Evaluation of different antiretroviral drug protocols on naturally infected feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) cats in the late phase of the asymptomatic stage of infection.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the antiretrovirals: Zidovudine (ZDV) alone; ZDV + Recombinant Human Interferon-α (rHuIFN-α); ZDV + Lamivudine (3TC) and ZDV + valproic acid (Valp) on naturally feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)-infected cats, in the late phase of the asymptomatic stage of infection. The follow-up was performed over one year, through clinical evaluation and the determination of viral loads and CD4+/CD8+ ratios. Neurological signs were studied by visual and auditory evoked potentials (VEP, AEP) and the responses were abnormal in 80% of the FIV-infected cats. After one year, an improvement in VEP and AEP was observed in the ZDV + Valp group and a worsening in the group receiving ZDV + rHuIFN-α. The CD4+/CD8+ ratio showed a significant increase (both intra and inter-groups) only in ZDV and ZDV + 3TC, between their pre-treatment and one year values, as well as among the other groups. Viral load only showed a significant decrease in ZDV and ZDV + 3TC groups, when comparing the values at one year of treatment vs. pre-treatment values and when the different groups were compared. In addition, the viral load decrease was significantly more pronounced in the ZDV + 3TC vs. ZDV group. We conclude that ZDV and ZDV + 3TC produce significant reductions in viral load and stimulate a recovery of the CD4+/CD8+ ratio, compared with the other protocols. It is clear that the addition of 3TC resulted in a greater reduction in viral load than use of ZDV as a single drug. Therefore, the combination ZDV + 3TC could be more effective than the sole use of ZDV.

Signos neurológicos asociados a pacientes caninos con linfoma / Neurological Symptoms Associated to Canine Patients with Lymphoma

El cáncer altera las estructuras o las funciones de órganos vecinos por su simple presencia, con las consiguientes manifestaciones clínicas; pero también produce efectos nocivos en órganos distantes. Estas alteraciones clínicas inducidas por la acción no invasiva del tumor son de gran diversidad clínica y se conocen como síndromes paraneoplásicos. En el presente trabajo se describen cuatro casos de pacientes caninos con alteraciones neurológicas asociadas a linfadenopatía superficial generalizada...

Cancer alters the structure or functions of adjacent organs with their sole presence, and subsequentclinical manifestations, but can also cause harmful effects in distant organs. Theseclinical changes induced by non-invasive tumor action are of great clinical diversity and areknown as paraneoplastic syndromes. This paper describes four cases of canine patients withneurological disorders associated to generalized superficial lymphadenopathy...

O câncer altera as estruturas ou as funções de órgãos vizinhos por sua simples presença, comas consequentes manifestações clínicas; mas também produz efeitos nocivos em órgãos distantes.Estas alterações clínicas induzidas pela ação não invasiva do tumor são de grande diversidadeclínica e são conhecidas como síndromes paraneoplásicas. No presente trabalho descrevemsequatro casos de pacientes caninos com alterações neurológicas associadas à linfadenopatiasuperficial generalizada...

Immune-endocrine interactions in treated and untreated cats naturally infected with FIV.

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a lentivirus that causes a progressive disruption of immune function in cats. The neuroendocrine and immune systems communicate bidirectionally, mediated by cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF), several interleukins (IL-1, IL-6, IL-10), and through signals induced by the ratio of IL-10 to IL-12. FIV can affect both pituitary adrenal and thyroid axis function. Twenty FIV-infected cats in similar stages of the disease were evaluated for six months. A cross-sectional study in which the twenty cats were divided into two groups was performed. Ten were treated with Zidovudine (ZDV: 5mg/kg/d, PO, q12h, for six months) and 10 were untreated. Plasma concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol, T4, FT4, T3, IL-10, IL-12 and viral load (VL) were evaluated after six months. ACTH was found in significantly lower concentrations (p<0.0001) in the treated group whereas cortisol did not show significant differences between the two groups. Both T4 and FT4 had high values in untreated individuals (p<0.001) compared with Zidovudine treated cats. T3 did not show significant differences between the two groups. Both IL-10 and IL-12 were found in significantly higher concentrations in ZDV treated cats (p<0.001). By contrast, the IL10/IL-12 ratio values were significantly lower in untreated cats. Viral load was significantly lower in the treated cats after six months of therapy, compared with values detected pre-treatment (p<0.002). Untreated cats showed a significant increase of VL (p<0.04) compared with the values at the beginning of the study. In treated cats, VL showed lower numbers of viral copies than in untreated cats (p<0.01). In summary, Zidovudine treatment appeared to contribute to the normalization of both the adrenal and thyroid axes. This effect could be attributed to the decrease observed in VL, resulting in a change in cytokine patterns.

Evaluación de la proteinuria en perros con enfermedad de Cushing, previo y posterior al tratamiento con ácido retinoico y ketoconazol / Proteinuria evaluation in dogs with cushing desease before and after the treatment with retinoic acid and ketoconazol

El hipercortisolismo ha sido señalado como causante de enfermedad renal por compromiso del compartimentoglomerular. Su identificación precoz y no invasiva se realiza mediante el estudio cualitativo y cuantitativode las proteínas urinarias, el primero evalúa el origen y el segundo la magnitud de las pérdidas.Estudios recientes proponen al ácido retinoico (AR) como una alternativa terapéutica efectiva en el Cushingde origen pituitario al uso de ketoconazol (Ktz) y otras drogas de acción antiesteroideogénica. El presentetrabajo se realizó con el propósito de, evaluar la proteinuria en perros con hipercortisolismo pituitario dependiente(HPD), y determinar si la terapia con AR y ktz logran controlarla. Se estudió la proteinuria de 22 perroscon HPD, 14 tratados con AR y 8 con Ktz, durante 6 meses. La determinación cuantitativa (técnica de Rojo dePirogalol) mediante la relación proteína / creatinina urinaria (UP/C) determinó que, en 11/22 (50%) el valorfue anormalmente alto (≥ 0,51); en 3/22 (14%) dudoso y 8/22 (36%) tenían valores de proteinuria consideradasnormal (< 0,3). El estudio cualitativo de la proteinuria (técnica SDS-PAGE) indicó que de los 11 perros conUP/C alta, 3/11 tenían proteinuria glomerular (27,3%), 6/11 glomérulo-tubular (54,54%), y 2 fi siológica o normal(18,18%). Los 3 perros con valores de UP/C dudoso tuvieron, 2 proteinuria glomerular, y 1 fisiológica porel SDS-PAGE. Un perro con UP/C fi siológica tenía proteinuria tubular por el método cualitativo. El total deperros con daño glomerular fue de 11 (50%). Los valores de UP/C persistieron al final del estudio sin cambiosnotorios y la evaluación estadística entre tratamientos no indicó diferencias significativas. Ningún perro con asoproteinuria normal evolucionó hacia la anormalidad, y aquellos que tenían la UP/C alta no modificaron significativamente los valores ni desarrollaron insuficiencia renal. Se concluye que, al momento del diagnóstico, aproximadamente el 50 % de los perros con HPD tendrían daño glomerular, y que el tratamiento específico del Cushing no logra controlar a la enfermedad renal

The hypercortisolism has been considered the originator of the renal disease due to problems in theglomerular compartment. The early and non invasive diagnosis is carried out through the qualitative andquantitative study of the urinary proteins. The qualitative method determines the origin and the quantitativemethod determines the magnitude of the loss.Recent studies suggest that the retinoic acid (RA) may be an effective therapeutic alternative for the Pituitarydependent Cushing, instead of the usage of Ketoconazol (Ktz) and other antisteroideogenic drugs. This workwas carried out in order to evaluate the proteinuria in dog with Pituitary dependent Hypercortisolism (PDH)and to determine if the therapy with RA and Ktz can control it. The proteinuria was studied in 22 dogs withPDH, 14 of them treated with RA and 8 with Ktz for six months. The quantitative determination (PyrogallolRed technique) through the relation protein/creatinine (UP/C) showed that in 11/22 (50 %) the value wasabnormally high ( > 0,51), doubtful in 3/22 (14 %) and in 8/22 (36 %) the proteinuria values were considerednormal (< 0,3). The qualitative study of the proteinuria (SDS-PAGE Technique) showed that out of the 11 dogswith high UP/C values, 3 of them had glomerular proteinuria (27,3 %), 6 glomerulo-tubular (54,54 %), and 2physiological or normal proteinuria (18,18 %). The 3 dogs with doubtful UP/C values had by the SDS-PAGE,2 glomerular proteinuria, and 1 physiological. One dog with normal UP/C value had tubular proteinuria by thequalitative method. The total number of dogs with glomerular damage damage was 11 (50 %). The UP/C valuesremained the same by the end of the study with no significant changes and the statistic evaluation between the treatments did not show significant differences. Any dog with normal proteinuria became abnormal and thosewith high UP/C developed renal insufficiency. We conclude that, at the moment of the diagnosis, it is expectablethat 50 % of the dogs with DPH have glomerular damage, and that the specific treatment of Cushing does notcontrol the renal disease