Satoshi Imura

AbstractThe phylum Annelida exhibits high morphological diversity coupled with its extensive ecological diversity, and the process of its evolution has been an attractive research subject for many researchers. Its representatives are also extensively studied in fields of ecology and developmental biology and important in many other biology related disciplines. The study of biomineralisation is one of them. Some annelid groups are well known to form calcified tubes but other forms of biomineralisation are also known. Herein, we report a new interstitial annelid species with black spicules, Thoracophelia minuta sp. nov., from Yoichi, Hokkaido, Japan. Spicules are minute calcium carbonate inclusions found across the body and in this new species, numerous black rod-like inclusions of calcium-rich composition are distributed in the coelomic cavity. The new species can be distinguished from other known species of the genus by these conspicuous spicules, shape of branchiae and body formula. Further, the new species’ body size is apparently smaller than its congeners. Based on our molecular phylogenetic analysis using 18S and 28S sequences, we discuss the evolutionary significance of the new species’ spicules and also the species' progenetic origin.


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