Histopathology of laboratory-reared Nothobranchius fishes: Mycobacterial infections versus neoplastic lesions

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Authors

DYKOVÁ Iva ŽÁK Jakub REICHARD Martin SOUČKOVÁ Kamila SLABÝ Ondřej BYSTRÝ Vojtěch BLAŽEK Radim

Year of publication 2021
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Journal of Fish Diseases
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Web https://doi.org/10.1111/jfd.13378
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jfd.13378
Keywords mononuclear phagocytic system; mycobacterial infections; proliferative lesions; tumour misdiagnosis
Description Short-lived killifishes of the genus Nothobranchius Peters, 1868 (Cyprinodontiformes) are considered promising model organisms for biomedical research on ageing and tumorigenesis. We conducted histopathological analysis of 411 adult individuals from three Nothobranchius species to study details on spontaneous age-related neoplastic lesions. Light microscopy based on H&E and toluidine blue-stained sections revealed (a) non-proliferative liver changes with pronounced vacuolation of hepatocytes; (b) proliferation of kidney haemopoietic tissue contributing to excretory system damage; (c) proliferation of splenic mononuclear haemoblasts accompanied by reduced erythropoiesis; (d) proliferation of mononuclear cell aggregates in the liver parenchyma; and (e) rare occurrence of hepatocellular adenomas. Ziehl–Neelsen (ZN) staining revealed that the proliferative lesions are a host defence response to mycobacterial infections manifested by activation of the mononuclear phagocytic system and atypical granulomatous inflammatory reaction. 16S rRNA analysis identified three species of Mycobacterium in our samples. Our findings turn attention to lesions which mimic neoplasms by their gross appearance and question the light microscopic interpretation of lesions unless differential ZN staining is included. Beyond the limitations of our morphological approach, the intensity of mycobacterial infections is a challenging opportunity for research into the molecular-genetic background of the mononuclear phagocytic system reaction in Nothobranchius killifish.
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