Fasting reduces the incidence of vincristine‐associated adverse events in dogs

Fasting has been shown to decrease chemotherapy‐associated adverse events (AEs), in part through insulin‐like growth factor (IGF‐1) reduction, and may induce a protective effect on normal cells during chemotherapy treatment in mice and people. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of fasting on constitutional, bone marrow and gastrointestinal (GI) AEs, and serum glucose, IGF‐1 and insulin levels in dogs receiving vincristine. The study was a prospective, crossover clinical trial in tumour‐bearing dogs. Dogs were randomized to be fasted for 24 to 28 hours prior to and 6 hours following their first or second vincristine treatment, and fed normally for the alternate dose. A significant reduction in nausea, anorexia, lethargy and serum insulin was observed when dogs were fasted; however, no significant differences were found in other GI symptoms, neutrophil count, serum glucose or IGF‐1. Fasting prior to vincristine therapy is a safe and effective treatment modality that helped mitigate constitutional and GI AEs in tumour‐bearing dogs.     

Characterization of the biological behaviour of appendicular osteosarcoma in Rottweilers and a comparison with other breeds: a review of 258 dogs*

The purpose of this retrospective study was to compare Rottweilers diagnosed with osteosarcoma (OSA) with other breeds to determine whether Rottweilers experienced a more aggressive form of the disease. Two hundred and fifty‐eight dogs were evaluated (102 clinical and 156 necropsy cases). In the necropsy population, Rottweilers had a younger mean age at death (7.3 versus 9 years, P= 0.006). There were no significant differences between Rottweilers and other breeds in age at diagnosis, median disease‐free interval or survival time. However, Rottweilers were more likely to have metastasis to the brain (7 versus 0%, P= 0.03). These results suggest that OSA in Rottweilers may have a different biological behaviour, but this study did not confirm that these differences were associated with a worse outcome.     

Attempts to eliminate <Emphasis Type="Italic">Candidatus</Emphasis> phytoplasma phoenicium from infected Lebanese almond varieties by tissue culture techniques combined or not with thermotherapy

Elimination of Candidatus phytoplasma phoenicium from two infected Lebanese varieties of almond by using different tissue culture techniques is reported. Except for the oxytetracycline therapy which totally inhibited the development of explants, stem cutting cultures associated with thermotherapy, shoot tip cultures associated or not with thermotherapy, and shoot tip micrografting were all suitable, either for shoot regeneration or for elimination of phytoplasma from the two varieties. However, stem cutting culture coupled with thermotherapy seemed to be the most effective for regeneration of phytoplasma-free plantlets.     

Essential Oils and Antioxidants Derived From Citrus By-Products in Food Protection and Medicine: An Introduction and Review of Recent Literature

After a brief overview of the general production, market value, and uses of citrus by-products, this literature review will focus on the most highly refined “pharmaceutical grade” citrus oils and antioxidants that have been derived from peels or other fruit parts. Citrus oils have been used as a part of the perfume industry and in the practice of alternative medicine for a long time, but now there is a great deal of mainstream food processing and drug industry interest in them owing to the rediscovery or confirmation of some of their beneficial properties, as well their development for entirely new applications. Their roles as antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, and cancer chemopreventive or chemotherapeutic agents appear promising.     

Efficacy of chemotherapy and palliative hypofractionated radiotherapy for cats with nasal lymphoma

Nasal lymphoma (NL) is the most common nasal tumor in cats, and radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of these treatments have been described as the treatment for this disease. However, the previous studies included various machines and protocols of radiotherapy. Therefore, we aimed to retrospectively compare the prognosis among cases treated with palliative hypofractionated radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and a combination of them with united machine and protocol of radiotherapy. When compared overall survival and progression free survival, there was no significant difference among these three groups. The data of this study suggested that similar efficacy could be achieved by palliative hypofractionated radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of them.     

Utility of 5-aminolaevulinic acid fluorescence-guided endoscopic biopsy for malignant mesothelioma in a cat and dog

Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is uncommon in cats and dogs and can be challenging to diagnose. Adequate tissue sampling is required for superior diagnostic accuracy. Protoporphyrin IX, a metabolite of 5-aminolaevulinic acid (5-ALA), is a photosensitiser for photodynamic diagnosis (PDD). To the best of our knowledge, no study has reported the use of 5-ALA-PDD to detect MM in veterinary medicine. The present study describes the use of 5-ALA-PDD for MM diagnosis in a cat and dog, as well as the effectiveness of intracavitary chemotherapy. We evaluated the use of PDD with 5-ALA hydrochloride (5-ALA-PDD) in two cases of MM. A 12-year-old cat presented with a 1-month history of respiratory distress, and a 9-year-old dog presented with a 3-month history of mild abdominal distention. We endoscopically biopsied lesions in both the cases using 5-ALA-PDD. Histopathological examination revealed mesothelioma, and immunohistochemical staining was positive for calretinin. Both patients were treated with carboplatin. The cat died of respiratory failure. Although, the dog's condition improved 21 days after the first chemotherapeutic drug administration, the dog died on day 684 owing to cardiac-related issues. 5-ALA-PDD is thus, safe and feasible for the diagnosis of MM in veterinary medicine.     

Effect of metronomic cyclophosphamide combined with recombinant human endostatin on a nude mouse xenograft model of non-small-cell lung cancer

AIM：To investigate the effects of combination of metronomic (MET) cyclophosphamide (CPA) with recombinant human endostatin (Endostar) as maintenance therapy on treating non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS：The lung adenocarcinoma model of BALB/c nude mice was established by subcutaneous inoculation of A549 cells. Following 4 circles of CPA chemotherapy at maximum tolerated dose (MTD), the tumor-bearing mice were randomly divided into 4 groups：the mice in control group were treated with saline, the mice in MET CPA group were treated with CPA, the mice in Endo group were treated with Endostar, and the mice in MET CPA+Endo group were treated with CPA+Endostar. The volume of xenograft tumors and the survival rate of the mice were recorded. The circulating endothelial cells (CECs) and viable CECs in peripheral blood of tumor-bearing mice were detected by flow cytometry. The microvessel density (MVD) and pericyte coverage were observed by confocal microscopy. RESULTS： At the 6th week of maintenance therapy, the tumor volume in both MET CPA group and Endo group was significantly smaller than that in control group, and the highest inhibitory effect was observed in MET CPA+Endo group. The survival time of the mice in both MET CPA group and Endo group was significantly longer than that in control group, and the mice in MET CPA+Endo group showed the longest survival time. Compared with control group, MET CPA or Endostar significantly reduced the total number and viable CECs in peripheral blood of tumor-bearing mice and the MVD in the xenograft tumors. Endostar also considerably reduced pericyte coverage in xenograft tumors. MET CPA combined with Endostar even more greatly inhibited the angiogenesis-related indicators mentioned above. CONCLUSION：Combination of MET CPA with Endostar shows effective anti-tumor activity and leads to improved survival in a xenograft model of lung adenocarcinoma, which might be partly attributed to the enhanced anti-angiogenic effect of the combination therapy.