Retrospective study of ocular complication following phacoemulsification with intraocular acrylic lens implantation in dogs / Estudo retrospectivo das complicações oculares em cães submetidos à facoemulsificação com implantação de lente acrílica

The aim of this study was to analyze for 120 days, post-operative complications following bimanual phacoemulsification with implantation of hydrophilic or hydrophobic intraocular acrylic lens. The hospital records of 15 dogs were analyzed, and distributed in two groups, being Gfi and Gfo the hydrophilic intraocular lens and hydrophobic intraocular lens group, respectively. On the first day, both groups presented blepharospasm, conjunctival hyperemia and flare. On day 1, fibrin was slightly apparent in two and three eyes of Gfi and Gfo, and on day 7, present in one and two patients from Gfi and Gfo. Synechia was observed on day 1 in one eye from Gfi and Gfo. Two eyes from Gfi developed from 7 to 120 days, and in Gfo, one eye developed from 7 to 90 days, on day 120, two eyes formed them. The presence of posterior capsule opacity of the lens in all periods, there was no statistical significant between the groups. Only one eye, in Gfo, that had no opacity formation. The intraocular pressure of both groups remained within normal range. There was no statistical significance between hydrophilic and hydrophobic intraocular lens, the use of intraocular lens has led to satisfactory results in visual ability.(AU)

Objetivou-se com o presente estudo avaliar por 120 dias as complicações após a facoemulsificação bimanual com implantação de lentes acrílicas hidrofílicas ou hidrofóbicas. Os prontuários de 15 cães foram avaliados, sendo distribuídos em dois grupos, Gfi e Gfo, grupos com lentes intraoculares hidrofílicas e com lentes hidrofóbicas, respectivamente. No primeiro dia, ambos os grupos apresentaram blefarospasmo, hiperemia conjuntiva e flare. No dia 1, fibrina foi discretamente observada em dois e três olhos do Gfi e Gfo; no dia 7, observou-se em um e três olhos nos pacientes do Gfi e Gfo. Foi observada sinéquia no dia 1 em um olho do Gfi e do Gfo; em dois olhos do Gfi ocorreu do dia 7 ao dia 120. No Gfo apenas um olho teve sinéquia do dia 7 ao dia 90, contudo aos 120 dias, dois olhos formaram-na. A opacidade de cápsula posterior da lente esteve presente em todos os períodos, não havendo diferença estatística entre os grupos. Somente um olho, do Gfo, não teve formação de opacidade. A pressão intraocular foi normal em ambos os grupos. Não houve diferença estatística entre as lentes hidrofílicas e hidrofóbicas. O uso de lentes intraoculares apresentaram resultados satisfatórios na acuidade visual.(AU)

O - "não"- lugar do reflexo no modo causal de seleção pelas consequências de Skinner / The - "no"- place of the reflex in the causal mode selection by consequences of Skinner

Skinner em 1 981 propôs um modo causal geral para explicar o comportamento envolvendo dois processos básicos e complementares: variação e seleção. Algumas vezes o selecionismo é apresentado como um substituto do mecanicismo dentro e fora do âmbito comportamental. Contudo, há um ponto de tensão nessa interpretação: o comportamento/condicionamento reflexo. Esse tipo de comportamento e de aprendizagem seria explicado através de leis compatíveis com o mecanicismo, as leis do reflexo, não envolvendo variação e seleção. Em que medida, então, a seleção pelas consequências seria um modo explicativo geral se nem mesmo seria aplicável a todos os casos de comportamento? Uma interpretação alternativa é oferecida sobre a natureza e o alcance do selecionismo skinneriano

Perfil hematológico de éguas Quarto de Milha alimentadas com feno ou haylage de Tifton-85 ( Cynodon spp. ) / Hematological panel of Quarter Horse mares fed Tifton 85 (Cynodon spp. ) hay and haylage

RESUMO O capim Tifton-85 (Cynodon spp.) vem sendo utilizado na alimentação de equinos na forma de pré-secado (haylage) e feno, todavia não existem estudos conclusivos a respeito da influência da haylage sobre o estado de saúde dessa espécie. Portanto, esta pesquisa objetivou avaliar o perfil sanguíneo como indicador de higidez de éguas Quarto de Milha alimentadas com haylage e feno de Tifton-85. A gramínea utilizada foi cortada com 30 dias de crescimento. Para produção da haylage, a planta cortada permaneceu no campo até atingir 70% de matéria seca, quando foi colhida. Foram utilizadas 12 éguas Quarto de Milha, com idade entre oito e 12 anos e com peso vivo médio inicial de 451,6kg. Os animais foram distribuídos aleatoriamente em dois grupos (n=6), sendo o grupo 1 alimentado com feno e o grupo 2 alimentado com haylage, por um período de 28 dias. Foram realizadas cinco coletas de sangue em intervalos de uma semana, para a determinação do perfil hematológico. Em relação ao eritrograma, observou-se discreta diminuição da concentração de hemoglobina, do hematócrito e do volume globular médio (VGM) em ambos os grupos. No leucograma, houve aumento dos leucócitos totais nas coletas iniciais em ambos os grupos, mas sem significado clínico. Conclui-se que éguas adultas Quarto de Milha, após a ingestão de feno e haylage de Tifton-85, não apresentaram alterações no perfil hematológico que indicassem prejuízos à saúde.(AU)

ABSTRACT Tifton-85 grass (Cynodon spp) has been used in equine nutrition in the form of pre-dried (haylage) and hay, however, there are no conclusive studies about the influence of haylage on blood profile of this species. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the blood profile as health indicators of Quarter Horse mares were fed haylage and Tifton-85 hay. The used grass was cut at 30 days of growth. For the production of haylage, this plant remained cut in the field until it had 70% of dry matter, when it was collected. Twelve Quarter Horse mares, aged 8-12 years, with average weight of 451.58kg were used. The animals were distributed randomly into two groups (n= 6), group 1 fed hay and group 2 fed haylage, both for 28 days. Blood samples were collected at one week intervals each for determining the hematological parameters. In the erythrogram, a decrease in the hemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume and mean cell volume after the administration in both groups were detected. The white blood count increased in both groups, but the values remained within normal limits without clinical significance. In conclusion, adult Quarter Horse mares fed Tifton-85 hay and haylage showed no alterations in hematology.(AU)

Successful domino liver transplantation in maple syrup urine disease using a related living donor

Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) is an autosomal recessive disease associated with high levels of branched-chain amino acids. Children with MSUD can present severe neurological damage, but liver transplantation (LT) allows the patient to resume a normal diet and avoid further neurological damage. The use of living related donors has been controversial because parents are obligatory heterozygotes. We report a case of a 2-year-old child with MSUD who underwent a living donor LT. The donor was the patient's mother, and his liver was then used as a domino graft. The postoperative course was uneventful in all three subjects. DNA analysis performed after the transplantation (sequencing of the coding regions of BCKDHA, BCKDHB, and DBT genes) showed that the MSUD patient was heterozygous for a pathogenic mutation in the BCKDHB gene. This mutation was not found in his mother, who is an obligatory carrier for MSUD according to the family history and, as expected, presented both normal clinical phenotype and levels of branched-chain amino acids. In conclusion, our data suggest that the use of a related donor in LT for MSUD was effective, and the liver of the MSUD patient was successfully used in domino transplantation. Routine donor genotyping may not be feasible, because the test is not widely available, and, most importantly, the disease is associated with both the presence of allelic and locus heterogeneity. Further studies with this population of patients are required to expand the use of related donors in MSUD.

A safety and feasibility study of cell therapy in dilated cardiomyopathy

The aim of this study was to determine if bone marrow mononuclear cell (BMMC) transplantation is safe for moderate to severe idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC). Clinical trials have shown that this procedure is safe and effective for ischemic patients, but little information is available regarding non-ischemic patients. Twenty-four patients with IDC, optimized therapy, age 46 ± 11.6 years, 17 males, NYHA classes II-IV, and left ventricular ejection fraction <35 percent were enrolled in the study. Clinical evaluation at baseline and 6 months after stem cell therapy to assess heart function included echocardiogram, magnetic resonance imaging, cardiopulmonary test, Minnesota Quality of Life Questionnaire, and NYHA classification. After cell transplantation 1 patient showed a transient increase in enzyme levels and 2 patients presented arrhythmias that were reversed within 72 h. Four patients died during follow-up, between 6 and 12 weeks after therapy. Clinical evaluation showed improvement in most patients as reflected by statistically significant decreases in Minnesota Quality of Life Questionnaire (63 ± 17.9 baseline vs 28.8 ± 16.75 at 6 months) and in class III-IV NYHA patients (18/24 baseline vs 2/20 at 6 months). Cardiopulmonary exercise tests demonstrated increased peak oxygen consumption (12.2 ± 2.4 at baseline vs 15.8 ± 7.1 mL·kg-1·min-1 at 6 months) and walked distance (377.2 ± 85.4 vs 444.1 ± 77.9 m at 6 months) in the 6-min walk test, which was not accompanied by increased left ventricular ejection fraction. Our findings indicate that BMMC therapy in IDC patients with severe ventricular dysfunction is feasible and that larger, randomized and placebo-controlled trials are warranted.

Pulmonary tuberculosis: evaluation of interferon-gamma levels as an immunological healing marker based on the response to the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis whose interaction with the host may lead to a cell-mediated protective immune response. The presence of interferon-gamma is related to this response. With the purpose of understanding the immunological mechanisms involved in this protection, the lymphoproliferative response, IFN-gamma and other cytokines like interleukin (IL-5, IL-10), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alfa) were evaluated before and after the use of anti-TB drugs on 30 patients with active TB disease, 24 healthy household contacts of active TB patients, with positive purified protein derivative (PPD) skin tests (induration > 10 mm), and 34 asymptomatic individuals with negative PPD skin test results (induration < 5 mm). The positive lymphoproliferative response among peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients showed high levels of IFN-gamma, TNF-alfa, and IL-10. No significant levels of IL-5 were detected. After treatment with rifampicina, isoniazida, and pirazinamida, only the levels of IFN-gamma increased significantly (p < 0.01). These results highlight the need for further evaluation of IFN-gamma production as a healing prognostic of patients treated.