Doxorubicin and BAY 12-9566 for the treatment of osteosarcoma in dogs: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to assess the efficacy of a matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor in prolonging posttreatment survival for dogs with appendicular osteosarcoma after treatment with amputation and doxorubicin chemotherapy. HYPOTHESIS: Survival will be prolonged in dogs receiving BAY 12-9566. ANIMALS: The study included 303 dogs with appendicular osteosarcoma. METHODS: Dogs were treated with doxorubicin (30 mg/m2) every 2 weeks for 5 treatments starting 2 weeks after amputation. Dogs were randomly allocated to receive a novel nonpeptidic biphenyl inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs, BAY 12-9566; 4-[4-4-(chlorophenyl)phenyl]-4-oxo-2S-(phenylthiomethyl) butanoic acid) or placebo after doxorubicin chemotherapy. RESULTS: Median survival for all 303 dogs was 8 months; and 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year survival rates were 35%, 17%, and 9%, respectively. Treatment with BAY 12-9566 did not influence survival. Multivariate analysis revealed that increasing age (P = .004), increasing weight (P = .006), high serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (P = .012) and high bone ALP (P < .001) were independently associated with shorter median survival times. Additional analyses on available data indicated that as the number of mitotic figures in the biopsy increased (P = .013), and as plasma active MMP-2 concentrations increased (P = .027), the risk of dying increased. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Doxorubicin is an effective adjuvant to amputation in prolonging survival for dogs with appendicular osteosarcoma.     

PROTON IRRADIATION OF FELINE NASAL PLANUM SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMAS USING AN ACCELERATED PROTOCOL

Fifteen cats were treated for squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal planum using proton beam radiation. The protocol used was accelerated with eight equal fractions given on four consecutive days, with a minimum of six hours between fractions. Total dose of radiation delivered was escalated with nine cats receiving 40.4 CGE (60Co Gy equivalent), and three cats each receiving 42.4 and 44.8 CGE. Complete response to the protocol was 60% (9/15), partial response was 33% (5 of 15), and no response was seen in 6.6% (1 of 15). Tumor control rate at one year was 64% and no cat had tumor recurrence after one year. Median survival was 946 days (+/- 516 days). Side effects were minimal with no severe reactions noted in the early or late period. This protocol offers an effective treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of the feline nasal planum with minimal side effects and may be adaptable to conventional radiation sources particularly when the field size is very small.     

Recognition and diagnosis of lysosomal storage diseases in the cat and dog

Lysosomal storage diseases are rare, inherited disorders caused by the deficiency of 1 or more enzymes within the lysosomes of cells or by the deficiency of an activating protein or cofactor necessary for enzyme activity. The enzyme deficiency leads to a catabolic blockade and subsequent accumulation of storage material, and this in turn leads, albeit indirectly, to a wide array of clinical signs. Many features of storage diseases make them difficult to recognize and diagnose. In this review, we summarize the clinical features of these diseases and outline the steps required to confirm a diagnosis.     

Effect on hematopoietic tissue of experimental infection of calves with noncytopathic type 2 bovine viral diarrhea virus

To investigate the hematologic abnormalities observed with noncytopathic type 2 bovine viral diarrhea virus (ncpBVDV-2), calves 6 to 8 mo old were inoculated with an isolate of either high virulence (HV24515) or low virulence (LV11Q); control animals received the same volume of uninfected cell-culture supernatant. Peripheral blood neutrophil, lymphocyte, and platelet counts decreased in all the virus-inoculated calves but were significantly lower and remained decreased longer in the calves given HV24515. For each isolate, a decrease in the number of mature myeloid cells in the bone marrow coincided with the development of neutropenia, but the depletion persisted significantly longer (4 to 6 d) in the calves given HV24515. In the bone marrow of calves given LV11Q, the number of proliferating myeloid cells increased in proportion to the decrease in the number of mature myeloid cells. In the calves inoculated with HV24515, BVDV antigen was observed in bone marrow cells when the peripheral blood counts were lowest. Megakaryocytes were the predominant cell type exhibiting positive BVDV staining; myeloid cells rarely stained positively. Viral antigen was not observed in the bone marrow of calves given LV11Q. These experiments demonstrated that ncpBVDV-2 isolates of both high and low virulence caused decreased leukocyte and platelet counts, but only the high-virulence HV24515 isolate caused a delay in the production of myeloid proliferating cells. The delay may contribute to the ability of certain ncpBVDV-2 isolates to induce severe disease.     

降胆固醇乳杆菌的体外评价

对来源于健康青年肠道的15株乳杆菌进行降胆固醇性能体外评价,包括胆盐水解酶(BSH)活性、去除培养基胆固醇能力、胆盐耐受性及酸耐受性4个指标,结果显示:所有菌株都能体外去除胆固醇;2株植物乳杆菌LP25和LP48在12h的去除率达48.41%和47.32%,48h去除率达56.33%和64.85%,其单位质量菌体的胆固醇去除效力也高于其他菌株.LP48同时具有高胆盐水解酶活性及较突出的去胆固醇、耐胆盐、耐酸性能,可作为去除体内胆固醇的潜力菌株进行后续研究.     

Effects of preoperative administration of ketoprofen on whole blood platelet aggregation,buccal mucosal bleeding time,and hematologic indices in dogs undergoing elective ovariohysterectomy

OBJECTIVE: To determine effects of preoperative administration of ketoprofen on whole blood platelet aggregation, buccal mucosal bleeding time, and hematologic indices in dogs after elective ovariohysterectomy. DESIGN: Randomized, masked clinical trial. ANIMALS: 22 healthy dogs. PROCEDURE: 60 minutes before induction of anesthesia, 11 dogs were given 0.9% NaCl solution (control), and 11 dogs were given ketoprofen (2 mg/kg [0.9 mg/lb], IM). Thirty minutes before induction of anesthesia, glycopyrrolate (0.01mg/kg [0.005 mg/lb]), acepromazine (0.05 mg/kg [0.02 mg/lb]), and butorphanol (0.2 mg/kg 10.09 mg/lb]) were given IM to all dogs. Anesthesia was induced with thiopental (5 to 10 mg/kg [2.3 to 4.5 mg/lb], IV) and maintained with isoflurane (1 to 3%). Ovariohysterectomy was performed and butorphanol (0.1 mg/kg [0.05 mg/lb], IV) was given 15 minutes before completion of surgery. Blood samples for measurement of variables were collected at intervals before and after surgery. RESULTS: In dogs given ketoprofen, platelet aggregation was decreased 95 +/- 10% and 80 +/- 35% (mean +/- SD) immediately after surgery and 24 hours after surgery, respectively, compared with preoperative values. At both times, mean values in dogs given ketoprofen differed significantly from those in control dogs. Significant differences between groups were not observed for mucosal bleeding time or hematologic indices. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Preoperative administration of ketoprofen inhibited platelet aggre gation but did not alter bleeding time. Ketoprofen can be given before surgery to healthy dogs undergoing elective ovariohysterectomy, provided that dogs are screened for potential bleeding problems before surgery and monitored closely after surgery.     

Distribution and prevalence of Cytauxzoon felis in bobcats (Lynx rufus), the natural reservoir, and other wild felids in thirteen states

Cytauxzoon felis, a protozoan parasite of wild and domestic felids, is the causative agent of cytauxzoonosis in domestic and some exotic felids in the United States. The bobcat (Lynx rufus) is the natural reservoir for this parasite, but other felids such as Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryii) and domestic cats may maintain long-term parasitemias and serve as reservoirs. Experimentally, two tick species, Dermacentor variabilis and Amblyomma americanum, have demonstrated the ability to transmit C. felis. These two tick species have overlapping distributions throughout much of the southeastern United States. The objective of the current study was to determine the distribution and prevalence of C. felis in free-ranging bobcat populations from 13 states including California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia. These states were selected because of differential vector presence; D. variabilis is present in each of these states except for the region of Colorado sampled and A. americanum is currently known to be present only in a subset of these states. Blood or spleen samples from 696 bobcats were tested for C. felis infection by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay which targeted the first ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region (ITS-1). Significantly higher prevalences of C. felis were detected from Missouri (79%, n=39), North Carolina (63%, n=8), Oklahoma (60%, n=20), South Carolina (57%, n=7), Kentucky (55%, n=74), Florida (44%, n=45), and Kansas (27%, n=41) compared with Georgia (9%, n=159), North Dakota (2.4%, n=124), Ohio (0%, n=19), West Virginia (0%, n=37), California (0%, n=26), and Colorado (0%, n=67). In addition to bobcats, seven cougars (Puma concolor) from Georgia, Louisiana, and North Dakota and one serval (Leptailurus serval) from Louisiana were tested for C. felis. Only one cougar from Louisiana was PCR positive, which represents the first report of an infected cougar outside of the Florida panther population. These data also indicate that C. felis is present in North Dakota where infection has not been reported in domestic cats. Based on a nonparametric analysis, prevalence rates were significantly higher in states where there are established populations of A. americanum, which supports recent data on the experimental transmission of C. felis by A. americanum and the fact that domestic cat clinical cases are temporally associated with A. americanum activity. Collectively, these data confirm that bobcats are a common reservoir for C. felis and that A. americanum is likely an epidemiologically important vector.     

Clinical pathology of amphibians: a review

Amphibian declines and extinctions have worsened in the last 2 decades. Partly because one of the main causes of the declines is infectious disease, veterinary professionals have increasingly become involved in amphibian research, captive husbandry, and management. Health evaluation of amphibians, free‐living or captive, can benefit from employing the tools of clinical pathology, something that is commonly used in veterinary medicine of other vertebrates. The present review compiles what is known of amphibian clinical pathology emphasizing knowledge that may assist with the interpretation of laboratory results, provides diagnostic recommendations for common amphibian diseases, and includes RIs for a few amphibian species estimated based on peer‐reviewed studies. We hope to encourage the incorporation of clinical pathology in amphibian practice and research, and to highlight the importance of applying veterinary medicine principles in furthering our knowledge of amphibian pathophysiology.     

Error propagation associated with benefits transfer-based mapping of ecosystem services

An increasing number of studies are taking the important first step in global efforts to conserve key ecosystem services by mapping their spatial distributions. However, a lack of primary data for most services in most places has largely forced such mapping exercises to be based on proxies. The common way of producing these proxies is through benefits transfer-based mapping, in which estimates of the values of services are obtained from a small region for particular land cover types, and then extrapolated to a larger area for these same types. However, the errors that may result from such extrapolations are poorly understood. Here, we separate the generalization errors associated with benefits transfer mapping into three constituent components - uniformity, sampling, and regionalization error - and evaluate their effects using primary data for four ecosystem services in England. Variation in ecosystem services within a particular land cover type (uniformity error) alone led to a poor fit to primary data for most services; sampling effects (sampling error) and extrapolating from a small region to a larger area (regionalization error) led to substantial, but highly variable, additional reductions in the fit to primary data. We also show that combining multiple ecosystem services into a single layer is likely to be even more problematic as it contains the errors in each of the constituent layers. These errors are sufficiently large to undermine decisions that might be based on such extrapolated maps. Greatly improved mapping of the actual distributions of ecosystem services is therefore needed to achieve the goal of conserving these vital assets.