Evaluation of three therapeutic alternatives for the early treatment of ovine pregnancy toxaemia.

BACKGROUND: Ovine pregnancy toxaemia is a common metabolic disorder of ewes due to increased foetal energy requirements in late pregnancy. This pathology is a metabolic condition characterized by hypoglycaemia and hyperketonaemia resulting in the inability of the animal to maintain an adequate energy balance. The response to treatment is effective, if it is started in the early stages of the disease, when irreversible neurological injuries have not yet been established. The aim was to evaluate three therapeutic alternatives to effectively reverse the disease process in its early stages. For this, thirty adult Corriedale ewes, pregnant with a single lamb, were randomly separated in three groups of ten animals each, at day 130 of gestation. From that day onwards, ewes were locked up for forage fasting until glycaemia reached clinical values defining sub-clinical pregnancy toxaemia (1.59 ± 0.24 mmol/L). After fasting, ewes grazed and received a treatment for 4 days: 50 ml i.v. infusions of hypertonic glucose and 20 UI insulin/ewe/day s.c. or 100 ml/sheep/12 h of glycerol together with propylene glycol oral solution or fed with pasture supplemented with two daily intakes 300 g/sheep of cracked corn. Glycaemia and ß-hydroxybutyrate were determined in all the animals from the beginning of fasting until the completion of the treatment. RESULTS: Fasting caused a decline in blood glucose in the 3 groups. This decline continued until fasting was withdrawn and treatment began. Thereafter blood glucose increased in all three groups, although in the group supplemented with glycerol and propylene glycol it started to increase significantly after 12 h. The values of ß-hydroxybutyrate decreased in the 3 groups at the start of treatment, and this decline was more pronounced earlier on and in the group supplemented with glycerol and propylene glycol. We found no significant differences between all experimental groups. No animal showed clinical signs of pregnancy toxaemia throughout the research. CONCLUSIONS: The three treatments administered to sheep affected by sub-clinical pregnancy toxaemia were able to restore normal concentration of glucose and ß-hydroxybutyrate in blood, although per os administration of 100 ml/sheep/12 h of glycerol with propylene glycol, was the most successful treatment, normalizing the aforementioned biochemical parameters in a shorter time.

Ameliorative effect of hesperidin on ligation-induced periodontitis in rats.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the ameliorative effect of hesperidin (HES), an anti-inflammatory flavanone, in rats with ligation (Lig)-induced periodontitis. METHODS: A total of 48 rats were randomly divided into non-ligation group (NL), Lig group, and two ligation-plus-HES groups (L+H). HES was administered immediately after ligature placement at a dose of 75 or 150 mg/kg by intragastric feeding. Destruction of the ligated maxillary second and mandibular first molars were evaluated by dental radiography, microcomputed tomography (micro-CT), and histometry performed after sacrificing the rats on the seventh day. The expression levels of interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) messenger (m)RNAs in the gingiva were determined by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. The expression of iNOS was examined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The dental radiography and micro-CT findings revealed significantly increased alveolar bone loss in the Lig group, which was significantly prevented by HES. The histometry results revealed less gingival inflammation and connective tissue loss in the L+H groups compared with that in the Lig group. The mRNA expression levels of IL-6, IL-1 ß, and iNOS were significantly increased in the Lig group but were reduced in the L+H groups. The immunostaining results showed that the ligation-induced iNOS expression was also decreased by HES. CONCLUSIONS: Oral administration of HES promotes an ameliorative effect against the ligation-induced alveolar bone loss and effectively inhibits the production of proinflammatory mediators in rats with experimentally induced periodontitis. Therefore, HES may be a good candidate for modulating oral inflammatory diseases.

The importance of serum albumin determination method to classify patients based on nutritional status.

The global health community has recognized the role of food and nutrition in health maintenance and disease prevention. Undernutrition is an important problem in clinical circles but it is still not highly considered by specialists. It is well known the consequences of undernutrition on the immunological systems. Furthermore, the main consequences are an increase of morbidity-mortality rates, postoperative complications, length of stay and number of hospital early readmissions. These are all reasons to lead to increase health-care financial costs. The total assistance quality could be improved by the arrangement of an automatic detection system of undernutrition. In our hospital, we use the screening tool "CONtrolling NUTritional status" (CONUT). To measure albumin, the laboratory could use bromocresol green (BCG) and bromocresol purple (BCP) method. The aim of this study is to evaluate the CONNUT tool to classify patients using two different albumin methods to measure. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The albumin and cholesterol performed in Advia 2400 analyzer using bromocresol green and purple methods to measure albumin. The total lymphocytes performed in Advia 2120. We calculate CONNUT index and classify the patients based on nutritional status. When we classified our patients based on nutritional status (CONNUT), 28% were misclassified, almost in moderate and severe groups. This is very important because this tool generates a multidisciplinary action to the patient. Therefore, in the Clinical Laboratory we have to know the methods we use, the validity of these methods in future tools/index and the management and outcome of the patients.