A study of the Carrageenin Granuloma in the plaice (Pleuronectes Platessa.L.)

The inflammatory response is the cornerstone of pathology, because of the frequency of its occurrence, the fundamental nature of its component reactions, and the fact that most clinical diseases can be regarded as variants of it. Although animal pathology has been studied over many years, there are still some aspects of the inflammatory process which have not been completely resolved, even for homeotherms, and the number of such aspects still undescribed in cold blooded animals, is very much greater, since there have been relatively few studies on any of the pathological responses in poikilotheFms. A small number.of workers have studied the inflammatory response in fishes, but they have almost exclusively dealt with the acute type of response [Finn and Nielson, 1971a; Roberts £t.£l. 1973a). Aquaculture is developing into an important and rapidly expanding industry in many countries of the world. Fishes are being raised for food, for sport fisheries, and as ornamental aquarium fish. It is not surprising therefore, that there has been an increase of interest in fish pathology, and it was as a contribution towards a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of the response of teleost fish to infection that this study was undertaken. ft In mammalian pathology a great deal of information on the chronic inflammatory response has been obtained by injecting experimental animals with extracts of the marine seaweed Chondrus crispus (Carregeenln). In chronic inflammation, collagen fibre formation is a vital component of both chronic inflammation and of healing, and carrageenin, as well as being a potent irritant is a powerful stimulant to the production of collagen. In this study, carrageenin was used, by inoculation, as a stimulus to the production of chronic inflammatory lesions in the teleost fish, in order to determine whether the teleost fish was capable of producing similar responses to those occurring in response to this model irritant in the higher animals. Throughout the study, the plaice (Pleuronectes platessa.L.) was used as the experimental fish. This was because the plaice is a relatively easy fish to Keep, is readily obtainable and a considerable amount of baseline information on this marine teleost was already available from other studies (Wardle 1971; Roberts et.al. 1971; Ellis 1974), Carrageenin was injected intramuscularly into plaice, to produce a chronic granulomatous inflammatory reaction. The main study was carried out at-4he fixed temperature of 10°C., but studies were also carried out on the moderation of the carrageenin inflammatory response by reduction of temperature to 5°C., since it is well recognized that vhe rate and to some extent the quality of the inflammatory response in poikilotherms is determined by the temperature at which the response is taking place (Finn and Nielson 1971). \ After the carrageenin was injected into plaice, an active connective tissue response -eveloped as part of the chronic granuloma, experiments were therefore also carried out to investigate the specific role of L-ascorbic acid (vitamin-C) in the enhancement of collagen synthesis. Within the developed granulomata, cells resembling the plasma cell and its precursors were observed. Since this suggested the production of serum antibodies within the granulomata, specific staining for plasma cells by Unna- Pappenheim stain was carried out, and a gel diffusion precipitation test [Ouchterlony 1947) was carried out to determine the antigenicity of carrageenin. Since the granuloma contained large numbers of lymphycytes as well as macrophages, it was considered that there might well also be a delayed type of hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction taking place, in addition to the serum antibody response. Consequently a delayed type of hypersensitivity test (the migration inhibition test, NIT) was devised to measure this response. The histological observations were complemented by an electron microscope study of various stages of the developed granuloma, to determine the ultrastructure of those cells which played a significant role in this response

Yttrium-90 radioembolization for the treatment of unresectable liver cancer: Results of a single center

Objective: To determine the effects of yttrium-90 (Y-90) resin microsphere radioembolization therapy on patients with unresectable liver cancer who do not benefit from chemotherapy. Methods: Fifty-five patients underwent radioembolization therapy included in the study whose had unresectable primary or metastatic liver cancer originating from the gastrointestinal tract. Three were excluded from the study after pre-evaluation angiography. Thirteen (23.6%) of the remaining 52 patients had hepatocellular carcinoma and 39 (76.4%) had metastatic liver cancer. Fifty-two patients underwent Y-90 radioembolization treatment. Each patient's response to the administered treatment was evaluated using the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) and the overall probability of survival was displayed graphically by the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: After Y-90 therapy, 47 patients were follow-up. While 57% of the patients responded to treatment as clinical benefit, the disease progressed in 43%. The median hepatic progression-free survival time of the patients was 3.4 months (95% confidence interval (ci):1.4-5.3) and the overall survival time was 11.3 months (95%, CI:8.7-14.03). Conclusion: This study emphasizes that Y-90 resin microsphere radioembolization treatment is effective in patients with unresectable liver cancer

Prevention of adhesion formation in wistar-albino rats by increased bowel movements achieved with oral ricinus oil use for 8 days postoperatively: an experimental study

Objective: Adhesion formation frequently occurs after abdominopelvic surgery and can cause significant morbidity for patients. Meticulous hemostasis, minimal access surgery and utilization of surgical adjuvants intraoperatively are clinically useful measures to minimize adhesion formation. We investigated the clinical efficiency of oral Ricinus oil treatment for 8 days postoperatively to decrease adhesion formation in this case-control study in a rat model. Study design: Following computer-generated randomization, 24 female Wistar-albino rats were operated on, with 10 standard cautery lesions on the right uterine horn and two simple suture lesions on left uterine horn generated with absorbable material. Half (n = 12) the rats received 0.13 g (0.2 ml) Ricinus oil emulsion (40 g/60 ml) via the oral route during the first 8 days postoperatively, and the remaining rats (n = 11) were considered as controls. The extent, severity, degree, total adhesion scores and histopathological features of the adhesions were the main outcome measures. Results: The degree and total adhesion formation scores in the Ricinus oil group and control group revealed significant differences in adhesion extent and severity. The total adhesion scores of the Ricinus oil and control groups were 3.00 +/- 2.21 and 5.18 +/- 2.78 respectively (P 0.05). Conclusions: Ricinus oil treatment following abdominopelvic surgery for the 8-day period that covers the completion of tissue healing process may be a promising, cheap and cost-effective treatment strategy for patients. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

An anatomical and histochemical examination of the pituitary gland of carp (Cyprinus carpio)

The present study was carried out for the purpose of studying the anatomical and the histochemical structure of the pituitary gland of the common carp, Cyprinus carpio. Anatomically, the shape of the gland has been observed to be round-oval, looking like an acorn. The pituitary gland consists of the adenohypophysis and neurohypophysis parts. Microscopically, the adenohypophysis consists of anterior (pars distalis) and posterior (pars intermedia) parts. The second lobe of the gland, called the neurohypophysis, is found in the core of the gland. Histologically, acidophilic prolactin cells stained red or orange and were dispersed in the rostral pars distalis (pro-adenohypophysis) of the adenohypophysis. Basophilic thyrotropin cells stained blue and were found in a small number in the same region. Adrenocorticotropin cells showed a chromophobic character; therefore, they did not get stained by the periodic acid-Schiff staining techniques. Gonadotropin cells were observed in the proximal pars distalis (meso-adenohypophysis) of the adenohypophysis. In the examined specimens, the faintly stained, elongated or pyramidal cells in the pars intermedia of the adenohypophysis were covering the neurohypophysis region. The neurohypophysial lobe was composed of unmyelinated nerve fibers and the pituicyte cells were located among the nerve fibers. Herring bodies were seen scattered in the neurohypophysis