Rhaphidophora decursiva (Roxb.) Schott is commonly used to treat colon cancer among Chinese community in Malaysia. This study aims to evaluate histopathologic changes in liver and kidney tissues after treated with R. decursiva extract in male Sprague Dawley rats. The rats were divided into 4 groups consisting of 6 rats per group for each acute, subacute and subchronic toxicity evaluations, with a total of 72 rats. All control groups received distilled water (vehicle). For subacute toxicity, the 3 treatment groups received a daily oral dose of the plant extract at 70, 140 or 210 mg/kg for 28 days. As no lethality was observed in subacute toxicity study, similar doses were used for the 3 treatment groups in 90-day subchronic toxicity. Histological examination of liver revealed some abnormal but not significant morphology characteristics. For acute toxicity, liver tissues in group treated with 2100 and 3500 mg/ kg extracts showed presence of activated kupffer cells, sinusoidal dilatation and cytoplasmic vacuolation, same as group treated with 140 and 210 mg/kg extracts for both subacute and subchronic toxicity. However, group treated with 140 mg/kg extract in subchronic toxicity just showed the presence of cytoplasmic vacuolation. Similarly, no significant abnormal histopathological changes were observed in kidneys tissue for all toxicity studies. The presence of granular cast were noticed in group treated with 2100 and 3500 mg/kg extracts for acute toxicity, however, cellular and protein cast only occurred in group treated with 3500 mg/kg extracts. For subacute and subchronic toxicity, granular cast can be observed in group treated with 210 mg/kg extract. Also, cellular can be seen in group treated with 210 mg/kg extract for subacute toxicity. In conclusion, the treatment of R. decursiva extracts did not show any significant toxicological changes as observed by histopathological examination in the kidney and liver tissues for all toxicity studies.

Melted paraffin wax is widely used for the preparation block for anatomical sectioning. But very often the process encounters with irregular solidification. So the need for a modified procedure for block preparation in microtomy with an aim to control the irregular solidification of wax in a simple way is discussed here. For this purpose temperature controlling system was found to be successful. The temperature control system was developed based on a simple way, for this purpose a paper boat was prepared and a layer of paraffin wax was coated to the paper-boat. This help to control the entering of water to the paper-boat. Then the boat fixed in the tray with cold water. After this, the molted wax poured to the boat and it help to form the basal layer of the wax, following this, the material fixed in the basal layer and again added molted wax to the sample to create the upper layer. The cooling system helped to the solidification starts from the basal portion to the upper level at a controlled state.

Most, though not all, heart valve banks performed routine histopathological examination of heart tissues after valve donation. Histopathological examination will enhance the safety of heart valve homografts for transplantation. This is highlighted by a milestone case of cardiac sarcoidosis, a potentially fatal condition which can involve valve leaflet, in a live donor. Since then, testing is mandated for all our bank’s donors, with the objective of detecting any cardiac-related contraindications, which might be missed during donor screening. It is also a valuable tool in providing additional information about the cardiac cause of death in deceased donors, especially those who passed away suddenly or from unknown cause. A review of histopathological findings in our donors’ heart tissues revealed numerous pathological features despite the small sample size (n=50). Of the deceased donors, 62.9% were diagnosed with pathological features, among which 72.7% had multiple abnormalities. 30% of our bank’s donors were heart recipients, who had multiple cardiac abnormalities. Some pathological findings were found to be interrelated. A donor heart with cardiomegaly revealed no pathological features, emphasising the necessity to correlate pathological results with clinical data collated during donor screening for a comprehensive clinical picture in the determination of tissue suitability.

Bile acids were confirmed as important signal molecule in a lot of physiological processes. Recent studies have demonstrated their roles in regulating cell death pathway. New concept of programmed cell death includes autophagy and necroptosis, two independent pathway of programmed cell death beside apoptosis. The molecular pathway of bile acid induced apoptosis and autophagy were reported by recent studies. However, bile acid induced necroptosis was only noticed by some clinical reports, the molecular pathway is waiting to be discovered. This review aims to summarize the pathway of bile acid induced apoptosis and autophagy and analyze the possible pathway of bile acid induced necroptosis.

Objective: To investigate the expression significance of inhibitor of DNA binding (Id)-1, Id-2 and Id-3 mRNAs in breast cancer patients, and explore the correlation between sonographic characteristics, histological grades and expressions of Id-1, Id-2 and Id-3 mRNAs.
Methods: The expressions of Id1-3 mRNAs in 62 breast cancer patients and 49 normal controls were examined by using real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-FQ-PCR). The correlations between sonographic characteristics, histological grades and expressions of Id1-3 mRNAs were analyzed with one-way ANOVA.
Results: Id-1 and Id-3 mRNA were higher expressed in breast cancer patients than those in normal control cases (Id-1: 0.0141 ± 0.01025 versus 0.0075 ± 0.00309, p=0.0001; Id-3: 0.0139 ± 0.01029 versus 0.0078 ± 0.00312, p=0.005), while expression of Id-2 mRNA was lower (Id-2: 0.0195 ± 0.01299 versus 0.0275 ± 0.01401, p=0.033). Along with the increase in histologic grades, Id-1 and Id-3 mRNA expressions in breast cancer tissue showed an increase tendency, however, Id-2 showed an opposite expression pattern with Id-1 and Id-3. The expression of Id-1 was higher in patients with keloid-like and hyperechoic halo, while Id-3 mRNA was highly expressed in patients with keloid-like and peripheral catheter expansion under ultrasonography.
Conclusion: Expression levels of Id-1 to 3 mRNAs are highly correlated with histological grades and sonographic characteristics of breast cancer.

Distant metastasis of salivary gland neoplasms is a rare occurrence. Generally, high-grade salivary malignancies such as salivary duct carcinoma and high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma, as well as tumors located in the submandibular gland, show a higher likelihood of metastasizing. Acinic cell carcinoma is an uncommon salivary gland neoplasm that typically occurs in the parotid gland and is considered a low-grade malignancy. Metastasis is unusual and, if present, predominantly involves the lung and bones. However, vertebral metastasis is exceedingly rare. Here, we describe a rare case of recurrent acinic cell carcinoma of the parotid gland with widespread metastases to multiple bones, including the vertebrae, and to the liver, which was diagnosed in part by cytology. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the cytology literature to describe salivary gland acinic cell carcinoma with metastases to such distant sites and to discuss the resulting cytologic differential diagnoses.

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare lung disease affecting almost exclusively women, characterized by the invasion and abnormal proliferation of smooth muscle-like cells in pulmonary parenchyma and axial lymphatics. LAM cells bear mutations in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) genes. It has been hypothesized that uterus might be the primary site of origin and one of the most frequent metastatic or disseminated site of LAM cells. We developed a mouse model to study the migratory and invasive properties of human LAM/TSC cells to the uterus. We also examined the action of rapamycin and anti-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) antibody.
LAM/TSC cells were endonasally administered to 3 week old immunodeficient female nude mice. 5 months later mice were divided in 4 groups: control, LAM/TSC cell-administered mice, LAM/TSC cell-administered mice treated with rapamycin, and LAM/TSC cell-administered mice treated with anti-EGFR antibody. Drugs were administered for one months. Uteri were analysed for the presence of human LAM/TSC cells by COX IV antibody, lymphangiogenesis by LYVE 1 expression and angiogenesis by counting blood vessels.
LAM/TSC cells migrated to the uterus without causing any morphological lesion. Interestingly, LAM/TSC cells increased the number of blood vessels while did not cause any alteration in lymphatics vessels. Anti-EGFR antibody and rapamycin reduced the number of human LAM/TSC and counteracted the proliferation of blood vessels in uteri. Although both drugs did not change the expression of LYVE 1, localization of lymphatics was mainly in the perimetrium after drug treatment.
Our data describe the strong invasive capability of human LAM/TSC cells which migrated to the uterus. LAM/ TSC cells presence is accompanied by increased angiogenesis. Anti-EGFR antibody and rapamycin were effective in reducing the LAM/TSC cell number and blood vessel proliferation.