Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2017 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 5 Articles
Background: In Italy, Angiostrongylus vasorum, an emergent parasite, is being diagnosed in dogs from areas\nconsidered free of infection so far. As clinical signs are multiple and common to other diseases, its diagnosis can be\nchallenging. In particular, in areas where angiostrongylosis and dirofilariosis overlap, a misleading diagnosis of\ncardiopulmonary dirofilariosis might occur even on the basis of possible misleading outcomes from diagnostic kits.\nCase presentation: Two Cavalier King Charles spaniel dogs from an Italian breeding in the Northwest were\nreferred to a private veterinary hospital with respiratory signs. A cardiopulmonary dirofilariosis was diagnosed and\nthe dogs treated with ivermectin, but one of them died. At necropsy, pulmonary oedema, enlargement of\ntracheo-bronchial lymphnodes and of cardiac right side were detected. Within the right ventricle lumen, adults of\nA. vasorum were found. All dogs from the same kennel were subjected to faecal examination by FLOTAC and\nBaermannââ?¬â?¢s techniques to detect A. vasorum first stage larvae; blood analysis by Knottââ?¬â?¢s for Dirofilaria immitis\nmicrofilariae, and antigenic tests for both A. vasorum (Angio Detectââ??¢) and D.immitis (DiroCHEKÃ?® Heartworm,\nWitnessÃ?®Dirofilaria). The surviving dog with respiratory signs resulted positive for A. vasorum both at serum antigens\nand larval detection. Its WitnessÃ?® test was low positive similarly to other four dogs from the same kennel, but false\npositive results due to cross reactions with A. vasorum were also considered. No dogs were found infected by\nA. vasorum.\nEventually, the investigation was deepened by browsing the pathological database of Veterinary Pathology\nLaboratories at Veterinary School of Milan University through 1998ââ?¬â??2016, where 11 cases of angiostrongylosis\nwere described. Two out of 11 dogs had a mixed infection with Crenosoma vulpis.\nConclusion: The study demonstrates the need for accurate surveys to acquire proper epidemiological data on A.\nvasorum infection in Northwestern Italy and for appropriate diagnostic methods. Veterinary clinicians should be\nwarned about the occurrence of this canine parasite and the connected risk of a misleading diagnosis, particularly\nin areas endemic for cardiopulmonary dirofilariosis....
Background: Compared with mammals, wound healing in reptiles is characterized by reduced wound contraction\nand longer healing times. The aim of this study is to describe the clinical and histopathological effects of topical\ninsulin on second-intention healing of experimentally induced wounds in skin without dermal bony plates of\nTrachemys scripta elegans exposed to daily variations in ambient temperature and in an aquatic environment.\nForty-four healthy adult females were assigned to two groups: Group 1 (n = 24) was used to assess clinical features\nsuch as wound contraction; Group 2 (n = 20) was used for histological evaluation and morphometric analysis.\nTopical porcine insulin (5 IU/ml diluted in glycerol) was applied daily 1 week. For each control time (2, 7, 14, 21 and\n28 days post-wounding), re-epithelisation and wound remodelling were evaluated histologically and the number of\nmain inflammatory cells (heterophils, macrophages, lymphocytes and fibroblasts) was scored.\nResults: Mean wound contraction was higher in the insulin-treated group at each time point and differences were\nsignificant at day 28 (P < 0.0001). Histologically, these clinical findings were associated with better re-epithelisation,\ninflammatory response, collagen synthesis and remodelling of the wounds. Morphometrically, insulin-treated wounds had\nsignificantly higher mean counts of heterophils (day 7), macrophages (days 2, 7 and 14) and fibroblasts (days 14 and 21),\nwhereas lymphocyte counts were significantly lower at day 21. These results demonstrate that topical insulin modifies the\ninflammatory response of turtle skin up-regulating inflammatory cells at early stages and promoting wound healing.\nConclusions: Topical insulin is a potentially useful therapy in skin wounds of Trachemys scripta and should be evaluated\nin non-experimental wounds of turtles and other reptiles...
Background: The anthelmintic efficacy of the 0.5% w/v topical formulation of eprinomectin (EPN), EPRINEX�®\nPour-on (Merial) when administered at 1 mg/kg body weight was evaluated in sheep in two dose confirmation\nlaboratory studies and one multicenter field study. In addition, the pharmacokinetics of EPN when administered\nat that dosage to adult sheep was determined.\nResults: In the two dose confirmation studies, which included 10 sheep each, sheep treated with topical EPN\nhad significantly (p < 0.05) fewer of the following nematodes than the untreated sheep with overall reduction of\nnematode counts by >99%: adult Dictyocaulus filaria, Haemonchus contortus, Teladorsagia circumcincta(pinnata/\ntrifurcata), Trichostrongylus axei, T. colubriformis, T. vitrinus, Cooperia curticei, Nematodirus battus, Strongyloides\npapillosus, Chabertia ovina and Oesophagostomum venulosum, and inhibited fourth-stage Teladorsagia larvae.\nA total of 196 sheep harboring naturally acquired gastrointestinal nematode infections were included in the field\nefficacy study at two sites each in Germany (48 Merino x Ile de France lambs, 52 adult Merino females) and in\nItaly (adult male and female Bagnolese, Lacaune, Lacaune x Bagnolese, Bagnolese x Sarda sheep; 48 animals per\nsite). Animals were blocked on pre-treatment body weight and within each block, one animal was randomly\nassigned to the control (untreated) group and three animals were randomly assigned to be treated with topical\nEPN. Examination of feces 14 days after treatment demonstrated that, relative to the controls, topical EPN-treated\nsheep had significantly (p < 0.0001) lower strongylid egg counts. Reduction was â�¥97% at each site and 98.6%\nacross all sites.\nPharmacokinetics of EPN following single treatment with topical EPN were determined in eight ~4.5 year old\nfemale Merino cross sheep based on the analysis of plasma samples which were collected from two hours\nto 21 days following treatment. The main pharmacokinetic parameters were: Cmax 6.20 �± 1.71 ng/mL, AUClast\n48.8 �± 19.2 day*ng/mL, Tmax 3.13 �± 2.99 days and T1/2 6.40 �± 2.95 days.\nNo treatment-related health problems or adverse drug events were observed in any study.\nConclusion: These studies demonstrated 0.5% w/v EPN administered topically at 1 mg/kg body weight to be\nhighly efficacious against a broad range of ovine gastrointestinal nematodes and D. filaria lungworms and well\ntolerated by sheep of different ages, breeds, gender and physiological status....
Neutrophils are the most important circulating phagocytes. Circulating monocytes\nand precursors of tissue macrophages also have the ability to phagocytize.\nPidotimod (ADIMODââ??¢) exerts immunostimulatory and immunoregulatory\neffects through the stimulation and regulation of cellular immune responses\nby lymphocytes Canine herpesvirus (CHV) mainly affect puppies between\nthe first and second weeks of age, causing high morbidity in the litter.\nTo date, there is only one commercial vaccine in Europe to prevent disease. In\nthis work, inactivated CHV cultures were inoculated in rabbits, adsorbed and\nnot adsorbed to chitosan nanoparticles. Phagocytosis in the presence or absence\nof specific antibodies was measured. Response of virus neutralizing antibodies\nwas also evaluated. Adimodââ??¢ enhanced the nonspecific and specific\nphagocytotic response. The association of the virus to the nanoparticles increased\nthe phagocytic ability of blood cells; however, Adimodââ??¢ alone had a\ngreater effect on phagocytic activity and generated a stronger immune response\nthat corresponded to the increased phagocytosis (p < 0.05). Moreover,\nthe level of neutralizing antibodies was higher and increased more rapidly\nwhen Adimodââ??¢ was used....
A Target Animal Safety protocol was used to examine adverse events in male and female Fischer F344/NTac rats treated with\nincreasing doses of a subcutaneous implant of a lipid suspension of buprenorphine. A single injection of 0.65mg/kg afforded\nclinically significant blood levels of drug for 3 days. Chemistry, hematology, coagulation, and urinalysis values with 2- to 10-fold\nexcess doses of the drug-lipid suspension were within normal limits. Histopathology findings were unremarkable. The skin and\nunderlying tissue surrounding the drug injection were unremarkable. Approximately 25% of a cohort of rats given the excess doses\nof 1.3, 3.9, and 6.5 mg/kg displayed nausea-related behavior consisting of intermittent and limited excess grooming and self-gnawing.\nThese results confirm the safety of cholesterol-triglyceride carrier systems for subcutaneous drug delivery of buprenorphine in\nlaboratory animals and further demonstrate the utility of lipid-based carriers as scaffolds for subcutaneous, long-acting drug\ntherapy....
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