Cistomatose ceruminosa em felino Persa: relato de caso / Feline ceruminous cystomatosis in a Persian cat: a case report

Neste trabalho, os autores relatam o caso de um gato Persa, macho, de cinco anos e meio de idade, atendido na Cidade do Rio de Janeiro apresentando nódulos auriculares diagnosticados por histopatologia como cistomatose ceruminosa. Por tratar-se de uma afecção pouco comum, de etiologia desconhecida e fácil resolução, os autores objetivaram divulgá-la, descrevendo os principais sinais clínicos e tratamentos. Como terapia, foi realizadaa excisão cirúrgica dos cistos com bisturi elétrico e não houve recidiva nos últimos três anos. Sugere-se que os cistos benignos podem malignizar, além de dificultarem o asseio do conduto auditivo levando ao acúmulo de cerúmen e, consequentemente, a infecções secundárias (otite externa) por proliferação microbiana.

In this case report the authors describe the presence of nodules in the concave pinna of a five years-old male Persian cat brought to veterinary clinic care in Rio de Janeiro in 2015, diagnosed by histopathology as ceruminous cystomatosis. As it is an uncommon disorder of unknown etiology and easy treatment, the authors aim to elucidate the main clinical signs associated and treatment used. The ablation of cysts was performed withan electric bistoury and no recurrency was reported within three years. It is suggested that benign cysts can progress to malignancy, besides, lesions can disrupt normal self-cleaning of the auditory canal leading to secondary otitis externa by microbial proliferation.

Breeding system, shell size and age at sexual maturity affect sperm length in stylommatophoran gastropods.

BACKGROUND: Sperm size and quality are key factors for fertilization success. There is increasing empirical evidence demonstrating that sperm form and function are influenced by selective pressures. Theoretical models predict that sperm competition could favour the evolution of longer sperm. In hermaphrodites, self-fertilizing species are expected to have shorter sperm than cross-fertilizing species, which use sperm stored from several mating partners for the fertilization of their eggs and thus are exposed to intense sperm competition. We tested this hypothesis by comparing original data on sperm length in 57 species of simultaneously hermaphroditic stylommatophoran gastropods from Europe and South America with respect to the species' breeding system. We used 28S rRNA nuclear and COI mitochondrial sequence data to construct a molecular phylogeny. Phylogenetic generalized linear models were applied to examine the potential influence of morphological and life-history characters. RESULTS: The best-fit model revealed that the breeding system and age at sexual maturity influence sperm length in gastropods. In general, species with predominant cross-fertilization had longer sperm than species with predominant self-fertilization or a mixed breeding system. Across species with shells (snails), sperm length also increased with shell size. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides evidence that sperm length in stylommatophoran gastropods is influenced by the risk of sperm competition, as well as by age at sexual maturity and shell size. This finding extends present knowledge of sperm evolution to a group of so far poorly studied simultaneous hermaphrodites.