[Factors influencing inflammatory diseases in the bitch and the survival of her offsprings]. / Einflussfaktoren auf entzündliche Erkrankungen der Mutterhündin und das Überleben ihrer Nachkommen.

INTRODUCTION: Feeding raw meat is becoming increasingly common among dog owners. This feeding practice can pose a hygienic risk and can lead to health risks for dogs and their owners. Hygienically sound food rations, that are balanced in terms of all nutrients and energy, must be feed to breeding dogs. The aim of this study was to record the influence of raw feeding on the occurrence of mastitis, metritis and the survival of puppies. An online questionnaire was sent to kennel club registered dog breeders in Germany and Switzerland. A total of 531 litters were recorded and evaluated. Mastitis and/or metritis were present in 9,2 % and 2,8 % (n = 49 and n = 15, respectively) of the breeding bitches. 29 % (n = 154) of the breeders reported loss of puppies in the litter. The most common cause were stillbirths (n = 105 litters with 187 stillborn puppies), and/or early mortality (n = 50 litters with 73 puppies that died in the first 48 hours). The occurrence of puppy losses in the litter and/or a higher proportion of puppy losses in the litter was favored by increased body weight of the bitch in larger dog breeds, existing previous illnesses, previously reported gestation or postpartum problems, increasing length of the parturition phase and/or a cesarean section. A higher total number of surviving puppies was associated with increased weight and anamnestic reported health of the bitch and the use of milk powder instead of other milk substitutes. A relationship between raw feeding and the occurrence of mastitis, metritis, the total number of surviving puppies and/or the occurrence or proportion of pup losses in the litter and was not found in this study. However very few breeders in this cohort fed their bitches raw, which in turn was due to the random selection of breeders. Many years of breeding experience and the increasing parity of the bitch had a clearly positive influence on the health of the bitch.

INTRODUCTION: L'alimentation à base de viande crue est de plus en plus répandue parmi les propriétaires de chiens. Cette pratique alimentaire peut présenter un risque hygiénique et entraîner des dangers pour la santé des chiens et de leurs propriétaires. Des rations alimentaires hygiéniques et équilibrées en termes de nutriments et d'énergie doivent en particulier être données aux chiens reproducteurs. L'objectif de cette étude était d'enregistrer l'influence de l'alimentation crue sur l'apparition de mammites, de métrites et sur la survie des chiots. Un questionnaire en ligne a été envoyé aux éleveurs de chiens enregistrés auprès d'un club d'élevage en Allemagne et en Suisse. Au total, 531 portées ont été enregistrées et évaluées. Une mammite et/ou une métrite étaient présentes chez 9,2 % et 2,8 % (n = 49 et n = 15, respectivement) des chiennes reproductrices. 29 % (n = 154) des éleveurs ont signalé la perte de chiots dans la portée. La cause la plus fréquente était la mortinatalité (n = 105 portées avec 187 chiots mort-nés) et/ou la mortalité précoce (n = 50 portées avec 73 chiots morts dans les 48 premières heures). Les pertes de chiots dans la portée et/ou une proportion plus élevée de pertes de chiots dans la portée était favorisée par un poids corporel plus élevé de la chienne dans les grandes races de chiens, des maladies antérieures existantes, des problèmes de gestation ou de post-partum déjà signalés, une durée plus longue de la phase de parturition et/ou une césarienne. Un nombre total plus élevé de chiots survivants a été associé à un poids plus élevé et à un état de santé anamnestique de la chienne, ainsi qu'à l'utilisation de lait en poudre plutôt que d'autres substituts du lait. Cette étude n'a pas mis en évidence de lien entre l'alimentation crue et l'apparition de mammites, de métrites, le nombre total de chiots survivants et/ou l'apparition ou la proportion de pertes de chiots dans la portée. Cependant, très peu d'éleveurs de cette cohorte ont nourri leurs chiennes avec des aliments crus, ce qui est dû à la sélection aléatoire des éleveurs. Une longue expérience de l'élevage et l'augmentation de la parité de la chienne ont eu une influence clairement positive sur la santé de la chienne.

Lethal toxin is a critical determinant of rapid mortality in rodent models of Clostridium sordellii endometritis.

The toxigenic anaerobe Clostridium sordellii is an uncommon but highly lethal cause of human infection and toxic shock syndrome, yet few studies have addressed its pathogenetic mechanisms. To better characterize the microbial determinants of rapid death from infection both in vitro and in vivo studies were performed to compare a clinical strain of C. sordellii (DA-108), isolated from a patient who survived a disseminated infection unaccompanied by toxic shock syndrome, to a virulent reference strain (ATCC9714). Rodent models of endometrial and peritoneal infection with C. sordellii ATCC9714 were rapidly lethal, while infections with DA-108 were not. Extensive genetic and functional comparisons of virulence factor and toxin expression between these two bacterial strains yielded many similarities, with the noted exception that strain DA-108 lacked the tcsL gene, which encodes the large clostridial glucosyltransferase enzyme lethal toxin (TcsL). The targeted removal by immunoprecipitation of TcsL protected animals from death following injection of crude culture supernatants from strain ATCC9714. Injections of a monoclonal anti-TcsL IgG protected animals from death during C. sordellii ATCC9714 infection, suggesting that such an approach might improve the treatment of patients with C. sordellii-induced toxic shock syndrome.

Utero-adnexal damage in septic abortion. Histopathological study on 91 cases.

Septic abortion represents the main causes of abortion-induced maternal death. Hysterectomy may represent a beneficial therapeutic solution for septic abortion, nevertheless with irreversible effects on a woman's reproductive condition. The study analyzes the anatomopathological damage found in ninety-one patients hospitalized for septic abortion. The patients were admitted to the "Dr. D. Popescu" Clinical Hospital, Timisoara, between 1980-1989 and 1999-2008; hysterectomy was performed in all the cases to eliminate uterine sepsis responsible for the emerging complications.

Misoprostol impairs female reproductive tract innate immunity against Clostridium sordellii.

Fatal cases of acute shock complicating Clostridium sordellii endometritis following medical abortion with mifepristone (also known as RU-486) used with misoprostol were reported. The pathogenesis of this unexpected complication remains enigmatic. Misoprostol is a pharmacomimetic of PGE(2), an endogenous suppressor of innate immunity. Clinical C. sordellii infections were associated with intravaginal misoprostol administration, suggesting that high misoprostol concentrations within the uterus impair immune responses against C. sordellii. We modeled C. sordellii endometritis in rats to test this hypothesis. The intrauterine but not the intragastric delivery of misoprostol significantly worsened mortality from C. sordellii uterine infection, and impaired bacterial clearance in vivo. Misoprostol also reduced TNF-alpha production within the uterus during infection. The intrauterine injection of misoprostol did not enhance mortality from infection by the vaginal commensal bacterium Lactobacillus crispatus. In vitro, misoprostol suppressed macrophage TNF-alpha and chemokine generation following C. sordellii or peptidoglycan challenge, impaired leukocyte phagocytosis of C. sordellii, and inhibited uterine epithelial cell human beta-defensin expression. These immunosuppressive effects of misoprostol, which were not shared by mifepristone, correlated with the activation of the G(s) protein-coupled E prostanoid (EP) receptors EP2 and EP4 (macrophages) or EP4 alone (uterine epithelial cells). Our data provide a novel explanation for postabortion sepsis leading to death and also suggest that PGE(2), in which production is exaggerated within the reproductive tract during pregnancy, might be an important causal determinant in the pathogenesis of more common infections of the gravid uterus.

Prophylactic antibiotics for the prevention of postpartum infectious morbidity in women infected with human immunodeficiency virus: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of intrapartum prophylactic antibiotics in the prevention of postpartum sepsis in laboring women who were infected with HIV. STUDY DESIGN: In a double-blind, randomized trial that was conducted in Durban (South Africa), pregnant women who were infected with HIV in whom vaginal delivery was anticipated were randomized to receive either a single dose of cefoxitin (2 g) or placebo intrapartum. Signs of sepsis were evaluated within 72 hours and at 1 and 2 weeks postpartum. RESULTS: Of the 424 women who were enrolled, 213 women received cefoxitin, and 211 women received placebo. Both groups were comparable in all baseline parameters. The overall sepsis rate was 19% (40/211 women) in the placebo group and 16.9% (36/213 women) in the cefoxitin group (P = .581). There was a 53% reduction in risk of postpartum endometritis in the cefoxitin group (95% confidence interval, 0.24-0.9). CONCLUSION: The use of prophylactic intrapartum cefoxitin in HIV-infected women reduces the risk of postpartum endometritis.

Outcome of pregnancies with preterm premature rupture of membranes.

OBJECTIVE: To study the outcomes of pregnancies complicated with preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM) between 26-36 week gestation. METHODS: A retrospective study of 36670 pregnancies registered and managed in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) from March 1993 to February 2003. RESULTS: Two hundred and twenty cases of PPROM (0.6%) were registered and treated expectantly out of 36670 total pregnancies registered during the study period. The majority of the cases (38.6%) were delivered within 72 hours of premature rupture of the membranes (PROM). Only 2.3% of the cases were prolonged to a latency period of more than one month. Maternal morbidity included chorioamnionitis (20.9%), postpartum endometritis (6.8%), abruptio placentae (4%) and septicemia (0.5%). The prenatal survival rate was 94.5% whereas neonatal outcomes included neonatal mortality (5.5%), respiratory distress (15.9%), sepsis (7.7%), and necrotizing enterocolitis (3.1%). Our study showed a positive correlation between increasing maternal age and cesarean section; increased maternal and neonatal infection rates with prolonged latency; and increased risk of neonatal infection among mothers having chorioamnionitis. CONCLUSION: The incidence of PPROM in KSA is low. Ultimate goal of therapy must be safety of the mother first. Expectant management should be the rationale if fetal immaturity exists. Induction of labor in PPROM patient > or = 34-week-gestation is a logical approach to minimize maternal infectious morbidity.

Endometritis post-cesárea: factores de riesgo / Post cesaream endometritis: risk factors

Objetivo: Dterminar los factores de riesgo de endometritis post-cesárea (EPC). Material y métodos: Se realizó un estudio retrospectivo caso-control en el Servicio de Obstetricia del Hospital Nacional Cayetano Heredia del 1 de Enero de 1992 al 31 de julio de 1996. Para el análisis estadístico se utilizó análisis bivariado y multivariado de regresión logística. Resultados: Durante este período se detectaron 82 pacientes con diagnóstico clínico de endometritis, seleccionándose aleatoriamente igual número de pacientes operadas de cesárea con puerperio normal. Los factores relacionados con un riesgo significativo de EPC fueron: edad materna menor de 21 años y valores de hematocrito post-operatorio menor o igual a 30 por ciento. En el grupo de pacientes con endometritis el 45.1 por ciento de las pacientes tuvieron infección concomitante, siendo la infección de herida operatoria (29.3 por ciento) y la del tracto urinario (11 por ciento) las más frecuentes.

[Diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of the pyometra-endometritis complex in dogs]. / Diagnostische und therapeutische Aspekte beim Pyometra-Endometritis-Komplex der Hündin.

652 bitches suffering from the pyometra-endometritis complex were divided into three groups. General condition and the haemogramm were examined. The bitches of group III (n = 220) had greatest disturbances, and the mortality rate was high, especially in bitches with uterine rupture (50%). The healing rate of 63.7% in this group is the result of a special treatment schedule that is also possible under practical conditions.

A prospective study of sow mortality in breeding herds.

This investigation was conducted to study the incidence and the causes of sow mortality in breeding herds. Data were obtained from 24 swine breeding herds with an average inventory of 3755 sows and served gilts for the total sample. Producers were involved for 12 consecutive months and agreed to submit to the diagnostic laboratory every dead or moribund sow and served gilt. The average herd death rate was 3.3% +/- 0.5 (SEM), but varied considerably among herds, ranging from 0% to 9.2%. A total of 137 sows and mated gilts died during the year, and these females had produced an average of 4.2 litters +/- 0.2 (SEM). The number of deaths was significantly higher during the months of July, August and October. The peripartum period appeared to be when sows were most at risk, with 42% of all deaths occurring during this short period of the reproductive cycle. The three major causes of death were heart failure (31.4%), torsions and accidents of abdominal organs (15.3%) and cystitis-pyelonephritis (8.0%). Other causes included endometritis (6.6%), uterine prolapses (6.6%), pneumonia (3.6%), gastric ulcers (3.6%), downer sow syndrome (2.2%), miscellaneous (8.0%) and unknown (14.6%).