ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly prevalent but mostly undiagnosed in obese patients scheduled for bariatric surgery. To prevent cardiopulmonary complications, many clinics perform preoperative OSA screening. Consequently, adequate adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is essential but challenging. We aimed to evaluate CPAP adherence and its influence on postoperative outcomes. METHODS: In a prospective multicenter cohort study, we compared different perioperative strategies for handling undiagnosed OSA in bariatric patients. In this subgroup analysis, patients newly diagnosed with OSA were compared to those with pre-existing OSA. We assessed inadequate CPAP adherence, defined as < 4 h/night, between the preoperative period and 6 months postoperative. Cardiopulmonary complications and (un)scheduled ICU admissions were also evaluated. RESULTS: In total, 272 patients with newly diagnosed OSA (67.4%) and 132 patients with pre-existing OSA (32.6%) were included. Before surgery, 41 newly diagnosed patients used CPAP inadequately, compared to 5 patients with pre-existing OSA (15% vs. 4%, p = 0.049). Six months after surgery, inadequate CPAP use increased to 73% for newly diagnosed patients and 39% for patients with pre-existing OSA, respectively (p < 0.001). Incidences of cardiopulmonary complications, scheduled, and unscheduled ICU admissions were similar in the two study groups (p = 0.600, p = 0.972, and p = 0.980, respectively). CONCLUSION: Inadequate CPAP adherence is higher in bariatric patients newly diagnosed with OSA when compared to patients with pre-existing OSA. Strategies to increase CPAP adherence may be valuable when considering routine OSA screening and CPAP therapy in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Further studies are needed to improve current guidelines on perioperative OSA management of obese patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: POPCORN study, registered at Netherlands Trial Register, https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/6805 . ID no: 6805.
Subject(s)
Bariatric Surgery , Sleep Apnea, Obstructive , Humans , Cohort Studies , Continuous Positive Airway Pressure , Prospective Studies , Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/diagnosis , Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/therapy , Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/complications , Obesity/complications , Patient ComplianceABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a breathing disorder resulting in blockage of airflow and hypo-oxygenation. The incidence of OSA in patients with class 2 or 3 obesity (Body Mass index, BMI >35) is 60-70%. Unfortunately, most bariatric patients are unaware they suffer from OSA. Untreated OSA can lead to perioperative cardiopulmonary complications. The aim of this study was to identify predictors associated with moderate to severe OSA and asses the incidence of OSA-related complications in a large cohort of patients who underwent OSA-screening and treatment if indicated before bariatric surgery. METHODS: All consecutive patients who underwent primary bariatric surgery between September 2013 and September 2019 were included. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify potential predictors for moderate to severe OSA using sleep studies. RESULTS: A total of 2872 patients who underwent bariatric surgery were included for analysis. Overall, OSA was identified in 62.5% of all patients and moderate to severe OSA (AHI ≥15) in 28.6%. Independent predictors for moderate to severe OSA were male gender (p < 0.001), age (p < 0.001), preoperative BMI (p < 0.001), preoperative waist circumference (p < 0.001), hypertension (p < 0.001), and dyslipidaemia (p = 0.046). The incidence of OSA-related complications was low (0.8%) and not significantly different among the different OSA severity classes. CONCLUSION: This is the largest study to assess OSA presence and OSA-related complications in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. The incidence of potential OSA-related complications was low (0.8%). We believe focus could be shifted towards more cost-efficient strategies where OSA screening is omitted such as perioperative continuous monitoring.
Subject(s)
Bariatric Surgery , Obesity, Morbid , Sleep Apnea, Obstructive , Humans , Male , Female , Bariatric Surgery/adverse effects , Obesity/complications , Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/complications , Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/diagnosis , Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/epidemiology , Polysomnography , Body Mass Index , Obesity, Morbid/complications , Obesity, Morbid/surgeryABSTRACT
This study aimed to prospectively evaluate the risk factors of infection by Aelurostrongylus abstrusus in Brazilian cats with cough and/or radiographic changes, using as diagnostic tools the Baermann method (BM), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of feces, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and cytology. Forty-three cats that were presented with cough or lung radiographic abnormalities compatible with bronchoalveolar disease were included in the study. After clinical evaluation, feces samples were collected to investigate lungworm parasitism through BM and PCR. BALF was performed to provide samples for cytology, bacteriology, and fungal culture. Stool PCR was considered the gold standard for diagnosis tests, and the other methods were evaluated by their agreement. PCR presented 74% (32/43) of positivity for A. abstrusus, while in the BM, 41% (18/43) were positive. BM showed sensitivity of 56.25% and specificity of 100% when compared with PCR. No larva was found in the cytological evaluation of 21 BALF samples. Lungworm is an important cause of bronchopulmonary disease in domestic cats in Brazil and should be included as a differential diagnosis when a cat is presented with cough or radiographic abnormalities. BM is a sensitive, non-invasive, and cheap technique to diagnose the disease, but it is not as sensitive as PCR.
Subject(s)
Cat Diseases , Metastrongyloidea , Strongylida Infections , Cats , Animals , Brazil/epidemiology , Strongylida Infections/diagnosis , Strongylida Infections/veterinary , Feces , Risk Factors , Cough , Cat Diseases/diagnosisABSTRACT
To evaluate the potential of compost based on municipal solid waste (MSW) and 20% legume pruning under a pyrolysis process, generated products, including solids (biochar), liquids (bio-oil), and gases (non-condensable gases), through experimentation in a pilot plant with a fluidized bed reactor at 450°C and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry have been analysed. In addition, the compost kinetic behaviour by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), using the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) method, has been investigated. Four different reaction zones, associated with lignocellulosic materials (hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin) with a first step for water evaporation, in TGA curve have been observed. A biochar with low stability and aromaticity, considering high and low O/C and H/C ratios, respectively, has been obtained. The obtained pyrolytic liquids contain a high concentration of phenolic compounds because of a significant presence of lignins and other high molecular weight compounds in the original material. Moreover, the generated non-condensable gases consist mainly of short-chain compounds, such as alcohols, aldehydes, and alkenes produced from hemicellulose, cellulose, and proteins.
ABSTRACT
Background: COVID-19 shows different clinical and pathophysiological stages over time. Theeffect of days elapsed from the onset of symptoms (DEOS) to hospitalization on COVID-19prognostic factors remains uncertain. We analyzed the impact on mortality of DEOS to hospital-ization and how other independent prognostic factors perform when taking this time elapsedinto account. Methods: This retrospective, nationwide cohort study, included patients with confirmed COVID-19 from February 20th and May 6th, 2020. The data was collected in a standardized online datacapture registry. Univariate and multivariate COX-regression were performed in the generalcohort and the final multivariate model was subjected to a sensitivity analysis in an earlypresenting (EP; < 5 DEOS) and late presenting (LP; ≥5 DEOS) group. Results: 7915 COVID-19 patients were included in the analysis, 2324 in the EP and 5591 in theLP group. DEOS to hospitalization was an independent prognostic factor of in-hospital mortalityin the multivariate Cox regression model along with other 9 variables. Each DEOS incrementaccounted for a 4.3% mortality risk reduction (HR 0.957; 95% CI 0.93---0.98). Regarding variationsin other mortality predictors in the sensitivity analysis, the Charlson Comorbidity Index onlyremained significant in the EP group while D-dimer only remained significant in the LP group. Conclusion: When caring for COVID-19 patients, DEOS to hospitalization should be consideredas their need for early hospitalization confers a higher risk of mortality. Different prognosticfactors vary over time and should be studied within a fixed timeframe of the disease.
ABSTRACT
Mortality and morbidity for high-risk surgical patients are often high, especially in low-resource settings. Enhanced peri-operative care has the potential to reduce preventable deaths but must be designed to meet local needs. This before-and-after cohort study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a postoperative 48-hour enhanced care pathway for high-risk surgical patients ('high-risk surgical bundle') who did not meet the criteria for elective admission to intensive care. The pathway comprised of six elements: risk identification and communication; adoption of a high-risk post-anaesthesia care unit discharge checklist; prompt nursing admission to ward; intensification of vital signs monitoring; troponin measurement; and prompt access to medical support if required. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Data describing 1189 patients from two groups, before and after implementation of the pathway, were compared. The usual care group comprised a retrospective cohort of high-risk surgical patients between September 2015 and December 2016. The intervention group prospectively included high-risk surgical patients from February 2019 to March 2020. Unadjusted mortality rate was 10.5% (78/746) for the usual care and 6.3% (28/443) for the intervention group. After adjustment, the intervention effect remained significant (RR 0.46 (95%CI 0.30-0.72). The high-risk surgical bundle group received more rapid response team calls (24% vs. 12.6%; RR 0.63 [95%CI 0.49-0.80]) and surgical re-interventions (18.9 vs. 7.5%; RR 0.41 [95%CI 0.30-0.59]). These data suggest that a clinical pathway based on enhanced surveillance for high-risk surgical patients in a resource-constrained setting could reduce in-hospital mortality.
Subject(s)
Perioperative Care , Brazil/epidemiology , Cohort Studies , Hospital Mortality , Humans , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
Irrigation and other agricultural management practices play a key role in land surface fluxes and their interactions with atmospheric processes. California's Central Valley agricultural productivity is strongly linked to water availability associated with conveyance infrastructure and groundwater, but greater scrutiny over agricultural water use requires better practices particularly during extended and severe drought conditions. The future of irrigated agriculture in California is expected to be characterized neither by perpetual scarcity nor by widespread abundance. Thus, further advancing irrigation technologies and improving management practices will be key for California's agriculture sustainability. In this study, we present micrometeorological observations from the Grape Remote Sensing Atmospheric Profile and Evapotranspiration eXperiment (GRAPEX) project. Daily, seasonal, and inter-seasonal surface flux patterns and relationships across five vineyards over three distinct California wine production regions were investigated. Vineyard actual evapotranspiration showed significant differences at the sub-daily and daily scale when comparisons across wine production regions and varieties were performed. Water use in vineyards in the Central Valley was about 70% greater in comparison to the vineyards at the North Coast area due to canopy size, atmospheric demand, and irrigation inputs. Inter-annual variability of surface fluxes was also significant, even though, overall weather conditions (i.e., air temperature, vapor pressure deficit, wind speed, and solar radiation) were not significantly different. Thus, not only irrigation but also other management practices played a key role in seasonal water use, and given these differences, we conclude that further advancing ground-based techniques to quantify crop water use at an operational scale will be key to facing California's agriculture present and future water challenges. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00271-022-00784-0.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common opportunistic infection and cause of mortality among people living with HIV, and it is possible that it may also influence the evolution of the HIV infection. We assessed the differences between HIV-positive and -negative people infected with TB. METHODS: The present study is a cross-sectional retrospective study by electronic record revision. We included patients admitted to a tertiary hospital with a diagnosis of TB between 2011 and 2016, comparing those with HIV coinfection with non-HIV patients, according to demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: This study included 591 patients, of whom 32% were HIV-coinfected. HIV-TB patients were younger, with a predominance of male gender. Considering TB risk factors, there was a higher prevalence of homelessness and intravenous drug use in the HIV group. In the non-HIV group, direct contact with other patients with TB and immunosuppression were more prevalent. Relative to TB characteristics, the HIV-coinfected group presents with a higher prevalence of disseminated disease and a higher occurrence of previous TB infection. Cancer was the most frequent cause of immunosuppression in the HIV group and the number testing positive for TB via microbiological culture was lower. Assessment of microbiological resistance and in-hospital mortality showed similar numbers in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: There are few papers comparing clinical course of TB between HIV-infected and non-infected patients. Our study differs from others in the literature as we focused on a country with middling incidence of TB and further characterized the differences between HIV-infected and non-infected patients which can contribute to the management of these patients.
Subject(s)
Coinfection , HIV Infections , Tuberculosis , Antitubercular Agents , Coinfection/drug therapy , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , HIV Infections/complications , HIV Infections/epidemiology , Humans , Male , Retrospective Studies , Tuberculosis/complications , Tuberculosis/diagnosis , Tuberculosis/epidemiologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Data on the long-term symptom burden in patients surviving oesophageal cancer surgery are scarce. The aim of this study was to identify the most prevalent symptoms and their interactions with health-related quality of life. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional cohort study of patients who underwent oesophageal cancer surgery in 20 European centres between 2010 and 2016. Patients had to be disease-free for at least 1 year. They were asked to complete a 28-symptom questionnaire at a single time point, at least 1 year after surgery. Principal component analysis was used to assess for clustering and association of symptoms. Risk factors associated with the development of severe symptoms were identified by multivariable logistic regression models. RESULTS: Of 1081 invited patients, 876 (81.0 per cent) responded. Symptoms in the preceding 6 months associated with previous surgery were experienced by 586 patients (66.9 per cent). The most common severe symptoms included reduced energy or activity tolerance (30.7 per cent), feeling of early fullness after eating (30.0 per cent), tiredness (28.7 per cent), and heartburn/acid or bile regurgitation (19.6 per cent). Clustering analysis showed that symptoms clustered into six domains: lethargy, musculoskeletal pain, dumping, lower gastrointestinal symptoms, regurgitation/reflux, and swallowing/conduit problems; the latter two were the most closely associated. Surgical approach, neoadjuvant therapy, patient age, and sex were factors associated with severe symptoms. CONCLUSION: A long-term symptom burden is common after oesophageal cancer surgery.
Subject(s)
Esophageal Neoplasms/surgery , Esophagectomy/methods , Patient Reported Outcome Measures , Postoperative Complications/epidemiology , Aged , Cross-Sectional Studies , Europe/epidemiology , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Incidence , Male , Middle Aged , Quality of Life , Retrospective Studies , Time Factors , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that uncomplicated appendicitis can be treated conservatively with antibiotics. It is important to select only those patients with uncomplicated appendicitis when considering conservative management. Recently, a scoring system based on clinical evaluation and ultrasound was developed to improve this selection and aid in shared decision making when considering an antibiotics-first strategy. The aim of this study was to externally validate the scoring system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of all adult patients presenting to the emergency department between January 2014 and January 2017 with suspected acute appendicitis based on clinical evaluation and ultrasound was performed. For every patient, a score was calculated using the previously described scoring system. A final diagnosis, subdivided into complicated appendicitis, uncomplicated appendicitis, complicated alternative disease, and uncomplicated alternative disease, was assigned to every patient based on operative findings. RESULTS: A total of 678 patients with suspected acute appendicitis based on clinical and ultrasonography findings were identified, of whom 175 (25.8%) had complicated appendicitis, 491 (72.4%) had uncomplicated appendicitis, and 12 (1.8%) had an alternative disease. Of the 678 patients, 272 had a score of five points or less, of whom 17 (6.2%) had complicated appendicitis, giving a negative predictive value of 93.8%. CONCLUSIONS: With the scoring system based on clinical and ultrasonography features, 93.8% of patients predicted to have uncomplicated appendicitis were correctly identified. The scoring system could help identify patients suitable for conservative management in future studies.
Subject(s)
Appendicitis/complications , Severity of Illness Index , Adult , Appendicitis/diagnostic imaging , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Retrospective Studies , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
There are no internationally recognized criteria available to determine preparedness for hospital discharge after esophagectomy. This study aims to achieve international consensus using Delphi methodology. The expert panel consisted of 40 esophageal surgeons spanning 16 countries and 4 continents. During a 3-round, web-based Delphi process, experts voted for discharge criteria using 5-point Likert scales. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Consensus was reached if agreement was ≥75% in round 3. Consensus was achieved for the following basic criteria: nutritional requirements are met by oral intake of at least liquids with optional supplementary nutrition via jejunal feeding tube. The patient should have passed flatus and does not require oxygen during mobilization or at rest. Central venous catheters should be removed. Adequate analgesia at rest and during mobilization is achieved using both oral opioid and non-opioid analgesics. All vital signs should be normal unless abnormal preoperatively. Inflammatory parameters should be trending down and close to normal (leucocyte count ≤12G/l and C-reactive protein ≤80 mg/dl). This multinational Delphi survey represents the first expert-led process for consensus criteria to determine 'fit-for-discharge' status after esophagectomy. Results of this Delphi survey may be applied to clinical outcomes research as an objective measure of short-term recovery. Furthermore, standardized endpoints identified through this process may be used in clinical practice to guide decisions regarding patient discharge and may help to reduce the risk of premature discharge or prolonged admission.
Subject(s)
Esophagectomy , Patient Discharge , Consensus , Delphi Technique , Humans , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Depression and alcohol use disorder (AUD) greatly contribute to the burden of disease worldwide, and have large impact on Colombia's population. In this study, a qualitative analysis evaluates the implementation of a technology-supported model for screening, decision support, and digital therapy for depression and AUD in Colombian primary care clinics. Patient, provider, and administrator interviews were conducted, exploring attitudes towards depression and AUD, attitudes towards technology, and implementation successes and challenges. Researchers used qualitative methods to analyze interview themes. Despite stigma around depression and AUD, the model improved provider capacity to diagnose and manage patients, helped patients feel supported, and provided useful prevalence data for administrators. Challenges included limited provider time and questions about sustainability. The implementation facilitated the identification, diagnosis, and care of patients with depression and AUD. There is ongoing need to decrease stigma, create stronger networks of mental health professionals, and transition intervention ownership to the healthcare center.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism , Alcoholism/diagnosis , Alcoholism/therapy , Colombia , Delivery of Health Care , Depression , Humans , Primary Health CareABSTRACT
Despite the ongoing severe mismatch between organ need and supply, data from 2018 revealed some promising trends. For the fourth year in a row, the number of patients waiting for a kidney transplant in the US declined and numbers of both deceased and living donor kidney transplants increased. These encouraging trends are tempered by ongoing challenges, such as a large proportion of listed patients with dialysis time longer than 5 years. The proportion of candidates aged 65 years or older continued to rise, and the proportion undergoing transplant within 5 years of listing continued to vary dramatically nationwide, from 10% to nearly 80% across donation service areas. Increasing trends in the recovery of organs from hepatitis C positive donors and donors with anoxic brain injury warrant ongoing monitoring, as does the ongoing discard of nearly 20% of recovered organs. While the number of living donor transplants increased, racial disparities persisted in the proportion of living versus deceased donors. Strikingly, the total number of kidney transplant recipients alive with a functioning graft is on track to pass 250,000 in the next 1-2 years. The total number of pediatric kidney transplants remained steady at 756 in 2018. Deeply concerning to the pediatric community is the persistently low level of living donor kidney transplants, representing only 36.2% in 2018.
Subject(s)
Kidney Transplantation/methods , Registries , Tissue and Organ Procurement/methods , Waiting Lists , Graft Survival , Humans , Tissue DonorsABSTRACT
MOTIVATION: A major component in increasing our understanding of the biology of an organism is the mapping of its genotypic potential into its phenotypic expression profiles. This mapping is executed by the machinery of gene regulation, which is essentially studied by changes in growth conditions. Although many efforts have been made to systematize the annotation of experimental conditions in microbiology, the available annotations are not based on a consistent and controlled vocabulary, making difficult the identification of biologically meaningful comparisons of knowledge derived from different experiments or laboratories. RESULTS: We curated terms related to experimental conditions that affect gene expression in Escherichia coli K-12. Since this is the best-studied microorganism, the collected terms are the seed for the Microbial Conditions Ontology (MCO), a controlled and structured vocabulary that can be expanded to annotate microbial conditions in general. Moreover, we developed an annotation framework to describe experimental conditions, providing the foundation to identify regulatory networks that operate under particular conditions. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: As far as we know, MCO is the first ontology for growth conditions of any bacterial organism, and it is available at http://regulondb.ccg.unam.mx and https://github.com/microbial-conditions-ontology. Furthermore, we will disseminate MCO throughout the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontology (OBO) Foundry in order to set a standard for the annotation of gene expression data. This will enable comparison of data from diverse data sources. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Subject(s)
Biological Ontologies , Computational Biology , Escherichia coli K12 , Information Storage and Retrieval , Software , Vocabulary , Vocabulary, ControlledABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Spain has been one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To create a registry of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Spain, in order to improve our knowledge of the clinical, diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic aspects of this disease. METHODS: A multicentre retrospective cohort study, including consecutive patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 throughout Spain. Epidemiological and clinical data, additional tests at admission and at seven days, treatments administered, and progress at 30 days of hospitalization were collected from electronic medical records. RESULTS: Up to June 30th 2020, 15,111 patients from 150 hospitals were included. Their median age was 69.4 years (range: 18-102 years) and 57.2% were male. Prevalences of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus were 50.9%, 39.7%, and 19.4%, respectively. The most frequent symptoms were fever (84.2%) and cough (73.5%). High values of ferritin (73.5%), lactate dehydrogenase (73.9%), and D-dimer (63.8%), as well as lymphopenia (52.8%), were frequent. The most used antiviral drugs were hydroxychloroquine (85.6%) and lopinavir/ritonavir (61.4%); 33.1% developed respiratory distress. Overall mortality rate was 21.0%, with a marked increase with age (50-59 years: 4.7%, 60-69 years: 10.5%, 70-79 years: 26.9%, ≥ 80 years: 46.0%). CONCLUSIONS: The SEMI-COVID-19 Network provides data on the clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Spain. Patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Spain are mostly severe cases, as one in three patients developed respiratory distress and one in five patients died. These findings confirm a close relationship between advanced age and mortality.
ABSTRACT
Many positive trends in kidney transplantation were notable in 2017. Deceased donor kidney transplant rates and counts continued to rise, the kidney transplant waiting list declined for the third year in a row after decades of growth, and both short- and long-term allograft survival continued to improve year over year. In total, more than 220,000 patients were living in the United States with a functioning allograft. With 3 years of data available since implementation of the new kidney allocation system, better prediction of longer-term results of the allocation policy changes became possible. The data also reveal several areas in need of improvement and attention. Overall, the challenge of providing adequate access to kidney transplant persisted nationally, with additional dramatic regional variation. The proportion of living donor kidney transplants in both adults and children continued to fall, and racial disparities in living donor kidney transplant grew in the past decade.
Subject(s)
Graft Survival , Kidney Transplantation/methods , Registries/statistics & numerical data , Tissue Donors/supply & distribution , Tissue and Organ Procurement/methods , Annual Reports as Topic , Humans , Resource Allocation , United States , Waiting ListsABSTRACT
A greater accumulation of feces could facilitate the entrance of bacteria or inert particles into the vagina, particularly while mating tailed ewes. Two experiments were performed to determine if the tail has an active role in the growth of bacterial flora and the entrance of inert material in the vagina after mating, during induced or natural estrus. Twenty ewes were used, 10 tailed and 10 docked. All ewes displayed estrus after CIDR treatment, and half of them; 5 tailed and 5 docked were exposed to rams during the first experiment. For the second experiment, the rest of the animals were mated 15-17 d later at spontaneous estrus. In the induced estrus, no differences in the number of CFU/mL in docked or tailed ewes were observed before mating, but after mating, CFU values tended to be greater in docked than tailed ewes, and the number of inert particles was greater in docked than tailed ewes (5.8 ± 1.3 vs 1.6 ± 0.6, P = 0.024). During natural estrus, docked ewes had less CFU/mL than tailed ewes (19.6 × 103 ± 0.4 vs 80.0 × 103 ± 0.0, P = 0.006) before mating, and a similar tendency was maintained after mating, when the number of inert particles was similar in docked and tailed ewes. Staphylococcus and Escherichia were observed in the induced estrus, while in the natural estrus, even though these were the more frequent, five other genera of bacteria were observed. It was concluded that the presence of the tail protects the vaginal environment against increases of the biota load.
Subject(s)
Bacteria/isolation & purification , Copulation , Microbiota , Sheep, Domestic/microbiology , Tail , Vagina/microbiology , Animal Husbandry/methods , Animals , Bacteria/classification , Estrus , Female , Sheep, Domestic/physiologyABSTRACT
The aim was to verify the effect of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) supplementation to α-MEM+ or TCM199+ media on the in vitro development of ovarian preantral follicles (PFs) derived from collared peccaries. Ovaries (n = 5 pairs) were collected and divided into fragments destined to control group (non-cultured) or treatments that were cultured for 7 days. The PFs morphology, growth and activation were evaluated by classical histology. The immunohistochemistry markers Ag-NOR and PCNA were used for nuclear proliferation analysis, and the picrosirius red labelling was used for ovarian extracellular matrix (ECM) evaluation. After 7-day culture, only the TCM199+ treatment maintained the proportion of intact PFs similar to day 1 (63.2%), but no differences were found among treatments (p > .05). In addition, a significant increase in the growing follicles proportion was verified for all the treatments, indicating follicular activation (p > .05). By the Ag-NOR analysis, only the TCM199+/FSH maintained the nuclear proliferation similar to the first day (p > .05). The picrosirius red staining revealed that the ECM remained intact in all the treatments (p > .05). We suggest the use of TCM199+ medium supplemented of FSH for the in vitro development of peccaries PFs under 7-day culturing conditions.