Feline low-grade alimentary lymphoma: an emerging entity and a potential animal model for human disease

Background: Low-grade alimentary lymphoma (LGAL) is characterised by the infiltration of neoplastic T-lymphocytes, typically in the small intestine. The incidence of LGAL has increased over the last ten years and it is now the most frequent digestive neoplasia in cats and comprises 60 to 75% of gastrointestinal lymphoma cases. Given that LGAL shares common clinical, paraclinical and ultrasonographic features with inflammatory bowel diseases, establishing a diagnosis is challenging. A review was designed to summarise current knowledge of the pathogenesis, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of feline LGAL. Electronic searches of PubMed and Science Direct were carried out without date or language restrictions. Results: A total of 176 peer-reviewed documents were identified and most of which were published in the last twenty years. 130 studies were found from the veterinary literature and 46 from the human medicine literature. Heterogeneity of study designs and outcome measures made meta-analysis inappropriate. The pathophysiology of feline LGAL still needs to be elucidated, not least the putative roles of infectious agents, environmental factors as well as genetic events. The most common therapeutic strategy is combination treatment with prednisolone and chlorambucil, and prolonged remission can often be achieved. Developments in immunohistochemical analysis and clonality testing have improved the confidence of clinicians in obtaining a correct diagnosis between LGAL and IBD. The condition shares similarities with some diseases in humans, especially human indolent T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. Conclusions: The pathophysiology of feline LGAL still needs to be elucidated and prospective studies as well as standardisation of therapeutic strategies are needed. A combination of conventional histopathology and immunohistochemistry remains the current gold-standard test, but clinicians should be cautious about reclassifying cats previously diagnosed with IBD to lymphoma on the basis of clonality testing. Importantly, feline LGAL could be considered to be a potential animal model for indolent digestive T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder, a rare condition in human medicine

Obstructive sleep apnea in a Chihuahua successfully managed with ondansetron.

While the persistence of clinical signs related to brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome, particularly sleep-disordered breathing patterns following appropriate surgical management is likely to be relatively rare, this potential sequela needs to be considered, along with being aware of possible medical management options such as serotonin antagonists.Published onlin

Purification and partial characterization of canine pepsinogen A and B

Objective-To purify and partially characterize various isoforms of canine pepsinogen (PG) from gastric mucosa. Sample Population-Stomachs obtained from 6 euthanatized dogs. Procedure-Mucosa was scraped from canine stomachs, and a crude mucosal extract was prepared and further purified by use of weak anion-exchange chromatography, hydroxyapatite chromatography, size-exclusion chromatography, and strong anion-exchange chromatography. Pepsinogens were characterized by estimation of molecular weights, estimation of their isoelectric points (IEPs), and N-terminal amino acid sequencing. Results-Two different groups of canine PG were identified after the final strong anion-exchange chromatography: PG A and PG B. Pepsinogens differed in their molecular weights and IEP Pepsinogen B appeared to be a dimer with a molecular weight of approximately 34,100 and an IEP of 4.9. Pepsinogen A separated into several isoforms. Molecular weights for the various isoforms of PG A ranged from 34,200 to 42,100, and their IEPs ranged from 4.0 to < 3.0.The N-terminal amino acid sequence for the first 25 amino acid residues for PG A and B had good homology with the amino acid sequences for these proteins in other species. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Canine PG B and several isoforms of canine PG A have been purified. Availability of these PGs will facilitate development of immunoassays to measure PG in canine serum as a potential diagnostic marker for gastric disorders in dogs.[...

Evaluation of an handheld electrochemical Comparison of breath hydrogen concentration in dog administration of 5 and 4 sugar solution

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the hydrogen breath concentration after oral administration of 3 different solutions of 5 (solution 1: 4.0 g xylose, 16g lactulose, 4.0 g rhamnose, 2.0 g 3-0-methylglucose and 4.0g sucrose), 2 (solution 2: 4.0 g lactulose and 4.0g L-rhamnose ), and 4 (solution 3: 4.0 g xylose, 16 g lactulose, 4.0 g rhamnose, 2.0 g 3-0-methylglucose) sugars, in clinically healthy dogs. Eight clinically healthy female dogs were fed with a commercial diet. Food was withdrawn for 12 hours before testing the hydrogen breath test. A baseline breath sample was collected before the oral administration of the sugar solutions. The samples were collected every 15, and 30 minutes for 8 hours. Mean SD AUC for test 2, 5, and 4 inert sugars solution was 54.48 26.66, 72.14 29.00 , and 47.05 20.49 ppm /h., respectively. After administration of solution1, breath H2 excretion began to be significantly higher (P< 0.02) than fasting value at 75’. A maximum mean breath H2 concentration of 14.82 7.42 was observed at 2.25 h. After administration of solution2 breath excretion was significantly higher than fasting at 90’ (P< 0.029). A maximum mean breath test of 11.2 4.30 yield at 2 hr. No significantly differences was observed between fasting and mean excretion H2 after administration of solution 4. Although further investigations are required, we can conclude that solution 1 shows an higher meaning for the breath H2 excretion than the other two solutions