Myocardial injury in dogs: a retrospective analysis on etiological, echocardiographic, electrocardiographic, therapeutic, and outcome findings in 102 cases

Introduction: In dogs, myocardial injury (MI) is a poorly characterized clinical entity; therefore, this study aimed to provide a detailed description of dogs affected by this condition. Animals, materials, and methods: Dogs diagnosed with MI according to the concentration of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) were retrospectively searched. Signalment, diagnostic, therapeutic, and outcome data were retrieved. Dogs were divided into six echocardiographic (dilated cardiomyopathy phenotype; hypertrophic cardiomyopathy phenotype; hypertrophic cardiomyopathy phenotype with systolic dysfunction; abnormal echogenicity only; endocarditis; and no echocardiographic abnormalities suggestive of MI), four electrocardiographic (abnormalities of impulse formation; abnormalities of impulse conduction; abnormalities of ventricular repolarization; and no electrocardiographic abnormalities suggestive of MI), and nine etiological (infective; inflammatory; neoplastic; metabolic; toxic; nutritional; immune-mediated; traumatic/mechanical; and unknown) categories. Statistical analysis was performed to compare cTnI values among different categories and analyze survival. Results: One hundred two dogs were included. The median cTnI value was 3.71 ng/mL (0.2-180 ng/mL). Echocardiographic and electrocardiographic abnormalities were documented in 86 of 102 and 89 of 102 dogs, respectively. Among echocardiographic and electrocardiographic categories, the dilated cardiomyopathy phenotype (n = 52) and abnormalities of impulse formation (n = 67) were overrepresented, respectively. Among dogs in which a suspected etiological trigger was identified (68/102), the infective category was overrepresented (n = 20). Among dogs belonging to different echocardiographic, electrocardiographic, and etiological categories, cTnI did not differ significantly. The median survival time was 603 days; only eight of 102 dogs died due to MI. Conclusions: Dogs with MI often have an identifiable suspected trigger, show various echocardiographic and electrocardiographic abnormalities, and frequently survive to MI-related complications

Postural Dysfuctions and Strabismus: Correlations

Purpose: Patient with strabismus may assume a compensatory posture. Posturology treats patients with abnormal head position through the stimulation of foot, ocular and stomatognathic receptors. As an alternation of one or more receptor occurs, the tonic postural system seeks to carer for this problems by adopting compensatory postures (scoliosis, abnormalities of distribution of the podalic load, abnormal head position). The extrinsic eye muscles, the head, neck and tongue muscles arise from the occipital somites: probably this explains the relationship between the ocular misalignment and abnormal posture. The objective of this work is to evaluate the relationships between oculomotor e postural defects. Methods: N = 47 patients received a comprehensive ophthalmologic and orthoptic examination. They underwent baropodometric and stabilometric examinations. Results: Our sample group included 37 patients with exodeviation, 17 patients with esodeviation. We observed: flat foot with an incidence rate of 83.33% (25 out of 33) in exotropic subjects; pes cavus with an incidence rate of 16.66% (5 out of 30) in exotropic subjects; flat foot with an incidence rate of 23.52% (4 out of 17) in esotropic subjects; pes cavus with an incidence rate of 76.47% (13 out of 17) in esotropic subjects. Clinical physiatry observation of patients with Eso/Exo deviations prove a considerable turn-out of postural disorders: lumbar scoliosis (76.47%). Conclusions: In our sample, patients with exodeviation have flat feet (83.33%); the subjects with esodeviation have pes cavus (76.47%). However, there is a widely recognized need for a further extensive study and evaluation of the results obtained regarding binocular vision and posture

Retrospective evaluation of the ST segment electrocardiographic features in 180 healthy dogs

Objectives Normal features of the ST segment are poorly characterised in dogs. This study aimed to describe ST segment characteristics in a population of healthy dogs. Materials and Methods Medical records were reviewed to identify healthy dogs that underwent an electrocardiogram. Several ST segment qualitative parameters were evaluated: presence/absence of deviation, type of deviation (depression/elevation) and morphological patterns of depression (horizontal, downsloping, upsloping and sagging) and elevation (horizontal, concave and convex). Moreover, the amplitude of ST segment depression/elevation was measured. The potential effect of sex, bodyweight, age and somatotype on the presence/absence of ST segment deviation was evaluated through binary logistic regression. Results One hundred and eighty dogs were enrolled. The deviation was evident in 43 of 180 dogs (23.9%), among which 36 showed depression and seven showed elevation. The median depression amplitude was 0.1 (range 0.05 to 0.3) mV. The mean elevation amplitude was 0.136 +/- 0.055 mV. Concerning depression morphology, the horizontal pattern was overrepresented, followed by the downsloping and upsloping ones. Concerning elevation morphology, all dogs showed a concave pattern. No meaningful effect of sex, bodyweight, age and somatotype on the presence/absence of ST segment deviation was documented. Clinical Significance Normal features of canine ST segment were described and made available for clinical use

Detection of Anaplasma spp. and Ehrlichia spp. in dogs from a veterinary teaching hospital in Italy: a retrospective study 2012–2020

Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma platys and Ehrlichia canis, responsible of diseases in dogs, are tick-borne pathogens with a proven or potential zoonotic role that have shown increasing prevalence worldwide. The aims of this retrospective study were to assess the frequency of Anaplasma spp. and Ehrlichia spp. exposure in dogs tested in a veterinary teaching hospital in Italy over a 9-year period, to compare the performance of the diagnostic tests used, to evaluate correlations with clinical data, and to genetically analyse the identified bacteria. During the study period, 1322 dogs tested by at least one of the rapid immunoenzymatic test, indirect immunofluorescent antibody test or end-point PCR assay for Anaplasmataceae detection were included. Dogs were tested if they had clinical signs or clinicopathological alteration or risk factors related to infection, and if they were potential blood-donor animals. Ninety-four of 1322 (7.1%) dogs tested positive for at least one pathogen: 53 (4.3%) for A. phagocytophilum, one (0.1%) for A. platys and 63 (4.6%) for E. canis. The number of dogs tested increased and the positivity rate progressively declined over the years. Comparison of tests showed a near-perfect agreement between serological tests and a poor agreement between PCR and indirect assays. A breed predisposition has been highlighted for A. phagocytophilum infection in hunting breed dogs and for E. canis infection in mixed breed dogs. Phylogeny confirmed potential zoonotic implications for A. phagocytophilum and showed no correlation of the identified bacteria with the geographical origin. Our study provides new insights into possible risk factors in dogs and evidenced discordant results between different tests, suggesting that a combination of serological and molecular assays is preferable for a correct diagnosis

Endoparasites in dogs diagnosed at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH)-University of Bologna, combined with clinicopathological results. A long-term retrospective secondary data study

Humans and dogs commonly share the same domestic environment. Europe, and Italy specifically, have a substantial and growing dog population. Potentially zoonotic parasites may be harbored even by dogs receiving regular veterinary care. Thus, transmission of zoonotic or potentially zoonotic parasites to owners and their families should not be underestimated. Frequently, endoparasite infections occur as a subclinical infection and clinicopathological alterations have been documented including anemia, hypoalbuminemia, and eosinophilia. The aim of this large retrospective secondary data study was to analyze coprological endoparasite results and putative risk factors obtained from owned dogs, through a 9-year-period (2011-2019). Possible associations between diagnosed endoparasites and sex, age, seasonality, and year of examination were evaluated. Additionally, parasitological diagnoses were combined to complete blood count parameters and biochemical profiles, when available, to check for any possible hematological alteration from parasitism. A total of 1,972 dogs were evaluated for endoparasites using common fecal diagnostic tests over a 9-year period. The overall proportion of endoparasite-positive animals was 10%. The most common endoparasites detected were Cystoisospora spp. (3%), Toxocara canis (2.8%), Giardia duodenalis (1.6%), and Trichuris vulpis (1.2%). Of these parasites detected, Toxocara poses the greatest zoonotic risk, while Giardia species are considered to have a low potential to be zoonotic. There was no significant diagnostic trend across the years through the study period. Dogs were more frequently diagnosed endoparasite-positive when young and during cold seasons compared to the baselines of mature dogs and warm seasons. The clinicopathological profiles indicated that parasitized dogs had mild hematological alterations. The frequency of detected potentially zoonotic endoparasites in this study highlights that the risk should not be underestimated. Parasitic infection was found to be mostly dependent on age and season. Having this information may help clinicians to develop anthelmintic protocols to reduce the risk of transmission

Dual targeting of the tRNA nucleotidyltransferase in plants: not just the signal

Enzymes involved in tRNA maturation are essential for cytosolic, mitochondrial, and plastid protein synthesis and are therefore localized to these different compartments of the cell. Interestingly, only one isoform of tRNA nucleotidyltransferase (responsible for adding the 3′-terminal cytidine–cytidine–adenosine to tRNAs) has been identified in plants. The present study therefore explored how signals contained on this enzyme allow it to be distributed among the different cell compartments. It is demonstrated that the N-terminal portion of the protein acts as an organellar targeting signal and that differential use of multiple in-frame start codons alters the localization of the protein. Moreover, it is shown that the mature domain has a major impact on the distribution of the protein within the cell. These data indicate that regulation of dual localization involves not only specific N-terminal signals, but also additional factors within the protein or the cell

Study of the Orthoptic Assessment in Refractive Eye Surgery

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Different Fish Meal and Fish Oil Dietary Levels in European Sea Bass: Welfare Implications After Acute Confinement Stress

open9siTo provide practical feeding management guidelines preceding a stressful episode during farming practices, European sea bass juveniles (initial weight: 72.3 g) were fed for 60-days different fish meal (FM) and fish oil (FO) dietary levels [high (30% FM, 15% FO, FM30/FO15), intermediate (20% FM, 7% FO, FM20/FO7), and low (10% FM, 3% FO, FM10/FO3)] in triplicate conditions. Fish were then fasted for 36 h and exposed to a 2-h acute crowding (80 kg m–3 biomass). Plasma biochemistry, skin mucus parameters and gene expression of stress and immune-related genes were performed before, at 2 and 24 h after crowding. At the end of the trial, the FM10/FO3 group showed lower final body weight, weight gain, and specific growth rate compared to the other treatments. Most of the plasma parameters were mainly affected by crowding condition rather than diet; however, after stress, lactate was higher in the FM30/FO15 group compared to the other treatments. Similarly, protease, antiprotease, peroxidase and lysozyme in skin mucus were mostly affected by crowding conditions, while fish fed FM10/FO3 displayed higher skin mucosal IgM and bactericidal activity against Vibrio anguillarum and V. harveyi. Most of the stress-related genes considered (hsp70 and gr-1 in the brain; hsp70, gr-1 and gr-2 in the head kidney), showed an overall expression pattern that increased over time after stress, in addition, hsp70 in the head kidney was also up-regulated in fish fed FM30/FO15 after stress. Higher plasmatic lactate together with the up-regulation of some stress-related transcripts suggest a higher reactivity to acute crowding of the stress-response mechanism in fish fed high FM and FO dietary levels. Otherwise, the higher skin mucosal IgM and bactericidal activity observed in fish fed FM10/FO3 dietary levels seems to indicate that acute crowding was able to activate a higher pro-inflammatory response in this treatment. Overall, the results of the present study seem to indicate that 10% FM and 3% FO dietary levels might affect stress and immune responses.openPelusio N.F.; Bonaldo A.; Gisbert E.; Andree K.B.; Esteban M.A.; Dondi F.; Sabetti M.C.; Gatta P.P.; Parma L.Pelusio N.F.; Bonaldo A.; Gisbert E.; Andree K.B.; Esteban M.A.; Dondi F.; Sabetti M.C.; Gatta P.P.; Parma L

Marinopyrrole Derivatives as Potential Antibiotic Agents against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (I)

Infections caused by drug-resistant pathogens are on the rise. The ongoing spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains exemplifies the urgent need for new antibiotics. The marine natural product, marinopyrrole A, was previously shown to have potent antibiotic activity against Gram-positive pathogens, including MRSA. However, its minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against MRSA was increased by >500 fold in the presence of 20% human serum, thus greatly limiting therapeutic potential. Here we report our discovery of a novel derivative of marinopyrrole A, designated 1a, featuring a 2–4 fold improved MIC against MRSA and significantly less susceptibility to serum inhibition. Importantly, compound 1a displayed rapid and concentration-dependent killing of MRSA. Compared to the natural product counterpart, compound 1a provides an important natural product based scaffold for further Structure Activity Relationship (SAR) and optimization