ABSTRACT
Canine cutaneous histiocytoma (CCH) is a common, benign neoplastic proliferation of histiocytes of Langerhans cell origin that often ulcerate, become secondarily infected and regress spontaneously. Bartonella is a fastidious genus of facultative intracellular pathogens that can be transmitted through arthropod bites and epidermal animal scratches and has been identified previously in the cytoplasm of histiocytes within granulomatous lesions and in skin biopsy samples of inflammatory pustules and papules. Based on the established inflammatory and oncogenic properties of Bartonella, we hypothesized that Bartonella spp. DNA could be amplified from CCH more often than from non-lesional skin and bacteria could be localized within skin tumours using indirect immunofluorescence (IIF). Paraffin wax-embedded surgical biopsy samples from dogs with CCH and non-neoplastic skin adjacent to osteosarcomas (control group selected due to wide surgical margins) were retrieved from the archive of the pathology service of North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. DNA was extracted and regions of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the pap31 and gltA genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using Bartonella-specific primers. IIF was performed using a primary Bartonella henselae monoclonal antibody to localize B. henselae in tissues of PCR-positive dogs. Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii was amplified from 1/17 (5.8%) control tissues and B. henselae was amplified from 4/29 (13.8%) CCH tissues. The prevalence of B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii (P = 0.37) or B. henselae (P = 0.28) did not vary statistically between study groups. B. henselae could be visualized in 2/4 (50.0%) CCH tissues using IIF. Based on this study, Bartonella spp. are unlikely to cause CCH.
Subject(s)
Bartonella Infections/veterinary , Dog Diseases/microbiology , Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous/veterinary , Skin Neoplasms/veterinary , Animals , Bartonella Infections/complications , Bartonella Infections/epidemiology , Dogs , Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous/microbiology , Prevalence , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Skin Neoplasms/microbiologyABSTRACT
28 yr old male presented with asymptomatic nodules and few well to ill defined papules on ears, asymmetrical nerve enlargement and evanescent tender nodules on the extremities without any infiltration of the skin and madarosis. Slit skin smear done from normal skin was BI 6+. Skin biopsy showed features of lepromatous leprosy.
Subject(s)
Leprosy, Lepromatous/diagnosis , Adult , Arm/microbiology , Arm/pathology , Ear, External/microbiology , Ear, External/pathology , Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous/microbiology , Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous/pathology , Histocytochemistry , Humans , Male , Skin/microbiology , Skin/pathologyABSTRACT
Our experiments were concerned with formation of antitumor cross-resistance by Trichinella spiralis infection in rats. Prophylactic infection was followed by an insignificant decrease in the number of 3,4-benzpyrene-induced malignant fibrous histiocytoma. It also inhibited mammary gland cancer induced by 7,12-dimethylbenzo(a)anthracene. No significant influence on the formation of fibroadenomas as a side effect was reported.
