Two cases of feline pyothorax : medical versus surgical treatment and associated challenges

Pyothorax is a rare disease in cats. Underlying causes and treatment recommendations vary greatly between cases. In this case series, the management of two challenging cases of feline pyothorax is discussed. In the first case, a nine-year-old female spayed European shorthair cat with pyothorax caused by Bacteroides fragilis is described. At the time of presentation, she was diagnosed with feline immunodeficiency virus as well. The pyothorax was succesfully managed medically. Unfortunately, the cat relapsed after three months and the owner elected euthanasia. The second case involved a ten-year-old male castrated British shorthair cat with identification of filamentous bacteria on pleural fluid cytology. This cat underwent surgical intervention because thoracic drainage was very difficult. Eventually, he recovered well and did not relapse up to two months postoperatively. The challenges in the decision process and treatment complications are discussed

Mixture toxicity of copper and zinc to barley at low level effects can be described by the Biotic Ligand Model

Background and aims: The biotic ligand model (BLM) is a bioavailability model for metals based on the concept that toxicity depends on the concentration of metal bound to a biological binding site; the biotic ligand. Here, we evaluated the BLM to interpret and explain mixture toxicity of metals (Cu and Zn). Methods: The mixture toxicity of Cu and Zn to barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was tested with a 4 days root elongation test in resin buffered nutrient solutions. Toxicity of one toxicant was tested in presence or absence of a low effect level of the other toxicant or in a ray design with constant toxicant ratios. All treatments ran at three different Ca concentrations (0.3, 2.2 and 10mM) to reveal ion interaction effects. Results: The 50 % effect level (EC50) of one metal, expressed as the free ion in solution, significantly (p<0.05) increased by adding a low level effect of the other metal at low Ca. Such antagonistic interactions were smaller or became insignificant at higher Ca levels. The Cu EC10 was unaffected by Zn whereas the Zn EC10 increased by Cu at low Ca. These effects obeyed the BLM combined with the independent actionmodel for toxicants. Conclusions: The BLM model explains the observed interactions by accounting for competition between both metals free ions and Ca2+ at the Cu and Zn biotic ligands. The implications of these findings for Cu/Zn interactions in soil are discussed

Accuracy in Diagnosis of Celiac Disease Without Biopsies in Clinical Practice

The guidelines of the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition allow for diagnosis of celiac disease without biopsies in children with symptoms and levels of immunoglobulin A against tissue-transglutaminase (TGA-IgA) 10-fold or more the upper limit of normal (ULN), confirmed by detection of endomysium antibodies (EMA) and positivity for HLA-DQ2/DQ8. We performed a large, international prospective study to validate this approach