Leishmania sp. amastigotes identification in canine transmissible venereal tumor

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease with Leishmania chagasi being the etiological agent of canine visceral leishmaniasis in South America. Canine venereal tumor is a transplantable round cell tumor of histiocytic origin which is mostly observed in sexually active male and female intact dogs. It has been shown that Leishmania amastigotes have higher tropism for the canine male genital tract tissues and venereal leishmaniasis transmission has been documented in dogs but, to date, a canine venereal tumor-dependent transmission route has not been fully demonstrated. In this report, a 10-year-old, mixed breed, intact female dog presented a vaginal venereal transmissible tumor but no other clinical abnormalities otherwise. Unexpectedly, tumor tissue imprint smears examination revealed Leishmania sp. amastigotes within infiltrating macrophages. In addition to the cytological direct identification, the protozoan was confirmed within the neoplastic tissue by means of immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction. This report illustrates an asymptomatic Leishmania sp. infection that may have started on or from the canine venereal tumor tissue, the latter option further supporting previous evidence of such an alternative vector-independent route of transmission for canine visceral leishmaniasis in areas where these diseases coexist.

O papel do epstein barr vírus na carcinogênese oral

Introduction: the squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the head and neck cancer of higher occurrence, representing about 90% of all these tumors. The SCC has several risk factors as smoking, alcohol and some oncogenic viruses, including the Epstein Barr virus (EBV). The EBV is a member of Herpesviridae family and has tropism for B lymphocytes and also for epithelial cells. Aim: the aim of this study was accomplish a review of the literature about the presence of the EBV in oral carcinomas. Conclusion: EBV is closely related to nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a SCC of high incidence in Southeast Asia, however its role in others oral SCC has not been proved.