Acute hepatitis C infection lowers serum lipid levels.

Chronic hepatitis C infection is associated with hypolipidaemia that resolves with viral clearance. Lipid levels in a subgroup of patients rebound to levels that may increase the risk of coronary heart disease. The impact of acute hepatitis C infection and its clearance on lipid levels is unknown. We undertook a retrospective evaluation of subjects with acute hepatitis C infection evaluating lipid levels before, during and following acute infection. Thirty-eight subjects with acute hepatitis C infection had lipid levels available. Twelve patients had pre-infection and intra-infection lipid levels available. Cholesterol (197.8-152.4 mg/dL, P = 0.025), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (116.1-76.3 mg/dL, P = 0.001) and non-high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol (164.0-122.7 mg/dL, P = 0.007) decreased dramatically during acute hepatitis C virus infection. Nineteen patients who achieved viral clearance had lipid levels available during infection and following resolution of infection. In these patients, cholesterol (145.0-176.0 mg/dL, P = 0.01), LDL (87.0-110.1 P = 0.0046) and non-HDL cholesterol (108.6-133.6 mg/dL, P = 0.008) increased significantly. No change was seen in patients who developed chronic infection. Four patients had lipid levels before, during and following resolution of infections and had increased postinfection LDL, cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol from pre-infection levels, indicating acute infection may be associated with an increase in postinfection lipid levels and may confer an increased risk of coronary heart disease. Acute hepatitis C infection results in hypolipidaemia with decreased LDL, cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol levels that increase following infection resolution. Levels may increase above pre-infection baseline lipid levels and should be monitored.

Comparison between L-CHOP and an L-CHOP protocol with interposed treatments of CCNU and MOPP (L-CHOP-CCNU-MOPP) for lymphoma in dogs.

An L-CHOP protocol with interposed treatments of CCNU and MOPP (L-CHOP-CCNU-MOPP) was evaluated in 66 dogs with stages III-V lymphoma. Results were compared with a historical group of 71 dogs treated with an L-CHOP protocol. Complete remission (CR) rates (85 and 80%, respectively) did not differ significantly between protocols (P = 0.48). First CR duration for dogs treated with L-CHOP-CCNU-MOPP was significantly longer: median, 317 days; 2-year CR rate, 35% versus median, 298 days; 2-year CR rate, 13%, P = 0.05). For the L-CHOP-CCNU-MOPP protocol, dogs in substage-b had a 4.3 times greater hazard of having a relapse than dogs in substage-a (P = 0.002). Frequency of adverse chemotherapy-associated gastrointestinal effects did not differ between protocols (P = 0.77). Neutropenia (primarily after CCNU) occurred more frequently in dogs treated with L-CHOP-CCNU-MOPP (P < 0.001). In summary, the L-CHOP-CCNU-MOPP protocol showed an improved duration of first CR as compared with an L-CHOP protocol, but the relevance of this finding might be subject to clinical judgement.

Assessing the efficacy of perioperative carprofen administration in dogs undergoing surgical repair of a ruptured cranial cruciate ligament.

Twenty-one otherwise healthy dogs that presented for surgical repair of a ruptured cranial cruciate ligament were blindly and randomly given either carprofen (2.2 mg/kg body weight, orally) or a placebo beginning 12 hours preoperatively and continuing every 12 hours for a total of three doses. The patients were assessed for postoperative pain using a subjective pain score and given oxymorphone (0.1 mg/kg body weight, intramuscularly) every four hours if the pain score was 2 or greater. Blood samples were also collected to determine serum cortisol levels. There was a significant increase in serum cortisol levels in the immediate postoperative period in both the placebo group and the carprofen group (p less than 0.05). There was no significant difference in the percentage of increase in serum cortisol levels between the two groups. No correlation was evident between the serum cortisol levels and the corresponding pain scores in either group. This subjective method of assessing postoperative pain was not accurate and should not be relied upon for determination of postoperative analgesic administration. Perioperative oral administration of carprofen did not appear to be effective in controlling postoperative pain in these patients.

Hematologic, hemostatic, and biochemical effects in cats receiving an oral chondroprotective agent for 30 days.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a chondroprotective agent on hematologic, hemostatic, and biochemical variables in clinically normal cats when administered at twice the recommended levels for 30 days. Fifteen clinically normal female domestic shorthaired cats were used. Twelve cats were given a chondroprotective agent orally, twice daily for 30 days. Three cats served as environmental controls and did not receive any treatment. The Wilcoxon's rank sum with a Bonferroni correction was used to evaluate the data statistically. Hematologic, hemostatic, and biochemical variables were assessed before treatment and on days 3, 14, and 30 of treatment. All cats remained healthy and showed no adverse reactions to treatment. No clinically and statistically significant shift outside a standard reference range was noted for any parameter. Hematocrit and red blood cell concentrations were decreased from pretreatment concentrations during days 3, 14, and 30 of treatment; however, these values were within a standard reference range at all time points. No significant changes were noted in platelet count, prothrombin time, or activated partial thromboplastin time. There were significant decreases in platelet aggregation response to high and low concentrations of collagen on day 3 and to the high concentration of collagen on days 14 and 30 compared with pretreatment values, but these values were not different from those of untreated cats. There was an increased time to response with the high concentration but not the low concentration of collagen on days 3, 14, and 30. Some parameters, such as potassium, anion gap, alkaline phosphatase, and bicarbonate, showed changes from pretreatment values at some but not all days of treatment. However, median concentrations remained within normal reference ranges, suggesting that these minor shifts were not indicative of clinical significance. Oral chondroprotective agents are widely prescribed in veterinary medicine for the treatment of degenerative joint disease. Safety studies have been performed in dogs; however, to date little is known about the safety of their use in cats. In this study, administration of this chondroprotective agent did not result in any clinically important change in hematologic, biochemical, and hemostatic variables when administered to healthy adult cats for 30 days at twice the recommended dosage.