Role of vitamin c as an antioxidant in cadmium chloride induced testicular damage.

Cadmium is one of the most toxic heavy metals and potential for human exposure has generally increased with increase in industrial usage of this element. The purpose of the present study was to determine anti-oxidative role of vitamin C against cadmium chloride induced oxidative stress on rat testis. Adult male rats(n=6/group) were divided into five groups ,one control (Gr.I- 0.9% Saline treated) & two untreated experimental & two pretreated experimental groups. The untreated groups were injected with single dose of 0.5 & 1 mg /kg bw cadmium chloride (Gr.II &Gr.III) intraperitoneally. Vitamin C (30mg/kg bw,ip) was orally administered for 30 days prior to the exposure to 0.5 and 1mg/kg bw(Gr,IIa &Gr.IIIA) of cadmium chloride. In all the groups, rats were sacrificed 15 days after the final cadmium chloride or saline administration and the changes in the testicular weight and testicular level of Melonaldehyde , glutathione & superoxide dismutase were studied. Exposure to cadmium chloride lead to significant decrease in the testicular weight& level of GSH & SOD and increase in the level of testicular MDA compared to normal control. Pretreatment with vitamin C (30mg/kg bw) significantly prevented the increase in MDA level of the testis & ameliorated the fall in GSH & SOD as well as testicular weight compared to 0.5mg/kg bw cadmium chloride group. But pretreatment with vitamin C did not show any beneficial effect with 1mg/kg bw cadmium treated group. The study reports the antioxidative role of vitamin C in ameliorating lower doses of cadmium chloride induced testicular damage.

Comparative study of peripheral blood smear, quantitative buffy coat and modified centrifuged blood smear in malaria diagnosis.

The present study was aimed at modifying the centrifuged blood smear (modified centrifuged blood smear or MCBS), to make it a feasible and standardized procedure. The results obtained were compared with the current diagnostic methods - peripheral blood smear (PBS) and quantitative buffy coat (QBC). Blood samples collected from 100 suspected malaria patients were subjected to all three tests. It was found that PBS had 86.79% sensitivity and was absolutely specific. QBC was 96.22% sensitive and 93.61% specific. The majority of variations occurred in PBS negative cases; cases with parasite count Plasmodium falciparum. It was seen that by the addition of centrifugation to the conventional smear technique (MCBS) improved its sensitivity from 86.79% to near 100%. QBC and MCBS were found superior to PBS. Since MCBS combines principles of both QBC and PBS, it is as sensitive as QBC, as specific as PBS, and above all, easily performed and affordable.

Placental pathology in pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) with or without intrauterine growth retardation.

The foetus, placenta and mother form a composite triad of dynamic equilibrium, and dysfunction of any one of them can affect the others. The aim of the present study was to appreciate qualitatively and to assess quantitatively the pathological features of placentas associated with pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) with and without intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) & also IUGR placentas without PIH and to compare them with the normal placentas and to evolve plausible explanation for the outcomes of PIH and IUGR. The study evaluated 40, 51, 58 placentas of PIH with IUGR (category I), PIH without IUGR (category II), IUGR without PIH (category III) respectively and compared them with 118 normal placentas. The basic conclusions of the study were that PIH is common among primigravida and probably the main factor in the genesis of IUGR and reduced placental weight. There was a high prevalence of inflammation, infarction, ischemia, intervillous hemorrhage, and syncytial knots in PIH with IUGR placentas as also in PIH without IUGR (category II) and IUGR without PIH (category III) placentas. Acute atherosis was a characteristic finding of PIH placentas (both category I & II).

Endometrial aspiration cytology in dysfunctional uterine bleeding.

Aspiration cytology is a safe simple and reliable technique without any complication This can be used as a safe and reliable out patient procedure with minimum discomfort to the patient. The use of a cannula as a device for endometrial aspiration provides adequate material for cytological examination. So the present study was undertaken, to assess the ease of collection of endometrial material and to assess the relative compatibility of aspiration cytology and histopathology.

Primary pulmonary Hodgkin's disease: a distinct entity.

A 30-year-old lady presented with fever, dry cough and weight loss for the preceding five months. Radiological investigations revealed a solitary nodular lesion in the lingula of the left lung. Guided fine needle aspiration cytology failed to yield any diagnostic material. Bronchoscopic cytology was also not contributory. As a last resort open lung biopsy was done and a diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease was made. Hilar and pre aortic lymph node biopsies showed only reactive change. The final diagnosis was primary pulmonary Hodgkin's disease.

Fibrosarcomatous Bednar tumor with distant metastases--a case report.

In July 1994, a 27 year-old man presented with a twice recurrent, pigmented tumor on his left wrist. Wide excision and histological examination showed a pigmented dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (PDFSP) or Bednar tumor with foci of fibrosarcomatous (FS) change. Immunohistochemistry helped to distinguish it from cellular blue nevus and malignant melanoma. In January 1997, he presented with 3 swellings on his thighs which showed features of fibrosarcoma. In March 1998, he developed multiple tumors on his thighs, chest wall, supraclavicular region, parapharyngeal region and two lung nodules. To the best of our knowledge, there are only 3 previously published reports of metastases in patients with Bednar tumor. We present the fourth such case.

Reed-Sternberg-like cells in T-cell rich B-cell lymphoma: a diagnostic dilemma.

T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma (TCRBCL) is a recently described variant of diffuse Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) which requires immunohistochemical analysis for its recognition. Striking similarities exist between TCRBCL and lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin's Disease (LPHD) due to the presence of Reed-Sternberg (R-S) like cells. Hence, the need for distinction between the two is of utmost importance from a prognostic and therapeutic stand point. The present study describes a case of TCRBCL, misdiagnosed as Hodgkin's Disease (HD) on fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology. However, immunostaining of paraffin embedded sections corrected the cytological diagnosis.

Fine Needle Aspiration cytology versus Fine Needle Sampling without aspiration. A prospective study of 200 cases.

In the present prospective study of 200 patients with superficial swelling of various sites, FNS followed by FNA were performed. Fifteen cases were excluded due to inadequate material. In the 80 lymph node cases, FNS was diagnostic in 85% cases as compared to FNA in 87.5%. The diagnostic accuracy was higher for FNA (87.5%) than for FNS (81.25%). However FNS smears were much superior qualitatively than FNA smears and for the diagnosis of malignant conditions FNS was found to be much better. Regarding the 68 thyroid swellings, FNS obtained a diagnosis in 82.4% cases while FNA got it in 77.9%. The diagnostic accuracy with FNS (89%) was much better compared to FNA (75%). Of the 27 breast cases FNS yielded diagnostic material in 70.38% cases while FNA was diagnostic in 85.19%, thus establishing definite superiority. However FNS seemed to be better for diagnosing malignant lesions while FNA appeared better for diagnosing benign ones. In the 5 salivary gland lesions and 5 miscellaneous lesions both FNS and FNA fared equally well. On the whole FNS technique was much more patient friendly and gave high class "text book" quality smears while FNA smears gave quantitatively more adequate material. Both the techniques therefore would be complementary to each other.

Eruptive collagenoma.

A case of eruptive collagenoma in a male is being reported. He presented with asymptomatic nodules and plaques over the trunk, upper extremity and face of 15 years duration. Family history was negative. Histopathology with H & E stain followed by Verhoeff van Gieson's staining revealed increased collagen in dermis confirming the diagnosis of eruptive collagenoma. Patient also had Beckers naevus.

FNAC diagnosis of mucinous carcinoma of male breast--a case report.

Mucinous carcinoma of the male breast is a very rare tumour. So far only about 8 cases have been reported in the literature most of which were diagnosed after surgical resection. Fine-needles aspiration biopsy even though a well established procedure for the evaluation of breast masses in female there are only occasional reports of aspirates form male breast masses. We herein-present one case of mucinous carcinoma of breast in a 65 year old male diagnosed by fine needle and confirmed by histopathology.

Effect of N-2-mercaptopropionylglycine in limiting myocardial reperfusion injury following 90 minutes of ischemia in dogs.

Present study was designed to examine the effectiveness of N-2-mercaptopropionyl glycine (MPG) on oxygen free radical (OFR) mediated reperfusion injury. Twenty dogs underwent 90 min of left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery occlusion followed by 4 h of reperfusion. In control animals (n = 12), 115 ml of saline was infused through left atrium at the onset of reperfusion whereas treated animals (n = 8) received loading dose of MPG (40 mg/kg) infused through left atrium for 1 h followed by maintenance dose (25 mg/kg) for remaining 3 hours. Percentage area of necrosis vis-a-vis area at risk and percentage necrosis in left ventricular mass in MPG treated animals was significantly lower in comparison to control animals. Reperfusion in control group increased the lipid peroxidation and lowered glutathione (GSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. MPG treatment significantly lowered the lipid peroxidation whereas GSH and SOD levels in necrotic zone were higher than in control. The above results suggest that MPG can offer a significant cardioprotection against oxidative stress in canine model.

Primary papillary carcinoma in a thyroglossal duct cyst.

A rare case of primary thyroid papillary carcinoma arising in a thyroglossal duct cyst occuring in a 46 year old man is reported. The diagnosis was not suspected preoperatively. On gross examination of the excised specimen the presence of a papillary tumour in the cystic mass suggested the diagnosis which was proved histopathologically. The thyroid gland was normal on physical examination and scintigram thus ruling out the possibility of metastasis from a primary tumour in the thyroid gland.

FNAC diagnosis of tuberculosis--an eight years study at Mangalore.

1. FNAC is a very useful adjunct in the diagnosis of tuberculosis: 2. Diagnosis of tuberculosis can be made by the demonstration of epithelioid granulomas with or without caseation even in the absence of AFB. 3. Necrotic features whether acellular or accompanied by neutrophilic infiltrate are usually misdiagnosed as suppurative abscesses. Such smears however show high AFB positivity and thus the diagnosis of tuberculosis is still possible even in the absence of epithelioid granulomas. 4. Therefore all smears obtained by FNAC of suspected tuberculous lesions should be subjected to ZN staining for AFB.

Mast cell profile in prostatic lesions.

Mast cell profile in common prostatic lesions was analysed in this study. 17B consecutive prostatic biopsy specimens specimens were categorised broadly into nodular hyperplasia without prostatitis (101), nodular heperplasia with prostatitis (50, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (2) and adenocarcinoma (25). Toluidine blue stain (0.1%) was used to demonstrate the mast cells and their count was expressed per square millimeter. Mast cell count was significantly higher in the fibromuscular stroma when compared to the glandular areas in nodular hyperplasia (p < .05). The mast cell counts were very significantly lower in inflammatory lesions (p < 0.0001) probably due to degranulation. Absence or a low count was the most significant finding in adenocarcinoma irrespective of the grade of the tumour with concentration of mast cells around the tumour. This study shows the variations in mast cell distribution in commonly encountered prostatic lesions. There is paucity of such studies in the literature and the possible utility of mast cell count to differentiate malignant from benign and atypical conditions needs further evaluation.

FNAC and transabdominal ultrasonography in the diagnosis of prostatomegaly.

Transrectal fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) was performed in 100 cases of prostatomegaly detected by digital rectal examination (DRE). The cytologic findings were compared with histolgic findings of material obtained by transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) in 84 of the cases. In addition, pre-prostatectomy transabdominal ultrasonography was done in 55 of the cases and the findings were compared with cytologic and histologic diagnoses. The accuracy of diagnosis by FNAC for benign lesions and carcinoma of prostate was 98.33% and 81.81% respectively. The accuracy of transabdominal ultrasonography for benign lesions was 91.66% but that for carcinoma was only 38.46%. The technique of transrectal FNAC was found to be simple quick, economical and easy to repeat with high accuracy and was suitable for outpatients.

Silver staining nucleolar organiser region (AgNOR) study in melanocytic skin tumours.

Silver staining nucleolar organiser regions (AgNORs) were studied in 35 cases of melanocytic skin tumours. In the 23 cases of benign melanocytic naevi AgNORs per nucleus were between 1.06 and 3.43 with a mean of 2.05. In the 12 cases of malignant melanoma the AgNORs ranged from 4.26 to 10.66 (mean 7.43). Since statistically significant difference in AgNOR counts between benign and malignant melanocytic skin tumours was noted, this technique may serve as a useful adjunct to routine histopathology.