Effect of Escherichia coli infection on the
histopathology of albino mice visceral organs
Abin Biswas1, R.Balaji1, R.Balaji Raja2, Kantha D.Arunachalam3
1 – Department of Biotechnology, SRM University, Kattankulathur –603203, Tamilnadu, India.
2 – Department of Biotechnology, SRM University, Kattankulathur –603203, Tamilnadu, India.
3 – Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, Directorate of research, SRM University, Kattankulathur – 603203, Tamilnadu, India.
Abstract
Histopathology is very essential in assessing the nature and state of the tissues. It is used widely to examine the visceral organs in various diseases, infections and disorders. It provides the required insight and details about the possible malfunctioning of the disease or infection. Albino mice were taken and test group was infected with
Escherichia coli. The control group was not infected with any clinical pathogen. The histopathological examination
was carried out to determine the effect of infection in the test group. Liver, spleen and kidney were the visceral organs which were used for the study. The size, shape and other morphological characteristics had marked difference in case of infected mice when compared with control group mice. Histopathological analysis can be further extended in the case of other clinical pathogenic infections which could lead to interesting results.
Keywords: Histopathology, Albino mice, visceral organs, Escherichia coli
Introduction
Histopathology is an essential tool in assessing the physical nature of various living tissues1. The histopathological examination serves as a great tool in determining the infection state and provides the basis for its treatment. Various infections that are possible in the cell are bacterial, fungal and viral in origin. In this, the bacterial infections are the most common and most easy to cure also2. Fungal infections are quite hard to cure and viral infections are the most dangerous. Many viral infections are fatal in nature if not detected and treated in time. The organs that are examined in case of each infecting agent is different and is case sensitive.
8-10 weeks in case of fungal or viral infection. Bacterial infections are cheaper to treat whereas viral infection treating cost is the highest4.
Histopathological examination of the tissues also depend upon a number of external factors such as the water content in the cell, presence of any other disease or disorder such as diabetes mellitus, genetic condition, environmental factors and method or technique adopted5,6. The examination results have high credibility only if the above mentioned criteria are met in a satisfactory manner failing which the reliability of the examination becomes highly doubtful.
The examination of benign and tumor cells is the most challenging tasks as the level of complexity involved. Special techniques such as cross checking7 are employed in this case to ensure proper examination. Visceral organs which are widely used for various histopathological examinations are liver, spleen and kidney. These organs can be easily harvested, examined in a simple way and results will be highly reliable. Liver is the most important metabolic organ in the case of mammals and various diseases such as jaundice can be confirmed after examining the liver of the mammal. Spleen is one of the most important endocrine organs in case of adolescent mammals as the puberty reduces the importance of it8. Kidney is important in its own way as it determines the inorganic concentration of the body. Any examination technique involved in kidney should ensure that the tissue damage is minimized to the best possible extent without which proper results cannot be ensured. The examinations usually use ethyl alcohol or methanol for tissue preservation without which the cellular damage can occur9. The colored dyes are used so that visualization becomes easy and convenient.
Materials and Methods Pre Clinical Standardization
6 male albino mice were obtained from TANUVAS (Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University), Madhavaram, Chennai. They were 6 weeks old and weighed around 25-30 grams. The mice were placed in 2 cages labeled as Control (C) and Test (T). They were left for 15 days acclimatization period in their respective cages. The mice were fed once a day with standard rodent chow and provided with distilled water. All experiments were performed under controlled conditions (temperature [21 +_ 2°C], humidity, and a 12-h light-dark cycle). The individual weights of all the 6 mice were recorded and tabulated.
Infection
E. coli (MTCC Number-095) was procured from IMTECH, Chandigarh and was sub cultured in a specific medium
Harvesting of Visceral organs
One mouse taken from both groups (Test and Control), anaesthetised, dissected and the Visceral organs were harvested (Liver, spleen and kidney). The harvested organs were preserved in a formalin solution.
Results and Discussions
The histopathological examination was performed for both the test and control samples. The examination was done for all the three visceral organs, liver, spleen and kidney. Out of the three visceral organs that were examined, liver had the best result in terms of tissue alteration. Figure 1 illustrates the macroscopic view of the liver tissue that was taken from the albino mice that was infected with E.coli. When the tissues morphology was compared with the control mice tissue as given in figure 2, the differences were visible and note worthy.
Figure 1. Liver tissue of the test mice which was infected with E.coli
The infection with E.coli producing this much of anatomical change in the visceral organ tissues is a revelation and this can be extended with different clinical pathogens. The overall examination in the context of multiple clinical pathogens and multiple infections at the same time can yield interesting insights. The effect of the anatomical changes on the physiological pattern can also be studied.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the management of SRM University for allowing us to carry out this work at their premises. Our sincere thanks go to Dr.Shivashekhar, vice principal, SRM Medical college who helped with histopathological analysis. The help of Dr. Sekar, veterinary officer, Animal House, SRM University; Mr. Prabhakaran, technician, Animal House, SRM University; Mr.Jaganath Patra, Technician at Pathology lab, SRM Hospital, Mr. Jayaprakash, Lab Assistant, Department of Microbiology, SRM Hospital is really appreciable.
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