Pathologic findings and causes of death in southern right whales Eubalaena australis, Brazil.

Southern right whales Eubalaena australis (SRWs) migrate to southern Brazil for breeding and calving from June through November. Overall, there is scarce knowledge on health status and pathologic conditions in SRWs. We report the pathologic and molecular investigation results of 8 SRWs that were necropsied between 2010 and 2017 within a breeding and calving ground in Santa Catarina state, Brazil. The animals were of various ages (7 newborns/calves, 1 adult) and sex (3 females, 5 males). Five whales stranded dead; 3 stranded alive and died shortly after (n = 2) or were euthanized (n = 1). The causes of stranding and/or death were neonatal respiratory distress syndrome with meconium aspiration (n = 3) with concomitant congenital hepatopathy in one of them; trauma of unknown origin (n = 3), infectious renal and lung disease with presumed sepsis (n = 1), and euthanasia (n = 1). Three animals were PCR-positive for cetacean morbillivirus; one of them also had morbilliviral antigen in kidney via immunohistochemical analysis. These results, integrating novel findings and a published report, contribute to the pathology knowledge of this species.

Aqueous humor erythropoietin levels in open-angle glaucoma patients with and without TTR V30M familial amyloid polyneuropathy.

PURPOSE: Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) patients. Erythropoietin (EPO) is a cytokine that has been shown to play a role in neuroprotection and is endogenously produced in the eye. EPO levels in the aqueous humor are increased in eyes with glaucoma. In this study, we evaluated the EPO concentration in the aqueous humor of FAP and non-FAP patients, with and without glaucoma. METHODS: Undiluted aqueous humor samples were obtained from 42 eyes that underwent glaucoma surgery, phacoemulsification, or vitrectomy. EPO concentration in the aqueous humor and blood were measured using the Immulite 2000 Xpi using an automatic analyzer (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics). RESULTS: The mean EPO concentration in the aqueous humor of non-FAP glaucoma eyes group 2 (75.73±13.25 mU/ml) was significantly higher than non-FAP cataract eyes (17.22±5.33 mU/ml; p<0.001), FAP glaucoma eyes (18.82±10.16 mU/ml; p<0.001), and FAP nonglaucoma eyes (20.62±6.22 mU/ml; p<0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between FAP nonglaucoma eyes versus non-FAP cataract eyes (p = 0.23) and FAP glaucoma eyes versus FAP nonglaucoma eyes (p = 0.29). In the glaucoma groups, there was no correlation between the aqueous humor EPO concentration and the ocular pressure (p = 0.95) and mean deviation (p = 0.41). There was no correlation between the EPO serum concentration and EPO aqueous humor concentration in our patients (p = 0.77). CONCLUSIONS: Unlike other glaucomatous patients, FAP patients with glaucoma do not show increased and potentially neuroprotective endocular EPO production in the aqueous humor and may need more aggressive glaucoma management.

Cetacean morbillivirus in Southern Right Whales, Brazil.

Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) has caused repeated epizootics and interepizootic fatalities in a variety of cetacean species worldwide. Recently, a novel CeMV strain (GD-CeMV) was linked to a mass die-off of Guiana dolphins (Sotalia guianensis) in Brazil. Southern right whales (SRWs; Eubalaena australis) migrate to the southern Brazilian coast during austral winter and spring (June through November) for breeding and calving. Because unexplained high calf mortality rates have recurrently been documented in SRWs, we hypothesized they could be infected with CeMV. We developed a novel real-time RT-PCR method based on SYBR® GREEN for detection of CeMV and identified the virus in three out of five stranded SRWs from Santa Catarina state, Brazil. The partial sequences of the morbillivirus phosphoprotein gene suggest that the virus is similar to the GD-CeMV strain. Our results indicate CeMV can infect SRWs and should be considered in the differential aetiologic diagnosis of infectious diseases in this species. It also raises concern for potential conservation implications for this species in its main coastal breeding area off Southern Brazil.

Protective effects of chronic treatment with a standardized extract of Ginkgo biloba L. in the prefrontal cortex and dorsal hippocampus of middle-aged rats.

This study assessed the effects of chronic treatment with a standardized extract of Ginkgo biloba L. (EGb) on short-term and long-term memory as well as on anxiety-like and locomotor activity using the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task (PM-DAT). Additionally, we evaluated the antioxidant and neuroprotective effects of EGb on the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and dorsal hippocampus (DH) of middle-aged rats using the comet assay. Twelve-month-old male Wistar rats were administered vehicle or EGb (0.5mgkg(-1) or 1.0gkg(-1)) for 30days. Behavioural data showed that EGb treatment improved short-term memory. Neither an anti-anxiety effect nor a change in locomotor activity was observed. Twenty-four hours after the behavioural tests, the rats were decapitated, and the PFC and DH were quickly dissected out and prepared for the comet assay. The levels of DNA damage in the PFC were significantly lower in rats that were treated with 1.0gkg(-1) EGb. Both doses of EGb decreased H2O2-induced DNA breakage in cortical cells, whereas the levels of DNA damage in the EGb-treated animals were significantly lower than those in the control animals. No significant differences in the level of DNA damage in hippocampal cells were observed among the experimental groups. EGb treatment was not able to reduce H2O2-induced DNA damage in hippocampal cells. Altogether, our data provide the first demonstration that chronic EGb treatment improved the short-term memory of middle-aged rats, an effect that could be associated with a reduction in free radical production in the PFC. These data suggest that EGb treatment might increase the survival of cortical neurons and corroborate and extend the view that EGb has protective and therapeutic properties.

Eficácia da redilatação coronária em portadores de reestenose da artéria descendente anterior / Efficacy of repeat percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty for coronary restenosis of the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery

PURPOSE: To analyze the clinical characteristics, acute and long term results of repeat percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) for restenosis of the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery (LDA) METHODS: We studied 113 patients, 79 male, mean age 59 years, 49.5 had stable angina, with single vessel proximal LDA disease undergoing repeat PTCA for a first restenosis from January/88 to December/92. We examined the in hospital outcome (success rate and complications) and long term follow up (angina status, occurrence of myocardial infarction (MI), death and need for repeat PTCA or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) of this subgroup. RESULTS: Primary success was 96. Complications included: 1 MI, 1 emergency CABG and 1 procedural death. Follow up data (mean 42 months) was available in 102 (94) out of 109 patients with successful repeat PTCA: 64 (63) patients were asymptomatic, 5 (5) had a MI and 28 (27) required repeat PTCA or CABG. Actuarial 5 year freedom from death was 94, freedom from death and MI was 91 and freedom from death, MI and repeat PTCA or CABG was 52. CONCLUSION: Repeat PTCA is an effective treatment for proximal LAD restenosis with a high success rate, low incidence of procedural complications and provides excellent long term cardiac survival, however repeat revascularization is frequently required.

Objetivo - Analisar as características clínicas e angiográficas, e a evolução hospitalar e tardia dos pacientes submetidos à redilatação pós-reestenose da artéria coronária descendente anterior (DA). Métodos - Cento e treze pacientes uniarteriais, sendo 89 (79%) homens, com média de idade de 59 anos, 49,5% com quadro de angina estável, foram submetidos a angioplastia coronária eletiva da DA e redilatados no período de janeiro/88 a dezembro/92. Foram analisados quanto à evolução hospitalar (sucesso e complicações) e tardia (ocorrência de infarto agudo do miocárdio (IAM), óbito e necessidade de novos procedimentos de revascularização - NPR). Resultados - O sucesso primário foi de 96%, ocorrendo 1% de JAM, 1% de cirurgia de emergência (CE) e 1% de óbito. Foram seguidos 102 (94%) pacientes, em média por 42 meses, sendo que 63% estavam assintomáticos, 5% apresentaram IAM, 5% morreram e 27% necessitaram NPR (aterectomia ou cirurgia). As curvas actuariais de 5 anos revelaram 94% de sobrevida global, 91% de sobrevida livre de IAM e 52% de sobrevida livre de IAM e NPR. Conclusão -A redilatação coronária pós-reestenose da DA é procedimento seguro e eficaz. As curvas actuariais revelaram excelente prognóstico, embora NPR sejam freqüentes