No abstract

The degeneration and necrosis of myofibers concomitant with the sever atrophy of both the type 2A and 2B myofibers in the STZ muscle could account for the functional alterations seen in diabetic muscle.

Salivary duct carcinoma is a high grade malignancy which histologically strongly resembles ductal carcinoma of the breast. The findings from five cases of histologically proven salivary duct carcinoma sampled by preoperative fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) cytology are presented. Characteristic cytomorphologic features include cohesive clusters and flat sheets of epithelial cells which display a cribriform pattern with eccentrically located, hyperchromatic nuclei, abundant finely granular cytoplasm, and necrosis in the smear background. Diagn. Cytopathol. 16:526–530, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Despite the extensive literature concerning the neuropathy associated with diabetes, only limited information describes changes in the associated muscle. The objective of this study was to evaluate the histochemical and morphometric characteristics of diabetic muscle in the C57BL/KsJ db-m strain of mouse. The histochemical analysis of myofiber type for the diabetic mouse revealed that the extensor digitorum longus muscle consisted of 53.1% type 2a, 46.0% type 2b, and 0.9% type 1 myofibers, a significant shift from the percentages found in the nondiabetic litter mates (44.4% type 2a, 55.6% type 2b, no type 1). Computer-assisted morphometric analysis of myofiber size by fiber type indicated a significant difference in myofiber size for the type 2b fibers in muscles from diabetic mice. Similarly, there was a shift in the fiber size distribution to include a greater number of small type 2b myofibers when compared to controls. Skeletal muscle from diabetic mice exhibited a significant change in the percentage of fiber types, with an increase in the number of type 2a fibers, a fiber type grouping that implies possible denervation and reinnervation, and a decrease in myofiber size. These findings may explain why some diabetic patients complain of muscle weakness.

Although diabetic neuropathy is well documented, diabetic myopathy is not, except for descriptions of diabetic patients with muscular weakness thought to be due to metabolic changes in the muscle. Muscle and nerve are dependent on each other for normal structure and function; since the peripheral nerve is damaged in diabetes, one would expect concomitant changes in the muscle. This study examines the cytoarchitecture of diabetic muscle. The extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles from 165-day-old C57BL/KsJ dbm mice were examined using electron microscopy. Morphological analysis of the diabetic EDL revealed that a significant number of the myofibers, examined within the midbelly region of the muscle, exhibited various degrees of degeneration, signs of denervation, and abnormal lipid stores. Both myoneural junctions and muscle spindles showed significant signs of degeneration, denervation, and abnormal structure. Thus the morphologic changes seen could account for the physiologic changes seen in diabetic muscle.