Journal of Microscopy and Ultrastructure最新文献

Background: Nanoparticles of zinc oxide (ZnO-NPs) are frequently implemented in cosmetics, additives, and electronic devices. Moreover, their applications extend to water treatment, drug delivery, and cancer therapy. As a result, NP toxicity became an essential subject in biosafety research.

Aim: Using histological and immunohistochemical analysis, we attempted to investigate whether ascorbate ("vitamin C") (VC) could protect liver, lung, and spleen tissues from ZnO-NP systemic toxicity.

Materials and methods: Rats were classified as control group, NP group injected intraperitoneally (IP), once by dissolved ZnO-NPs (200 mg/kg), and NP + VC group injected IP, once by dissolved ZnO-NPs (200 mg/kg) and then ingested 100 mg/kg of VC orally. Blood samples were collected. Liver, lung, and spleen specimens were prepared for light, electron microscopic, and immunohistochemical analysis.

Results: In comparison to the control group, the NP group's liver enzyme, i.e. aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase, values and counts of white blood cells (WBCs) were higher on the 7^th day, but their red blood corpuscle (RBC) count, hemoglobin (Hgb) level, platelet count, and albumin values were lower. Histopathological analysis of liver, lung, and spleen tissues showed severe toxicity manifested by cell apoptosis, mononuclear cell infiltration, dilated blood vessels, and hemorrhage. In addition, the NP group showed a significantly higher expression of Ki67 and caspase-3 immunoreactivity. The biochemical, hematological, and histopathological results of the NP + VC group improved overall, reflecting VC's protective effect against systemic toxicity.

Conclusion: Our study revealed that ascorbate (VC) inhibited the systemic toxicity prompted by ZnO-NPs in lung, liver, and spleen tissues, indicating its importance for future treatment with ZnO-NPs.

Background: Studies in the digestive tract often required precision quantification of intestinal volume to observe the effect of certain intervention/condition. Application of stereological methods could bring unbiased and accurate results but commercially computer-assisted systems are not widely available. ImageJ-FIJI is an open source software, which could become an alternative choice in the stereological measurement process.

Aim: This study describes simple stereological quantification methods during volume estimation of jejunum-ileum intestinal layers of the rats using a light microscope and ImageJ-FIJI stereological tool.

Material and methods: Six 3-months old male Sprague-Dawley rats were terminated and jejunum-ileum was harvested after perfusion. After removal of intestinal luminal content, whole jejunum-ileum weight was measured. The organ was sampled as 6-10 slabs of 1 cm length in a systematic uniformed random sampling manner. Slabs were cut longitudinally at random angles before flattened and put on filter papers for subsequent tissue processing into 2-3 paraffin blocks. One section of 3 μm thick was sampled from each block, stained using toluidine blue and documented using a light microscope connected to a microstepper apparatus. The volume of the intestinal layers was estimated using a point-counting grid on Image J-FIJI software.

Result: We compared two sets of counting methods i.e. minimal counting (MC) and rigorous counting (RC) approaches that differ in their respective a/p value. Quantification using RC approach resulted in significantly higher estimated volume of tunica submucosa and tunica muscularis while having more preferable stereological accuracy parameters (CE<5% & CV<10%).

Conclusion: Although it required longer counting time, rigorous approaches resulted in higher accuracy while still within the range of rule of thumb criteria of 0.2 < CE²/CV² < 0.5.

Aim and objectives: The study aims to categorize malignant small round cell tumors (MSRCTs) originating in various sites of the body with the objective of utilization of cytomorphological features and ancillary techniques.

Study design: It is a cross-sectional study conducted over a time span of 3 years (2017-2020). 33 cases of tumors with round cell morphology were evaluated by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC).

Materials and methods: The application of cell block preparation supported by immunohistochemistry aided in the categorization of 23 cases with definite diagnosis and the rest were reported as MSRCTs.

Results: Among the categorized 23/33 cases, the most common diagnosis was Ewing's sarcoma (7/23) followed by 6 cases of lymphoma. There were 2 cases each of rhabdomyosarcoma and Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) and 1 case each of neuroblastoma, desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT), myeloid sarcoma, neuroendocrine tumor of pancreas, plasmacytoma, and small cell carcinoma. Histopathology confirmation was available in 24/33 cases. Among the categorized tumors (23/33), biopsy correlation was available in 19 cases, of which concordant result was seen in 17 cases (89.47%), which were 6 cases of lymphoma, 5 cases of Ewing's sarcoma (EWS), 2 of rhabdomyosarcoma, and 1 each of neuroblastoma, small cell carcinoma, DSRCT, and LCH. Discordant result was seen in one case of rhabdomyosarcoma and a case of synovial sarcoma reported as extraskeletal EWS in cytology. Out of the uncategorized cases reported as MSRTCs, histopathology was available in 5 cases which were diagnosed as rhabdomyosarcoma (1 cases), lymphoma (1 case), amelanotic melanoma (1 case), and extraskeletal EWS (2 cases).

Conclusion: Categorization of MSRCTs should be done to implement appropriate therapeutic protocol. FNAC provides a rapid diagnosis contributing immensely for the timely management of the patient. Detailed cytomorphological evaluation serves as a guide for further evaluation by ancillary techniques leading to definitive diagnosis.

Primary bone lymphomas are unusual, and accounts for 2% among all lymphomas. Primary sacral lymphomas are still rarer with only 12 cases reported till date. They predominantly affect elderly males, showing occasional spinal epidural space involvement. We report a case of 49-year-old male complaining of low backache and radicular pain for 2 months, followed by the development of parasthesia and bladder and bowel involvement. Lumbosacral spine magnetic resonance imaging revealed an expansile lytic lesion of approximately 6.5 cm with enhanced soft-tissue component extending to neural foramina compressing the spinal cord. Biopsy showed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma showing CD20, B-cell lymphoma (BCL) 6, BCL2, Multiple myeloma (MM) antigen 1 (MUM 1), and Cellular myelocytomatosis oncogene (C-Myc) positivity with CD10 negativity. Thus, the diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBL)-activated B-cell type was rendered. Thirty cases of CD10-negative DLBL with Myc translocation in bone have been found which occur predominantly in Asians. Sacral primary DLBL with Myc translocation is extremely rare, only two cases are reported till date to the best of our knowledge. Because of its rarity, the prognosis and treatment of this entity are still not clear.

Background: Guanidinoacetate methyltransferase deficiency (GAMT) is an autosomal recessive inborn error of metabolism. A condition that results from a pathogenic variant in the GAMT gene that maps to 19p13.3. The prevalence can be estimated to be up to 1:2,640,000 cases; countries such as Saudi Arabia could have a higher prevalence due to high consanguinity rates. The clinical manifestations that a patient could obtain are broad and start to manifest in the patients' early childhood years.

Materials and methods: A thorough review of case reports in January 2022 was conducted. The retrieved literature was screened for demographic data. Patients of all ages were included. Qualitative variables were described as number and percentage (%), and quantitative data were described by the mean and standard deviation. In bivariate data, Chi-square test (χ²) was used and t-test for nonparametric variables.

Results: Gender distribution was 53% of males and 47% females. Reported age ranged from 8 to 31 months. At the age of onset, 50% of the cases were infants, 28% were toddlers, and 15% were children, concluding that 79% of the reported cases developed symptoms before 5 years old. 68% of the cases developed generalized seizures throughout their life. 84% of the cases expressed a form of developmental delay. 43% of the cases had intellectual disabilities and mental retardation that affected their learning process; most cases required special care. 23% of the affected cases were of consanguineous marriages, and 7% had affected relatives.

Conclusion: We described four novel case reports, the first to be reported in Saudi Arabia. Seizure was a leading finding in the majority of the cases. Developmental delay was broadly observed. Intellectual delay and language impairments are primary hallmarks. Further understanding and early diagnosis are recommended. Premarital testing of neurogenetic diseases using whole-exome sequencing is probably a future direction, especially in populations with high consanguinity rates.

Background: The term "peripheral fibro-osseous lesion (PFOL)" is used relatively for common gingival lesions characterized histologically by hypercellular connective tissue showing either new bone-like formations or cementum-like substance and rarely dystrophic calcifications. These lesions are closely related to the other fibro-osseous lesions such as cemental periapical dysplasia, fibrous dysplasia, and other calcifying odontogenic cysts and tumors. The etiology is unknown, but certain authors suggest plaque, dental calculus, and ill-fitting dentures which might be the irritating agents causing irritation to the periodontal ligament which leads to such reactive growth.

Aim: The main aim of the present study is to present the clinicopathological features of a series of cases from the institute of D. Y Patil Deemed to be University, School of Dentistry.

Materials and methods: A total of 38 cases were evaluated over a period of 20 years. The age, size, gender, location, signs and symptoms, irritating agents, and the type of mineralized tissue present in the lesions were evaluated. Modified Gallego's Stain was performed to identify the hard tissues.

Results: The age range of patients (males = 23, females = 15) was 6-71 years (mean = 29.842 years). The lesions had more predisposition for males (males = 60.53%, females = 39.47%). The occurrence of the lesion was more in maxilla with 65% of cases occurring in anterior region.

Conclusion: According to the present study, PFOL has a slight predominance in males, with the mean age being 29.842 years with the highest occurrence in the anterior maxillary arch.

Background and objective: The aging process in women is still a problem, especially in developing countries that will become developed countries, including Indonesia. Here, we investigated the action of Michelia champaca L. extract administration on antioxidant modulation to inhibit hippocampal apoptosis in middle-aged female rats.

Materials and methods: Thirty-two female Wistar rats were divided into four groups (n = 8 each group): the middle-aged rats without any treatment (control group) and three M. champaca L. extract groups (treated at doses of 100, 200, or 300 mg/kg b. w). The superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels and Bax and Bcl-2 expressions in the hippocampal region were analyzed using the technique of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: The second and third doses of M. champaca L. extract significantly increased the SOD hippocampal levels compared with the control (P < 0.05). This extract also decreased Bax expression (at the second and third doses) and significantly increased Bcl-2 expression (at the highest dose) than that of the control (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: The ethanol extract of M. champaca L. could modulate SOD and regulate apoptotic-related proteins in middle-aged female rats. Thus, the extract of M. champaca L. can be an alternative to prevent the degeneration of hippocampus due to the aging process.

Background: Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been shown in humans and animals to have anti-adipose effects. The current study aims to assess the prophylactic and therapeutic impact of CLA and its effect on recruited macrophage type using immunohistochemistry against CD68 and CD 163.

Materials and methods: Forty adult male albino rats of local strain were included in the study and divided into control, CLA-supplemented, obese, CLA-prophylactic obese, and CLA-treated obese groups. Biopsies from visceral fat of the investigated groups were obtained and assessed for histopathological changes and immunohistochemical staining for CD68 and CD163.

Results: Obese group showed hypertrophied adipocytes and infiltration by inflammatory cells compared to other groups. The obese group showed a marked increase in the CD68 positivity compared with that in the control and CLA-supplemented groups. CLA-prophylactic and CLA-treated groups showed mild immune reaction with a significant decrease in CD68 positivity compared to the obese group. The obese group showed a significant decrease in the CD163 positivity compared with that in the control and CLA-supplemented groups.

Conclusions: Adipose tissue in obese is characterized by inflammation with more M1 than M2 macrophages. CLA could direct the recruited macrophages toward the anti-inflammatory subtype (M2) which encourages its beneficial effects in prophylaxis from obesity.

Introduction: The most widespread female malignancy is breast cancer (BC), considerable percentage of patients with triple-negative BC (TNBC) experience rapid progression, recurrence, and metastasis. BC has not historically been treated as an immunogenic cancer. Nonetheless, several researchers have started to concentrate on immunotherapy.

Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate the immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) by stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and tumor cells (TC) in female (TNBC) and to correlate with pathological features of such tumors, particularly those determine biologic behavior, such as the grade and stage the overall survival.

Methodology: This is a retrospective study which includes 49 paraffin-embedded tumor tissue sections which were collected from breast surgery specimens either radical or conservative of female patients with TNBC. The samples were analyzed immunohistochemically for PD-L1 expression.

Results: There were statistically significant relations among TC PD-L1 expression and TILs PD-L1 expression as well as relations among TILs PD-L1 expression with histologic grade, stromal TILs, and Ki-67 were statistically significant. Correlations between TC PD-L1 expression and N stage, histologic grade, and anatomic stage were statistically significant. Improved survival was detected within TILs PD-L1-positive cases; however, the correlation between the overall survival and PD-L1 expression in both TCs and stromal TIL was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: PD-L1 expressed in tumors with poor prognostic features such as the high grade, advanced T stage, and high Ki-67 index, TILs PD-L1-positive cases experienced improved survival supporting its prognostic significance. However, the correlation with overall survival was not statistically significant.