Narrow Results

This study was to investigate effects of auriculoacupoint (AAP) treatment on carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-induced acute hepatic injury in ten dogs (four females and six males). Dogs have been divided into two groups: the control group (four dogs), not stimulated after induction of hepatic injury and the experimental group (six dogs), stimulated with AAP and massaged at the affected liver region of internal ear after induction of hepatic injury. Serum enzyme activities and histopathological findings were examined after the application of AAP. Compared to the control group, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities in the experimental group were significantly decreased at the 4th day (p<0.05) and at the 5th day (p<0.05), respectively. Histopathological findings of the experimental group showed decrease of necrotic region and size of lipid droplets compared to the control group.

In conclusion, AAP treatment had a therapeutic effect on the recovery of liver injury induced by CCl₄ in dogs.

We investigated the therapeutic effect of oculo-acupuncture on dogs induced with acute hepatic injury. Hepatic injury was induced by intraperitoneal injection with carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) in 8 mongrel dogs (4 females and 4 males, aged 2 to 4 years). The dogs were divided into the control group (4 dogs) and the experimental group (4 dogs). The experimental group was treated with oculo-acupuncture at the liver/gallbladder regions plus the zhong jiao region of the eye after the induction of hepatic injury. Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) activities were measured in both control and experimental groups. The serum AST, ALT, and GGT activities in the experimental group were decreased as compared to those in the control group. The significant differences were detected on the third day (AST, p < 0.05), second day (ALT, p < 0.05) and third day (GGT, p < 0.05) in the experimental group, respectively. Oculo-acupuncture alleviated acute liver damage induced by carbon tetrachloride in dogs was also confirmed by histopathological examination. We concluded that oculo-acupuncture at the liver/gallbladder regions plus the zhong jiao region was effective in the recovery of dogs from hepatic injury in a CCl₄-induced model.

The wavelet transform (WT) analysis was applied to pressure and blood velocity pulsations in the aorta of anesthetized dogs. Each recording was submitted to Mallat’s algorithm and a multiresolution decomposition was obtained. Beside the different resolutions of the original recording (2⁰ to 2^–4), we obtained the corresponding details . The main purpose of the present study was to analyze the influence of normal respiration, positive-pressure respiration, double vagotomy, and of hyperventilation with the subsequent apneic period. At resolution 2^–3 we observed regularly a low frequency amplitude modulation phenomenon with the exception of the apneic period after a prolonged hyperventilation. The applicability of the WT analysis in cardiovascular physiology is discussed.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of platelet-rich fibrin as a rich source of growth factors on biomechanical and biochemical aspects of tendon healing. Methods: Tendon defects were created in six adult male mixed breed dogs by surgical resection of the central third of the patellar tendon of both hind limbs. The defects were either treated by platelet-rich fibrin implantation or left empty. The animals were euthanized one, three and six months after surgery and their patellar tendons harvested for determination of ultimate stress, ultimate strain, tensile strength and Young’s modulus of elasticity along with hydroxyproline content. Results: Significant differences were not observed in mean values of the measured biomechanical and biochemical parameters at any time point between the two groups. Conclusions: Based on the results of the present study, PRF did not have a positive influence on biomechanical and biochemical aspects of tendon healing in dogs.

In recent decades, gait recognition has garnered a lot of attention from the researchers in the IT era. Gait recognition signifies verifying or identifying the individuals by their walking style. Gait supports in surveillance system by identifying people when they are at a distance from the camera and can be used in numerous computer vision and surveillance applications. This paper proposes a stupendous Color-mapped Contour Gait Image (CCGI) for varying factors of Cross-View Gait Recognition (CVGR). The first contour in each gait image sequence is extracted using a Combination of Receptive Fields (CORF) contour tracing algorithm which extracts the contour image using Difference of Gaussians (DoG) and hysteresis thresholding. Moreover, hysteresis thresholding detects the weak edges from the total pixel information and provides more well-balanced smooth features compared to an absolute one. Second CCGI encodes the spatial and temporal information via color mapping to attain the regularized contour images with fewer outliers. Based on the front view of a human walking pattern, the appearance of cross-view variations would reduce drastically with respect to a change of view angles. This proposed work evaluates the performance analysis of CVGR using Deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) framework. CCGI is considered a gait feature for comparing and evaluating the robustness of our proposed model. Experiments conducted on CASIA-B database show the comparisons of previous methods with the proposed method and achieved 94.65% accuracy with a better recognition rate.

Choroid plexus tumors (PTs) are rare in dogs. Herein, we reported a canine case of choroid plexus carcinoma (CPC) and its clinical treatment. A 10-year-old male Shar Pei presented a two-month history of progressive uncoordinated change in head and gait posture. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a lesion in posterior cranial fossa characterized by iso- to hypo-intensity in T1 and iso- to hyper-intensity in T2 with a homogeneous contrast uptake. The case received a one-month course of steroid therapy, and then performed by suboccipital craniectomy. The histopathological examination was described as CPC. The neurological symptoms were immediately and significantly improved after surgery. Follow-up MRI demonstrated that approximately 60% of the tumor was resected. To our knowledge, the clinical outcome of CPC was very poor. In this study, we provided an effective surgical approach, suboccipital craniectomy, for CPC in the posterior cranial fossa to avoid excess brain damage.

Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) has been widely used to accelerate wound and bone healing in human patients. The aim of the study was to establish a canine bone marrow-derived stromal cell (BMSC) culture system and to investigate the effect of PRF on these cells. PRF was prepared using density gradient centrifugation and BMSCs were obtained from the fracture sites of 23 dogs during surgical procedures and individually analyzed. Canine BMSCs were either cultured in osteogenic medium or cultured with/without the presence of PRF. Canine BMSCs expressed similar surface antibodies to mesenchymal stem cells and were able to undergo osteogenic differentiation in osteogenic medium. PRF stimulated proliferation of BMSCs, but PRF alone had no effect on osteogenic differentiation. This study provides useful information about the proliferation effect of PRF, and the canine culture system in the presence of osteogenic medium allows the differentiation of BMSCs in vitro. These results may benefit future application in the clinic.

Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is a tumor which can be transmitted naturally through mucosa contact between dogs. When CTVT cells are experimentally inoculated on dogs, they will grow rapidly (Progressive/P phase) and then regress (Regressive/R phase) spontaneously. Therefore, it is a good model to investigate the interactions between tumor cells and host immune system. Previous studies have shown that CTVT cells cannot grow in the dogs restored from CTVT inoculation. To investigate the possible mechanism, this study characterized the CTVT-specific immune response of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) which isolated from the blood of "naïve" or "CTVT-restored" dogs. The phenotypes (CD3, CD4, CD8, or CD21) of PBMCs were examined by flowcytometry. In response to CTVT stimulation, proliferation, IFN-γ secretion, and cytotoxicity of PBMCs were analyzed. Expression level of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, TGF-β), Th1 (IL-2, IFN-γ), and Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-10) and cytotoxic proteins (Granzyme B, Perforin) in PBMCs was also evaluated by real-time RT-PCR. The results indicated that there is no significant difference between two groups on lymphocyte phenotypes. Proliferation, IFN-γ secretion, and cytotoxicity of PBMCs between two groups showed no significant difference, except naïve PBMCs present higher proliferation after Con-A stimulation. Production of IL-1β and IL-6 in naïve PBMCs was higher than that in CTVT-restored PBMCs (p < 0.05). The production difference of IL-1β and IL-6 between two groups might be the reason why CTVT cannot be reinoculated on CTVT-restored dog. However, further investigations are necessary to explore the exact role of these cytokines in CTVT growth.

Anemia is a common hematologic disorder in dogs, however, few data are available regarding epidemiology and causes in Taiwan. To investigate the causes of anemia, 3174 anemic cases (hematocrit < 37%) collected between January 2008 and December 2012 at National Taiwan University Veterinary Hospital (NTUVH) were analyzed. Most dogs (48.5%, n = 1540) presented with a mild form (30% ≤ hematocrit < 37%), which was followed by a moderate form (20% ≤ hematocrit < 30%; 36.4%, n = 1155), a severe form (13% ≤ hematocrit < 20%; 10.5%, n = 332) and a very severe form (hematocrit < 13%; 4.6%, n = 147). Among the 2037 dogs with identifiable causes, 70.4% (1435 dogs) were induced by single cause, whereas 29.6% (602 dogs) by multiple causes. Cancer-related anemia (CRA, n = 460), infectious pathogens-related anemia (n = 287), renal disease-related anemia (n = 251) and post-surgery/trauma-related anemia (n = 182) account for 32.1%, 20.0%, 17.6% and 12.7% of single-cause cases, respectively. Furthermore, 255 of the total (17.8.0%) presented with severe and very severe anemia. 72 dogs with very severe anemia primarily resulted from infectious disease-related anemia (59.7%), followed by immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (13.9%), and other disease-related anemia (9.7%). Of the 43 infectious disease-related very severe anemic dogs, the most commonly diagnosed pathogen was Babesia gibsoni (83.7%, n = 36), followed by Ehrlichia canis (11.6%, n = 5), Babesia canis (2.3%, n = 1) and Leptospira spp. (2.3%, n = 1). Taken together, cancer, infectious diseases, and renal failure are the most frequent causes of canine anemia in Taiwan, and B. gibsoni appeared to be the most important infectious pathogen causing very severe anemia.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of platelet rich fibrin (PRF), a second generation platelet concentrate, on biomechanical properties of primary sutured cutaneous incisional wounds. Acute incisional wounds were made on the right and left side of the vertebral column of 15 adult mixed breed dogs. PRF membrane prepared from the venous blood of each animal was placed between the edges of the left side incisions while the right side incisions were used as controls. All incisions were sutured and skin samples were taken on days 3, 7 and 14 post-wounding for biomechanical analysis of wound strength. Mean breaking and tensile strength of PRF treated wounds were 48% and 52% greater than the control wounds at day 7 respectively which was statistically significant. Mean breaking stress of PRF treated wounds was also significantly greater than the controls at day 3 (16.42$\pm$7.73 versus 9.823$\pm$6.018). No significant difference in Young’s modulus of elasticity was observed between the treatment and control wounds. The results demonstrate that PRF improves the biomechanical properties of the healing incisional wounds especially in the first week. This could have positive implications particularly in patients suffering from conditions which adversely affect wound healing such as diabetes both in animals and humans although further studies are required.

Ten adenocarcinomas of the apocrine gland of the anal sac and 11 hepatoid gland neoplasms were studied to determine the coordinate expression of cytokeratin 7 (CK7) and cytokeratin 14 (CK14) using commercially available antibodies. Hepatoid gland neoplasms included hepatoid gland adenomas, carcinomas and a single epithelioma. All 10 (100%) adenocarcinomas of the apocrine gland of the anal sac had CK7$+$/CK14$-$ immunophenotype, whereas all 11 (100%) of hepatoid neoplasms expressed CK7$-$/CK14$+$ immunophenotype. Hepatoid gland adenomas, carcinomas, and epithelioma could not be differentiated based on the cytokeratin immunophenotype. Hepatoid gland neoplasms could be differentiated from adenocarcinomas of the apocrine gland of the anal sac by differences in the CK7/CK14 immunophenotypes with a $p$-$\mathrm{\text{value}}=0.00$. The results of this study provide further support for the use of coordinate expression of CK7/CK14 to differentiate apocrine gland adenocarcinomas of the anal sac (CK7$+$/CK14$-$) from hepatoid gland neoplasms (CK7$-$/CK14$+$).

Lipomas in dogs are a common benign mesenchymal tumor and are usually not life-threatening, but surgical management may be recommended if dogs develop discomfort and exercise inconvenience. To date, studies showing the relationship between body condition scores (BCSs) and the incidence rates of lipomas are rare, and definite risk factors are still unclear. The purpose of this retrospective, case–control study was to investigate the relationship between lipomas and obesity or high BCS. A total of 185 dogs were included in the study. There were 133 dogs diagnosed with lipomas in case group and 52 dogs without lipomas in control group. The diagnoses of control group included panniculitis, granulomas and non-neoplastic disease. To explore the relationship between BCS variables and lipomas, the binary logistic regression analysis was used. The results showed that, in dogs with lipomas, there were significant differences between those that were obese and those that had optimal body conditions. Dogs with $BCS\ge 7$ had a higher risk than dogs with $\mathrm{\text{BCS}}\le 6$, and the odds ratio was 5.04 ($P$-$\mathrm{\text{value}}<0.001$). On the contrary, seniors had a higher risk than adult. In conclusion, obesity and senior factor increase the incidence of lipomas in dogs with non-malignant skin mass.

Vaginal cytology can facilitate determination of the estrous stage in dogs. Although some studies recommended the vaginal cotton swab smear (VCSS) method for sample collection, some veterinarians prefer the vulvar stamp smear (VSS) method for its convenience and to avoid causing trauma or introducing pathogens from the posterior vagina to the anterior vagina. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has compared the results obtained using VCSS and VSS. In this study, the two methods were used to collect samples from 81 dogs. All slides were blindly examined by three veterinarians. Cells were classified into parabasal cells, intermediate cells, superficial cells, and anuclear cells according to cell outline and nuclear appearance. The predominant cell type was identified and recorded. The agreement rate between the methods for the four types was 90.9%, 86.9%, 62.1%, and 23.3%, respectively. Overall, agreement rate was 65.0%. The agreement for the intermediate and anuclear cells was significantly higher and lower than the expected, respectively ($P<0.01$ for both). The VSS method was reported by the owner to be significantly more accepted than the VCSS method ($P<0.01$). In conclusion, significant differences in anuclear cell identification between the methods were observed. Therefore, VSS results, particularly those for anuclear cells, should be cautiously interpreted.

A 4-month old, male intact, mixed-breed dog was referred for sudden onset of regurgitation for two weeks. Thoracic radiographs revealed severe dilatation of esophagus with barium aspiration pneumonia. Idiopathic megaesophagus (IME) was diagnosed after serial laboratory, endoscopic and computed tomographic examinations. Symptomatic treatment including medication for pneumonia, feeding through percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube with upright feeding position was performed at first, but regurgitation persisted. Sildenafil (1mg/kg, PO, BID) was then administrated for two weeks and regurgitation remitted one day after. Sildenafil was then tapered to half dose (0.5mg/kg, PO, BID) for another two weeks. During following-up thoracic radiography on 10 days after sildenafil administration, the degree of esophagus dilation significantly reduced. The clinical sign was completely resolved without relapse for more than 300 days. Sildenafil was reported having inhibitory effect of canine gastric contraction without affecting gastric emptying time. This effect could ameliorate persisting regurgitation after using PEG feeding directly into the stomach while bypassing the esophagus.

Corneal injuries in pets cause severe suffering and vision impairment, creating significant challenges in the field of veterinary medicine. It is important to understand that the cornea lacks the inherent capability to regenerate itself through the administration of substances such as hyaluronic acid or antibiotics, which are commonly utilized by veterinarians for managing edema and infections in animals. It has been shown that platelet rich fibrin extract (PRFE) is effective in healing both deep corneal ulcers and superficial keratitis. In this case report, the use of PRFE in dogs and cats which showed promising results.

An intact male terrier dog aged 6.25 years was referred with a history of dysuria and intermittent hematuria for the past 2 years. Clinical examination, abdominal radiography and ultrasonography revealed the presence of prostatomegaly and cystolithiasis. A large radio-opaque calculus was observed inside the urinary bladder and ultrasonographic size of the prostate gland was $5.79\times 3.55{\mathrm{\text{cm}}}^2$. The animal was diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia based on anamnesis, physical examination findings and paraclinical investigations. The presence of a single large calculus within the urinary bladder was associated with incomplete voiding resulting from enlargement of the prostate. The bladder calculus which was removed by cystotomy was a mixed type of stone consisting of ammonium (10%), phosphate (20%), calcium (20%), oxalate (40%) and magnesium (10%). The enlargement of the prostate gland was also confirmed by intraoperative examination. Cystolithiasis associated with canine benign prostatic hyperplasia has not been previously reported in the literature.

The observations that mice exposed to otherwise lethal irradiation could survive if their spleens or marrows were shielded, or if they received an infusion of bone marrow, led to the first attemps of bone marrow transplantation in humans in the mid-1950s by E. D. Thomas and J. Ferrebee. Thanks to Thomas' persistence despite criticism and initial clinical failures, and thanks to the development of a canine model of bone marrow transplantation by Thomas and Storb, the role of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) changed during the last 50 years from a desperate therapeutic maneouver plagued by apparently insurmountable complications to a curative treatment modality for thousands of patients with hematologic diseases. Further, it was recognized that allogeneic immunocompetent cells contained in the graft mediated therapeutic antitumor effects independent of the action of the high-dose therapy. These were termed graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effects. This prompted the recent development of non-myeloablative conditioning regimens for allogeneic HCT that have allowed offering this treatment modality in elderly patients and those with comorbid conditions. While hematopoietic stem cells were identified in the early 1960s, identification of other types of stem cells such as mesenchymal stem cells or embryonic stem cells might pave the way for stem cell therapy in regenerative medicine in the future.