Maxillary canine-first premolar transposition - Restoring normal tooth order with segmented mechanics

Tooth transpositions present at a relatively low incidence in the world population and primarily affect maxillary canines and premolars. Treatment of this disturbance should take into account aspects such as facial pattern, age, malocclusion, tooth-size discrepancy, stage of eruption, and magnitude of the transposition. Mechanics for correction should be entirely individualized, reducing the risks and adverse effects. Practitioners often select simpler options, indicating extraction of permanent teeth, which is an irreversible procedure that may bring about damages to the patient. This study presents a case report and treatment of unilateral transposition of maxillary canine and premolar with repositioning of affected teeth to their respective normal positions.

Diagnosis of canine brucellosis: Comparison between serological and microbiological tests and a PCR based on primers to 16S-23S rDNA interspacer

A pair of primers directed to 16S-23S rDNA interspacer (ITS) was designed directed to Brucella genetic sequences in order to develop a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) putatively capable of amplifying DNA from any Brucella species. Nucleic acid extracts from whole-blood from naive dogs were spiked with decreasing amounts of Brucella canis RM6/66 DNA and the resulting solutions were tested by PCR. In addition, the ability of PCR to amplify Brucella spp. genetic sequences from naturally infected dogs was evaluated using 210 whole-blood samples of dogs from 19 kennels. The whole-blood samples collected were subjected to blood culture and PCR. Serodiagnosis was performed using the rapid slide agglutination test with and without 2-mercaptoethanol. The DNA from whole blood was extracted using proteinase-K, sodium dodecyl sulphate and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide followed by phenol-chloroform purification. The PCR was capable of detecting as little as 3.8 fg of Brucella DNA mixed with 450 ng of host DNA. Theoretically, 3.8 fg of Brucella DNA represents the total genomic mass of fewer than two bacterial cells. The PCR diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 100%. From the results observed in the present study, we conclude that PCR could be used as confirmatory test for diagnosis of B. canis infection.

Canine hepatozoonosis in Brazil: description of eight naturally occurring cases

Eight cases of canine hepatozoonosis were diagnosed at the Veterinary Hospital (Faculdade de Medicina Veterinaria e Zootecnia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Campus de Botucatu), between October 1993 and April 1994. Clinical signs included anorexia, pale mucous membranes, weight loss, pain, diarrhoea, vomit, gait abnormalities, fever, polyuria and polydipsia. Haematologic findings revealed anaemia in seven cases, leucocytosis with neutrophilia in three cases, lymphopenia in three cases and monocytosis in four cases. Serum biochemistries included alterations in many parameters. Thr micrometry of Hepatozoon canis gametocytes ranged from 6.8 x 4.0 mu m to 7.5 x 4.5 mu m. Parasitaemia ranged from less than 0.5% to 2%. In all the cases reported other concurrent diseases were present. Diagnosis of canine hepatozoonosis was made by identifying H. canis gametocytes within leucocytes in stained blood smears. (C) 1998 Elsevier B.V. B.V.

A comparative-analysis of glycosaminoglycans from human umbilical arteries in normal subjects and in pathological conditions affecting pregnancy

BACKGROUND: Vascular cells express different phenotypes in adult and fetal vessels, and the extracellular matrix they synthesize should reflect these differences. Alterations of vascular proteoglycan/glycosaminoglycan is verified in disorders such as hypertension and diabetes, and when occurring during pregnancy, they bring about structural changes to fetal vessels that often lead to impaired fetus growth. Yet there is little data about the extracellular matrix of an important human fetal vessel, the umbilical artery.EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: This study involved the biochemical characterization of the extracellular matrix of normal umbilical arteries, umbilical arteries from complicated pregnancies (maternal hypertension and diabetes and intrauterine growth retardation syndrome), and, for purpose of comparison, normal adult arteries (aorta and iliac and pulmonary arteries). Although the collagen types I:III ratio was determined in some cases, emphasis was placed on analysis of glycosaminoglycans.RESULTS: Normal umbilical arteries differ from normal adult arteries in that they contain greater concentrations of hyaluronic acid and lesser concentrations of heparan sulfate and chondroitin 4-and 6-sulfate. The umbilical artery also differs from adult arteries in the disaccharide composition of its chondroitin and heparan sulfates and in the molecular weight of this latter glycosaminoglycan. The glycosaminoglycan distribution in umbilical arteries derived from complicated pregnancies is roughly similar to that of controls. However, total glycosaminoglycan and collagen were significantly reduced, and the collagen I:III ratio was increased in the umbilical arteries from hypertension-complicated pregnancies.CONCLUSIONS: the glycosaminoglycan composition of the normal umbilical artery, a fully differentiated tissue, differs in many aspects from that of normal adult arteries. of the cases of complicated pregnancies studied, the extracellular matrix of umbilical arteries was altered only in maternal hypertension. The changes, notably a mild fibrosis, were not very pronounced and should not impair hemodynamic properties of the vessel.

Canine bartonellosis: serological and molecular prevalence in Brazil and evidence of co-infection with Bartonella henselae and Bartonella vinsonii subsp berkhoffii

The purpose of this study was to determine the serological and molecular prevalence of Bartonella spp. infection in a sick dog population from Brazil. At the São Paulo State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Botucatu, 198 consecutive dogs with clinicopathological abnormalities consistent with tick-borne infections were sampled. Antibodies to Bartonella henselae and Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii were detected in 2.0% ( 4/197) and 1.5% ( 3/197) of the dogs, respectively. Using 16S-23S rRNA intergenic transcribed spacer ( ITS) primers, Bartonella DNA was amplified from only 1/198 blood samples. Bartonella seroreactive and/or PCR positive blood samples ( n = 8) were inoculated into a liquid pre-enrichment growth medium ( BAPGM) and subsequently sub-inoculated onto BAPGM/blood-agar plates. PCR targeting the ITS region, pap31 and rpoB genes amplified B. henselae from the blood and/or isolates of the PCR positive dog ( ITS: DQ346666; pap31 gene: DQ351240; rpoB: EF196806). B. henselae and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii ( pap31: DQ906160; rpoB: EF196805) co-infection was found in one of the B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii seroreactive dogs. We conclude that dogs in this study population were infrequently exposed to or infected with a Bartonella species. The B. henselae and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii strains identified in this study are genetically similar to strains isolated from septicemic cats, dogs, coyotes and human beings from other parts of the world. To our knowledge, these isolates provide the first Brazilian DNA sequences from these Bartonella species and the first evidence of Bartonella co-infection in dogs.

Immunohistochemical evaluation of Ki-67 and PCNA in canine mammary neoplasias: Correlation with prognostic factors and clinical outcome

E-cadherin is a cell-cell adhesion molecule and low e-cadherin expression is related to invasiveness and may indicate a bad prognosis in mammary neoplasms. The expression of cell proliferation markers PCNA and especially Ki-67, has also proved to have a strong prognostic value in this tumor class. The expression of these markers was related to the clinical-pathological characteristics of 73 surgically removed mammary tumors in female dogs by immunohistochemistry. There was no statistical correlation between these markers and death by neoplasm, survival time and disease-free interval. However, the loss of e-cadherin expression and marked Ki-67 expression (p=0.016) were considered statistically significant for the diagnosis (p=0.032). When evaluated as independent factors, there was evidence of the relationship between the loss of e-cadherin expression and high PCNA expression with changes in the body status (divided into obese, normal and cachectic) of female dogs (p=0.030); there was also evidence of the relationship between pseudopregnancy and e-cadherin alone (p=0.021) and for ulceration and PCNA alone (p=0.035). The significant correlation between the markers expression and these well known prognostic factors used individually or in combination suggests their prognostic value in canine mammary tumors.