Laser Photobiomodulation and Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy in the Treatment of Ovine Otitis

Background: Otitis is a severe inflammation of the skin of the auditory canal which can impact animals of all ages. In sheep, this disease can occur in isolated cases or in the entire flock. Laser photobiomodulation can be used in combination with medication or as single therapy and the effects are analgesia, modulation of the inflammatory process, edema reduction, tissue restoration and stimulation of local microcirculation. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy stands out as a promising alternative to antimicrobial drugs for the treatment of localized infections. This study aimed to report the use of laser phototherapies on a sheep with bacterial otitis.Case: A case of bacterial otitis in a 4-year-old sheep, Dorper, was treated at the Veterinary Hospital of the State University of Santa Cruz. In the anamnesis, the owner reported that the patient presented crusts in the auricular pavilions, and had been medicated with oxytetracycline 20%, administered intramuscularly, for two days and the crusts cleaned with iodine 10%, but the animal did not present clinical improvement. On physical examination, the animal presented constant head swaying, edema of the ears, otalgia, enlarged parotid lymph nodes and ear wounds. No ear discharge was observed, and the initial diagnosis was aural hematoma. The treatment prescribed was laser photobiomodulation for three consecutive days. The lesions were irradiated with a diode laser with a power of 0.1 W, irradiance of 3.5 W/cm2, continuous emission, spot area of 0.028 cm2, wavelength of 808 nm, energy of 4J/point, and fluency/point of 142.8J/cm2, with seven points on the external surface and four points on the internal surface of both ears. Two points were also targeted on the parotid lymph nodes with infrared laser (λ = 808 nm), with energy of 2J/point. On the fourth day of hospitalization, there was a reduction in lesions, decreased edema and absence of pain and on the sixth day of hospitalization, the patient presented mucopurulent otorrhea. The material from the auricular pavilions was collected for cytological examination, confirming the clinical diagnosis of bacterial otitis. Two sessions of Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy (aPDT) were performed with an interval of 48 hours, with application of 0.01 % methylene blue, pre-irradiation time of five minutes and irradiation with diode laser with a power of 0.1 W, 660 nm wavelength and 9J/point energy. On the 10 th day after the start of the treatment, there was no pain, healing of ear wounds, and no otorrhea. An additional photobiomodulation session was performed on the unhealed wounds in the auditory canal with red laser (λ = 660nm), on 5 points with an energy of 1J/point. On the 15th day, the left ear was healed and the right ear presented otorrhea, and a further session of aPDT was performed. On the 17th day after starting treatment there was no secretion and all lesions were healed. The patient was subsequently monitored for one month, showing no change or relapse.Discussion: Laser photobiomodulation treatment and antimicrobial photodynamic therapy were efficient in treating bacterial otitis without the use of antibiotics, promoting clinical improvement and patient well-being, making it an alternative to conventional treatment. After searches on the Pubmed, Scielo and Escopus databases using photobiomodulation and antimicrobial photodynamic therapy in sheep otitis as descriptors, this is believed to be the first report on the use of laser phototherapy in sheep otitis. Further studies are needed to establish the dosimetry and frequency of the sessions, as, besides considering animal well-being, this species is an excellent model for human experimentation

Three Cases of Exclusively Extragenital Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor (cTVT)

Background: Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor (cTVT) is a neoplasia that affects mainly the genital organs of dogs, but can rich extragenital sites as well. It´s a tumor characterized microscopically by the presence of vacuolized round cells. Transmission occurs by implantation of these cells in non-affected tissues and the treatment is based on vincristine chemotherapy.Cases: Case 1. A 5-year-old intact male Poodle, presenting an increase volume of nasal plane came for veterinary care at a private veterinary clinic. The animal had bilateral bloody nasal secretion and dyspnea. The external genitalia had no alterations. The cytological evaluation confirmed cTVT. Treatment with vincristine sulfate weekly showed a rapid responsewith improvement of the respiratory condition, total remission of the mass and absence of neoplastic cells in cytology. Case 2. A 5-year-old mixed-breed canine bitch, weighing 6.7 kg, was brought to the State University of Santa Cruz Veterinary Hospital (UESC-VH), showing an increase volume in the nasal plan region, with complaints about sneezing, nasal bleeding,respiratory distress with approximately 4 months of evolution. The owner informed that the mother of these female dog, that lived in the same environment, died a month before the beginning of clinical signs of the bitch of this case, and showed a reddish vaginal mass with intense bleeding. Intranasal exfoliative cytology showed moderately cellular sample compatible with cTVT. The treatment with vincristine sulphate for 6 weeks, showed completely remission of all clinical signs. Case 3. A 3-year-old mixed-breed male dog was brought to the UESC-VH with a reddish, friable mass located in the left eye. The citology confirmed the clinical suspicion of cTVT. After six weekly sessions of chemotherapy with vincristine sulfate, the tumor regressed and a new cytological evaluation was performed, without visible of tumor cells. By the end of the treatment, the dog was diagnosed with phitisis bulbi, and one year later, due to recurrent ulcerative keratitis, the enucleation was performed and the histopathological examination of the eye did not identify the presence of tumor cells.Discussion: Two of the dogs cited in this report had freely streets access, without supervision of the owners, and they are likely to have contracted cTVT on one of those occasions. The animal’s care style acts as a risk factor for the development of neoplasia. Regarding the third animal, the close contact with another female dog, who had compatible vaginal cTVTclinical signs was probably the factor that determined the transmission. None of the animals cited in this report had lesions on their external genitalia. The extragenital presentation may be attributed to the social behavior of licking and sniffing the genitalia of carrier animals, which may lead to the natural implantation of the viable cells of the cTVT into the ocular and nasal mucosa. About the clinical signs manifested, in the cases of involvement of the nasal structures, the main signs described in literature are bloody nasal secretion, sneezing, dyspnea and increased nasal plane volume, and are similar to those observed in the animals cited in this report. In the case of ocular cTVT, the increase volume with impairment and deformity of all ocular structures, as well as pain and pruritus corroborate with the clinical findings observed in the literature. The cytopathological test was the diagnostic tool used in all cases cited in this report and the cytopathological findings corroborates with those described in the literature. Vincristine sulfate is the drug of choice for the treatment of cTVT cases, and in the dogs of this report, this drug was successfully used leading to complete remission of lesions and clinical signs, as observed in other studies.Keywords: nasal mucosa, ocular mucosa, venereal disease, round cells

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

ATLANTIC-PRIMATES: a dataset of communities and occurrences of primates in the Atlantic Forests of South America

Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate species, as hybrids in the genera Callithrix and Alouatta. The dataset includes 700 primate communities, 8,121 single species occurrences and 714 estimates of primate population sizes, covering most natural forest types of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and some other biomes. On average, primate communities of the Atlantic Forest harbor 2 ± 1 species (range = 1–6). However, about 40% of primate communities contain only one species. Alouatta guariba (N = 2,188 records) and Sapajus nigritus (N = 1,127) were the species with the most records. Callicebus barbarabrownae (N = 35), Leontopithecus caissara (N = 38), and Sapajus libidinosus (N = 41) were the species with the least records. Recorded primate densities varied from 0.004 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta guariba at Fragmento do Bugre, Paraná, Brazil) to 400 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta caraya in Santiago, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Our dataset reflects disparity between the numerous primate census conducted in the Atlantic Forest, in contrast to the scarcity of estimates of population sizes and densities. With these data, researchers can develop different macroecological and regional level studies, focusing on communities, populations, species co-occurrence and distribution patterns. Moreover, the data can also be used to assess the consequences of fragmentation, defaunation, and disease outbreaks on different ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, species invasion or extinction, and community dynamics. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this Data Paper when the data are used in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using the data. © 2018 by the The Authors. Ecology © 2018 The Ecological Society of Americ

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

Aspectos clínicos e patológicos da raiva em ovino - Relato de caso

A raiva é uma enfermidade neurológica frequentemente relatada em ruminantes que ocasiona prejuízo econômico expressivo. É uma doença viral que acomete várias espécies e apresenta curso agudo e fatal. O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de descrever as características clinicas e patológicas da raiva em ovino da região sul da Bahia. O curso clínico da doença foi de cinco dias e se caracterizou por apatia, sialorréia, decúbito lateral, redução do reflexo perineal, prolapso retal, paralisia ascendente, opistótono, movimento de pedalagem e morte. À necropsia observou-se distensão da bexiga e hiperemia das leptomeninges, além de achados compatíveis com abomasite. As alterações histopatológicas no sistema nervoso incluíram inflamação linfocítica discreta em meninge, manguitos perivasculares linfocíticos no tecido nervoso do tronco encefálico e gliose difusa. O diagnóstico definitivo foi confirmado pela imunofluorescência direta. Os exames imunológicos para a raiva são fundamentais para o diagnóstico diferencial de outras doenças neurológicas e também nos casos em que se observa ausência do corpúsculo de inclusão intracitoplasmático pelo exame histopatológico

Proteinogram of Immunized Sheep with Detoxified Tiyus serrulatus Scorpion Venom

Background: Scorpionism is a worldwide medical issue, especially relevant in the tropical and subtropical countries. Tityus serrulatus is the species responsible for most cases in Brazil. Antivenom administration to victims is the sole specific therapy obtained from donor animals. Most of these donors suffer with symptoms of the poisoning, debilitating their health and reducing their life expectancy. The aim of the present research was to evaluate whether the immunogens prepared from the crude and detoxified venom of T. serrulatus promoted different changes in fractionated sheep plasma proteins, during a scorpion antivenom serum production.Materials, Methods & Results: Twelve sheep, healthy, mean weight of 30 kg, were distributed into 3 groups (n = 4): G1 (control), G2 (crude venom) and G3 (detoxified venom). The adopted immunization protocol (first cycle) had 6 doses, 3 using Freund's adjuvant, with a 21-day interval between each one (day 0, 22 and 43), and 3 doses with no adjuvant (booster) and 0.2 mg of antigen (reinforcement), spaced 3 days between each other (day 50, 53 and 56). Group control (G1) received 6 immunizations with phosphate buffered saline (PBS) associated with Freund's adjuvant (1:1), while the other 2 groups received 0.5 mg of venom (G2) and detoxified venom (G3), respectively, diluted in PBS, associated with the Freund adjuvant. The boosters were 1/3 of the initial dose, diluted only PBS. At baseline (T0) and at 24 and 48 h after immunization, all animals underwent clinical examinations. Blood samples were collected at day 0, 22, 43, 53 and 56 for proteinogram analysis. Total protein, albumin and globulins fractions were measured. Plasma albumin concentration at T0 ranged from 3.41-4.86 g/dL, with a mean value of 4.12 g/dL. There was no statistical difference between the 3 experimental groups. The normal values determined for α-globulin range from 0.14 to 0.54 g/dL, with a mean of 0.31 g/dL (T0). There was a significant increase in the 3rd immunization and its respective interval (24-48 h), with values above normal in all groups: G1 (0.66 g/dL), G2 (0.62 g/dL) and G3 (0.65g/dL). The β-globulin was subdivided into β1 and β2 globulin. At T0, the normal values of β1 ranged from 0.45 to 1.05 g/dL, with a mean of 0.664 g/dL, and no significant change was observed in this classification. On the other hand, there was an abrupt increase in β2 in all groups after the first immunization, compared to the baseline value in T0 (0.37 g/dL mean value). From the third to the 6th immunization, there was an important reduction in β2 fraction when compared with baseline value. The γ-globulins fraction ranged from 0.80 g/dL to 76 g/dL. In the 6th immunization, there was a significant difference between G1 and the groups that received venom (G2 and G3). Therefore, all animals presented an acute inflammatory response, evidenced by the significant reduction of plasma albumin and an increase in α-globulin and β2-globulin. It is important to point out that T. serrulatus detoxified venom did not cause alterations in ovine proteinogram during the first cycle of immunization.Discussion: The fact that both groups (G2 and G3) presented acute inflammatory response, indicates that this alteration is caused by the adjuvant present in the immunization protocol. Tityus serrulatus venom detoxified with glutaraldehyde did not ~cause significant alterations in ovine proteinogram in the early stages, suggesting that itmay be used as an alternative antigen for the production of antivenom, improving clinical conditions of donor animals.Keywords: scorpion, clinical pathology, ruminants, inflammation, antiserum.Título: Proteinograma de ovelhas imunizadas com veneno detoxificado do escorpião Tityus serrulatusDescritores: escorpião, patologia clínica, ruminantes, inflamação, antisoro

Proteinogram of Immunized Sheep with Detoxified Tiyus serrulatus Scorpion Venom

Background: Scorpionism is a worldwide medical issue, especially relevant in the tropical and subtropical countries. Tityus serrulatus is the species responsible for most cases in Brazil. Antivenom administration to victims is the sole specific therapy obtained from donor animals. Most of these donors suffer with symptoms of the poisoning, debilitating their health and reducing their life expectancy. The aim of the present research was to evaluate whether the immunogens prepared from the crude and detoxified venom of T. serrulatus promoted different changes in fractionated sheep plasma proteins, during a scorpion antivenom serum production.Materials, Methods & Results: Twelve sheep, healthy, mean weight of 30 kg, were distributed into 3 groups (n = 4): G1 (control), G2 (crude venom) and G3 (detoxified venom). The adopted immunization protocol (first cycle) had 6 doses, 3 using Freund's adjuvant, with a 21-day interval between each one (day 0, 22 and 43), and 3 doses with no adjuvant (booster) and 0.2 mg of antigen (reinforcement), spaced 3 days between each other (day 50, 53 and 56). Group control (G1) received 6 immunizations with phosphate buffered saline (PBS) associated with Freund's adjuvant (1:1), while the other 2 groups received 0.5 mg of venom (G2) and detoxified venom (G3), respectively, diluted in PBS, associated with the Freund adjuvant. The boosters were 1/3 of the initial dose, diluted only PBS. At baseline (T0) and at 24 and 48 h after immunization, all animals underwent clinical examinations. Blood samples were collected at day 0, 22, 43, 53 and 56 for proteinogram analysis. Total protein, albumin and globulins fractions were measured. Plasma albumin concentration at T0 ranged from 3.41-4.86 g/dL, with a mean value of 4.12 g/dL. There was no statistical difference between the 3 experimental groups. The normal values determined for α-globulin range from 0.14 to 0.54 g/dL, with a mean of 0.31 g/dL (T0). There was a significant increase in the 3rd immunization and its respective interval (24-48 h), with values above normal in all groups: G1 (0.66 g/dL), G2 (0.62 g/dL) and G3 (0.65g/dL). The β-globulin was subdivided into β1 and β2 globulin. At T0, the normal values of β1 ranged from 0.45 to 1.05 g/dL, with a mean of 0.664 g/dL, and no significant change was observed in this classification. On the other hand, there was an abrupt increase in β2 in all groups after the first immunization, compared to the baseline value in T0 (0.37 g/dL mean value). From the third to the 6th immunization, there was an important reduction in β2 fraction when compared with baseline value. The γ-globulins fraction ranged from 0.80 g/dL to 76 g/dL. In the 6th immunization, there was a significant difference between G1 and the groups that received venom (G2 and G3). Therefore, all animals presented an acute inflammatory response, evidenced by the significant reduction of plasma albumin and an increase in α-globulin and β2-globulin. It is important to point out that T. serrulatus detoxified venom did not cause alterations in ovine proteinogram during the first cycle of immunization.Discussion: The fact that both groups (G2 and G3) presented acute inflammatory response, indicates that this alteration is caused by the adjuvant present in the immunization protocol. Tityus serrulatus venom detoxified with glutaraldehyde did not ~cause significant alterations in ovine proteinogram in the early stages, suggesting that itmay be used as an alternative antigen for the production of antivenom, improving clinical conditions of donor animals.Keywords: scorpion, clinical pathology, ruminants, inflammation, antiserum.Título: Proteinograma de ovelhas imunizadas com veneno detoxificado do escorpião Tityus serrulatusDescritores: escorpião, patologia clínica, ruminantes, inflamação, antisoro