Plantas ornamentais tóxicas para cães e gatos presentes no nordeste do Brasil

As plantas ornamentais estão presentes em nosso cotidiano e grande parte dessas tem potencial tóxico para cães e gatos.Nesse contexto, esta revisão teve como objetivo fazer um levantamento das principais espécies de plantas ornamentaisencontradas na região Nordeste do Brasil e que possuem efeitos tóxicos para cães e gatos. Para isso fez-se uma pesquisabibliográfica e uma listagem com os nomes das espécies vegetais, princípios ativos e seus efeitos tóxicos. O trabalhopossibilitou o conhecimento de que a maioria desses vegetais faz parte do ambiente de cães e gatos, exigindo uma maioratenção por parte de proprietários e veterinários a este tipo de toxicose que por muitas vezes não tem a causa identificada epor isso um tratamento insuficiente

Consequences of intraoperative spinal cord manipulation in dogs with thoracolumbar intervertebral disc extrusion

ABSTRACT The objective of the present study was to evaluate if extradural contact during hemilaminectomy would cause neurological deterioration in the early and/or late postoperative period in dogs with intervertebral disc extrusion. Nineteen dogs with thoracolumbar intervertebral disc extrusion underwent hemilaminectomy for spinal cord decompression and removal of extruded disc material. Meningeal contacts during surgery were quantified. Paraplegia (with nociception) and paraparesis were observed in 11/19 and 8/19 of dogs, respectively, before surgery. At the end of our study, only two (2/19) had paraplegia and one (1/19), paraparesis. There were more extradural contacts when extruded intervertebral disc material was at a ventrolateral position. Extradural contacts during surgery had no influence on neurological progression nor on time to recovery of motor function. Immediately (24 and 48 hours) after surgery, 13/19 dogs had the same neurological stage before surgery. At 7 and 90 days, 13/19 and 17/19 dogs, respectively, showed neurological improvement, compared with their preoperative stage. There was no influence of the number of extradural contacts on neurological recovery. These findings indicate that a careful inspection of the vertebral canal for removal of as much extruded disc material as possible does not cause neurologic deterioration.</jats:p

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of phenolic extracts of cork from Quercus suber L.

The phenolic fraction of cork from Quercus sober L. was obtained following two distinct fractionation schemes, namely methanol/water extraction followed by ethyl ether fractionation and sequential extraction with methanol and water. The extracts were studied in terms of total phenolics content, using Folin-Ciocalteu method, detailed chemical analysis by HPLC-MS. and antioxidant activity. The first method underestimates both total extractives, total phenolics as well as the amounts of identified compounds. The HPLC-MS, revealed that, apart from smaller components, all the extracts displayed the same qualitative composition; 15 phenolic components were identified, with ellagic acid, followed by gallic and protocatechuic acids as the most abundant compounds. Additionally some compounds identified were reported for the first time as cork components, namely salicylic acid, eriodictyol, naringenin, quinic acid and hydroxyphenyllactic acid. The antioxidant activity of the extracts, evaluated using the 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl hydrate (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, showed to be considerably higher than that of BHT, and in the range of ascorbic acid. The antioxidant potential per mass unit of the three extracts is in the same range, but the high extraction yields obtained by water extraction open good perspectives for the exploitation of this extract in nutraceutical applications. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.FCT - SFRH/BD/42021/200

Achados clínicos, histopatológicos e moleculares da mielopatia degenerativa canina: relato de caso

RESUMO Objetivou-se descrever os achados clínicos, histopatológicos e moleculares associados à MDC em um cão da raça Pastor-Suiço. O cão possuía uma paraparesia progressiva em membros pélvicos e foi submetido a avaliações clínicas, pelas quais se obteve, entre outros diferenciais, o diagnóstico presuntivo de MDC. Com a evolução dos sinais, o tutor optou pela eutanásia. Os achados histopatológicos da medula espinhal foram compatíveis com uma degeneração segmentar axonal e mielínica. O diagnóstico molecular foi realizado por meio da extração do DNA obtido por swab oral. Uma PCR foi otimizada utilizando-se primers descritos em literatura para amplificar a região do gene SOD1. A amostra foi, então, submetida a sequenciamento unidirecional, que revelou que o animal em questão era homozigoto para o alelo A para a mutação c.118G&gt;A no éxon 2 do gene SOD1. O diagnóstico clínico presuntivo da MDC no presente caso foi esclarecido por meio dos achados histopatológicos, associados aos achados clínicos, e da sua caracterização molecular. Ressalta-se a contribuição deste relato, que traz aspectos clínicos, histopatológicos e moleculares associados à MDC na raça Pastor-Suíço, para a qual, até o presente momento, na literatura consultada, não há relato dessa enfermidade.</jats:p

Anestesia epidural na cirurgia descompressiva lombossacral de cães

Objetivou-se avaliar viabilidade, eficácia, vantagens e desvantagens da anestesia epidural lombossacral, junto à anestesia geral inalatória, em cirurgias de descompressão da cauda equina, tendo em vista que essas cirurgias são procedimentos longos e dolorosos. Para isso, foram utilizados 11 cães adultos com sinais clínicos de síndrome da cauda equina, que foram submetidos à anestesia geral inalatória e deixados no estágio anestésico mais superficial. Depois, realizou-se a anestesia epidural em seis dos 11 pacientes, por punção espinhal em L7-S1, com bupivacaína a 0,5%. Os parâmetros fisiológicos (cardíacos, vasculares, respiratórios, temperatura corporal e glicemia) foram aferidos antes da medicação pré-anestésica, 10 minutos após esta, 30 minutos depois da epidural, depois da laminectomia, assim como após 60 minutos e 90 minutos da epidural, tanto no grupo com epidural como naquele sem esta (controle). Os animais que possuíam bloqueio epidural apresentaram redução significativa no consumo de anestésico inalatório e no tempo de extubação, não apresentando déficits neurológicos causados pela anestesia epidural, quando comparados com o grupo-controle. Conclui-se que a técnica de anestesia epidural é eficiente e vantajosa na realização de cirurgias descompressivas lombossacrais, pois proporciona menor risco anestésico para o animal

Intraoperative ultrasonography of the vertebral canal in dogs

Intraoperative ultrasound (IOS) can provide details on various conditions of the spinal cord and vertebral canal. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of using IOS in dogs undergoing spinal surgery and to describe the main findings. The vertebral canal of 21 dogs was examined with intraoperative ultrasonography: 13 underwent spinal surgery for removal of herniated intervertebral disc material, three for stabilization of vertebral fracture/luxation, two for removal of vertebral neoplasia, and three for cauda equina decompression. Particular attention was given to signs of cord compression. Intraoperative ultrasonography was feasible and useful in dogs undergoing surgery for spinal cord or cauda equina decompression and fracture stabilization. It was not paramount for locating the compression when this had been done via computed tomography (CT), but it showed alterations in spinal cord parenchyma not observed on CT and also confirmed adequate decompression of the spinal cord. The main advantages of intraoperative ultrasonography were estimation of vascularization and extent of spinal cord lesion. Most importantly, it allowed real time evaluation of the spinal cord and vertebral canal, which permits the modification of the surgical procedure

Unravelling COVID-19 waves in Rio de Janeiro city: Qualitative insights from nonlinear dynamic analysis

Since the COVID-19 pandemic was first reported in 2019, it has rapidly spread around the world. Many countries implemented several measures to try to control the virus spreading. The healthcare system and consequently the general quality of life population in the cities have all been significantly impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. The different waves of contagious were responsible for the increase in the number of cases that, unfortunately, many times lead to death. In this paper, we aim to characterize the dynamics of the six waves of cases and deaths caused by COVID-19 in Rio de Janeiro city using techniques such as the Poincaré plot, approximate entropy, second-order difference plot, and central tendency measures. Our results reveal that by examining the structure and patterns of the time series, using a set of non-linear techniques we can gain a better understanding of the role of multiple waves of COVID-19, also, we can identify underlying dynamics of disease spreading and extract meaningful information about the dynamical behavior of epidemiological time series. Such findings can help to closely approximate the dynamics of virus spread and obtain a correlation between the different stages of the disease, allowing us to identify and categorize the stages due to different virus variants that are reflected in the time series