Clinical features of the retinopathy, globe enlarged (rge) chick phenotype

AbstractThe purpose of the study reported here was to characterize the clinical aspects of the autosomal recessive retinopathy, globe enlarged (rge) phenotype in chicks (Gallus gallus). Rge/rge, rge/+ and +/+ chicks were studied from hatch to 336 days of age by general clinical examination, post-mortem examination, vision testing with an optokinetic device, ophthalmoscopy, biomicroscopy, tonometry, central corneal pachymetry, a-mode ultrasonography, infrared photoretinoscopy and photokeratometry. Additionally, preliminary electroretinographic and histopathologic investigations were performed. There is a variable degree of vision loss in rge/rge chicks at 1 day of age with further chicks losing vision over the next few weeks until all chicks become functionally blind by 30 days of age (although some optokinetic responses remain in some of the rge/rge chicks). Over the first few weeks of life rge/rge chicks develop thicker corneas with a larger radius, hyperopia, shallower anterior chambers and enlarged globes both radially and axially, compared to controls. A preliminary ERG study showed that 1 day old rge/rge chicks have an elevated response threshold, a lower amplitude a-wave with a markedly shallow leading slope, a lack of both oscillatory responses and c-waves and, at brighter flashes, an increased b-wave amplitude. Light microscopy revealed no gross retinal abnormalities in young chicks to account for the blindness. A thinning of all retinal layers developed in parallel with globe enlargement. The rge defect is a unique progressive retinal dystrophy that results in a severe visual deficit, abnormal electroretinographic waveforms, and secondary globe enlargement

Isolation of chick retina cones and study of their diversity based on oil droplet colour and nucleus position

The chick retina has four morphological cone types that differ not only in shape, but also in the visual pigment in the outer segment, in the colour of the oil droplet in the inner segment and in synaptic connectivity. Neither the type of droplet nor the visual pigment has been definitively established for the four cone types. The main aim of the present work has been the isolation of entire live photoreceptors in order to study the oil droplet colour in each cone type and to quantify each type. We have improved an earlier retinal cell isolation method and obtained large numbers of entire cones. Principal cones (27% of the cones) possess a yellow or colourless droplet. Accessory cones (27% of the cones) all contain a small pale green droplet. Straight cones (44% of the cones) have a red, orange, yellow, or colourless droplet. Oblique cones (1.66% of the cones) all have a colourless droplet. We have found that straight cones with a red, orange, or yellow droplet differ in terms of the position of the nucleus and their percentage and conclude that they are distributed in three rows in the outer nuclear layer (ONL) of the central retina. Our study of 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole-stained retinal sections has revealed three rows of nuclei instead of the two currently thought to form the ONL. Together, our results show a larger cone diversity than previously known, suggest a larger functional diversity and provide an efficient method for isolating entire chick photoreceptors

Neoplasmas oculares e de anexos em cães e gatos no Rio Grande do Sul: 265 casos (2009 -2014)

Neoplasias oculares causam desconforto, problemas de visão e podem refletir doenças sistêmicas. Um estudo retrospectivo foi realizado para identificar e analisar neoplasmas oculares e de anexos obtidos por biópsias enviadas ao Setor de Patologia Veterinária (SPV) da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Durante o período de janeiro de 2009 a dezembro de 2014 realizou-se 265 diagnósticos de neoplasmas oculares e de anexos, destes 87,5% na espécie canina e em 12,5% na espécie felina. As neoplasias ocorreram mais em animais com idade superior a 12 meses e idosos, e os cães (52/232) e gatos (21/33) sem raça definida foram os mais acometidos. A pálpebra foi o local mais acometido na espécie canina (164/232) e felina (20/33), seguida pela terceira pálpebra em cães (20/232) e órbita nos felinos (5/33). O tumor mais diagnosticado nos cães foi o adenoma meibomiano (82/232) e nos gatos o carcinoma de células escamosas (10/33), ambos em pálpebras. Foram identificados nos cães 24 tipos tumorais e nos gatos 16. Em caninos as neoplasias benignas representaram o maior número de diagnósticos (56%) sendo que em felinos o maior número de casos foi de neoplasias malignas (75,8%)

Considerations about ocular neoplasia of dogs and cats

Primary and secondary neoplasia of dogs and cats may assume several different forms. Clinical signs are varied, and are manifest in accordance with the diseased tissue. The present article aims to review clinical and pathophysiologic aspects of frequent neoplasms that affect by the eye and the adnexal ocular structures of dogs and cats

Ecobiometria ocular de cães glaucomatosos

Foram estudados olhos glaucomatosos de cães referidos no serviço de diagnóstico por imagem. Os pacientes foram submetidos à ultrassonografia em modo B de alta resolução para realização de biometria ocular, por meio da qual foram realizadas as seguintes medidas: espessura central da córnea, profundidade da câmara anterior, espessura da lente e profundidade da câmara vítrea. Para tal, foi realizada contenção física e instilado colírio anestésico. Foram aferidas a PIO e a paquimetria da córnea e, em seguida, foi realizada a ultrassonografia em modo B nos dois olhos. Além da diferença óbvia de PIO, maior nos bulbos glaucomatosos, os resultados mostraram-se estatisticamente significativos em dois parâmetros: aumento da profundidade da câmara vítrea nos casos de glaucoma crônico (1,24±0,26cm; P=0,01) quando se comparou aos olhos controle e aumento da espessura da córnea também nos casos de glaucoma agudo (0,987±0,28cm; P=0,027), quando se comparou aos olhos controle e aos olhos com glaucoma crônico. Observou-se que a câmara vítrea é a estrutura intraocular que mais contribui no processo de expansão de volume do bulbo (buftalmia) durante o glaucoma

Antimicrobial susceptibility and minimal inhibitory concentration of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from septic ocular surface disease in different animal species

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility profile of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from different animal species with septic ocular surface disease. Sixteen strains of P. aeruginosa were isolated from different species of animals (dog, cat, horse, penguin and brown bear) with ocular surface diseases such as conjunctivitis, keratocojnuctivits sicca and ulcerative keratitis. These isolates were tested against 11 different antimicrobials agents using the Kirby-Bauer disk-diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined using E-tests for two antibiotics (tobramycin and ciprofloxacin) commonly used in veterinary ophthalmology practice. Imipenem was the most effective antibiotic, with 100% of the strains being susceptible, followed by amikacin (87.5%), gentamicin, norfloxacin, gatifloxacin and polymyxin (both with 81.5%of susceptibility). MIC90 of ciprofloxacin was 2 µg/ml and the values found ranged from 0.094 µg/ml to 32 µg/ml. For tobramycin, MIC90 was 32 µg/ml and ranged from 0.25 µg/ml to 256 µg/ml. The most effective in vitro antibiotic tested against P. aeruginosa in this study was imipenem, followed by amikacin. The 3 mg/ml eye drops commercially available ciprofloxacin presentations were in vitro effective against all strains tested in this study if applied up to 4 hours after instillation. Whereas for tobramycin the 3 mg/ml eye drops commercial presentations were not in vitro effective against some strains isolated in this study. Thus for ocular infections with P. aeruginosa when using tobramycin the ideal recommendation would be to either use eye drops with higher concentrations or decrease the frequency intervals from four to a minimum of every two hours