Development of a gel dedicated to gel immersion endoscopy

Backgrounds and study aims Gel immersion endoscopy is a novel technique to secure the visual field during endoscopy. The aim of this study was to develop a dedicated gel for this technique. Methods To identify appropriate viscoelasticity and electrical conductivity, various gels were examined. Based on these results, the dedicated gel “OPF-203” was developed. Efficacy and safety of OPF-203 were evaluated in a porcine model. Results In vitro experiments showed that a viscosity of 230 to 1900 mPa·s, loss tangent (tanδ) ≤ 0.6, and hardness of 240 to 540 N/cm2 were suitable. Ex vivo experiments showed electrical conductivity ≤ 220 μS/cm is appropriate. In vivo experiments using gastrointestinal bleeding showed that OPF-203 provided clear visualization compared to water. After electrocoagulation of gastric mucosa in OPF-203, severe coagulative necrosis was not observed in the muscularis but limited to the mucosa. Conclusions OPF-203 is useful for gel immersion endoscopy.

The Thermal Damage of Canine Vocal Fold by CO2 Laser Under Different Laser Emission Mode

Objective: The purpose of this study is to review the differences between continuous wave (CW) and UltraPulse (UP) on thermal damage of the laser with different power. Methods: Four adult beagle dogs underwent transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) using CO2 laser. The laser emission mode and power was CW (3 W, 5 W, and 8 W) and UP (3 W and 5 W), respectively. The tissue from 4 animals was evaluated histologically on postoperative days 1 and 3. The thermal damage of the laser was measured using slide scan system via SlideViewer version 1.5.5.2 software. Results: All dogs underwent TLM uneventfully. Under microscope examined, the laser damage area was composed of 2 parts: the vaporized zone (VPZ) and thermal damage area. The thermal damage area can be divided into thermal coagulative necrosis area (TCN) and hydropic degeneration area. The width of VPZ and TCN in UP mode was less than that in CW mode ( P < .01). The data indicate that lower laser power created less thermal damage ( P < .01). In addition, the width of VPZ on postoperative day 3 was less than that on postoperative day 1 ( P < .01). Conclusion: CO2 laser with UP and lower power could decrease the laser thermal damage and may offer more prompt wound healing.

SOME PATHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF RAW LIMA BEAN (Phaseolus lunatus Linn. FEEDING TO GROWING

Some pathological changes: accompanying raw lima bean (RLB) feeding to growing rats were investigated. Among the gross patholo­gical observations were severe pancreatic hypertrophy and spleen atrophy. The rela­tive weight of the liver was significantly (P< 0M5) decreased while the kidney weight was significantly (P< 0.05) increas­ed. The relative weight of the heart was unaffected. At necropsy, the small intestine of rats fed 40% RLB and aoove were dilated and filed with light-yellow gassy liquid. Histopathologically, livers of rats fed 40% RLB and above showed focuses of coagulative necrosis and marked congestion of hepatic sinusoids and centrolobular veins. The spleen showed marked depletion of lymphoid follicles and medullary' sinu­soids. There was evidence of marked conges­tion of renal blood vessels in the high RLB diets. No lesions were observed in the heart tissues. The morphology of the intestinal apicalmicrovilli were generally disrupted. They appeared stunted and fragmented especially in the rats fed 40% RLB and above. Mononuclei cell infilterate characterized the lamina propria of the small api Large inte­stinal rnicrovilli. No microvilli abnormalities were detected in rats fed 100% cooked lima bean (control) diet.

Spontaneous poisoning by Cestrum intermedium in dairy cattle

ABSTRACT: Acute hepatotoxicity caused by plants poisoning is responsible for economic losses in farm animals in Brazil. Reports of Cestrum intermedium natural poisoning in cattle are not commonly described in Rio Grande do Sul (RS). This study aimed to document an outbreak of spontaneous C. intermedium poisoning in dairy cattle in the Central-Eastern Mesoregion of RS. Three nine-month-old Holstein and Jersey heifers were affected after they were placed in a small paddock with shortage forage. In this area, specimens of C. intermedium Sendtn with signs of consumption were observed. Morbidity and lethality rates were 100% and clinical courses ranged from 9 to 12 hours. At post mortem examination of the three heifers, there was predominance of acute liver lesions. The liver was moderately enlarged and on the cut surface there was a marked accentuation of the lobular pattern and hemorrhage. Inside the rumen, partially digested C. intermedium Sendtn leaves were observed. The histological aspects of the liver were mostly centrilobular coagulative necrosis and hemorrhage, frequently extended to the midzonal region. The immunohistochemistry technique was performed, in which the polyclonal antibody caspase 3 was used in liver fragments. Moderate to marked immunolabeling was observed in the cytoplasm and nucleus of hepatocytes, predominantly on the periphery of areas of hepatic necrosis indicating cell apoptosis. The diagnosis of C. intermedium Sendtn poisoning in dairy cattle in this study was based on epidemiological, clinical and anatomopathological findings. Since the C. intermedium poisoning is uncommon in dairy cattle, we are describing it for the first time in the Central-Eastern Mesoregion of RS, and represents a differential diagnosis of other acute toxic liver diseases in cattle.

Acute necrotic hepatotoxicity caused by Lantana camara L. ingestion in dairy cattle

ABSTRACT: This study describes an outbreak of acute necrotic hepatopathy associated with spontaneous poisoning by Lantana camara L. in dairy cattle. A herd of 15 cows and heifers was introduced into a native pasture with limited food supply, and, sixteen days later, eight animals had spontaneous nasal hemorrhage, fever, lethargy, jaundice, and dry, dark stools with mucus and blood. The clinical course varied from two to five days. In the pasture where the cattle were kept, abundant adult specimens of L. camara L. with evident signs of consumption were observed. In total, seven cattle died and necropsy was performed in three of them. All animals had moderate jaundice, hemorrhage in the subcutaneous tissue and on the surface of different organs. The liver was slightly enlarged, with orange discoloration and enhanced lobular pattern. Histologically, multifocal areas of coagulative necrosis of hepatocytes in the centrilobular area, occasionally extending to the midzonal area, were observed, as well as marked hepatocellular degeneration and prominent cholestasis. The current study suggests that L. camara L. poisoning should be considered a differential diagnosis of acute and necrotic hepatotoxicity in cattle, despite the absence of photosensitization.

Pathological investigation of liver lesions in slaughtered cattle in Al-Najaf abattoir

This study has been conducted to examine the macroscopic and histopathologic lesions of liver in slaughtered cattle at Al-Najaf City, and then the prevalence of these lesions has been listed. Liver of two hundred cattle slaughtered at the city slaughterhouse of Al-Najaf were collected from beginning of January to the end of March, 2019 for gross and microscopic investigations. Tissue processing has been carried out for specimens inspected as tissue lesions were examined under light microscopy. The results of the macroscopic and microscopic survey showed that there were variable liver affections in slaughtered cattle. The lesions were arranged from high percentages of lesions such as fasciolosis (32%) and abscesses (32.5%), to moderate to low percentages such as hydatidosis (19.5%), tuberculosis (7.5%), fatty degeneration (3%) and coagulative necrosis (1.5%). The main conclusion of our study revealed that there were high prevalence of liver lesions in slaughtered cattle in Al-Najaf slaughterhouse (4.69%), that lead to liver condemnation and economic losses.

Standardization of a Radiofrequency Ablation Tool in an Ex-Vivo Porcine Liver Model

(1) Background: Preclinical and clinical data about a novel radiofrequency ablation (RFA) system (STARmed Co, Ltd.; Koyang, Korea) designed to be used under endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) control for pancreatic lesion ablation, are limited, obtained with non-standardized procedures and heterogeneous results. The aim of this study is to standardize the RFA procedure of this system in order to define the optimal ablation power and time. (2) Methods: RFA was performed on an ex-vivo porcine liver at different powers (40, 30, 20, 10 Watts (W)) and times (1, 3, 5, 7, 15 min) with a 1-centimeter monopolar electrode (perfused by chilled solution) positioned on the distal tip of a 19-Gauge needle. A blinded expert pathologist histologically analyzed each ablation area. (3) Results: The size of the total macroscopic ablated area was negatively correlated with ablation power (R −0.74): the largest was obtained at 10 W (p = 4.7 × 10−4) for longer times (R 0.92; p = 8.9 × 10−8). Central histologic coagulative necrosis did not differ among ablation settings (mean size 3.25 mm). External “parenchymal hypochromia” or “diaphanization” resulted the widest at 10 W, for longer times (R 0.8, p = 3.6 × 10−4). (4) Conclusions: The RFA system can produce small sizes of coagulative necrosis, regardless of the setting. Larger areas of diaphanization surrounding the necrosis can be produced at lower powers for longer times.

Chronic copper poisoning in beef cattle in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil

ABSTRACT: Copper is an essential micromineral in animal feed; however, when consumed in excess, it can cause liver necrosis, hemolytic crisis, hemoglobinuric nephrosis and death in cattle. Although uncommon in this species, copper poisoning occurs as a result of exacerbated supplementation, deficiency of antagonist microminerals, or previous liver lesions. An outbreak of chronic copper poisoning is reported in semi-confined cattle after supplementation with 50 mg/Kg of dry matter copper. The cattle showed clinical signs characterized by anorexia, motor incoordination, loss of balance, jaundice, brownish or black urine, diarrhea and death, or were found dead, 10 to 302 days after consumption. Of the 35 cattle that died, 20 underwent necropsy, whose frequent findings were jaundice, enlarged liver with evident lobular pattern, black kidneys, and urinary bladder with brownish to blackish content. Microscopically, the liver showed vacuolar degeneration and/or zonal hepatocellular centrilobular or paracentral coagulative necrosis, in addition to cholestasis, mild periacinal fibrosis, apoptotic bodies, and mild to moderate mononuclear inflammation. Degeneration and necrosis of the tubular epithelium and intratubular hemoglobin cylinders were observed in the kidneys. Copper levels in the liver and kidneys ranged from 5,901.24 to 28,373.14 μmol/kg and from 303.72 to 14,021 μmol/kg, respectively. In conclusion, copper poisoning due to excessive nutritional supplementation is an important cause of jaundice, hemoglobinuria, and death in semi-confined cattle.

Time Course-Dependent Study on Equine Herpes Virus 9-Induced Abortion in Syrian Hamsters

This study aimed to follow the time-course pathogenesis of EHV-9 abortion in early and late trimesters. Twenty-seven pregnant hamster dams were divided into three groups: (G1) control, (G2) EHV-9-inoculated on the 5th day (early trimester), and (G3) EHV-9-inoculated on the 10th day of gestation (late trimester). Dams were sacrificed at different time points during gestation and examined for viremia and viral DNA in different fetal and maternal tissues and pathological changes in fetal tissue, placenta, and cytokines. Animals in G3 showed a marked increase in the number of dead fetuses than those in G2. Histopathological findings of G2 showed early band coagulative necrosis of maternal spaces and stromal decidual cells. Necrotic changes were observed within the decidua basalis, spongiotrophoblast layer, and labyrinth. First, the virus was localized within mononuclear leukocytes in the decidua capsularis and basalis, and within the necrotic chorionic villi and cervical epithelium. G3 demonstrated degenerative changes within the chorionic villi and trophospongium. The virus antigen was observed within the chorionic villi, trophoblasts, mononuclear cells, and fetal tissues. In conclusion, EHV-9 induced abortion mostly occurs through necrosis of the chorionic villi and cannot cross through the capsular placenta in the early trimester but can through the developed decidual placentation.

Prevalence of Kudoa in Fish Fillets Caught in Para State

Kudoa is a myxozoan that causes myoliquefaction in marine fishes. Most of species only affect fish, but a K. septempunctata outbreak was reported in 358 people. Although many species of Kudoa are known, none was described in Brachyplatystoma filamentosum, Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii, Mugil curema, Plagioscion squamosissimus or Oxydoras niger until now. Due to the economic cost of eliminating seafood presenting myxozoan lesions, this study aimed to describe lesions found at necropsy and histopathology, as well as to detect this myxozoan by molecular techniques. For this purpose, were sampled 85 fish of the following species: Brachyplatystoma filamentosum, Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii, Mugil curema, Plagioscion squamosissimus, and Oxydoras niger from Colares and Vigia, Pará, Brazil. Necropsies were carried out to describe lesions and molecular techniques (PCR and sequencing) were applied for identification. Although muscle lesions were not observed at necropsy, histopathology revealed bacterial colonies, coagulative necrosis, dystrophic calcification, eosinophils, hemorrhage, parasitic cysts, protozoan, and vacuolization. After sequencing, K. shiomitsui (GENBANK: LC128646) was identified as the causative agent of fishes infection. Also, high parasitism of this myxozoan was observed in fishes sampled, i.e., 90 % in Colares and 100% in Vigia.