Objective and design: Eighteen active acromegalics entered a prospective open study with cabergoline (CAB), a dopaminergic drug much more potent than bromocriptine (Br). Methods: CAB was administered for 6 months at doses ranging between 0.5 mg twice weekly and 0.5 mg/day. Clinical-anamnestic characteristics of the patients were: (i) sensitivity to dopamine agonist drugs (10 patients); (ii) resistance to somatostatin analogs (SAs) (8 patients); (iii) intolerance to SA (3 patients). In 2 patients marked hyperprolactinemia was present. Results: Basal GH was 6.6 mg/l (2.2-50) (median (range)), and on treatment it was 3.5 mg/l (1.2-34) (P=0.013). The corresponding IGF-I values were 720 mg/l (410-1438) and 375 mg/l (167-1260) respectively (P=0.00001). Individual GH levels decreased below 2 mg/l in 5 patients, and between 2 and 5 mg/l in another 5 patients. IGF-I levels were suppressed below 50% of baseline in 8 patients and normal age-adjusted IGF-I values were reached in 5 patients (27% of the series). The retrospective comparison with previous chronic treatment with Br in the 10 suitable patients showed a greater effectiveness of CAB (IGF-I decrease on CAB treatment, 46.8%, on Br treatment, 31%, P=0.02). Adenoma shrank in the 3 patients whose pituitary imaging was repeated during CAB. Conclusions: These results envisage that CAB may represent a worthy therapeutic tool in acromegalic patients, inducing a degree of IGF-I and GH suppression comparable to SAs, administered by the oral route and much less expensive.

This study was conducted to evaluate clinical efficacy of deslorelin for inhibiting reproduction in the bitch. Ten adult healthy bitches or bitches with mammary neoplasia for which owners were requesting suppression of cyclicity without performing gonadectomy were administered a 4.7- or a 9.4-mg deslorelin implant subcutaneously. The first implant of deslorelin was administered in anoestrus (n = 5) or in dioestrus (n = 5). Treatment was repeated every 5 months for as long as necessary based on the clinical situation of the dog and owner's desires. Some of the bitches implanted in anoestrus came in heat within 4-15 days after treatment, while none of the bitches implanted in dioestrus showed heat during treatment. Suppression of reproductive cyclicity was successfully achieved in 6/10 bitches for 1-4 years. No behavioural and local/general side-effects were observed in any of the treated bitches. The 4.7-mg deslorelin implant may work well for suppression of cyclicity provided that it is administered in dioestrus and at intervals of 4.5 months. A 9.4-mg implant may be more suitable for this use although its efficacy may also be shorter than 12 months. Owner compliance is an important limiting factor.

In migratory species female- and male-mediated gene flow are important for defining relevant Management Units, and for evaluating connectivity between these and their respective foraging grounds. The stock composition at five Mediterranean foraging areas was investigated by analysing variation in the mitochondrial D-loop and six microsatellite loci in a sample of 268 loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) stranded or accidentally caught by fisheries. This involved a comprehensive Mixed Stock Analysis which considers also recent data from major rookeries in Libya and Turkey, and the generation of a standardized nomenclature of allele sizes at the microsatellite loci. The results indicate: that the north Adriatic, the Tunisian continental shelf, the waters around Malta and the Italian Ionian Sea represent important areas for the conservation of rookeries in Greece, Libya and Turkey, respectively; that waters off the Italian peninsula and the islands of Lampedusa and Malta are mainly inhabited by individuals of Mediterranean origin, with a major contribution from the nearest and largest colonies, while Atlantic turtles are restricted to the western areas; that specific migratory routes exist from rookeries to foraging grounds; a poor bi-parental genetic structuring, which suggests a high male-mediated gene flow in the Mediterranean; mixing of small turtles in waters distant from natal rookeries, and recovery of structuring for large-sized individuals; and that uncommon mtDNA haplotypes are more powerful markers than microsatellite alleles in assessing an individual's origin, owing to their higher geographic specificity. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Echocardiographic evaluation was performed in six healthy young adult non-sedated terrapins (Trachemys scripta elegans). The best imaging quality was obtained through the right cervical window. Base-apex inflow and outflow views were recorded, ventricular size, ventricular wall thickness and ventricular outflow tract were measured, and fractional shortening was calculated. Pulsed-wave Doppler interrogation enabled the diastolic biphasic atrio-ventricular flow and the systolic ventricular outflow patterns to be recorded. The following Doppler-derived functional parameters were calculated: early diastolic (E) and late diastolic (A) wave peak velocities, E/A ratio, ventricular outflow systolic peak and mean velocities and gradients, Velocity-Time Integral, acceleration and deceleration times, and Ejection Time. For each parameter the mean, standard deviation and 95% confidence interval were calculated. Echocardiography resulted as a useful and easy-to-perform diagnostic tool in this poorly known species that presents difficulties during evaluation.

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