Proceedings of the 2018 National Toxicology Program Satellite Symposium.

The 2018 annual National Toxicology Program Satellite Symposium, entitled "Pathology Potpourri," was held in Indianapolis, Indiana, at the Society of Toxicologic Pathology's 37th annual meeting. The goal of this symposium was to present and discuss challenging diagnostic pathology and/or nomenclature issues. This article presents summaries of the speakers' talks along with select images that were used by the audience for voting and discussion. Various lesions and other topics covered during the symposium included seminiferous tubule dysgenesis in rats, ameloblast and odontoblast degeneration/necrosis in a Sprague Dawley rat, intestinal leiomyositis in a beagle dog, gallbladder mucinous hyperplasia, focus of hepatocellular alteration and bile duct alteration in otters, renal tubule cytoplasmic vacuolation with basophilic granules in mice treated swith antisense oligonucleotide therapy, a uterine choriocarcinoma in a rhesus macaque, and rete ovarii proliferative ovarian lesions in various aged rat strains. One particularly provocative lesion was a malignant neoplastic proliferation in the renal pelvic region of a cynomolgus macaque from a 21-day study. Additional challenging lesions included thyroid proliferative lesions in zebra fish and gross findings in fish larvae during routine chemical screening. The Rabbit and Minipig International Harmonization of Nomenclature and Diagnostic Criteria Organ Working Groups also presented a series of challenging lesions.

Assessment of the in vivo genotoxicity of isomers of dinitrotoluene using the alkaline Comet and peripheral blood micronucleus assays.

Dinitrotoluene (DNT) is a nitroaromatic explosive that exists as six isomers; two major isomers (2,4- and 2,6-DNT) and four minor isomers (2,3-, 2,5-, 3,4-, and 3,5-DNT). DNT has been found in soil, surface water, and groundwater near ammunition production plants. The major isomers of DNT are classified as "likely to cause cancer in humans."In vitro studies have provided conflicting data regarding the genotoxicity of the minor isomers. Studies indicate that metabolism in the gut and liver are necessary to convert DNT to genotoxic compounds. As such, in the present study the genotoxicity of isomers of DNT was assessed using two in vivo genotoxicity assays. The Comet assay was used to detect DNA damage in liver cells from male Sprague-Dawley rats following oral exposure (14-day) to individual isomers of DNT. The micronucleus assay was conducted using flow cytometric analysis to detect chromosomal damage in peripheral blood. Treatment with 2,3-, 3,4-, 2,4-, 2,5- and 3,5-DNT did not induce DNA damage in liver cells or increase the frequency of micronucleated reticulocytes (MN-RET) in peripheral blood at the doses tested. Treatment with 2,6-DNT induced DNA damage in liver tissue at all doses tested, but did not increase the frequency of micronucleated reticulocytes (MN-RET) in peripheral blood. Thus, 2,4-DNT and the minor isomers were not genotoxic under these test conditions, while 2,6-DNT was genotoxic in the target tissue, the liver. These results support previous research which indicated that the hepatocarcinogenicity of technical grade DNT (TG-DNT) could be attributed to the 2,6-DNT isomer.

Myxomatous neoplasms in the perineal region of baboons.

BACKGROUND: In baboons, Papio sp. neoplasms tend to affect the hematopoietic system most commonly, with rare documentation of myxomatous neoplasms. In contrast, women can develop myxomatous masses within deep peripelvic tissues with some frequency during their reproductive years. METHODS: We have identified and examined, retrospectively, myxomatous perineal masses in twelve female baboons within one research facility and compared their histopathologic, immunohistochemical and electron microscopic features to their human variants. RESULTS: Our results indicate that these myxomatous neoplasms, in humans and non-human primates, share common features. CONCLUSION: Further research, particularly molecular genetic analysis, may be needed to identify the baboon as a true animal model for myxomatous perineal neoplasms.