A case of suspected lysosomal storage disease in a neonatal Japanese black calf.

A 5-day-old Japanese black calf was necropsied and intracytoplasmic vacuolations were histologically observed in many tissues. In the central nervous system, intracytoplasmic inclusions and vacuoles were found in neuronal cells. Intracytoplasmic inclusions were more conspicuous in the nuclei containing large nerve cells, especially in the brain stem and spinal cord. These inclusions were stained weak positive to positive with alcian blue, Giemsa, Luxol fast blue and periodic acid-Schiff stains but not with oil red O. Ultrastructurally, neuronal inclusions were observed in lysosomes and consisted of an amorphous electron-dense substance and occasional membranous structures. These findings seem to differ from the cases of bovine lysosomal diseases that have been reported, and this case may be another type of lysosomal storage disease.

Malignant histiocytosis in cattle.

Malignant histiocytosis was diagnosed in 4 cows. In all cases the tumor tissues were composed of cytologically atypical histiocytes with evidence of erythrophagocytosis. The tumor in case 1 appeared highly anaplastic with marked nuclear pleomorphism, and had areas of spindle cell differentiation, but had no relation to malignant fibrous histiocytoma. The neoplastic tissue in case 2, characterized by cohesive growth of tumor cells, was distinguishable from anaplastic carcinoma cells by cytokeratin immunostaining. There were many hemosiderin-laden neoplastic cells suggestive of high phagocytic activity in a lymph node of case 3. The neoplastic cells in case 4, frequently multinucleated, were less atypical than in the other cases. All cases expressed histiocyte-associated markers (lysozyme and HAM56), and were negative for cytokeratin, S100, and T- and B-cell lineage-specific markers (CD3 and CD79a). The most frequent HAM56 immunoreactivity was detected in case 4, and the giant, multinucleated forms, reminiscent of epithelioid cell differentiation. seemed not to indicate cytological pleomorphism as a result of neoplastic transformation.

Thymic carcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation in a calf.

A neuroendocrine carcinoma originating in the thymus was found in a 7-month-old, castrated male, Japanese Black calf. The neoplasm consisted largely of very primitive cells, characterized by the paucity of cytoplasmic organelles, but a few cells were immunoreactive for somatostatin or neurofilaments. The expression of both cytokeratin and neurofilament protein was a feature of neuroendocrine differentiation. This neoplasm considered to be a tumor of a thymic stem cell, with little but indubitable evidence of differentiation into somatostatin-producing cells.

Sclerosing stromal tumour in a cow.

A case of sclerosing stromal tumour in an 8-year-old cow is described. The left ovary was entirely replaced by neoplastic tissue, whose features were pseudolobulation of cellular areas, intercellular oedema and calcified plaques. The neoplastic cells varied in morphology and were similar to ovarian stromal cells, theca cells or lutein cells. Immunohistochemically, S-100 protein, oestradiol and testosterone were detected in theca-like or luteinized cells, some of which had ultrastructural features suggestive of steroid hormone synthesis. In contrast, desmin and actin characterized slender spindle cells. This is the first report of a sclerosing stromal tumour in cattle.

An ultrastructural study of vulval myofibroblastoma in a cow.

A case of myofibroblastoma in a 3-year-old Japanese Black cow is described. Raised tumours which formed in the anus and in the labium and vestibulum of the vulva during pregnancy were excised surgically. The latter two tumours had dense growth of slender spindle cells beneath the epithelium, and fibrous connective tissue at the periphery. The anal tumour consisted of abundant collagen and sparse numbers of spindle cells. Proliferating cells contained moderate amounts of thin filaments with focal densities as well as well-developed rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus, and desmosome-like structures were found between the cells. These cells were distinguishable from leiomyoma cells containing abundant thin filaments and poorly-developed organelles. In the neoplastic lesions, there was an infiltration of many lymphocytes, plasma cells and macrophages.

[An injection-corrosion study on the angioarchitecture of rat skin].

The angioarchitecture of the skin in the SD strain rat was investigated by scanning electron microscopy using resin cast. The neck part of rat skin was composed of 3 layers of vascular networks: the first layer (superficial layer), the second layer (middle layer), and the third layer (deep layer). Two types of capillary architectures were present around the hair follicle: small architectures composed of random network and large architectures composed of 3 parts distinguished by the construction of network. The large architecture, the capillary of hair papilla and the capillary network of sebaceous gland was thought to compose one circulation unit. The afferent vessels into such units branched from Kandelaberarterie-Petersen occurring from the 3rd layer, ascended to the 2nd layer, then descended to the bottom of the network and composed the capillary architecture. There were 2 types of efferent vessels from such circulation unit. They occurred from superficial and deep part, respectively, of the vascular architecture around the hair follicle and descended straight to the 3rd layer. The presence of straight vessels between the 2 nd and 3 rd layer, and the simple arrangement of vascular layers were thought to be characteristic of the angioarchitecture of the rat skin.