The Effect of Methanolic Valeriana officinalis Root Extract on Adipocyte Differentiation and Adiponectin Production in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - Adipose tissue is an endocrine organ and its endocrine function is closely associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Valeriana officinalis (Valerian) exerts some...     

Spontaneous ovarian choriocarcinoma in a young ICR mouse

This paper describes the spontaneous ovarian choriocarcinoma observed in a young female Crl:CD1 (ICR) mouse. The mouse was sacrificed at 8 weeks of age after oral administration of a compound for 2 weeks. The left ovary was found to be cystically enlarged with dark red hemorrhaging. The cystic mass contained abundant blood plasma and erythrocytes. At the peripheral regions of the mass, large pleomorphic tumor cells with bizarre shaped nuclei were detected. Tumor cells contained a single large nucleus and abundant eosinophilic to amphophilic cytoplasm. Histopathology of the tumor cells resembled that of trophoblastic giant cells. Therefore, the observed ovarian lesion was diagnosed as a choriocarcinoma. No microscopic lesions were observed in the right ovary or other reproductive organs. Ovarian choriocarcinoma was considered to be of non-gestational origin. This is the first report of ovarian choriocarcinoma in a young ICR mouse.     

Karnovsky’s fixative prevents artifacts appearing as vacuolation derived from tissue processing in kidneys treated with antisense oligonucleotide

Antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies have been identified as a new treatment modality for intractable diseases. In kidneys treated with ASOs, vacuoles, in addition to basophilic granules, are often observed in the proximal tubules. Some reports have described that these vacuoles are likely to be a secondary phenomenon resulting from the extraction of ASOs during tissue processing. In this study, we compared renal morphology after fixation with Karnovsky’s fixative or 4% paraformaldehyde phosphate buffer (PFA) with that of 10% neutral-buffered formaldehyde solution (NBF). Female Sprague-Dawley rats, intravenously treated four times with 50 mg/kg locked nucleic acid containing antisense oligonucleotides (LNA-ASOs) for 1 or 2 weeks, were examined. Microscopically, vacuoles and basophilic granules in the proximal tubules were observed in the kidneys fixed with NBF. Basophilic granules are indicative of the accumulation of ASOs. Moreover, some of the vacuoles also contained faint basophilic granules, suggesting that the vacuoles were relevant to the accumulation of ASOs. Although moderate vacuolation was observed in the proximal tubules, the majority of the vacuolated epithelia were negative for kidney injury molecule-1 on immunohistochemical staining. Vacuoles in the proximal tubules were not observed in samples subjected to Karnovsky’s fixation, although basophilic granules were observed. In samples subjected to PFA fixation, vacuoles and basophilic granules were observed in the proximal tubules, similar to those in samples subjected to NBF fixation. Overall, our findings demonstrated the possibility of overestimation of vacuolation due to artifacts during tissue processing when using conventional NBF fixation. Karnovsky’s fixative is considered a useful alternative for distinguishing artificial vacuoles from true nephrotoxicity.