Mycotoxins are common fungal secondary metabolites in both animal feed and human food, representing widespread toxic contaminants that cause various adverse effects. Co-contamination with different mycotoxins is frequent; therefore, this study focused on feed contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins, namely, deoxynivalenol (5.08 mg/kg), zearalenone (0.09 mg/kg), and fusaric acid (21.6 mg/kg). Their effects on the liver of gilts and their piglets were chosen as the research subject as pigs are one of the most sensitive animal species that are also physiologically very similar to humans. The gilts were fed the experimental diet for 54 ± 1 day, starting late in their pregnancy and continuing until roughly a week after weaning of their piglets. Livers of gilts and their piglets were assessed for different histopathological changes, apoptosis, and proliferation activity of hepatocytes. On histopathology, gilts fed the experimental diet had a statistically significant increase in hepatocellular necrosis and apoptosis (p = 0.0318) as well as sinusoidal leukocytosis with inflammatory infiltrates of hepatic lobules (p = 0.0004). The amount of interlobular connective tissue in the liver of experimental gilts was also significantly decreased (p = 0.0232), implying a disruption in the formation of fibrous connective tissue. Apoptosis of hepatocytes and of cells in hepatic sinusoids, further assessed by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL) assay, showed a statistically significant increase (p = 0.0224 and p = 0.0007, respectively). No differences were observed in piglet livers. These results indicated that Fusarium mycotoxins elicited increased apoptosis, necrosis, and inflammation in the liver of gilts, but caused no effects on the liver of piglets at these concentrations.

One of the features of apoptosis is the externalization of phosphatidylserine which could be used to remove apoptotic cells from semen preparations. Magnetic-activated cell sorting using annexin V-conjugated microbeads which bind to phosphatidylserine could be used to enhance semen quality. Twelve boar semen samples after 3 days of liquid storage at 16 -17 °C were subjected to magnetic-activated cell sorting. Bound and unbound fractions and control samples were subjected to flow cytometry following the staining of spermatozoa with Annexin V conjugated with Alexa Fluor 488 and propidium iodide. Four subpopulations were obtained: live, early apoptotic live, late apoptotic, early necrotic dead and late necrotic dead. The frequency of early apoptotic and late necrotic spermatozoa was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in bound (14.1 ± 10.6% and 24.1 ± 10.2%, respectively) than in unbound fractions (3.4 ± 2.1% and 12.7 ± 3.1%) and control (3.5 ± 1.6% and 12.0 ± 5.0%). The lowest concentration of live spermatozoa was found in the bound fraction (10.6 ± 8.0 %), which differed significantly (P < 0.05) from the control. In unbound fractions there was a significantly higher concentration (P < 0.05) of morphologically normal spermatozoa (31.8 ± 12.6%) compared to bound ones (5.9 ± 7.3%). A significantly (P < 0.05) lower proportion of morphologically normal spermatozoa was observed in both fractions compared to control (67.2 ± 17.0%). Boar spermatozoa were separated by the above method for the first time, however, the results showed this method to be inappropriate for boar semen separation under the tested conditions. Semen, short-term storage, MACS, apoptosis

No abstract

Intestinal adenocarcinomas are uncommon in fishes. To date, they have been reported in zebrafish Danio rerio, blue gularis Fundulopanchax sjostedti, koi carp Cyprinus carpio koi, Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Metastases are even rarer and have been observed so far at very low prevalence, only in feed-induced adenocarcinoma in Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout. Intestinal adenocarcinoma with liver and heart metastases and mesenteric invasion was found in approximately 33% of 4 yr old rainbow trout from a Slovene hatchery with 2000 breeding trout. During stripping, lumps in the abdominal cavity were palpated in one-third of the breeding fish; some of the fish were anorectic and lethargic, and mortality was slightly increased. Affected trout were euthanized and 4 were submitted for necropsy and histopathology. Necropsy revealed firm, whitish, irregularly lobular masses originating from the intestine. Histologically, the intestinal masses showed a prominent proliferation of tall columnar neoplastic epithelial cells arranged in dense irregular islands or solid areas and papillotubular protuberances. Solid areas of neoplastic cells were also observed in the mesentery of all trout and in the liver of one trout, whereas minute groups of neoplastic cells were seen in the vessels of the intestinal mucosa in all trout and in the myocardium and the liver of one trout. Epithelial origin of neoplastic cells was confirmed by expression of the cytokeratin marker AE1/AE3. The intestinal masses were diagnosed as intestinal adenocarcinoma with mesenteric invasion and metastases to the liver and heart. The cause of intestinal adenocarcinoma was not determined.

BackgroundSquamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most common nonodontogenic oral tumor in cats. In the jaw, it usually presents as an ulceroproliferative lesion associated with enlargement of the affected bone.Case presentationThis report describes the case of a cat in which clinical and radiographic findings of a mandibular swelling were suggestive of an aggressive process, but the oral mucosa was unaffected. The results of histopathological and immunohistochemical examination of the samples obtained from the intraosseous lesion were consistent with SCC. The animal was euthanized 5 months after initial presentation as a result of the severe progression of the disease, and no other primary tumors were identified at necropsy.ConclusionsBased on the clinicopathological, microscopic, and immunohistochemical staining features, as well as the absence of a primary tumor at a distant site, we propose that the term, solid type primary intraosseous SCC (PIOSCC), be used to describe this neoplasia, as it shares similar features with human PIOSCC.