Spontaneous Cardiac Hypertrophy in a Crl:CD(SD) Rat

Cardiac hypertrophy was observed in a 9-week-old Crl:CD(SD) rat that died unexpectedly. The animal was allocated to the control group of a toxicity study, and no abnormalities in its general conditions, body weight or food intake were observed. Necropsy revealed an increase in heart weight. Gross examination indicated cardiac enlargement with thickening of the right and left ventricular walls. Histopathological examination revealed hypertrophy of the cardiomyocytes in the right and left ventricular walls and the interventricular septum. Electron microscopic examination indicated bizarre nuclei and accumulation of an increased number of various sizes of mitochondria in the perinuclear region of the hypertrophied myocytes. Hypertrophied myocytes connected by intensely folded intercalated disks were also observed. Based on these findings, the animal was diagnosed with cardiac hypertrophy. This is the first case report of cardiac hypertrophy in this strain

Molecular characterization of buckwheat major immunoglobulin E-reactive proteins in allergic patients

ABSTRACTBuckwheat extract was analyzed by immunoblotting experiments using sera from nine allergic and three non-allergic individuals. Major IgE-reactive bands were 73, 70, 62, 58 and 54kDa under non-reducing conditions and were detected in allergic subjects, but not in non-allergic ones. Under reducing conditions, the 73, 70, 62 and 58kDa bands split to 56 and 24, 52 and 24, 45 and 24, and 43 and 24kDa, respectively. The 24kDa molecule was the most prominent band recognized with IgE as well as IgG or IgA. The FA02 cDNA clone, encoding the α and β subunits of the legumin-like storage protein, was isolated from a cDNA library made of immature buckwheat seeds. The deduced amino acid sequence of the cDNA clone is substantially identical to the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the 24kDa molecule, which may be identical to that of BW24KD reported by Urisu et al. Consistent with these results, the translation product of the cDNA encoding the putative β subunit was strongly recognized with serum IgE, IgG and IgA from buckwheat-allergic patients. These results suggested that the 24kDa molecule may be the β subunit of the legumin-like storage molecule of buckwheat

A Case Report of a Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma in a T-cell Receptor β Chain and p53 Double-knockout Mouse

A subcutaneous tumor was found in the right abdomen of a 16-week-old male TCRβ and p53 double-knockout mouse. The tumor had indistinct borders with the surrounding tissue. The cut surface after formalin fixation was pale yellowish white, partially dark red and partly white. Histologically, the tumor was composed of three distinct regions. The first region showed pleomorphic cells arranged in sheets. The second region showed spindle cells arranged in interlacing fascicles. The final region contained a mixture of the above mentioned two types of cells. Furthermore, a small amount of collagen fibers, round cells, multinucleated giant cells, and cells with eosinophilic granules were observed between these tumor cells. Immunohistochemical examination and electron microscopy identified that the pleomorphic cells and spindle cells were histiocytes and fibroblasts, respectively, and that the round cells were undifferentiated mesenchymal cells. Based on these findings, the tumor was diagnosed as a malignant fibrous histiocytoma