Evaluation of Rat Brain Morphology Following the Induction of Acute Meningitis Treated with Ceftriaxone.

The soft and delicate tissue of the brain, which is the center of our coordination, is protected by its surrounding layers. The disruption of these layers results in complicated situations and serious health problems. The brain has three protective layers of bone or skull tissue, the blood tissue layer, and finally the meningeal layer. The layer of blood tissue contains the blood vessels that are located between the skull and the meningeal membranes. If germs or foreign matter enter the fluid through the blood vessels under any circumstances and cause infection, the bones that protect the meninges will break and cause tissue damage. The present study aimed to assess the histological and immunohistochemical characteristics of the brain of rats that underwent induced acute purulent pneumococcal meningitis after antibiotic therapy with Ceftriaxone. A number of 20 white adult male Wistar rats were assigned to three groups. The first group (n=5) regarded as the control were injected with a saline solution into the subarachnoid space in an equivalent amount. The second and third groups of rats (n=5 and 10, respectively) were infected with acute purulent meningitis by the injection of 10 µl of Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumonia) suspension into the subarachnoid space of the brain using a 23-G needle. The various areas of the brains of rats after meningitis induced by S. pneumoniae were examined after the treatment with Ceftriaxone. The S. pneumoniae culture was injected into the subarachnoid space in the area of the rhomboid fossa. Treatment started 18 h after the injection. On day 10, a repeated puncture was performed with the analysis of cerebrospinal fluid in order to confirm the absence of meningitis; thereafter, the animals were taken out of the experiment. No signs of meningitis were found on histological examination. Mild perivascular and pericellular focal edema were revealed with signs of overload of the lymphatic system in the brain and focal ischemic changes in neurons. The investigation of expression with caspase-3 revealed a positive reaction of individual neurons. A positive reaction with antibodies to NeuN and Doublecortin was detected in most neurons; moreover, Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes and their processes were visualized in all layers of the brain substance. The reaction with neuron-specific enolase (NSE), microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP-2), CD 31, and CD 34 was negative. Typical structure and pictures pointed to an intact brain and purulent meningitis in the first and second groups. The microscopic image and the changes revealed during immunohistochemistry by dual corticosteroid antibodies and neuronal nuclear protein were characterized by predominantly cytoplasmic and perinuclear reactions, respectively. Some neurons are positive for caspase-3 and are related to changes in the characteristic of premature aging.

[Primary uterine cervix melanoma]. / Pervichnaia melanoma sheiki matki.

The purpose of this paper is to present a rare clinical case of primary uterine cervix melanoma. Clinical data and histological specimens were a material for this investigation. The paper describes a case of primary uterine cervix melanoma in a 47-year-old patient who visited a gynecologist for contact bleeding from the genital tract. Squamous cell carcinoma was diagnosed by primary biopsy. Histologically, this tumor was referred to as a mixed tumor: there were large cell fields with epithelioid morphology and high mitotic activity among the small cell component. No pigment was detected. Immunohistochemical examination revealed the pronounced cytoplasmic expression of S-100 and a melanocytic cocktail (HMB-45 + tyrosinase + MelanA), a negative reaction in the tumor cells with smooth muscle actin and desmin and a positive reaction in the preserved myocytes, and the expression of cytokeratin AE1/AE3 exclusively in the non-keratinized surface stratified squamous epithelium. Primary epithelioid amelanotic melanoma was diagnosed.

[Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor with perineural differentiation (malignant perineurinoma) of the cervix uteri].

The paper describes a case of a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor with perineural differentiation and at the rare site of the cervix uteri in a 57-year-old patient. The diagnosis was established on the basis of extensive immunohistochemical examination, by excluding the similar neoplasms and detecting an immunophenotype characteristic of perineural differentiation. There are data available in the literature on the morphological and immunophenotypical characteristics of this tumor.

[Histiocytic sarcoma of the stomach].

The paper describes a case of gastric histiocytic sarcoma in a 70 year-old man, which was diagnosed from immunohistochemical examination of biopsy and surgical specimens. It gives the data available in the literature on the morphological features of this rare cancer and its diagnostic criteria.