Complex polysaccharide inclusions in skeletal muscle adjacent to sarcomas in two dogs

Inclusions of periodic acid-Schiff-positive, amylase resistant material were found within skeletal muscle fibers adjacent to an osteosarcoma in the proximal femur of an 8-year-old intact female Cocker Spaniel dog (dog No. 1) and adjacent to a synovial cell sarcoma of the stifle joint in a 7-year-old spayed female Bouvier des Flandres dog (dog No. 2). Inclusions were pale blue-gray with hematoxylin and eosin stain and formed irregular inclusions, replacing up to approximately 80% of the fiber diameter. Inclusions from dog No. 2 were of non-membrane-bound granular to filamentous material that occasionally formed discrete, elongate electron-dense masses. The features of these inclusions were similar to those of materials previously described as complex polysaccharide, polyglucosan bodies, amylopectin, and Lafora bodies. Evidence for a generalized metabolic disorder was not found in these two dogs, suggesting that storage of complex polysaccharide can occur as a relatively nonspecific response to metabolic alterations in skeletal muscle in a variety of conditions.