Ocorrência de anticorpos anti-Toxoplasma gondii em caprinos de Pitanga, Paraná, Brasil

The aim of this study was to verify the prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in sera from naturally infected milk-producing caprines using indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and modified agglutination test (MAT), determine specificity and sensibility of MAT and to evaluate the agreement of results between the tests. For this study, 282 caprine serum samples were collected from farms in the city of Pitanga, Paraná State, a region with a high pecuary of small ruminants. Prevalence found by IFA was of 44.68% and 23.05% by MAT. There was statistically significant difference (p=0.0086) in relation to the gender of animals, being females more seropositive. Sensitivity and specificity results for MAT were, respectively, 42.2% and 94.9%. By comparing results, a moderate agreement was observed (Kappa = 0.42). The high prevalence for the infection, associated to high titers found by IFA and clinical signs presented in the herds suggest toxoplasmosis as one of the causes of reproductive problems in caprines. Sensitivity and specificity results for MAT obtained in this study allow this test to be recommended as a confirmatory test for the caprine species.Objetivou-se verificar a prevalência de anticorpos anti-Toxoplasma gondii em soros de caprinos de produção leiteira naturalmente infectados utilizando os testes de imunofluorescência indireta (IFI) e o de aglutinação modificada (MAT), determinar a especificidade e a sensibilidade do MAT e avaliar a concordância dos resultados entre os testes. Para o estudo foram coletadas 282 amostras de soro caprino, de propriedades do município de Pitanga, Paraná, região com uma grande pecuária de pequenos ruminantes. A prevalência encontrada pela IFI foi de 44,68% e 23,05% pelo MAT. Houve diferença estatisticamente significativa (p=0,0086) em relação ao sexo dos animais, sendo que as fêmeas foram mais soropositivas. Os resultados de sensibilidade e especificidade para o MAT foram, respectivamente, 42,2% e 94,9%. Na comparação dos resultados foi observada uma concordância moderada (Kappa = 0,42). A alta prevalência da infecção, aliada aos altos títulos obtidos pela IFI e aos sinais clínicos presentes nos rebanhos sugere a toxoplasmose como uma possível causa de problemas reprodutivos em caprinos. Os resultados de sensibilidade e especificidade para o MAT obtidos neste estudo permitem recomendá-lo como teste confirmatório para a espécie caprina

Capital humano, relacional e estrutural em organizações hospitalares: evidências empíricas / Human, relational and structural capital in hospital organizations: empirical evidence

O capital intelectual tornou-se o principal ativo das organizações por ser um ativo intangível com elevada capacidade de gerar benefícios para as entidades que controlam sua aplicação. Portanto, este estudo tem o objetivo de identificar a presença e as correlações entre os elementos do capital intelectual, agrupando-os em capital humano, relacional e estrutural, de uma organização hospitalar. Esta investigação é de caráter quantitativo, onde foi aplicado um questionário cujas questões foram testadas pelo Little MCAR. Para cada item foi calculada a média, a mediana, o desvio-padrão e o coeficiente de correlação. A organização estudada mostrou alto nível de presença de capital humano; fraco para o elemento capital relacional e moderado para o elemento capital estrutural. A relação entre os elementos do capital humano e do estrutural foi negativa e significativa; entre os elementos do capital humano e do relacional mostrou-se positiva e significativa; a relação entre os elementos do capital estrutural e o do relacional apresentou-se positiva e significativa. Os resultados do estudo permitem recomendar que toda organização deve avaliar a importância relativa de cada um dos elementos formadores do capital intelectual, pois seu desempenho depende da interdependência entre eles

Ocorrência de anticorpos contra Leptospira spp. em eqüinos de área urbana de Londrina, Paraná, Brasil

A total of 320 horses were studied in this paper, both male and female, between two and 17 years of age, which were used for traction of wagons in the urban area of the municipality of Londrina (PR). These animals were kept, after their daily work, in abandoned areas or plots, in the outskirts of the urban area of the city. When these animals were attended by the veterinarians, between 1996 and 2005, none of them presented symptoms suggesting leptospirosis. The most frequent reasons for the visit were loss of weight, unwillingness for work, parasitism, laminess, and wounds. Microscopic Seroagglutination Test (SAM), with 22 Leptospira serovars, was performed in sera sample from all these animals. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of antibodies against Leptospira spp. in horses from the urban area of Londrina (PR). From the samples tested, 214 (66.88%) were considered positive, with titers between 100 and 3200, being that 49 (22.90%) presented antibodies against a single serovar of Leptospira, and 165 (77.10%) samples presented antibodies against two or more serovars simultaneously, where in 88 (53.33%) it was possible to characterize the most likely probable serovar. Antibodies against the serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae were detected in 32 (23.36%) animals.Foram estudados 320 eqüinos, machos e fêmeas com idade entre dois a 17 anos, utilizados para tração de carroças na área urbana do município de Londrina (PR). Estes animais eram mantidos, após a jornada diária de serviço, em áreas ou terrenos baldios, localizados na periferia da área urbana do município. Por ocasião do atendimento, realizado entre 1996 e 2005, no Hospital Veterinário da Universidade Estadual de Londrina, nenhum dos animais apresentou sintomas sugestivos de leptospirose, sendo os motivos mais freqüentes, o emagrecimento, a indisposição para o trabalho, a verminose, problemas no sistema locomotor e feridas. A prova de soroaglutinação microscópica (SAM), com 22 sorovares de Leptospira, foi realizada em amostra de soro de todos os animais. O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar a ocorrência de anticorpos contra Leptospira spp. em eqüinos da área urbana do município de Londrina. Foram consideradas positivas 214 (66,88%) amostras de soros com títulos entre 100 e 3200, sendo em 49 (22,90%) detectadas anticorpos contra um único sorovar de Leptospira e em 165 (77,10%) amostras com anticorpos contra dois ou mais sorovares simultâneamente, sendo em 88 (53,33%) destes caracterizado o sorovar mais provável. Anticorpos contra o sorovar Icterohaemorrhagiae foram detectados em 32 (23,36%) animais

Bilateral Anophthalmia in Feline

Background: Anophthalmia is a rare, congenital condition, defined as the complete absence of the eye bulb due to inadequate growth of the vesicle or optic dome. The malformation can be primary (in the absence of complete), secondary (in the presence of only residual tissue), or degenerative (in which the eye begins to form, but for some reason, it begins to degenerate). This condition is rare in dogs, cats, cattle, and sheep. Microscopic evaluation of orbital tissue for identification is always recommended. The aim of this study was to report a case of bilateral anophthalmia in a domestic cat.Case: A feline male, healthy, Maine Coon breed with 60 days of life was attended at the one veterinary private clinic. The cat, negative for FIV and FeLV, was born in a commercial cattery, belonging to his mother's third litter, healthy litter with the exception of this feline. He arrived with a complaint of not opening his eyelids, like the rest of the litter. In the clinical examination, it was found the normality of vital signs, absence of other visible anatomical abnormalities, only the ocular region was observed with closed eyelids. The initial suspicions were anophthalmia and microphthalmia. The patient was referred for an ocular ultrasound, which showed the complete absence of the right and left eye bulbs. The right and left orbital cavities had only a volume of soft, amorphous, and predominantly homogeneous tissue. After the ultrasound report, the patient underwent a surgical procedure to remove a fragment of tissue from the eye socket, which was sent for histopathological examination to confirm anophthalmia and discard the differential diagnosis of microphthalmia. Microscopy revealed immature, epithelial, and glandular tissue in the middle of discrete and moderate connective tissue, loosely arranged. In some fragments, cartilaginous tissue was also revealed. Thus, the histological findings are compatible with immature, pseudoformed tissues and without neoplastic characteristics. The diagnosis of secondary anophthalmia was reached with use of ultrasound and histological reports.Discussion: Congenital malformations in domestic cats are less frequent than in dogs, some of which are rare, and little reported. Secondary anophthalmia in the reported patient was confirmed by histological and ultrasound examination. Bilateral secondary anophthalmia is characterized by the absence of the eyeball, but with the presence of adjacent tissue. The animal was submitted to an ocular ultrasound examination and the complete absence of ocular bulbs was found. The differential diagnosis of microphthalmia was ruled out because there was no evidence of the eyeball. Microphthalmia is a common congenital ophthalmic disorder in veterinary medicine. Representative fragments were submitted to histopathological examination, where immature, epithelial tissue was found. In some fragments sent for analysis, cartilaginous tissue was observed. The histological findings are compatible with immature, pseudoformed tissues, thus verifying bilateral congenital anophthalmia in the reported animal. The clinical examination in these cases serves to ensure that the animal does not have any other congenital changes, allowing a favorable prognosis in puppies. Based on the information presented, the animal in this study has bilateral secondary congenital anophthalmia, with a favorable prognosis for the patient to live with certain normality, with quality and well-being

Medicinal plants Antimicrobial Activity against Staphylococcus spp. – Literature Review / Atividade antimicrobiana de plantas medicinais contra Staphylococcus spp. – Revisão de Literatura

The Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common bacteria in the clinical practice once it uses to colonize the human skin from up to 15% and is easily found in the nasal cavities. It can cause diseases that goes since a simple infection (pimples, boils and cellulitis) until serious infections such as pneumonia, meningitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome, septicemia and others. The present study aimed to analyze the published literature regarding the medicinal plants Antimicrobial Activity against Staphylococcus spp., based on the main electronic libraries and database with the purpose of knowing the Antimicrobial Activity efficacy of some Medicinal plants. It is known that several bacteria are beneficial to their hosts, since they provide protection and nutrition against some pathogens and diseases, making difficult the harmful bacteria colonization; however, the bacteria that cause harm to the human health currently have high resistance to most antimicrobial and, based on this affirmative, several technological measures are suggested to solve the bacteria resistance problem, being one of them the look for new antimicrobial from vegetal species. Medicinal plants with therapeutic properties are of great relevance in all the world, especially in developing countries; and as much as the knowledge about medicinal plants is vast these days, it is necessary more and more researches, because for many times these plants are used in a wrong way, consequently, taking a great risk due to the active substances accumulation.

Cutaneous Asthenia in a Domestic Cat (Felis silvestris catus)

Background: Cutaneous asthenia or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is an inherited and rare disease. This infirmity is from an autosomal mutation that influences the collagen synthesis of the carrier. Thus, its skeleton, formed of fibers, is structurally defective. The disease is characterized by hyperelasticity and skin fragility, leading to lesions throughout the skin. The lesions may manifest in specific places or in a generalized way, being more frequent in the limbs, neck, and back. This disease does not have a specific treatment, only management care to avoid new traumas.Case: A 3-year-old male castrated, no defined race cat, was attended at one veterinary clinic with a history of intense itching. The rapid tests for feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV) were negative. On physical examination, infestation by fleas, lesions all over the body, and skin hyperelasticity were observed. Topical treatment for ectoparasites as well as for body wounds was established. After the treatment, he returned without itching, but with the complaints of new lesions that did not heal. The patient underwent a total shearing to facilitate the treatment of the skin, and then he underwent blood tests, biochemistry, hormonal tests, and ultrasound, which showed no suggestive changes for hyperadrenocorticism and diabetes mellitus. His clinical signs, besides not matching with these diseases, also did not indicate skin fragility due to his history of age and balanced diet. The confirmation of the cutaneous asthenia syndrome was acquired through biopsy of skin fragment, in which it was observed disarray of collagen fibers, hypertrophy, and fibroblast hyperplasia, together with the rate of extensibility of the skin where the value reached the mark of 27.5%. Throughout the hospitalization, it was noted the progression of the disease with the appearance of new lesions, where there was no bleeding and they appeared even with the patient wearing padded clothes. Its progression lasted one year until the patient's euthanasia.Discussion: For the disposal of diabetes mellitus and hyperadrenocorticism as causes of the appearance of lesions by the body in the patient, he was submitted to the suppression tests with dexamethasone, in which he presented normality, in the biochemical examination it was dosed with fructosamine and glucose. The fructosamine was in the reference value, but the glucose was slightly altered, this increase may have been a result of stress at the time of blood collection. In addition to the patient not showing specific clinical signs such as polyphagia, polyuria, polydipsia, and weight loss, these are characteristic clinical signs of the disease. For the diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, histological examination, and calculation of the skin extensibility index were used, where the results obtained confirmed the suspicion. This genetic anomaly has no treatment, being progressive, so only environmental management is done to mitigate the appearance of the lesions and provide animal welfare. This case report contributes to aggregating the scientific literature in the area of veterinary medicine since skin asthenia is a rare disease and when its extent is total it becomes even more atypical. The availability of this article will provide a vision of palliative treatment for other cases, demonstrating the progressive nature of the lesions and the methods of diagnosis. Keywords: cat, collagen deficiency, ehlers-danlos syndrome, hyperelastic, skin.