First study on the immunohistochemical expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and clinicopathological association in canine hepatoid gland neoplasms

Vet World Vol.15 October-2022 Article-9

Research Article

Veterinary World, 15(10): 2432-2441

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2022.2432-2441

Pinkarn Chantawong^1,2, Thanongsak Mamom^3,4, Sahatchai Tangtrongsup^1,5, Setthakit Chitsanoor^3,4, and Hassadin Boonsriroj^3,4

1. Department of Companion Animal and Wildlife Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand.
2. Integrative Research Center for Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand.
3. Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mahanakorn University of Technology, Bangkok 10530, Thailand.
4. Mahanakorn Veterinary Diagnostic Center, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mahanakorn University of Technology, Bangkok 10530, Thailand.
5. Research Center of Producing and Development of Products and Innovations for Animal Health and Production, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand.

Background and Aim: Hepatoid gland neoplasms (HGNs) constitute one of the most common cutaneous tumors that arise from perianal glands in dogs and are clinically characterized by rapid growth. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), the inducible form of the enzyme, is associated with several hallmarks of tumorigenesis. Its expression has been confirmed in several human and animal neoplastic tissues, but there are no reports in hepatoid gland tissues. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate COX-2 immunoexpression in canine HGNs, compare the expression among groups of normal hepatoid glands, hepatoid gland adenomas (HGAs), hepatoid gland epitheliomas (HGEs), and hepatoid gland carcinomas (HGCs), and assess the association of the COX-2 expression with clinicopathological features.

Materials and Methods: Sixty-one formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded canine hepatoid gland tissues (20 samples of HGAs, 16 of HGEs, 15 of HGCs, and 10 of normal hepatoid glands) were analyzed for COX-2 expression using immunohistochemistry with scoring for percentage positivity and intensity. Multiple comparisons of COX-2 expression among normal and neoplastic hepatoid glands and the associations between COX-2 expression and clinicopathological features were analyzed.

Results: Cyclooxygenase-2 expression was not detected in 60% of normal hepatoid glands and 25% of HGAs. Seventy-five percent of HGAs had a weak expression, while 43.7% and 56.3% of HGEs showed weak and moderate expression, respectively. The expression of HGCs ranged from weak (13.3%) to moderate (33.3%) and strong (53.3%). The immunoreactivity score of COX-2 labeling was significantly different among the normal and neoplastic hepatoid glands (p < 0.0001). The highest score was observed in the HGCs. Only in HGCs, the strong COX-2 expression was significantly associated with some clinicopathological features, including tissue invasion (p = 0.007) and necrosis (p = 0.029).

Conclusion: These results suggest that COX-2 may play a role in the modulation of neoplastic cell growth. These preliminary data lead to further investigation on the potential of COX-2 expression as a prognostic indicator and COX-2 inhibitors for canine HGCs treatment. Keywords: canine, clinicopathological features, cyclooxygenase-2, hepatoid gland neoplasias, immunohistochemistry.

Keywords: canine, clinicopathological features, cyclooxygenase-2, hepatoid gland neoplasias, immunohistochemistry.

How to cite this article: Chantawong P, Mamom T, Tangtrongsup S, Chitsanoor S, and Boonsriroj H (2022) First study on the immunohistochemical expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and clinicopathological association in canine hepatoid gland neoplasms, Veterinary World, 15(10): 2432–2441.

Received: 01-06-2022 Accepted: 01-09-2022 Published online: 20-10-2022

Corresponding author: Hassadin Boonsriroj E-mail: boonsriroj@hotmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.2432-2441

Copyright: Chantawong, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.