Treatment of mammary gland tumors in bitches: effects of sodium dichloroacetate as neoadjuvant therapy.

Mastectomy is the standard treatment for mammary gland tumors in dogs. In addition to traditional therapy, sodium dichloroacetate (DCA) can act as target therapy, as it may promote autophagy, reduce metastatic potential, and tumor proliferation in mammary tumor cell lines. This study aimed to analyze the effects of DCA as preoperative therapy for mammary tumors in bitches. Nineteen animals were selected, and they received DCA at a dose of 10 mg/kg orally every 12 hr, for 15 days. The periodic evaluation included hematological analysis (complete blood count and biochemical markers), evaluation of gastrointestinal adverse effects, evaluation of tumor volume, histopathological analysis, and immunohistochemical evaluation (Ki67 and cyclooxygenase-2/COX-2 markers). After treatment, there was a significant reduction in hematocrit (P=0.02) and leukocyte (P=0.04) means. Despite the variations for these two hematological parameters, the means remained within the reference range for the species. There were two cases of vomiting and one case of diarrhea. Most cases were classified as carcinoma in mixed tumor (n=7, 36.8%), followed by solid carcinoma (n=6, 31.6%). Nine cases (47.4%) showed reduced tumor volume, nine (47.4%) had stable disease, and one showed progressive disease. While there was no sample with a COX-2 score higher than 6, tumor samples with COX-2 scores 3 and 4 were significantly associated with stable disease or progression. DCA preoperative treatment for bitches with mammary gland tumors showed safety and potential cytoreduction in some cases.

Simultaneous feeding of calcium butyrate and tannin extract decreased the incidence of diarrhea and proinflammatory markers in weaned piglets.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of associating calcium butyrate with tannin extract, compared to an antimicrobial on the growth performance, incidence of diarrhea, intestinal histology, immune-expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in piglets. METHODS: Seventy-two piglets (36 barrows and 36 gilts) weaned at 28±2 d and initial body weight of 7.17±1.07 kg were allocated to 3 treatments in a randomized complete block design with 8 replicates per treatment and 3 animals per experimental unit. Treatments were composed of NC, negative control: basal diet without additives; PC, positive control: basal diet + 40 mg/kg of colistin sulfate; or BT, basal diet + calcium butyrate + tannin extract. The butyrate and tannin inclusion levels were 0.15% in the pre-starter phase and 0.075% in the starter phase. Incidence of diarrhea was monitored daily, and on d 14 and 35 of experiment, 1 animal from each experimental unit was slaughtered to collect intestinal samples. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed for growth performance. The butyrate-and tannin-based additive resulted in reduced (p<0.05) incidence of diarrhea in piglets during d 1 to 14 and d 1 to 35 in comparison with the other treatments. Piglets that consumed the diet containing the calcium-butyrate and tannin showed a lower (p<0.05) crypt depth in the duodenum than those receiving the NC treatment at 14 d of experimentation. The BT treatment provided a lower (p<0.05) immune-expression of COX-2 at 14 d and TNF-α at 35 d in the duodenum. CONCLUSION: Association between calcium butyrate and tannin extract resulted in a significant decrease in the incidence of diarrhea and inflammatory process in the duodenum of piglets. Therefore, calcium-butyrate combined with tannin could be a part of an alternative program to reduce the use of antimicrobials in the diet of weaned piglets.