Canine Mammary Neoplasia Induces Variations in the Peripheral Blood Levels of CD20, CD45RA, and CD99.

The idea of using tumour biomarkers as diagnostic tools is progressively increasing. Of these, serum biomarkers are of particular interest, as they can provide rapid results. In the present study, serum samples from 26 bitches diagnosed with mammary tumours, plus 4 healthy bitches, were obtained. The samples were analysed using CD antibody microarrays targeting 90 CD surface markers and 56 cytokines/chemokines. A total of five CD proteins, namely CD20, CD45RA, CD53, CD59, and CD99, were selected and further analysed, utilizing immunoblotting techniques to validate the microarray results. CD45RA showed a significantly lower abundance in the serum samples from the bitches carrying mammary neoplasia in comparison to the healthy animals. Regarding CD99, the serum samples from the neoplastic bitches showed it in a significantly higher abundance than those from the healthy patients. Finally, CD20 showed a significantly higher abundance in bitches carrying a malignant mammary tumour in comparison to healthy patients, but no differential expression between malignant and benign tumours was observed. According to these results, both CD99 and CD45RA are indicators of mammary tumour presence, but without distinguishing between malignant and benign.

Uterine and placental specific localization of AQP2 and AQP8 is related with changes of serum progesterone levels in pregnant queens.

Aquaporins play vital roles in reproductive physiology. This study evaluates the expression and localization dynamics of AQP1, AQP2, AQP3 and AQP8 in the endometrium and placental transference zone during pregnancy in queens by means of immunohistochemistry and Western blot. Animals were distributed into six groups: non-pregnant queens with low levels of serum progesterone (P4), non-pregnant animals with high P4 levels, and queens at 30, 40, 50 and 60 days of pregnancy. All AQPs were present in glandular and luminal epithelia and myometrium. AQP1 was also present in the endometrial endothelia. AQP2, AQP3 and AQP8 were found in trophoblast. In endometrial samples with P4 above 2 ng/mL, AQP2 and AQP8 were distributed across plasma membrane and cytoplasm, whereas progesterone levels under 1 ng/mL kept both AQPs confined to the plasma membrane. Western blot showed no significant changes in AQPs expression among the stages. In conclusion, our results indicate that the distribution of AQP2 and AQP8 in the queen reproductive tract is related to P4 levels.

Non-invasive in vivo measurement of cardiac output in C57BL/6 mice using high frequency transthoracic ultrasound: evaluation of gender and body weight effects.

Even though mice are being increasingly used as models for human cardiovascular diseases, non-invasive monitoring of cardiovascular parameters such as cardiac output (CO) in this species is challenging. In most cases, the effects of gender and body weight (BW) on these parameters have not been studied. The objective of this study was to provide normal reference values for CO in C57BL/6 mice, and to describe possible gender and/or BW associated differences between them. We used 30-MHz transthoracic Doppler ultrasound to measure hemodynamic parameters in the ascending aorta [heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), stroke index (SI), CO, and cardiac index (CI)] in ten anesthetized mice of either sex. No differences were found for HR, SV, and CO. Both SI and CI were statistically lower in males. However, after normalization for BW, these differences disappeared. These results suggest that if comparisons of cardiovascular parameters are to be made between male and female mice, values should be standardized for BW.