Decompression sickness (DCS) is a clinical syndrome caused by the formation of systemic intravascular and extravascular gas bubbles. The presence of these bubbles in blood vessels is known as gas embolism. DCS has been described in humans and animals such as sea turtles and cetaceans. To delve deeper into DCS, experimental models in terrestrial mammals subjected to compression/decompression in a hyperbaric chamber have been used. Fish can suffer from gas bubble disease (GBD), characterized by the formation of intravascular and extravascular systemic gas bubbles, similarly to that observed in DCS. Given these similarities and the fact that fish develop this disease naturally in supersaturated water, they could be used as an alternative experimental model for the study of the pathophysiological aspect of gas bubbles. The objective of this study was to obtain a reproducible model for GBD in fish by an engineering system and a complete pathological study, validating this model for the study of the physiopathology of gas related lesions in DCS. A massive and severe GBD was achieved by exposing the fish for 18 h to TDG values of 162–163%, characterized by the presence of severe hemorrhages and the visualization of massive quantities of macroscopic and microscopic gas bubbles, systemically distributed, circulating through different large vessels of experimental fish. These pathological findings were the same as those described in small mammals for the study of explosive DCS by hyperbaric chamber, validating the translational usefulness of this first fish model to study the gas-bubbles lesions associated to DCS from a pathological standpoint.

Decompression sickness (DCS) is a widely known clinical syndrome in human medicine, mainly in divers, related to the formation of intravascular and extravascular gas bubbles. Gas embolism and decompression-like sickness have also been described in wild animals, such as cetaceans. It was hypothesized that adaptations to the marine environment protected them from DCS, but in 2003, decompression-like sickness was described for the first time in beaked whales, challenging this dogma. Since then, several episodes of mass strandings of beaked whales coincidental in time and space with naval maneuvers have been recorded and diagnosed with DCS. The diagnosis of human DCS is based on the presence of clinical symptoms and the detection of gas embolism by ultrasound, but in cetaceans, the diagnosis is limited to forensic investigations. For this reason, it is necessary to resort to experimental animal models to support the pathological diagnosis of DCS in cetaceans. The objective of this study is to validate the pathological results of cetaceans through an experimental rabbit model wherein a complete and detailed histopathological analysis was performed. Gross and histopathological results were very similar in the experimental animal model compared to stranded cetaceans with DCS, with the presence of gas embolism systemically distributed as well as emphysema and hemorrhages as primary lesions in different organs. The experimental data reinforces the pathological findings found in cetaceans with DCS as well as the hypothesis that individuality plays an essential role in DCS, as it has previously been proposed in animal models and human diving medicine.

The aim of this study was to describe the gross, histopathological and immunohistochemical features of non-specific reactive hepatitis (NSRH) in stray dogs. To perform this study the livers of 23 dogs of different breed and sex were used. The tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin–eosin, and immunohistochemically. The results of this work showed that NSRH was characterized by the infiltration of lymphocytes and plasma cells scattered throughout the liver parenchyma and in the portal stroma, and associated with inflammatory and non-inflammatory diseases in other organ systems. The inflammatory infiltrate of NSRH was composed of CD3+ T lymphocytes and HLA-DR+ lymphocytes, as well as IgG+ plasma cells and alpha-1-antitrypsin+ macrophages in the portal spaces and hepatic sinusoids.

The purpose of this paper was to study the possible causes of Non-Specific Reactive Hepatitis (NSRH) in tissue samples of housed dogs that were collected from different cities of Andalucia (Spain). Histologically, this disease was characterized by the presence of lymphocytes and plasma cells spread throughout the liver parenchyma and in the portal stroma, with no evidence of hepatocyte necrosis. These animals showed non-specific chronic reactive hepatitis that varied from moderate to severe. In order of prevalence, the more common pathologies associated with NSRH were gastrointestinal and renal diseases, as well as pneumonia mainly of parasitic or infectious origin. ÖzBu çalışmanın amacı, Endülüs'ün (İspanya) farklı şehirlerinden toplanmış olan barınak köpeklerine ait doku örneklerinde Spesifik Olmayan Reaktif Hepatitin (NSRH) olası nedenlerini araştırmaktı. Hastalık, histolojik olarak, hepatosit nekrozu bulgusu olmadan, karaciğer parankimi boyunca ve portal stroma içinde yayılan lenfositlerin ve plazma hücrelerinin varlığı ile karakterize edildi. İncelenen hayvanlarda, derecesi orta ila şiddetli arasında değişen, spesifik olmayan kronik reaktif hepatit belirlendi. Görülme oranı yönünden değerlendirildiğinde, NSRH ile ilişkili olarak en sık görülen patolojiler gastrointestinal problemler ve böbrek hastalıklarının yanı sıra parazitik veya bulaşıcı kökenli pnömonilerdi. Anahtar sözcükler: Karaciğer, Hepatit, Sokak köpeği, Retrospektif olgular  İletişim (Correspondence)  +34 92 8457428 Fax: +34 92 8451142 