Tumor de mama é a neoplasia mais freqüente em cadelas, entretanto, há controvérsias sobre os fatores que influenciam o desenvolvimento do tumor. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o perfil das cadelas com tumor de mama atendidas no Hospital de Clínicas Veterinárias da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (HCV-UFRGS). Foram coletados os dados de 85 cadelas apresentando neoplasias mamárias, entre junho de 1999 e maio de 2000. Foram analisados o tempo de evolução dos tumores, neoplasias anteriores, histórico reprodutivo, localização, tamanho dos nódulos, ulcerações, metástases pulmonares e resultados da histopatologia. A partir destes dados, 71,8% foram lesões malignas e, 28,2%, benignas. A maioria dos malignos foi de carcinomas e, dos benignos, adenoma. A idade média foi de 9 anos para as cadelas com tumores benignos e de 9 anos para os malignos. O progestágeno foi associado a um maior número de tumores benignos. As pseudocieses foram relacionadas a tumores de mama malignos. Tanto o uso de progestágenos como as pseudocieses foram relacionados com o aparecimento precoce de neoplasias mamárias em cadelas.

The epidemiology, clinical picture and pathology of an outbreak of urolithiasis in cattle in southern Brazil are described. The disease occurred in August 1999 in a feedlot beef cattle herd. Five out of 1,100 castrated steers were affected. Clinical signs included colic and ventral abdominal distension. White, sand-grain-like mineral deposits precipitated on the preputial hairs. Affected cattle died spontaneously 24-48 hrs after the onset of the clinical signs. Only one animal recovered after perineal urethrostomy. Necropsy findings included calculi blocking the urethral lumen of the distal portion of the penile sigmoid flexure, urinary bladder rupture with leakage of urine into the abdominal cavity and secondary fibrinous peritonitis. Daily water intake was low since water sources were scarce and not readily available. The animals were fed rations high in grains and received limited amounts of roughage. Biochemical analysis revealed that the calculi were composed of ammonium phosphate. A calcium-phosphorus imbalance (0.4:0.6) was detected in the feedlot ration. For the outbreak, it is suggested that contributing factors to urolith formation include insufficient fiber ingestion, low water intake and high dietary levels of phosphorus. No additional cases were observed in that feedlot after preventive measures were established. Similar dietary mismanagement in fattening steers has been associated with obstructive urolithiasis in feedlot beef cattle in other countries.

Increased fibrinolysis is an important component of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) bleeding diathesis. APL blasts overexpress annexin II (ANXII), a receptor for tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), and plasminogen, thereby increasing plasmin generation. Previous studies suggested that ANXII plays a pivotal role in APL coagulopathy. ANXII binding to tPA can be inhibited by homocysteine and hyperhomocysteinemia can be induced by L-methionine supplementation. In the present study, we used an APL mouse model to study ANXII function and the effects of hyperhomocysteinemia in vivo. Leukemic cells expressed higher ANXII and tPA plasma levels (11.95 ng/mL in leukemic vs 10.74 ng/mL in wild-type; P ‫؍‬ .004). In leukemic mice, administration of L-methionine significantly increased homocysteine levels (49.0 mol/mL and < 6.0 mol/mL in the treated and nontreated groups, respectively) and reduced tPA levels to baseline concentrations. The latter were also decreased after infusion of the LCKLSL peptide, a competitor for the ANXII tPA-binding site (11.07 ng/mL; P ‫؍‬ .001). We also expressed and purified the p36 component of ANXII in Pichia methanolica. The infusion of p36 in wild-type mice increased tPA and thrombin-antithrombin levels, and IntroductionHemorrhage is the main complication of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), and approximately 60%-80% of patients present with a coagulation abnormality at diagnosis. [1][2][3] Despite the improvement in APL treatment outcome, early mortality due to bleeding is still prevalent. 4 At least 3 components contribute to bleeding due to APL: activation of coagulation, proteolysis, and fibrinolysis. APL blasts express both tissue factor and cancer procoagulant and secrete IL-1␤ and TNF␣, 5-7 which leads to excessive fibrin production. Concomitantly, there is proteolytic activity with the generation of D-like fibrin fragments that have an anticoagulant effect. 8 Several elements contribute to fibrinolysis in APL. Reduced levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI1) 9 and alpha 2 -antiplasmin 10 are observed in the plasma, and thrombinactivatable fibrinolysis inhibitor activity is markedly below normal. 11 Furthermore, urokinase plasminogen activator protein levels are higher in both plasma and leukemic cells. 12,13 Using an in vitro assay, Menell et al demonstrated that the APL cell lineage NB4 can up-regulate plasmin synthesis by approximately 28-fold in a medium containing plasminogen and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). 14 Annexin II (ANXII) is thought to play a critical role in APL-associated fibrinolysis. It is a phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate-binding protein that is overexpressed in APL cells. [14][15][16] ANXII is a receptor for both tPA and plasminogen and in patients with APL, it increases plasmin generation approximately 60-fold and therefore may participate in the pathogenesis of APL bleeding diathesis. 17 Homocysteine competes with tPA for the same site of ANXII through its motif LCKLSL. 18 We hypothesized that by inhibiting ANXII activity through the ind...

The aim of this paper is to present the evaluations and results attained by our research group from the clinical applications of Electrochemical Therapy (EChT in short) on tumors, specifically of cats and dogs. Our in vivo results indicate that EChT is an effective cancer treatment. Application of EChT in human beings was approved by National Health Surveillance Agency, which is linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Health. To make EChT available for cancer patients in the Brazil, basic studies were conducted and a Phase I clinical trial was started.

O carcinoma inflamatório mamário é um carcinoma anaplásico com características clínicas e histopatológicas como crescimento rápido, envolvimento difuso, eritema, calor e dor nas mamas, edema nos membros posteriores, extensa infiltração de células inflamatórias, células epiteliais malignas nos linfonodos regionais apresentando um péssimo prognóstico. O cão é a única espécie animal em que esta neoplasia ocorre espontaneamente, entretanto apresenta uma incidência bastante rara tanto em humanos quanto em caninos. Este trabalho descreve dois casos de carcinoma inflamatório mamário em duas cadelas da raça Dobermann apresentando aumento de volume mamário com espessamento da pele na região das mamas, com secreção liquido-sanguinolenta local, aumento da temperatura e dor no local e edema de membros posteriores. Em ambos os casos, o resultado do exame citológico revelou carcinoma anaplásico e os animais apresentaram uma rápida evolução da doença em menos de 30 dias, optando-se pela eutanásia nos dois casos. Os achados de necrópsia indicaram metástases pulmonares em ambos os cães e com o exame histológico confirmaram o diagnóstico de carcinoma anaplásico. Este trabalho elucida bem os sinais clínicos característicos dos cães com carcinoma inflamatório, que se assemelham muito a mastite, demonstra o prognóstico reservado desta enfermidade, além de chamar a atenção para este raro tumor ter ocorrido na mesma raça.Descritores: Carcinoma inflamatório mamário, tumor de mama, câncer.