Glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis in lymphoid organs is associated with a delayed increase in circulating deoxyribonucleic acid.

Pathological processes like cancer, chronic inflammation and autoimmune phenomena, all of which involve massive cell death, are associated with significant increases in circulating DNA. In order to clarify whether massive apoptosis occurring under physiological circumstances also causes DNA release into the circulation, we correlated the time-course of dexamethasone-induced intra thymic cell apoptosis with plasma DNA dynamics in rats. Animals were given 10 mg/l dexamethasone in their drinking water for up to 7 days. Sequential plasma samples were obtained during the treatment and DNA was quantitated by a micro fluorometric assay. Thymus and spleen weight as well as apoptotic cell levels were assessed at different times. Seven days of glucocorticoid treatment reduced thymic and spleen mass by 82 and 31%, respectively. Intra thymic apoptosis was maximal 24 h after the beginning of glucocorticoid treatment, declining markedly by 48 h. Very little apoptosis was observed in the spleen. Plasma DNA increased steadily during the first 4 days of glucocorticoid treatment (11.8 +/- 1.2 microg/ml on day 0; 24.2 +/- 1.6 microg/ml on day 4) beginning to decline afterward. Thymectomy but not splenectomy, drastically reduced the glucocorticoid-induced increase in plasma DNA. It is concluded that hormone-induced massive intra thymic cell death is followed by a delayed release of nucleosomal DNA into the circulation.

[Granular cell tumor of the esophagus. Morphological and immunohistochemical study]. / Tumor de células granulares del esófago. Estudio morfológico e inmunohistoquímico.

Granular cell tumor or Abrikosoff's tumor is an infrequent and usually benign neoplasm which is found predominantly in the head and neck region, especially in the tongue. Its esophageal location is unusual, where most of them present as small, well circumscribed lesions which follow a benign course. Because of its low incidence in this site (less than 200 cases having been reported until 1993), we report two cases of esophageal granular cell tumors, both of them in male patients. CASE 1: A 34 year old patient who presented with epigastralgia, heartburn and abdominal distention. He was treated endoscopically because he had a firm new growth in the lower third of the esophagus measuring 1 cm in diameter. CASE 2: A 50 year old patient who presented with digestive tract haemorrhage (hematemesis and melena) 5 cm above the cardias a submucosal polyp was found of 0.8 cm in its largest diameter. MICROSCOPY: Both cases showed a subepithelially located new growth, composed of polygonal cells with eosinophilic granular cytoplasm, small rounded nuclei, and conspicuous intracytoplasmatic positivity for S100 protein. With these elements we reached the diagnosis of granular cell tumor. The bibliography is reviewed and an update is made of its histopathologic characteristics in addition to histogenetic and clinical considerations.

Tumor de céulas granulares del esófago. Estudio morfológico e imunohistoquímico / Granular cell tumor of the esophagus. Morphological and immunohistochemical study

Granular cell tumor or Abrikosoff's tumor is an infrequent and usually benign neoplasm which is found predominantly in the head and neck region, especially in the tongue. Its esophageal location is unusual, where most of them present as small, well circumscribed lesions which follow a benign course. Because of its low incidence in this site (less than 200 cases having been reported until 1993), we report two cases of esophageal granular cell tumors, both of them in male patients. CASE 1: A 34 year old patient who presented with epigastralgia, heartburn and abdominal distention. He was treated endoscopically because he had a firm new growth in the lower third of the esophagus measuring 1 cm in diameter. CASE 2: A 50 year old patient who presented with digestive tract haemorrhage (hematemesis and melena) 5 cm above the cardias a submucosal polyp was found of 0.8 cm in its largest diameter. MICROSCOPY: Both cases showed a subepithelially located new growth, composed of polygonal cells with eosinophilic granular cytoplasm, small rounded nuclei, and conspicuous intracytoplasmatic positivity for S100 protein. With these elements we reached the diagnosis of granular cell tumor. The bibliography is reviewed and an update is made of its histopathologic characteristics in addition to histogenetic and clinical considerations.

Tumor de céulas granulares del esófago. Estudio morfológico e imunohistoquímico / Granular cell tumor of the esophagus. Morphological and immunohistochemical study

Granular cell tumor or Abrikosoffs tumor is an infrequent and usually benign neoplasm which is found predominantly in the head and neck region, especially in the tongue. Its esophageal location is unusual, where most of them present as small, well circumscribed lesions which follow a benign course. Because of its low incidence in this site (less than 200 cases having been reported until 1993), we report two cases of esophageal granular cell tumors, both of them in male patients. CASE 1: A 34 year old patient who presented with epigastralgia, heartburn and abdominal distention. He was treated endoscopically because he had a firm new growth in the lower third of the esophagus measuring 1 cm in diameter. CASE 2: A 50 year old patient who presented with digestive tract haemorrhage (hematemesis and melena) 5 cm above the cardias a submucosal polyp was found of 0.8 cm in its largest diameter. MICROSCOPY: Both cases showed a subepithelially located new growth, composed of polygonal cells with eosinophilic granular cytoplasm, small rounded nuclei, and conspicuous intracytoplasmatic positivity for S100 protein. With these elements we reached the diagnosis of granular cell tumor. The bibliography is reviewed and an update is made of its histopathologic characteristics in addition to histogenetic and clinical considerations. (AU)

Tumor de células granulares del esófago. Estudio morfológico e inmunohistoquímico. / [Granular cell tumor of the esophagus. Morphological and immunohistochemical study]

Granular cell tumor or Abrikosoffs tumor is an infrequent and usually benign neoplasm which is found predominantly in the head and neck region, especially in the tongue. Its esophageal location is unusual, where most of them present as small, well circumscribed lesions which follow a benign course. Because of its low incidence in this site (less than 200 cases having been reported until 1993), we report two cases of esophageal granular cell tumors, both of them in male patients. CASE 1: A 34 year old patient who presented with epigastralgia, heartburn and abdominal distention. He was treated endoscopically because he had a firm new growth in the lower third of the esophagus measuring 1 cm in diameter. CASE 2: A 50 year old patient who presented with digestive tract haemorrhage (hematemesis and melena) 5 cm above the cardias a submucosal polyp was found of 0.8 cm in its largest diameter. MICROSCOPY: Both cases showed a subepithelially located new growth, composed of polygonal cells with eosinophilic granular cytoplasm, small rounded nuclei, and conspicuous intracytoplasmatic positivity for S100 protein. With these elements we reached the diagnosis of granular cell tumor. The bibliography is reviewed and an update is made of its histopathologic characteristics in addition to histogenetic and clinical considerations.

[Structure and ultrastructure of the endocrine pancreas in diabetic transgenic mice]. / Estructura y ultraestructura del páncreas endocrino de ratones transgénicos diabéticos.

The aim of the present study was to confirm the structural changes and to establish the ultrastructural alterations that occur in the endocrine pancreas of mice with an induced insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) syndrome. For that purpose, we used transgenic mice (OVE 27) that overexpress a calmodulin gene in the beta cells of the endocrine pancreas. In these animals, the excess of calmodulin decreases the cytosolic calcium levels in beta cells, leading to morphological and functional alterations that produce a severe IDDM. Sections of pancreas (tail) from 4 male 5-week-old diabetic mice (glycemia: 376 +/- 2 mg/dl) and from 4 normal age-matched males (glycemia: 113 +/- 13 mg/dl) were processed. Light microscopic immunohistochemical observations confirmed a decrease in the number and size of pancreatic islets in transgenic mice, together with a disruption in their architecture, without an associated inflammatory response. The ultrastructural studies revealed diverse degrees of injury in the beta cells, such as the presence of membrane interdigitations and alterations in their organelles and secretory granules. These findings are in agreement with the quantitative and functional impairment of beta cells, coexisting with a normal appearance of non-beta cell populations within the pancreatic islets. Our results demonstrate the existence of ultrastructural changes in the pancreatic beta cells of the experimental model studied. Such changes, together with the immunohistochemical alterations previously described, contribute to explain the appearance of a diabetic syndrome in these animals.

[Macro-microscopic comparative study of gallbladder lesions in La Plata (Argentina)]. / Estudio comparativo macro-microscópico de las lesiones vesiculares en La Plata (Argentina).

The histogenesis of the gallbladder carcinoma is under controversy Some authors emphasize the polyp-cancer sequence, whereas others relate the adenocarcinoma with metaplastic and dysplastic changes. It is important to examine immediately the characteristics of the mucosa, in order for guidance to the surgeon at the operating room. With the purpose of correlating the macro-microscopic findings of gallbladder lesions, we studied 306 gallbladder specimens extended and fixed in formaline. We considered: Age, sex, lithiasis, dimensions of the specimens and macroscopic patterns of the mucosal surface. Longitudinal samples were taken for histological examination. Two hundred and thirty seven cases corresponded to female sex (77.4%) and 69 to male sex (22.5%) with an average age of 44 years. Among the microscopic findings, we found gastric metaplasia in 43% of the cases, intestinal metaplasia in 10.8%, low grade dysplasia in 11.8% and high grade dysplasia in 1.6%, and 2 cases of clinically unsuspected invasive carcinomas (0.6%). An association between chronic colecistitis, lithiasis and epithelial changes was confirmed, but the relation between each one of the macroscopic patterns proposed and the histological findings is statistically significant only in the cases of atrophy, probably owing to the overlapping of microscopic findings in the different macroscopic patterns.

Estudio comparativo macro-microscópico de las lesiones vesiculares en La Plata (Argentina). / [Macro-microscopic comparative study of gallbladder lesions in La Plata (Argentina)]

The histogenesis of the gallbladder carcinoma is under controversy Some authors emphasize the polyp-cancer sequence, whereas others relate the adenocarcinoma with metaplastic and dysplastic changes. It is important to examine immediately the characteristics of the mucosa, in order for guidance to the surgeon at the operating room. With the purpose of correlating the macro-microscopic findings of gallbladder lesions, we studied 306 gallbladder specimens extended and fixed in formaline. We considered: Age, sex, lithiasis, dimensions of the specimens and macroscopic patterns of the mucosal surface. Longitudinal samples were taken for histological examination. Two hundred and thirty seven cases corresponded to female sex (77.4

) and 69 to male sex (22.5

) with an average age of 44 years. Among the microscopic findings, we found gastric metaplasia in 43

of the cases, intestinal metaplasia in 10.8

, low grade dysplasia in 11.8

and high grade dysplasia in 1.6

, and 2 cases of clinically unsuspected invasive carcinomas (0.6

). An association between chronic colecistitis, lithiasis and epithelial changes was confirmed, but the relation between each one of the macroscopic patterns proposed and the histological findings is statistically significant only in the cases of atrophy, probably owing to the overlapping of microscopic findings in the different macroscopic patterns.