Determination of iohexol in canine plasma – strong correlation between enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, high-performance liquid chromatography, and neutron activation analysis

Iohexol is a non-radioactive, iodinated, water-soluble radiographic contrast medium that is widely used in detection imaging for both clinical and scientific purposes. It has also been used as a marker for glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and intestinal permeability (IP) in both humans and animals, such as dogs, rats and cats. Currently, iohexol is determined mainly by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods which limit its use in veterinary clinical practice. The aim of this study was to validate an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and its accuracy for the measurement of iohexol in canine plasma by comparison with HPLC and neutron activation analysis (NAA). Blank and iohexol-containing blood samples (n=100) from Beagle dogs were collected from the jugular vein in lithium heparin tubes before and after intravenous application of 3.0 g iohexol/dog via the cephalic vein. The results of this study show that the correlation coefficients when comparing ELISA vs. HPLC (r=0.99), ELISA vs. NAA (r=0.99) and HPLC vs. NAA (r=0.98) are all excellent. In conclusion, the measurement of iohexol from canine plasma using ELISA is as reproducible and reliable as using HPLC or NAA. However, using ELISA for measuring iohexol may be more practical, economical and useful for clinical practice and research than using HPLC or NAA

Relationship between perceived exertion and mean power frequency of the EMG signal from the upper trapezius muscle during isometric shoulder elevation

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between a fatigue-induced increase of perceived exertion in the neck with a decrease of mean power frequency (MPF) in the surface electromyography (sEMG) signal during repeated shoulder elevation endurance tasks. About Thirty-two healthy women (age range 20-62) performed two maximum 6-min shoulder elevation endurance tasks at 30% of their maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) level, separated by a rest of 6min. During these exercises, perceived exertion was estimated using the Borg scale (range 0-10), whereas the MPF of the sEMG signal from the upper trapezius was simultaneously detected. Linear regression analysis was applied over time for each trial and subject for both MPF and Borg scale rating values. The MPF was normalized by the intercept of the linear regression analysis. The resulting slopes of normalized mean power frequency (nMPF) and Borg scale rating were correlated with each other by linear regression for both trials. In order to investigate the individual behavior of fatigue effects between trials, Δ trial 2-trial 1 slopes of nMPF and Borg scale ratings were calculated for each subject. These slopes of nMPF and Borg scale ratings were correlated with each other as well by linear regression. The increase of Borg scale ratings, as well as the decrease of nMPF, were significantly higher in trial 2 than trial 1 (P<0.01). The results show a linear correlation between slopes of nMPF and Borg scale ratings for both trials 1 and 2 (r=0.76, P<0.01). Trial-to-trial slopes (Δ trial 2-trial 1) of nMPF and Borg scale rating, were also significantly correlated (r=0.68, P<0.05). Thus, the individually sensed increase of perceived exertion in the neck during trial 2 was accompanied by a simultaneously higher detected decrease of nMPF. These findings indicate a close relationship between subjective perception of exertion in the neck and objectively assessed muscle fatigue of the upper trapeziu

An in vivo permeability test protocol using iohexol to reduce and refine the use of laboratory rats in intestinal damage assessment

Assessment of intestinal damage in laboratory rats with experimentally-induced enteropathies is usually carried out by collecting and morphological interpreting tissue samples obtained surgically, endoscopically or at necropsy. Alternatively, changes in the gut mucosa may be less invasively evaluated with intestinal permeability (IP) tests. In contrast to human and veterinary patients, IP test protocols in laboratory rats have been highly variable, which may account for the limited use of this approach by investigators when evaluating intestinal damage. The objective of this study was to establish a refined IP test protocol using iohexol in rats that is able to differentiate between healthy rats and individuals with enteropathies. Iohexol was administered by oral gavage to twenty-eight Sprague-Dawley rats, before and after the induction of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with dextran sulphate sodium (DSS). Urine was cumulatively recovered during 24 h, and the presence of iohexol was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. The median percentage (and interquartile range) of administered iohexol in urine of healthy rats was 0.54% (0.3

Lactobacillus reuteri: novajlija u tehnologiji mlijeka

Lactobacillus reuteri is an inhabitant of the gastrointestinal of humans and animals and has been isolated also from food (sausages, cheese, sour dough). It is suggested that L. reuteri, a dominant heterofermentative Lactobacillus species with unique taits, may interact beneficially in stabilizing the intestinal microflora, thus, having a protective function against pathogenic microorganisms. L. reuteri as a newcomer in dairy technology and products are appearing on the market which are supplemented with this microorganism (sweet milk and fermented milk products). It is not quite clear which role L. reuteri plays in the intestinal ecosystem and how important it is for health and well-being of the host-organism. L. reuteri is an obligatory heterofermentative Lactobacillus and produces under certain conditions reuterin (ß-hydroxypropionaldehyd), a potent broad-spectrum antimicrobial substance acting as inhibitor of a number of undersirable bacteria, yeasts, fungi and protozoa.Lactobacillus reuteri je stanovnik gastrointestinalnog trakta ljudi i Životinja, a izoliranje i iz hrane (kobasice, sir, kiselo tijesto). Navodi se da je L. reuteri dominantna heterofermentativna vrsta Lactobacillus jedinstvenih svojstava. Mote povoljno djelovati na stabiliziranje intestinalne mikroflore, prema tome, štiti od patogenih mikroorganizama. L. reuteri je novajlija u tehnologiji mlijeka i proizvodima koji se pojavljuju na tržištu, a taj se mikroorganizam dodaje (slatko mlijeko i fermentirani mliječni proizvodi). Nije posve jasna uloga L. reuteri u intestinalnom ekosustavu i koliko je važan za zdravlje i dobrobit domaćina. L. reuteri je obligatni heterofermentativni Lactobacillus i proizvodi u određenim uvjetima reuterin (ß-hidroksipropionaldehid), antimikrobnu tvar širokog spektra, koja priječi razvoj niza nepoželjnih bakterija, kvasaca, gljiva i protozoa

A Review of Indocyanine Green Fluorescent Imaging in Surgery

The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the recent surgical intraoperational applications of indocyanine green fluorescence imaging methods, the basics of the technology, and instrumentation used. Well over 200 papers describing this technique in clinical setting are reviewed. In addition to the surgical applications, other recent medical applications of ICG are briefly examined

Oral cobalamin supplementation in dogs with chronic enteropathies and hypocobalaminemia

Background: Cobalamin deficiency is commonly associated with chronic enteropathies (CE) in dogs and current treatment protocols recommend parenteral supplementation. In humans, several studies have reported equal efficacy of oral and parenteral cobalamin administration of cobalamin. Objectives: To retrospectively evaluate whether oral cobalamin supplementation can restore normocobalaminemia in dogs with CE and hypocobalaminemia. Animals: Fifty-one client-owned dogs with various signs of CE and hypocobalaminemia. Material and Methods: Retrospective study based on a computerized database search for dogs treated at Evidensia Specialist Animal Hospital, Helsingborg, Sweden during January 2012-March 2014. Inclusion criteria were dogs with signs of CE, an initial serum cobalamin Results: All dogs became normocobalaminemic with oral cobalamin supplementation. The mean increase in serum cobalamin concentration after treatment was 794 +/- 462 ng/L. Serum cobalamin concentrations were significantly higher after supplementation (mean 1017 +/- 460 ng/L; P <.0001) than at baseline (mean 223 +/- 33 ng/L). Conclusion and Clinical Importance: Our results suggest that oral cobalamin supplementation is effective in normalizing serum cobalamin concentrations in dogs with CE. Prospective studies comparing cellular cobalamin status in dogs being treated with parenteral versus oral cobalamin supplementation are warranted before oral supplementation can be recommended for routine supplementation.Peer reviewe

Polarization transfer in Rayleigh scattering of hard x-rays

Wereport on the first elastic hard x-ray scattering experiment where the linear polarizationcharacteristics of both the incident and the scattered radiation were observed. Rayleigh scattering wasinvestigated in a relativistic regime by using a high-Z target material, namely gold, and a photon energyof 175keV. Although the incident synchrotron radiation was nearly 100% linearly polarized, at ascattering angle of q = 90we observed a strong depolarization for the scattered photonswith adegree of linear polarization of +0.27% 0.12%only. This finding agreeswith second-orderquantum electrodynamics calculations of Rayleigh scattering, when taking into account a smallpolarization impurity of the incident photon beam which was determined to be close to 98%. Thelatter value was obtained independently from the elastic scattering by analyzing photons that wereCompton-scattered in the target. Moreover, our results indicate that when relying on state-of-the-arttheory, Rayleigh scattering could provide a very accurate method to diagnose polarization impuritiesin a broad region of hard x-ray energies