Cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and behavioral effects of intravenous lidocaine in healthy, conscious horses and evaluation of the relationship with lidocaine and monoethylglycinexylidide serum concentrations

This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the serum concentrations of lidocaine/ monoethylglycinexylidide (MEGX) and their effects on several systems in horses. Five healthy, conscious horses received a two-hour placebo intravenous infusion followed by a two-hour lidocaine infusion (bolus of 1.3 mg/kg over ten minutes followed by a continuous rate infusion of 0.05 mg/kg/min). Lidocaine and MEGX serum concentrations were sampled every ten to fifteen minutes during the experiment, and the presence of muscle fasciculations and loss of balance as well as the respiratory, digestive and cardiovascular systems of the five horses were evaluated by means of different non-invasive methods. During the lidocaine infusion, the mean (f SD) lidocaine and MEGX concentrations were respectively 768.88 +/- 93.32ng/ml and 163.08 +/- 108.98 ng/ml. The infusion of lidocaine significantly influenced the presence of fasciculations, caused a statistically but non-clinically significant decrease of systolic and diastolic blood pressures, which were both correlated with lidocaine and MEGX serum concentrations, and it increased the duodenal contractions frequency, which was correlated with the serum lidocaine concentration. In this study, mild hypotensive and prokinetic effects of short-term lidocaine infusion were observed

Liječenje iznenadne bradikardije i arterijske hipotenzije tijekom ekscizije feokromocitoma u psa – prikaz slučaja

An 11-year-old female spayed Shih Tzu was presented with a history of weight loss, lethargy and a heart murmur. After extensive diagnostics, an adrenal mass was discovered, suspected to be a pheochromocytoma, and surgical excision was planned. During anesthesia, no signs of catecholamine discharge were seen. However, sudden bradycardia and hypotension occurred, necessitating anticholinergic therapy. Such therapy is usually contraindicated in patients with pheochromocytoma due to the risk of significant tachycardia, cardiac arrhythmias, and arterial hypertension. No adverse effects were noted, and the dog recovered uneventfully from the procedure.Sterilizirana ženka pasmine ši-cu, starosti 11 godina, zaprimljena je zbog gubitka težine, letargije i srčanog šuma. Nakon opsežne dijagnostike, otkrivena je tvorba na nadbubregu te je postavljena sumnja na feokromocitom i planirana je njegova kirurška ekscizija. Tijekom anestezije nisu uočeni znakovi otpuštanja katekolamina. Naprotiv, nastupile su iznenadna bradikardija i hipotenzija, koje su zahtijevale terapiju antikolinergicima. Takva je terapija obično kontraindicirana u bolesnika s feokromocitomom zbog rizika razvoja tahikardije, srčanih aritmija i arterijske hipertenzije. Nisu primijećeni nikakvi štetni učinci terapije antikolinergikom, niti postoperativne komplikacije

Addressing food and nutrition insecurity in the Caribbean through domestic smallholder farming system innovation

Structural conditions underlying the development of CARICOM’s two-tiered agricultural innovation system depict diverse drivers of change over time, versus institutional inertia of export-oriented formal institutions and the neglect of informal domestic markets. Key principles of taking an agroecological approach would include: supporting diversity and redundancy, building connectivity, managing slow variables and feedbacks, improving understanding of socioecological systems as complex adaptive systems, and encouraging polycentric governance systems. In this paper, we review the conditions that have been undermining sustainable food and nutrition security in the Caribbean, focusing on issues of history, economy, and innovation

Enhanced survival of lung granulocytes in an animal model of asthma: evidence for a role of GM-CSF activated STAT5 signalling pathway

BACKGROUND—As granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) mediated delay of granulocyte apoptosis contributes to the accumulation of inflammatory cells at the site of inflammation in many diseases, we sought to determine whether asthma is also associated with a GM-CSF dependent increase in lung granulocyte survival. Moreover, because GM-CSF mediates its effects through activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5), we also investigated the potential role of STAT5 in allergic inflammation.
METHODS—Blood granulocytes were recovered from six healthy and six heaves affected horses, a model of asthma. Lung granulocytes were obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from the same horses. Granulocytes were cultured in the presence or absence of anti-GM-CSF receptor antibodies for different times and apoptosis was determined using the Annexin-V/propidium iodide detection method. Nuclear protein extracts from cultured granulocytes were analysed for STAT5 binding activity by electrophoretic mobility shift assay.
RESULTS—BAL fluid granulocytes from heaves affected horses demonstrated a significant delay in apoptosis compared with blood granulocytes from the same horses and blood and BAL fluid granulocytes from healthy horses. Conversely, the rate of apoptosis in blood granulocytes from healthy and heaves affected horses was comparable. The enhanced survival of BAL fluid granulocytes from affected horses was suppressed in the presence of antibodies directed against GM-CSF receptors. Increased levels of active STAT5 were found in BAL fluid granulocytes from heaves affected horses and were markedly reduced after treatment with anti-GM-CSF receptor antibodies.
CONCLUSIONS—These data indicate that granulocyte survival is enhanced in the lung of heaves affected horses and suggest a role for a GM-CSF activated STAT5 pathway in delaying apoptosis of lung granulocytes in this model of asthma.