Histopathological development of equine cutaneous papillomas

J Comp Pathol. 1990 May;102(4):393-403. doi: 10.1016/s0021-9975(08)80161-2.

Abstract

The histopathological development of equine cutaneous papillomas was studied in 78 warts naturally occurring in 50 one to 3-year-old Thoroughbred or Arab horses and in 54 warts experimentally induced in three 2-year-old Thoroughbreds. Lesions in the natural cases were categorized into three phases, growth, development and regression. Main lesions of the growing phase were marked hyperplasia of the basal cells and mild to moderate acanthosis, hyper- and parakeratosis with a few intranuclear inclusion bodies (IIB) which were positive with anti-bovine papillomavirus serum. In the developing phase, there was prominent acanthosis with cellular swelling and fusion, and marked hyper- and parakeratosis. Many IIB were also present in swollen or degenerative prickle cells and granular cells, with a high degree of parakeratosis in keratinocytes. In the regressing phase, epidermal layers were almost normal with only slight hyperplastic change. However, there was rete peg proliferation downward into the dermis with moderate proliferation of fibroblasts and collagen fibres. In addition, in 10 spontaneous and one experimental wart, the lesions were fibropapillomas and this has never been described in horses previously. It was concluded that papillomas were initiated by basal cell hyperplasia without viral antigen production, with formation of acanthosis and hyper- and parakeratosis with IIB production. These findings were confirmed by examination of the experimental cases on the basis of the gross diameter of the warts.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Epidermis / growth & development
  • Female
  • Head and Neck Neoplasms / pathology
  • Horse Diseases / pathology*
  • Horses
  • Inclusion Bodies
  • Keratosis / pathology
  • Keratosis / veterinary
  • Male
  • Papilloma / pathology
  • Papilloma / veterinary*
  • Parakeratosis / pathology
  • Parakeratosis / veterinary
  • Skin Neoplasms / pathology
  • Skin Neoplasms / veterinary*