Pancreatic Choristoma in a Canine Gallbladder.

A 1.5-year-old male Siberian Husky dog was presented with a history of progressive twitching and tetraplegia. The dog was humanely destroyed and at necropsy examination an incidental intramural white lesion measuring 10 × 15 × 5 mm was observed in the gallbladder. Histologically, the mass consisted of pancreatic tissue located in the tunica adventitia of the gallbladder. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the islets of Langerhans were positive for insulin, but negative for glucagon. In addition, the dog had non-suppurative meningoencephalitis associated with canine distemper virus infection. The gallbladder lesion was consistent with pancreatic choristoma and is the first case described in a canine gallbladder.

Pulmonary protective effects of hyberbaric oxygen and N-acetylcysteine treatment in necrotizing pancreatitis.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the protective effect of combining N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and hyberbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment in the lung tissue during acute pancreatitis. Sixty Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into five groups; Group I; Control group (n=12), Group II; pancreatitis group (n=12), Group III; pancreatitis + NAC treatment group (n=12), Group IV; pancreatitis + HBO treatment group (n=12), Group V; pancreatitis + HBO + NAC treatment group (n=12). HBO was applied postoperatively for 5 days, twice a day at 2.5 fold absolute atmospheric pressure for 90 min. Lung tissue was obtained for measuring malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) levels along with histopathological tissue examinations. This study showed that all three treated groups (HBO alone, NAC alone and combined HBO+NAC treatment) had pulmonary protective effects during acute necrotizing pancreatitis.

Protective effect of verapamil on renal tissue during shockwave application in rabbit model.

Although extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) is the treatment of choice for symptomatic urinary calculi, it has been shown in number of studies that adverse effects of high-energy shockwaves may be encountered in short- and long-term follow-up. To evaluate the possible protective effect of verapamil administration on renal tissue, both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histopathologic examination were performed after SWL in rabbits. Thirty-five animals were divided into three groups. The 15 animals in the first group were fed verapamil (0.1 mg/kg) for 3 days. Another 15 animals received no medication but underwent SWL, and the remaining 5 animals received anesthesia alone (sham group). The animals were then subdivided into three groups according to the shockwave number applied (1000, 15,000, or 2000) and the aforementioned evaluations were performed 24 hours and 3 months after the procedure. We found prominent histopathologic alterations in animals not receiving any medication before SWL. Persistence of these pathologic alterations during 3 months of follow-up indicated the importance of preservation of renal architecture during high-energy shockwave application. On the other hand, animals under verapamil medication prior to SWL demonstrated only a limited degree of histopathologic alteration. Demonstration of a normal histologic pattern after 3 months supported the preservation of tissue structure by such medication. No significant histopathologic alteration could be observed in the sham-group animals, as expected. Our study demonstrates that verapamil is protective against shockwave-induced renal tubular damage. Such medications may be useful to avoid the proven histopathologic and functional side effects of high-energy shockwaves.

Histopathologic effects of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy on rabbit kidney.

Despite the widespread clinical use of the lithotriptor, the margin of safety for the kidney during shock wave application is substantially unknown. Although a series of pilot studies have been performed in laboratory animals, long-term follow-up is mandatory to establish the effect of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and subsequent dose-dependent changes on the kidneys. An experimental study was performed in 45 rabbits; to define and compare the early and late complications of ESWL in the kidneys. The rabbits were divided into three groups of 15 animals each that received 1000, 1500 or 3000 shock waves respectively at 15-20 kV. The rabbits in each group were killed and necropsy performed within 24 h for the first 5 animals, 1 week for the second 5 animals and 2 months post-ESWL for the last 5 animals. Dose-dependent moderate damage (subcapsular hemorrhage, interstitial hemorrhage, capsular tension and perirenal hemorrhage) were noted in all kidneys at 24 h after treatment. Evidence of permanent changes (some fibrosis, tubular and glomerular damage, chronic inflammatory alterations) was noted in long-term follow up. Complete necrosis of the treated kidney was not encountered in this study.

Chronic effects of cadmium on kidney, liver, testis, and fertility of male rats.

Male Wistar rats (n:20), at 5 wk of age, were given cadmium in drinking water (10 mg/L water) for 52 wk; 8 males and 20 female rats, as controls, were given tap water. At the end of 28 and 40 wk, some of the cadmium-treated males and control group male rats were sacrificed for the histopathological examination of testis, kidney, and liver. At the end of 56 wk, histopathological examinations were performed in the same way. Liver, kidney, and testis cadmium levels were also determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. All the cadmium-treated male rats showed pathological testicular alterations, and liver and kidney damage after chronic exposure. Cadmium levels were found to be highest in the kidney (1.009 +/- 0.034 microgram/g wet tissue in the infertile group). At the end of the 52-wk period, reproductive capacity of the cadmium-treated rats was investigated and was found to be lost in 39.89% of the animals.