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The respiratory tract and the oral mucosa are the first areas contaminated by pesticides. The herbicide dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) is a widely used pesticide across the world for both crops and gardens. The aim of this study was to evaluate oral mucosal damage after an experimental simulation of chronic oral and inhalational environmental exposure to 2,4-D formulation. Eighty male Wistar rats were exposed to three distinct concentrations of 2,4-D formulation (low—187.17 mg/m3; medium—313.31 mg/m3; and high—467.93 mg/m3). Oral exposure (through contaminated feed) or inhalation exposure lasted 6 months. Rat tongues were collected for cyto- and histopathology. There was a difference between exposure groups in the intensity of tissue congestion. Most rats exposed to 2,4-D presented mucosal inflammation at both cytology and histology (P

Objective To report PCR results and vaccination status of rabbits with rabbit haemorrhagic disease following an investigation into sudden or unexpected death. Materials and methods PCR testing for RHDV2 and RHDV1 was performed on rabbit liver samples at two laboratories. Laboratory A reported results as positive or negative; Laboratory B reported results quantitatively as RNA copies per mg liver, categorised as negative, inconclusive or positive. The vaccination status of rabbits with both histopathological features of rabbit haemorrhagic disease and positive PCR test results were collated. Results PCR results matched histopathological findings in 188 of 195 (96%) cases. Seven individuals showed equivocal results, all of which had histopathological features of RHD but three tested PCR-negative and four results conflicted between laboratories. RHDV2 was the serotype detected in all PCR-positive cases. Histological features of rabbit haemorrhagic disease and PCR test results were positive in 125 rabbits; 51 unvaccinated, 56 in-date with Nobivac Myxo-RHD and 13 vaccinated against RHDV2 - although nine of these were vaccinated within 10 days of death. Clinical significance PCR testing complements histopathology in cases of sudden death in rabbits by confirming the diagnosis and identifying virus serotype, but there can be false negatives. Although RHDV2 is currently prevalent in UK pet rabbits, vaccination against both RHDV1 and RHDV2 is recommended. Failures of RHDV2 vaccine are infrequent.

Objectives To report clinical features, gross post mortem and histopathological findings from an investigation into sudden or unexpected death in rabbits that was undertaken during an outbreak of rabbit haemorrhagic disease. Materials and methods Using a standard protocol, veterinarians were invited to submit case histories and results of their post mortem examination of pet rabbits that died unexpectedly. Histopathological examination of heart, lungs, liver, spleen and kidney samples was collated with macroscopic appearance and clinical details. Results Hepatocellular necrosis, characteristic of rabbit haemorrhagic disease, was observed in 185 of 300 (62%) submissions, often accompanied by glomerular thrombosis and changes in other organs. Evidence of rabbit haemorrhagic disease was not apparent on histopathology in 113 of 300 (38%) rabbits. Gross post mortem examination by veterinary practitioners did not always reflect reported histopathological changes. No macroscopic abnormalities were seen in 78/185 (42%) of rabbit haemorrhagic disease cases. Rapid death and death of other rabbits in the household were common features of rabbit haemorrhagic disease. Ante mortem clinical signs included anorexia, collapse, lethargy, seizures, icterus, bleeding from the mouth, dyspnoea, hypothermia, pyrexia, bradycardia or poor blood clotting. Clinical importance Rabbit haemorrhagic disease can be suspected from a history of sudden death, especially if multiple rabbits are affected. There is not always macroscopic evidence of the disease but histopathology is useful to support or refute a diagnosis of rabbit haemorrhagic disease and provide information about other causes of death.

2Naphthalene sulfonate (2NS) is an intermediate compound used in textile industries. Being nonbiodegradable, the concerns regarding its biotoxicity have risen. In the present investigation the toxic effects of 2NS were analyzed with the help of Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR), which was used to monitor changes in the vibrational modes of functional groups within the biomolecules. After calculating LD 50, one half of LD 50 i.e. 0.33 mg/15 g b.w. was intraperitoneally administrated and the brain tissue was collected for investigation after 96 h of exposure. The spectra observed revealed the significant differences in absorbance and areas between control and treated groups reflecting the change in proteins, lipids and nucleic acid due to toxicity induced by 2NS. In addition, protein secondary structure analysis was focused in this study, which reveals alterations in α helix and β sheet structure after 2NS intoxication. Histopathology of brain was also studied, which reveals changes in the histology of brain in group treated with 2NS. In conclusion, the study highlighted the application of ATR-FTIR and histopathology for toxicity assessment.

For the validation of optical diagnostic technologies, experimental results need to be benchmarked against the gold standard. Currently, the gold standard for tissue characterization is assessment of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained sections by a pathologist. When processing tissue into H&E sections, the shape of the tissue deforms with respect to the initial shape when it was optically measured. We demonstrate the importance of accounting for these tissue deformations when correlating optical measurement with routinely acquired histopathology. We propose a method to register the tissue in the H&E sections to the optical measurements, which corrects for these tissue deformations. We compare the registered H&E sections to H&E sections that were registered with an algorithm that does not account for tissue deformations by evaluating both the shape and the composition of the tissue and using microcomputer tomography data as an independent measure. The proposed method, which did account for tissue deformations, was more accurate than the method that did not account for tissue deformations. These results emphasize the need for a registration method that accounts for tissue deformations, such as the method presented in this study, which can aid in validating optical techniques for clinical use. (C) The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License.

The progression of equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis (EOTRH) has not been completely evaluated, and currently, the only effective treatment is extraction of severely affected teeth. We aim to describe how the disease relates to the history and clinical findings and to report on the outcome in individual horses. This case series comprises data collected from 20 horses (age 14-29 years old) with radiographic findings of EOTRH in their incisor and/or canine teeth. Most horses affected with EOTRH in this study were admitted for dental problems, but some for other complaints such as colic. Of the 288 teeth evaluated radiographically, 224 teeth were abnormal. Radiographic findings were most frequently located in the apical aspect and reserve crown of the teeth, and lesions were also commonly found in clinically normal teeth. Histopathology of extracted teeth showed inflammation in the periodontal ligament and revealed that resorption often extended to the dentine. Some owners were unwilling to allow extraction of their horses' severely affected teeth, even though this treatment has been shown to increase the wellbeing of the horse. As EORTH is a life-long condition, the progression of the disease has to be continuously monitored and the treatments adjusted accordingly.

Glioma is one of the most refractory types of brain tumor. Accurate tumor boundary identification and complete resection of the tumor are essential for glioma removal during brain surgery. We present a method based on visible resonance Raman (VRR) spectroscopy to identify glioma margins and grades. A set of diagnostic spectral biomarkers features are presented based on tissue composition changes revealed by VRR. The Raman spectra include molecular vibrational fingerprints of carotenoids, tryptophan, amide I/II/III, proteins, and lipids. These basic in situ spectral biomarkers are used to identify the tissue from the interface between brain cancer and normal tissue and to evaluate glioma grades. The VRR spectra are also analyzed using principal component analysis for dimension reduction and feature detection and support vector machine for classification. The cross-validated sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy are found to be 100%, 96.3%, and 99.6% to distinguish glioma tissues from normal brain tissues, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the classification is about 1.0. The accuracies to distinguish normal, low grade (grades I and II), and high grade (grades III and IV) gliomas are found to be 96.3%, 53.7%, and 84.1% for the three groups, respectively, along with a total accuracy of 75.1%. A set of criteria for differentiating normal human brain tissues from normal control tissues is proposed and used to identify brain cancer margins, yielding a diagnostic sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 71%. Our study demonstrates the potential of VRR as a label-free optical molecular histopathology method used for in situ boundary line judgment for brain surgery in the margins.

We propose a new intrinsic cancer marker in fixed tissue biopsy slides, which is based on the local spatial autocorrelation length obtained from quantitative phase images. The spatial autocorrelation length in a small region of the tissue phase image is sensitive to the nanoscale cellular morphological alterations and can hence inform on carcinogenesis. Therefore, this metric can potentially be used as an intrinsic cancer marker in histopathology. Typically, these correlation length maps are calculated by computing 2D Fourier transforms over image sub-regions – requiring long computational times. In this paper, we propose a more time efficient method of computing the correlation map and demonstrate its value for diagnosis of benign and malignant breast tissues. Our methodology is based on highly sensitive quantitative phase imaging data obtained by spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM).

Two pronounced absorption peaks in blue and red ranges of the chlorin-based photosensitizer (PS) absorption spectrum provide additional benefits in photodynamic therapy (PDT) performance. Differing optical properties of biological tissues in these ranges allow for both dual-wavelength diagnostics and PDT performance. We provide a comparative analysis of different PDT regimes performed with blue and red lights and their combination, with doses varying from 50 to 150 J/cm2. The study was performed on the intact skin of a rabbit ear inner surface, with the use of chlorin e6 as a PS. PDT procedure protocol included monitoring of the treated site with fluorescence imaging technique to evaluate PS accumulation and photobleaching, as well as with optical coherence tomography (OCT) to register morphological and functional responses of the tissue. Optical diagnostic observations were compared with the results of histopathology examination. We demonstrated that PDT procedures with the considered regimes induce weaker organism reaction manifested by edema in normal tissue as compared to irradiation-only exposures with the same light doses. The light doses delivered with red light induce weaker tissue reaction as compared to the same doses delivered with blue light only or with a combination of red and blue lights in equal parts. Results of in-vivo OCT monitoring of tissue reaction are in agreement with the results of histopathology study.

Stranded California sea lions considered unable to survive in the wild are often placed in public display facilities. Exposure to the biotoxin domoic acid (DA) is a common cause of stranding, and chronic effects are observed long after initial exposure. Medical records for 171 sea lions placed in US institutions between 2000 and 2016 were reviewed, including results from clinical examinations, histopathology, behavioural testing and advanced imaging. There was a statistically significant increase in neurological disease detected in neonates (24%) compared with other age classes (11%). Sixty per cent of all neurological cases died during the study period. In the 11 neurological neonate cases, six died (55%) and five are still alive with three of five developing epilepsy during placement. Of the six neurological neonate cases that died, one was attributed to DA toxicosis, one to seizures and four to acute unexplained neurological disease. This survey suggests delayed neurological disease can develop in sea lions after stranding as neonates. These data coupled with stranding records and epidemiological data on DA-producing algal blooms suggest further research into effects of neonatal exposure to DA on risk of neurological disease in later life is warranted. California sea lions offer a natural model of DA exposure to study such effects.

The toxicity of bleached Kraft pulp mill effluents (BKME) is usually attributed to chemical compounds which are produced and released throughout various stages of pulp and paper production. The main objective of the present work was to detect sub-lethal responses of goldfish (Carassius auratus) to secondary treated BKME which was treated with Rhizopus oryzae. A total of 96 carps (C. auratus; 11 +/- 3 g) were exposed to different concentrations of the post-treated effluent (0, 1, 10, 25, 50, and 100%), in 28 days semi-static tests. Several biomarkers were then evaluated to assess the toxicological effects: induction of CYP1A (metabolic processes of organic compounds in liver), change in steroid profiles (11-Ketotestosterone, 17beta-estradiol), histopathology of liver and gonads and somatic indices (GSI, HSI) for endocrine disruption and other physiological disturbances. The most significant results show an induction of CYP1A in both sexes and a decrease of 17beta-estradiol concentrations in females. Histopathological changes such as liver tissue degeneration were observed in fish exposed to 50 and 100% of the BKME. Although the BKME was biologically treated there are some chemical compounds in the effluent that are capable to affect fish physiology, however, a clear evidence for endocrine disruption was not found.

Microscopic analysis of endoscopically obtained tissue samples is important for the diagnosis of several gastrointestinal disorders such as gastritis and chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Histologically disease activity is based on the presence of neutrophilic polymorphonuclear leucocytes in conjunction with epithelial damage. Effective eradication treatment for Helicobacter pylori related gastritis reduces active inflammation rapidly whereas chronic inflammation decreases only slowly. Similar findings have been obtained for IBD. A literature review of clinical drug trials in IBD and the effect of various drugs on the microscopic features of Crohn's disease and immunohistochemistry for different markers was performed. Diagnostic microscopic features and the features characteristic for disease activity vary with time and treatment. The more recently developed drugs used for Crohn's disease can induce mucosal healing.