Assessment of degree of oxidative stress and antioxidant concentrations in dogs with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

OBJECTIVE: To assess degree of oxidative stress and antioxidant concentrations in dogs with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM). DESIGN: Prospective study. ANIMALS: 18 dogs with IDCM and 16 healthy control dogs. PROCEDURE: Concentrations of malondialdehyde (an indicator of oxidative stress); vitamins A, C, and E; glutathione peroxidase; and superoxide dismutase were measured. RESULTS: Glutathione peroxidase concentration was significantly increased in dogs with IDCM, compared with control dogs. Vitamin A and superoxide dismutase concentrations were not significantly different between groups. A negative correlation was found between disease severity and plasma vitamin E concentration. Disease severity was not correlated with concentrations of other antioxidants. Medications did not significantly affect oxidant or antioxidant concentrations. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The change in glutathione peroxidase concentration and the correlation between vitamin E concentration and disease severity suggest that the oxidant-antioxidant system may play a role in development of IDCM.     

Spinal cord injury in small animals 2. Current and future options for therapy.

Although there can be substantial spontaneous improvements in functional status after a spinal cord injury, therapeutic intervention is desirable in many patients to improve the degree of recovery. At present only decompressive surgery and the neuroprotective drug methylprednisolone sodium succinate are effective and in widespread clinical use. There are limitations to the efficacy of these therapies in some clinical cases and they cannot restore satisfactory functional status to all patients. Many drugs have been investigated experimentally to assess their potential to preserve injured tissue and promote functional recovery in clinically relevant settings, and several of them would be suitable for assessment in future veterinary clinical trials. In addition, experimental techniques designed to mould the response of the CNS to injury, by the promotion of axonal regeneration across the lesion and the encouragement of local sprouting of undamaged axons, have recently been successful, suggesting that effective therapy for even very severe spinal cord injury may soon be available.     

Acute toxoplasmosis following renal transplantation in three cats and a dog.

Three cats and 1 dog that had undergone renal transplantation because of end-stage renal disease were examined because of complications 3 to 6 weeks after surgery. One cat died prior to treatment of the complications; Toxoplasma cysts were found in sections of the renal allograft, and Toxoplasma tachyzoites were found in other organs. The other 2 cats and the dog died despite treatment, and protozoal cysts, as well as tachyzoites, were identified in other organs but not within the allografts, suggesting that reactivation of latent infection following immunosuppression was the most likely cause of disseminated toxoplasmosis. These cases illustrate that toxoplasmosis can be a fatal complication in renal transplant recipients. We currently recommend that feline and canine donors and recipients undergo serologic testing for toxoplasmosis prior to surgery. In addition, we suggest that seropositive donors not be used for seronegative recipients and that seropositive recipients and that seropositive recipients be monitored closely after surgery for clinical signs of toxoplasmosis.     

Plasma pharmacokinetics, pulmonary distribution, and in vitro activity of gamithromycin in foals

The objectives of this study were to determine the plasma and pulmonary disposition of gamithromycin in foals and to investigate the in vitro activity of the drug against Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) and Rhodococcus equi. A single dose of gamithromycin (6 mg/kg of body weight) was administered intramuscularly. Concentrations of gamithromycin in plasma, pulmonary epithelial lining fluid (PELF), bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells, and blood neutrophils were determined using HPLC with tandem mass spectrometry detection. The minimum inhibitory concentration of gamithromycin required for growth inhibition of 90% of R. equi and S. zooepidemicus isolates (MIC(90)) was determined. Additionally, the activity of gamithromycin against intracellular R. equi was measured. Mean peak gamithromycin concentrations were significantly higher in blood neutrophils (8.35±1.77 μg/mL) and BAL cells (8.91±1.65 μg/mL) compared with PELF (2.15±2.78 μg/mL) and plasma (0.33±0.12 μg/mL). Mean terminal half-lives in neutrophils (78.6 h), BAL cells (70.3 h), and PELF (63.6 h) were significantly longer than those in plasma (39.1 h). The MIC(90) for S. zooepidemicus isolates was 0.125 μg/mL. The MIC of gamithromycin for macrolide-resistant R. equi isolates (MIC(90)=128 μg/mL) was significantly higher than that for macrolide-susceptible isolates (1.0 μg/mL). The activity of gamithromycin against intracellular R. equi was similar to that of azithromycin and erythromycin. Intramuscular administration of gamithromycin at a dosage of 6 mg/kg would maintain PELF concentrations above the MIC(90) for S. zooepidemicus and phagocytic cell concentrations above the MIC(90) for R. equi for approximately 7 days.     

Influence of diet type on the inclusion of plant origin active substances on morphological and histochemical characteristics of the stomach and jejunum walls in chicken

Three hundred and thirty-six 1-day-old male Hubbard HI-Ye broiler hybrids, kept in battery cages, were fed with diets based on maize (groups I and II) or wheat and barley (groups III and IV) and supplemented with or without plant extract (XT* 100 mg/kg) containing 5% carvacrol, 3% cinnamaldehyde and 2% of capsicum oleoresin. The morphological and histochemical examinations were carried out on days 21 and 42 of bird's age. The middle part of glandular part of the stomach and 30 mm long segment from the central part of the small intestine (jejunum) were taken out and then prepared for morphometrical and histochemical assays. Mobilization of mucocytes in superficial epithelium of the glandular stomach and increased secretion of neutral mucopolysaccharides and small amounts of sialomucins with or without local cell disruption with releasing of large amounts of mucus were observed in both 'grain' groups of 21-day-old birds fed with extract. In some animals, particularly those fed mixtures with plant extract, the folds of the proventriculum mucosa were fused into large, unshaped structures. In groups fed with plant extract the mucus secretion intensity and accumulation inside cells of the gastrointestinal mucosa were slightly higher. Morphological changes on gastrointestinal mucosa observed in young chickens fed XT were reduced in older animals. The results of this study showed that the increased releasing of large amounts of mucus and the creation of a thick layer of mucus on glandular stomach and wall of jejunum in chickens fed diets with plant extract could suggest villi-related protective properties of the use of the carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde and capsaicin mixture. This can explain the reduced possibility of adhesion to epithelium and number of Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringes and fungi in the intestinal content of bird fed with XT supplemented diet. In morphometrical parameters of depth of jejunum crypt and height of villi, the influence of kind of grain and extract supplementation was observed in 21-day-old chickens only. The significant interaction between higher jejunum wall villi layer was observed only in chickens fed on maize diet supplemented with plant extract.     

Surgical procedure and postoperative management of a perineal urethrostomy in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes).

A chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) with traumatic loss of the distal penis developed a gradually enlarging ventral urethral swelling and progressive dysuria. Endoscopy identified a urethral diverticulum, and endoscopic resection of the diverticulum wall was performed. Postoperative infection caused extensive necrosis of the penis, which necessitated a perineal urethrostomy. Complications of the urethrostomy included urethral obstruction from recurrent urethral stricture. The stricture was managed by regular dilatation using urethral bougies. Because of considerable postoperative swelling, catheterization was required to allow micturition following both the diverticular resection and polyp debulking. A shortened catheter sutured to the skin was tolerated for up to 10 days. Four yr after the urethrostomy, the animal is healthy and asymptomatic with endoscopic examinations performed at 12 mo intervals. This case demonstrates that with appropriate aftercare, perineal urethrostomy is an effective technique in the treatment of chronic distal urethral obstruction in the chimpanzee and probably other primate species.     

A comparison between multivariate Slash, Student's t and probit threshold models for analysis of clinical mastitis in first lactation cows

Robust threshold models with multivariate Student's t or multivariate Slash link functions were employed to infer genetic parameters of clinical mastitis at different stages of lactation, with each cow defining a cluster of records. The robust fits were compared with that from a multivariate probit model via a pseudo‐Bayes factor and an analysis of residuals. Clinical mastitis records on 36 178 first‐lactation Norwegian Red cows from 5286 herds, daughters of 245 sires, were analysed. The opportunity for infection interval, going from 30 days pre‐calving to 300 days postpartum, was divided into four periods: (i) ?30 to 0 days pre‐calving; (ii) 1–30 days; (iii) 31–120 days; and (iv) 121–300 days of lactation. Within each period, absence or presence of clinical mastitis was scored as 0 or 1 respectively. Markov chain Monte Carlo methods were used to draw samples from posterior distributions of interest. Pseudo‐Bayes factors strongly favoured the multivariate Slash and Student's t models over the probit model. The posterior mean of the degrees of freedom parameter for the Slash model was 2.2, indicating heavy tails of the liability distribution. The posterior mean of the degrees of freedom for the Student's t model was 8.5, also pointing away from a normal liability for clinical mastitis. A residual was the observed phenotype (0 or 1) minus the posterior mean of the probability of mastitis. The Slash and Student's t models tended to have smaller residuals than the probit model in cows that contracted mastitis. Heritability of liability to clinical mastitis was 0.13–0.14 before calving, and ranged from 0.05 to 0.08 after calving in the robust models. Genetic correlations were between 0.50 and 0.73, suggesting that clinical mastitis resistance is not the same trait across periods, corroborating earlier findings with probit models.     

Retrospective study of 24 cases of septic calcaneal bursitis in the horse

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Wounds to the plantar aspect of the tarsus present a diagnostic and treatment challenge. This study was undertaken to describe specific features of traumatic wounds involving the calcaneal bursa, with a view to determining which clinical examination findings and diagnostic tests results could provide reliable indicators of prognosis. OBJECTIVES: To report clinical presentation, diagnostic findings, treatment and outcome of 24 cases of septic calcaneal bursitis; and to determine the importance of the involvement of specific anatomical structures in relation to the prognosis for survival and return to athletic function. METHODS: Records of 24 horses that had suffered traumatic wounds involving the calcaneal bursae were reviewed and divided into 3 groups, based on the bursa involved and presence or absence of involvement of the tuber calcanei. Clinical, diagnostic imaging and surgical findings were recorded for each case. Differences between groups and outcome were examined for significance with Chi-squared, Fisher's Exact or Kruskal-Wallis tests, as appropriate. RESULTS: Wounds involving only the subcutaneous bursa had an excellent prognosis for survival. Seventy-five percent of horses with wounds involving the intertendinous calcaneal bursa survived. Involvement of the tuber calcanei presented a fair to guarded prognosis, with only 44% of horses with involvement of this structure surviving. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to other studies of septic synovial structures, the time between initial injury and referral did not affect the outcome. Correct identification of invasion of the calcaneal bursa(e) and/or tuber calcanei in wounds to the plantar aspect of the tarsus allows for more accurate pronostication. Damage to the tuber calcanei presents a poorer prognosis than for cases that involve only the soft tissue structures in the region. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: This study demonstrates the importance of correct anatomical identification of structures involved in wounds in the region of the calcaneal bursa. The use of radiography, ultrasonography and synoviocentesis are essential in these cases to provide the most appropriate treatment for the horse and accurate prognosis for the owner.