Background: Chronic superficial keratitis (CSK) is an ocular condition in dogs characterized by corneal opacification leading to visual function impairment. Control of this chronic condition requires use of topical immunomodulators or corticosteroids daily. Regenerative medicine has shown promising results in several fields of medicine. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical effect of allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) of adipose tissue applied via subconjunctival in dogs with CSK. Methods: A series of cases of 8 dogs diagnosed with CSK were divided into 2 groups, 4 dogs each, the conventional treatment (CT) received Prednisolone 1% as topical eye drops and the experimental group (EG) received allogeneic MSCs transplantation. The dogs had not previously been treated for CSK. Systemic and ophthalmologic examinations were performed to exclude other abnormalities. An administered amount of MSC (1x106 cells each time) were injected via subconjunctival in the peri-limbal region at 0 and 30 days. The animals were followed for 110 days to clinical evaluation, and, at the same time, the images of the corneal abnormalities were obtained and analyzed in the ImageJ software. The statistical analysis was performed in the GrandPrism 7.0 software. Results: Initial and final images revealed that areas with neovascularization, inflammatory infiltrate and opacity regressed in most eyes in both groups (7/8 eyes in each group) at the end of the 110 days, p = 0.0391 and p = 0.0078 respectively, but this response was minor in the EG comparing to CT (p = 0.026). No local or systemic side effects were observed. Conclusions: Despite the small melioration, MSCs treatment suggests clinical improvement in patients with CSK after 110 days without any local or systemic side effects. However, the improvement achieved was significantly less than the observed within CT group. Further studies still are needed to evaluate the use and benefits of stem cells as an adjunct treatment for CSK.

PURPOSE:To analyze microscopically the effects of different concentrations of oxygen in the lungs of rats. METHODS:There were 20 rats distributed in three experimental groups (concentration of oxygen to 40%, 70% and 100%) and a control group. The animals were exposed to the oxygen in a chamber of acrylic during three days and after exposition, the animals were submitted to median thoracotomia to remove the lungs. The lung tissue of all of the animals was analyzed as regards presence of acute and chronic inflammation, capillary congestion, alveolar walls thick, interstitial and alveolar edema, alveolar hemorrhage, denudation capillary and alveolar endothelium areas and atelectasis. RESULTS:The analysis histopathologic revealed significant statistics difference for acute and chronic inflammation, capillary congestion, alveolar walls thick, interstitial and alveolar edema, alveolar hemorrhage, denudation capillary and alveolar epithelium areas. CONCLUSIONS:Exposition to the oxygen during 72 hours in the concentration of 40% does not produce significant histopathologic alterations in the lung tissue; in the concentration of 70%, can promotes the alveolar walls thick and capillary congestion and in the concentration of 100% can cause death and originate diffuse pulmonary lesion.

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Background: Chronic superficial keratitis (CSK) is an ocular condition in dogs characterized by corneal opacification leading to visual function impairment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical effect of allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) of adipose tissue in dogs with CSK.Results: The conventional treatment group received topical Prednisolone 1% and the experimental group received MSC on the order of 1x106 were injected via subconjunctival in the peri-limbal region at 0 and 30 days. The animals were followed for 110 days to monitor the clinical progression and the statistical analysis was performed. Comparison of initial and final images revealed that areas with neovascularization and inflammatory infiltrate regressed in most eyes in both the conventional and experimental groups at the end of the 110 days. The experimental group responded positively to MSC treatment, but bellow the response achieved by the conventional group. Some areas of opacity of the cornea become transparent after transplantation of MSC. No local or systemic side effects were observed.Conclusions: Stem cells treatment produced clinical improvement in patients with CSK after 110 days without use of any drug combination and any local or systemic side effects, even if the improvement obtained was less than that seen with conventional corticosteroid therapy.

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