ABSTRACT. Fifty-two canine and eighteen feline primary pulmonary carcinomas were evaluated immunohistochemically for the expression of proteins associated with multidrug resistance to anti-cancer drugs. P-glycoprotein (PGP), multidrug resistance-related protein (MRP) and lung resistance-related protein (LRP) expression were frequently observed in neoplastic cells of all carcinoma types, and metallothionein (MT) expression was observed in about half of each carcinoma type. Furthermore, overlapping expression was detected in all positive cases. These results indicate that most canine and feline primary pulmonary carcinomas may have strong multidrug resistance, which is related to the PGP, MRP, LRP or MT expression. It might be difficult to treat canine and feline primary pulmonary carcinomas using anti-cancer drugs because of multidrug resistance.KEY WORDS: immunohistochemistry, lung resistance-related protein, metallothionein, multidrug resistance-related protein, P-glycoprotein.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 72 (5): [665][666][667][668] 2010 Human primary pulmonary carcinoma is divided into 2 groups; small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) and non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Surgical resection is not suitable for SCLC because of metastasis at the time of diagnosis in many cases; therefore, chemotherapy is recommended generally. For NSCLC, however, including adenocarcinoma, adenosquamous carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, chemotherapy is less effective; therefore, surgical resection is recommended generally [12]. Primary pulmonary tumors in domestic animals are uncommon to extremely rare, with a prevalence of 0.1-0.9% in dogs, a little higher than in cats [23]. In the treatment of canine and feline primary pulmonary carcinoma, surgical resection is recommended [18], but to reduce the risk of local recurrence and metastasis, adjuvant chemotherapy is required similarly to the treatment for human NSCLC. P-glycoprotein (PGP), a 150-170 kDa plasma membrane protein, belongs to the ATP binding cassette (ABC) superfamily of transporter proteins, and can extrude a range of hydrophobic anti-cancer drugs from the cell [20]. Overexpression of PGP is associated with resistance to different types of anti-cancer drugs (e.g. daunorubicin, doxorubicin, mitoxantrone, etoposide, teniposide, vinblastine, vincristine, mitomycin C, paclitaxel, actinomycin D and topotecan) [6]. Multidrug resistance-related protein (MRP), which belongs to the ABC superfamily as PGP, is a 190 kDa membrane-bound glycoprotein. MRP probably works by direct extrusion of cytotoxic drugs from the cell and/or by mediating sequestration of the drugs into intracellular compartments, both leading to a reduction in effective intracellular drug concentrations [16]. Overexpression of MRP is associated with resistance to doxorubicin, vincristine, actinomycin D, etoposide and colchicine [7,22]. Lung resistance-related protein (LRP) is a 110 kDa protein found in multidrug-resistant cell lines not expressing PGP. LRP is the main component of vault protein, and plays a role in ...

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Background Capillaria hepatica is a zoonotic parasite in humans and animals and has a worldwide distribution. However, infections in mammals apart from rodents, which are natural hosts of the parasite, have rarely been reported. This report describes the first known case of C. hepatica infection in a horse in Japan.Case presentationA 3-year-old filly without clinical signs was presented at a slaughterhouse in Japan. Gross examination revealed white to tan nodules 0.5 to 1.5 cm in diameter in the parenchyma of the liver. Histologically, the nodules had mature fibrous capsules and consisted of multifocal to coalescing granulomatous inflammations with numerous nematode eggs. The eggs were barrel shaped with an opercular plug on each end and double-layered shells; these findings are consistent with the features of C. hepatica eggs.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first case of C. hepatica infection in a horse in Japan. The pathological findings confirmed the presence of this pathogen in this part of the world, and they highlight the importance of this nematode in the differential diagnosis of hepatic granulomatous lesions in horses.

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Mammary gland cancer is the most common cancer occurring in women globally. Incidences of this cancer in Japan are on the increase. Annually, more than 70,000 new cases are recorded in Japan and about 1.7 million in the world. Many cases are still difficult to cure completely, and animal models are required for the characterization of the biology, therapeutic strategy, and preventive measures for spontaneous mammary tumor. The mouse model used currently has some limitations owing to structural differences between mouse and human mammary glands. Tupaia belangeri (tree shrew), which belongs to the Tupaiidae family, shows relatively high genetic homology and structural similarity to human mammary glands. Here, we characterized the spontaneous mammary tumors in 61 female tree shrews of different ages. The incidence rate was 24.6% (15/61), and the rate of simultaneous or metachronous multiplex tumors was 60% (9/15). From the incidence pattern, some cases seemed to be of familial mammary gland tumor, as the offspring of female tree shrews No. 3 and 9 and male tree shrew No. 11 showed a high incidence rate, of 73.3% (11/15). Average incidence age for tumor development was 2 years and 3 months, and the earliest was 10 months. Histochemical analysis indicated that spontaneous mammary gland tumors in the tree shrew show the features of intraductal papillary adenomas (22 cases), except 2 tubulopapillary carcinoma cases (No. 75 and 131). All the cases were positive for the progesterone receptor, whereas 91.3% were positive for the estrogen receptor, and 4.3% were HER-2 positive. We have also confirmed the expression of nectin-4 in some mammary tumor cells. Additionally, we subjected tree shrews to cytodiagnosis or X-ray CT. Thus, the findings of this study highlight the potential of the tree shrew as a valuable new animal model for mammary gland tumor study.

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Asian and African elephants are frequently afflicted by foot disorders that can be very challenging to manage even with aggressive therapy. Such conditions may have indirect life-threatening effects. Mohs’ paste (zinc chloride based escharotic agent) was used to treat a female Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) aged 39 years with foot disorder at Kanazawa Zoological Gardens. Degenerated hyperplastic tissue was observed inside the hoofs of digits 2 and 5. Mohs’ paste was applied on the lesions, which coagulated the hyperplastic tissue and restrained its proliferation. Subsequently, the hyperplastic tissue could be trimmed with little pain, and the disorder became manageable. Mohs’ paste treatment was effective and is expected to be an alternative treatment for hoof disorder.