Aflatoksikoza u rotvajlera nakon uzimanja pljesnive hrane: kliničkopatološki nalazi i učinkovita terapija tetrasulfatom.

The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical, hematologic, gross, histopathologic and toxicologic findings and to report effective therapy application for aflatoxicosis in dogs, ascribed to the ingestion of moldy wet bread contaminated with aflatoxin. A prospective case series of 10 client-owned dogs from the same household developed toxicological signs after eating moldy bread treated with water that had been stored for an undetermined period, fully covered with a grey-green mold. All dogs exhibited vomiting followed by excessive salivation and hyperaesthesia. Among the surviving dogs (n = 7), three of them presented with diarrhea, depression, abdominal pain and two others showed icterus. One of the dead dogs was found on the initial referral. Two others were dead following initial diagnosis and prior to therapy application. The most common gross findings in the dogs were generalized icterus, mucosal or submucosal edema and petechial, to ecchymotic hemorrhages in the organs. Histopathological findings included focal necrotic areas extending from the periacinar to centroacinar regions in the liver, biliary hyperplasia, cholestasis and multifocal hemorrhages in the kidneys and lungs. Due to the sudden onset of clinical signs, the lack of exposure to other toxins, and the confirmed evidence of ingestion of moldy bread, the results of analysis of liver samples and the histopathological signs, the definitive diagnosis was mycotoxicosis. Therapeutic applications included tetrasulphate (an antidote) given orally, and supportive treatment with balanced electrolyte solutions, antiemetics and H2 receptor antagonist. All treated dogs (7/7) made a full recovery over 18-24 hours. The results of the present study reported here describe the clinicopathological features of aflatoxicosis in Rottweilers, suggesting that the use of tetrasulphate solution as an inexpensive and available therapy may have helped the survival of the dogs and might reverse the adverse health effects of mycotoxins.Svrha je ovog rada iznijeti kliničke, hematološke, patoanatomske, patohistološke i toksikološke nalaze te izvijestiti o uspješnom liječenju pasa koji su jeli pljesnivu i vlažnu hranu što je sadržavala aflatoksin. U 10 pasa jednog vlasnika primijećeni su znakovi otrovanja nakon što su jeli pljesniv kruh namočen u vodu koji je prethodno bio čuvan neodređeno vrijeme, a u potpunosti je bio prekriven sivo-zelenom plijesni. Svi su psi povraćali uz obilno slinjenje i hiperesteziju. Od sedam preživjelih pasa, tri su imala proljev, bili su potišteni te su pokazivali bol u trbuhu, a dva su imala i žuticu. Jedan od uginulih pasa na početku je upućivao na toksikozu. Dva su uginula nakon postavljene dijagnoze, a prije početka liječenja. Patoanatomski je ustanovljena generalizirana žutica, edem sluznice ili submukoze te petehijalna do ekhimotična krvarenja po organima. Patohistološki su ustanovljena nekrotična žarišna područja pružajući se od periacinarnih do centroacinarnih područja u jetri, zatim bilijarna hiperplazija, kolestaza i multifokalna krvarenja po bubrezima i plućima. Na osnovi nagle pojave kliničkih znakova, nedostatka dokaza izloženosti drugim toksinima, potvrđenog dokaza uzimanja pljesnivog kruha, rezultata analize uzoraka jetre i patohistoloških nalaza postavljena je konačna dijagnoza mikotoksikoze. Za liječenje je peroralno bio primijenjen tetrasulfat(antidot) i uravnotežena otopina elektrolita, zatim antiemetici i antagonisti H 2 receptora. Svi liječeni psi (7/7) u potpunosti su se oporavili za 18 do 24 sata. Prikazani rezultati opisuju kliničke i patološke značajke aflatoksikoze u rotvajlera i upućuju na zaključak da se ona može liječiti otopinom tetrasulfata kao jeftinim i pristupačnim lijekom koji može pomoći u preživljavanju pasa te smanjiti štetne učinke mikotoksina na zdravlj

J-Substitution and Filtered Equipotential-Projection Based Hybrid MREIT Reconstruction Algorithm

Magnetic Resonance Electrical Impedance Tomography (MREIT) reconstructs true conductivity images by using current density distribution and surface potential measurements. In this study, equipotential projection [1] and J-substitution image reconstruction [2] algorithms for MREIT are compared. A novel reconstruction method, J-substitution and filtered equipotential-projection based hybrid reconstruction algorithm, is proposed. In this method, the image reconstructed with equipotential projection algorithm is filtered and then assigned as the starting conductivity distribution for J-substitution algorithm. True conductivity distribution can also be reconstructed with two surface potential measurements. Methods are simulated on a thorax phantom and results show that the proposed method has an improved performance in some regions

COMPARISON OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE TOMOGRAPHY (MREIT) RECONSTRUCTION ALGORITHMS

Several algorithms have been proposed for image reconstruction in MREIT. These algorithms reconstruct conductivity distribution either directly from magnetic flux density measurements or from reconstructed current density distribution. In this study, performance of all major algorithms are evaluated and compared on a common platform, in terms of their reconstruction error, reconstruction time, perceptual image quality, immunity against measurement noise, required electrode size. J-Substitution (JS) and Hybrid J-Substitution algorithms have the best reconstruction accuracy but they are among the slowest. Another current density based algorithm, Equipotential Projection (EPP) algorithm along with magnetic flux density based B(z) Sensitivity (BzS) algorithm has moderate reconstruction accuracy. BzS algorithm is the fastest

Association of TNF-alpha-308 polymorphism with the outcome of hepatitis B virus infection in Turkey

WOS: 000252940900003PubMed ID: 17974504Background and aim: Cytokines play important roles in the regulation of immune response. The aim of the study was to investigate the association of the cytokine gene polymorphisms with persistence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and the development of end-stage liver disease (ESLD) due to HBV infection. Methods: The study involved 27 patients with end-stage liver disease due to HBV infection, 23 HBV carriers and 60 healthy controls. All genotyping (TNF-alpha, TGF-beta, IL-10, IFN-gamma) experiments were performed using sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP) by using commercial kit according to manufacturers' instructions. Results: The frequencies of TNF-alpha -308 G/G and TGF-beta 1 codon 10-25 T/C-G/G polymorphisms were significantly higher in HBV-infected individuals (patients + carriers) when compared with those of healthy controls (p: 0.02 and p: 0.004, respectively). The frequency of TNF-alpha -308 G/G polymorphism was significantly higher in the patients than those of the healthy controls (p: 0.02), whereas the frequency of TGF-beta 1 codon 10-25 T/T-G/G polymorphism was lower (p: 0.028). On the other hand, TNF-alpha -308 G/G and TGF-beta codon 10-25 T/C-G/G polymorphisms were significantly more common in HBV carriers than the control group (p: 0.017 andp: 0.018, respectively). In addition, TNF-alpha -308 G allele frequency was significantly more common in HBV-infected individuals (patients + carriers) than those of healthy controls (p: 0.0007). TNF-alpha -308 G allele frequency was also found to be higher in patients or carriers when compared with those of healthy controls (p: 0.01 and p: 0.01, respectively). Statistically significant differences were still kept after Bonferroni correction of the p-values for only TNF-alpha -308 G allele frequency in patients or carriers (Pc). Conclusion: Our study suggests that TNF-alpha gene polymorphism in patients infected with HBV would result in relatively inefficient inhibition of HBV and development of ESLD, and therefore, may be valuable predictor determinants for the development of ESLD in patients with chronic HBV infection. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Helicobacter pyloriinfection in hemodialysis patients: Susceptibility to amoxicillin and clarithromycin

WOS: 000208100300012PubMed: 15682477AIM: To evaluate susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori to amoxicillin and clarithromycin in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and non-uremic controls. METHODS: The subjects with dyspeptic complaints were 33 ESRD patients and 46 age-and sex-matched non-uremic controls who exhibited H pylori on antral biopsy specimens. The two groups were age and sex matched. The H pylori strains' pattern of susceptibility to amoxicillin and clarithromycin was investigated with the agar dilution technique. RESULTS: None of the H pylori strains from either group showed resistance to amoxicillin with the agar dilution method. Twelve (36.4%) of the ESRD group strains and 7 (15.2%) of the control group strains showed resistance to clarithromycin, and this difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Resistance to amoxicillin does not appear to be an important problem in H pylori-infected ESRD and non-uremic patients in our region. In contrast, the rates of resistance to clarithromycin are high, particularly in the ESRD population. (C) 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

S100A1 as a Potential Diagnostic Biomarker for Assessing Cardiotoxicity and Implications for the Chemotherapy of Certain Cancers.

This study examined the value of blood marker S100A1 in detecting cardiotoxicity induced by chemotherapy agents; trastuzumab and lapatinib, in normal rat heart. The rats were divided into three groups: control (n = 8, no treatment), T (n = 8, one time ip treatment with 10 mg/kg trastuzumab) and L (n = 8, oral treatment with 100 mg/kg/day lapatinib for 7 days). The activities of oxidative stress parameters Malondialdehyde (MDA), Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) and Glutathione (GSH) were measured from the extracted cardiac tissues. The levels of troponinI and S100A1 expressions were measured from blood samples. All biomarkers responded to the treatments as they exhibited alterations from their normative values, validating the chemically induced cardiotoxicity. S100A1 expression attenuated significantly (75%), which made the sensitive detection of cardiotoxicity feasible. Assessment of cardiotoxicity with S100A1 may be a valuable alternative in clinical oncology of cancers in some organs such as breast and prostate, as they do not overexpress it to compete against

Oxidative stress parameters as measured from the cardiac tissues extracted from the animals in all experimental groups (each with n = 8).

<p>Panels show graphs for the biochemical markers Malonyldialdehyde (MDA); Superoxide dismutase (SOD); Catalase (CAT); Glutathione (GSH). Multi group Kruskal Wallis test yielded <i>P</i> = 0.0003, 0.0003, 0.0002 and 0.0005, respectively. * indicates statistically significant difference against the control group C (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0145418#pone.0145418.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>).</p