Acute Myeloid Leukemia in a Dog Chronically Infected with Leishmania spp. and Other Infectious Agents

Background: Rare studies have described the association of hematopoietic tumors and canine visceral leishmaniosis, however the association between the parasitary disease and neoplasia is still not well established in dogs. Thus, the aim of the present study was to report a case of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in a dog infected by Leishmania spp. and otherinfectious agents.Case: A 8-year-old, male Poodle, was brought to the Veterinary Hospital from Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido. The dog had a history of recurrent tick-borne diseases, such as anaplasmosis, over the previous ten months. On physical examination, pale mucosa, enlargement of popliteal lymph nodes, onychogryphosis, purulent nasal discharge, and bilateralblepharitis with purulent discharge were observed. The dog was skinny and infested with ticks. The blood cell count revealed normocytic, normochromic anemia and leukocytosis (38.000/mm3) with neutrophilia (30.020/mm3). Serum biochemical tests demonstrated hyperproteinemia due to hyperglobulinemia, hypoalbuminemia, and an albumin:globulin ratio of 0.30. The immunochromathographic test for leishmaniasis was negative. The alterations observed in the bone marrow cytological analysis were suggestive of AML, and Anaplasma spp., Hepatozoon spp., and amastigote forms of Leishmania spp. were observed inside bone marrow cells. After diagnosis, a decision to euthanize the animal was made.Discussion: Few studies have demonstrated the presence of hematopoietic neoplasia in dogs chronically and simultaneously infected with multiple pathogens. A case of multiple myeloma in a dog associated with infection by Ehrlichia canis, A. phagocytophilum, L. infantum, and Dirofilaria immitis is described. Another study reported B-cell lymphoma in a dog with E. canis and Histoplasma capsulatum infection. The pathogenesis of AML in the reported dog might be associated with continuous antigenic stimulation and chronic inflammation caused by the infectious agents. The pathological changes in bone marrow caused by Leishmania are well described, and different combinations of hypoplasia, hyperplasia, or dysplasia of all hematopoietic lineages can occur. The inflammation and chronic stimulation of hematopoiesis can lead to an increased risk of changes in the genetic material of the hematopoietic precursor cells. Thus, there is an increased chance of generation of mutated clones, resulting in hematopoietic malignancies. Immunosuppression is a common condition present in numerous types of neoplasia, especially in those with hematopoietic origins, which increases the vulnerability to opportunistic diseases. In humans, the presence of concomitant neoplasia and leishmaniasis is well documented, However, there are very few veterinary medicine studies on the association between neoplasia and canine visceral leishmaniosis. Cases of hematopoietic tumors, such as multiple myeloma, and multicentric, cutaneous, and cardiac lymphomas, have been described in dogs with leishmaniasis. To the best of our knowledge, this is possibly the first report implicating pathogens of the genera Leishmania, Anaplasma and Hepatozoon as contributors in the etiopathogenesis of AML in the studied animal. Based on all clinical and laboratory findings, we theorize that the prolonged antigenic stimulation and chronic inflammationcaused by the infectious agents played a crucial role in the development of leukemia in the dog.Keywords: myeloproliferative disorder, hemoparasites, canine leishmaniasis

Acute Aflatoxicosis in Swines in Northeastern Brazil

Background: Aflatoxins are hepatotoxic mycotoxins derived from the secondary metabolism of toxigenic fungi belonging to the genus Aspergillus, especially A. flavus and A. parasiticus. Aflatoxin B1 is the most important metabolite, because of its deleterious effect mainly to the liver, especially for its carcinogenic, mutagenic and haemorrhagic properties, and usually is detected in higher concentrations in contaminated substrates. This paper reports the epidemiological, clinical, pathological and toxicological aspects of an outbreak of acute aflatoxicosis in pigs raised in Northeastern Brazil.Case: The cases occurred in a complete cycle farm, in the city of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Northeastern Brazil, in pigs ingesting low quality (moldy) corn being produced and processed on the farm. Sixty (73.1%) out of 82 two to five-months old pigs were clinicaly affected and 54 (65.8%) died. All animals showed fever, weight loss, tachycardia, tachypnea, lethargy, muscle tremors, muscle weakness and diarrhea. The clinical course ranged from five to 48 hours. Adult pigs were not affected. At necropsies, generalized jaundice, ascites, hydropericardium, petechial hemorrhages in the mesentery, subcutaneous edema and mesocolon were observed. The liver was yellow-orange with reddish diffuse multifocal areas, enlarged and extremely friable. Histologically there was swelling of hepatocytes with severe diffuse hepatocellular fatty degeneration, centrilobular hepatocellular necrosis, proliferation of bile ducts and cholestasis. High concentrations of aflatoxin B1 were determined in the corn (3400 μg/kg) and ration (1460 μg/kg).Discussion: The diagnosis of aflatoxicosis was based on epidemiological investigation associated with clinical and pathological findings and confirmed by high levels of aflatoxin B1 found in samples of corn and feed. Of the numerous types of aflatoxin reported, the most common is the B1, which is typically produced by Aspergillus fungi. In intensive pig farms, management conditions increase the chances of occurrence of intoxications caused by the poor quality of the grain (especially maize) by the poor quality of the grain (especially maize) used in the diet formulation. In the present report the corn was severely degraded and kept in physical conditions that favor the proliferation of aflatoxins. In addition, young animals, which are more suseptible, were the only ones affected with 73% morbidity and 65.8% mortality. In cases of spontaneous aflatoxicosis morbidity in pigs can vary from 10 to 100% and mortality is high when the diet has a high concentration of aflatoxins as observed in this outbreak (3400 and 1460 μg/kg of B1 in corn and food, respectively) . Increases in sérum ALT levels indicate hyperacute, acute or chronic active hepatocellular damage; a toxic hepatitis in this case. Furthermore, the increased serum AST suggest the existence of extensive and progressive hepatocellular damage, because this enzyme is synthesized mitochondrial level. Legislation in Brazil, determines that the maximum tolerated aflatoxin concentrations are 50 parts per million (ppm) or 50 μg/kg in food included in the diet formulation for animal consumption and 20 ppb in corn grain for human consumption. Differential diagnosis of aflatoxicosis include leptospirosis and intoxication by Crotalaria retusa or other pyrrolizidine alkaloids-containing plants.Keywords: aflatoxicosis, mycotoxins, toxic hepatitis, swine

Período gestacional e ciclo reprodutivo em preás (Galea spixii Wagler, 1831)

O preá é um roedor com elevado potencial biológico e zootécnico a ser explorado, sendo o conhecimento sobre os aspectos reprodutivos fundamentais para que sua criação seja satisfatória. Objetivou-se determinar a duração da gestação em preás, e a caracterização das fases do ciclo reprodutivo, verificando, se existe influência da presença do macho neste processo. Os animais foram separados em três grupos: Acompanhamento gestacional (G1), 5:1, proporção de fêmea e macho no box; Ciclo estral, 5:1, com o macho preso em gaiola (G2) e cinco fêmeas em outro box sem o macho (G3). O exame colpocitológico ocorreu diariamente, identificado o espermatozoide na lâmina como cópula. As fêmeas do G1 foram separadas assim que copulavam e contadas como dia “zero” da gestação. As fêmeas do G2 e G3 foram avaliadas ao longo de dois ciclos estrais completos, avaliados qualitativamente pelo o esfregaço vaginal. O período de gestação em preás foi de 59±2,24 dias, com um ciclo poliéstrico contínuo, com duração de 14,8±0,73 dias no G2 e 14,6±0,75 dias no G3. O proestro caracterizou-se pelo predomínio de células parabasais, intermediárias, bactérias e leucócitos; o estro, células superficiais, com predomínio das anucleadas com presença ou não de bactérias; metaestro, células parabasais e grande quantidade de células intermediárias, neutrófilos e bactérias; diestro, predomínio de células basais, parabasais e intermediárias e grande quantidade de muco vaginal, neutrófilos e bactérias. A presença do macho influenciou significativamente a duração do diestro, tornando-se mais longa, fato que pode estar atrelado a influência sobre a produção de progesterona na fêmea. Palavras-chave: Ciclo estral; estro; Galea spixii; gestação; roedor

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time, and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space. While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes, vast areas of the tropics remain understudied. In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity, but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases. To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge, it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions