Evaluation of biomarkers of kidney injury following 4% succinylated gelatin and 6% hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.4 administration in a canine hemorrhagic shock model

Objective : To investigate the association between synthetic colloids and biomarkers of acute kidney injury (AKI) in dogs with hemorrhagic shock. Design : Experimental interventional study. Setting : University. Animals : Twenty‐four healthy ex‐racing Greyhounds. Interventions : Anesthetized Greyhounds subjected to hemorrhage for 60 min were resuscitated with 20 mL/kg of fresh whole blood (FWB), 6% hydroxyethyl starch (HES) 130/0.4, 4% succinylated gelatin (GELO), or 80 mL/kg of isotonic crystalloid (CRYST) over 20 min (n = 6 per treatment). Concentrations of biomarkers of AKI were measured at baseline, end of hemorrhage, and at 40 (T60), 100 (T120), and 160 (T180) min after fluid bolus. Biomarkers included neutrophil gelatinase‐associated lipocalin in urine and serum (uNGAL; sNGAL), and urine cystatin C (uCYSC), kidney injury molecule‐1 (uKIM), clusterin (uCLUST), osteopontin, gamma‐glutamyl transferase, monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 (uMCP), interleukin‐6, interleukin‐8, protein (uPROT), hyaluronan, and F₂‐isoprostanes. Renal histology was scored for tubular injury and microvesiculation. Biomarker fold‐change from baseline was compared between groups using mixed effects models (Bonferroni–Holm corrected P<0.05). Frequencies of histology scores were compared by Fisher's exact test. Measurements and main results : In dogs treated with GELO, uNGAL fold‐change was markedly greater compared with all other groups at T60, T120, and T180 (all P<0.001), and uCYSC was greater at T60 compared with CRYST (P<0.001), and at T120 and T180 compared with all other groups (all P<0.001). Smaller, albeit significant, between‐group differences in uKIM, uCLUST, uMCP, and urine protein concentration were observed across the FWB, GELO, and HES groups, compared with CRYST. The GELO group more frequently had marked tubular microvesiculation than the other groups (P = 0.015) although tubular injury scores were comparable. Conclusion : In dogs with hemorrhagic shock, GELO was associated with greater magnitude increases in urine biomarkers of AKI and more frequent marked tubular microvesiculation, compared with FWB, CRYST, and HES.     

Migration of retrobulbar wooden foreign body between diagnostic imaging and surgical extraction in a German shepherd dog

A 2‐year‐old, male castrated German shepherd dog was presented to the University of Tennessee Veterinary Medical Center (UTVMC) with periorbital swelling and conjunctival mucopurulent discharge 2 days following removal of a twig from the medial canthus by the owner. Diagnostic imaging was pursued due to the suspicion of a retrobulbar foreign body (FB). A cylindrical FB approximately 3.0 cm in length and 1.0 cm in diameter with concentric rings, suspected to be wooden material, was identified on computed tomography (CT) imaging. An attempt to remove the FB via a stab incision using ultrasound guidance was unsuccessful, and postmanipulation ultrasound confirmed the FB position was unchanged. An exploratory orbitotomy was performed, using the acquired CT images for guidance in locating the FB; however, the FB was not present at the predicted site. The CT imaging was repeated and showed that the FB had migrated rostrally approximately 3.0 cm, compared to the originally acquired study and its same location during attempted ultrasound‐guided removal. A combination of CT‐guided needle placement and contrast injection was then used with repeat imaging in an attempt to better localize the FB and its soft tissue tract. The dog was taken back into the operating room, and the wooden FB was successfully removed.     

Demonstration of Heterogeneous Genotypes of Taylorella equigenitalis Isolated from Horses in Six European Countries by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

Forty-six isolates of Taylorella equigenitalis were analysed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) after separate digestion of the genomic DNA with ApaI and with NotI. The isolates had been obtained from horses in six European countries and were classified into 18 genotypes. In Belgium, 2 genotypes were detected in 2 isolates, in England 9 among 15, in Finland 2 in 2, in France 2 among 10, in Sweden 3 among 5, and in Switzerland 3 among 12. Two English isolates and 4 French isolates gave identical PFGE profiles to those of Kentucky 188 from the United States. A common genotype was found in 5 isolates from Belgium and England and also in 10 isolates from France and Switzerland. The analysis of genomic DNA from 12 isolates of T. equigenitalis obtained from male horses in France, Sweden and Switzerland gave no evidence of a sex-related difference in the genomic DNA. Genomic DNA from 11 streptomycin (STM)-susceptible isolates obtained in Sweden and Switzerland were classified into four genotypes by PFGE. Each of the six genotypes determined among the 17 isolates from these two countries had single phenotypes for resistance or susceptibility to STM.     

Long-term outcome of gonadectomy performed at an early age or traditional age in dogs

OBJECTIVE: To determine long-term results and complications of gonadectomy performed at an early age (prepubertal) or at the traditional age in dogs. DESIGN: Cohort study. ANIMALS: 269 dogs from animal shelters. PROCEDURE: Dogs that underwent gonadectomy were allotted to 2 groups on the basis of estimated age at surgery (traditional age, > or =24 weeks old; prepubertal, < 24 weeks old). Adoptive owner information was obtained from shelter records, and telephone interviews were conducted with owners to determine physical or behavioral problems observed in the dogs since adoption. Follow-up information was obtained from attending veterinarians for dogs with complex problems or when owners were uncertain regarding the exact nature of their dog's problem. RESULTS: Prepubertal gonadectomy did not result in an increased incidence of behavioral problems or problems associated with any body system, compared with traditional-age gonadectomy, during a median follow-up period of 48 months after gonadectomy. Rate of retention in the original adoptive household was the same for dogs that underwent prepubertal gonadectomy as those that underwent traditional-age gonadectomy. Infectious diseases, however, were more common in dogs that underwent prepubertal gonadectomy. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: With the exception of infectious diseases, prepubertal gonadectomy may be safely performed in dogs without concern for increased incidence of physical or behavioral problems during at least a 4-year period after gonadectomy.