Publications by authors named "Andrea N Johnston"

Article Synopsis
  • Gallbladder neuroendocrine neoplasms (GB NENs) are extremely rare cancers found in both humans and dogs.
  • The review analyzes existing research on canine GB NENs while comparing various factors like demographics, clinical features, and treatment responses between species.
  • The main goal is to evaluate how studying dogs with GB NENs can help enhance understanding and treatment options for affected humans.
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Article Synopsis
  • FGF19 is a hormone produced in the intestines that helps regulate bile acid synthesis and glucose metabolism in the liver, influenced by bile acids interacting with the FXR in the gut.
  • A study aimed to compare serum FGF19 levels in dogs with gallbladder mucoceles (GBMs) to healthy control dogs, using abdominal imaging and blood tests for diagnosis.
  • Results showed that dogs with GBMs had significantly lower levels of FGF19 compared to control dogs, suggesting that GBM may negatively impact bile flow and liver metabolism in these animals.
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Canine schistosomiasis caused by can lead to severe morbidity and eventual mortality, in part due to the deposition of fluke ova in the liver and gastrointestinal tract, which promotes an influx of peri-ova inflammatory cells. Although fluke eggs can be identified in H&E-stained histologic sections, cases exist in which only fragments of the ova persist, or the egg is obscured by inflammatory infiltrates, which can confound definitive histologic diagnosis. Unfortunately, antibodies specific to are not commercially available for immunohistochemical labeling.

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Phosphoglycerate mutase 5 (PGAM5) is a Ser/His/Thr phosphatase responsible for regulating mitochondrial homeostasis. Overexpression of PGAM5 is correlated with a poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma, colon cancer, and melanoma. In hepatocellular carcinoma, silencing of PGAM5 reduces growth, which has been attributed to decreased mitophagy and enhanced apoptosis.

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Two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) is widely used as a noninvasive method to quantify liver stiffness. In humans, liver stiffness approximates histologic hepatic fibrosis. While histology is the gold standard for diagnosing liver disease, 2D-SWE may be a minimally invasive alternative to biopsy in feline patients.

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Platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is a prognostic marker in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) however, its utility in canine HCC has not been explored. The aim of the study was to determine if PLR could predict survival outcomes in 42 dogs with HCC. PLR was not a significant predictive factor ( = 0.

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Hepatobiliary neuroendocrine neoplasms are rare cancers in humans and dogs. To date, no large-scale primary hepatobiliary neoplasm omics analyses exist in any species. This limits the development of diagnostic biomarkers and targeted therapeutics.

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Preeclampsia (PE) is a multisystemic disease of pregnancy affecting 2-8% of women worldwide. PE-induced liver disease is a rare but important complication of pregnancy. The pathogenesis of liver dysfunction in PE is poorly understood, but is correlated with dysregulated angiogenic, inflammatory, and hypoxic events in the early phase of placental development.

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Objective: To measure serum fibroblast growth factor-19 (FGF-19) concentration and gallbladder volume in healthy dogs before and after feeding to determine whether serum FGF-19 concentration increases following gallbladder contraction and to assess FGF-19 stability in blood samples kept under different storage conditions after collection in tubes containing no anticoagulant or in serum separator tubes.

Animals: 10 healthy dogs of various ages and breeds (30 blood samples and 30 gallbladder volume measurements).

Procedures: Serum FGF-19 concentration was measured with a commercially available ELISA.

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Mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL) is the proposed executioner of necroptosis. Our recent findings identify a novel inhibitor necroptosis-blocking compound 1 (NBC1) which specifically conjugates to two cysteines of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) to block its function. Importantly, HSP70 promotes MLKL polymerization to activate necroptosis.

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Necroptosis is a regulated necrotic cell death pathway involved in development and disease. Its signaling cascade results in the formation of disulfide bond-dependent amyloid-like polymers of mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL), which mediate proinflammatory cell membrane disruption. We screened compound libraries provided by the National Cancer Institute and identified a small-molecule inhibitor of necroptosis named necroptosis-blocking compound 1 (NBC1).

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Retained bile acids, which are capable of inducing cell death, activate protein kinase Cδ (PKC-δ) in hepatocytes. In nonhepatic cells, both pro- and antiapoptotic effects of PKC-δ are described. The aim of this study was to determine the role of PKC-δ in glycochenodeoxycholate (GCDC)-induced apoptosis in rat hepatocytes and human HUH7-Na-taurocholate-cotransporting polypeptide (Ntcp) cells.

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Objective: To evaluate differences in hepatic copper concentrations in Labrador Retrievers with and without chronic hepatitis.

Design: etrospective case-control study.

Sample: Liver tissue specimens from 36 Labrador Retrievers with chronic hepatitis and 36 age- and sex-matched Labrador Retrievers without chronic hepatitis (control dogs).

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OBJECTIVE-To determine whether metal concentrations in canine liver specimens were influenced by specimen size, assay variability, tissue processing (formalin fixation and deparaffinization), or storage in paraffin blocks. SAMPLE POPULATION-Liver specimens (fresh frozen and deparaffinized) from 2 dogs with chronic hepatitis (high copper but unremarkable iron concentration [liver 1] and unremarkable copper but high iron concentration [liver 2]) as well as fresh and deparaffinized-archived liver specimens from 20 dogs with various hepatopathies. PROCEDURES-Fresh frozen liver specimens (obtained via simulated needle-core and wedge biopsy), fresh hepatic tissue, and deparaffinized-archived specimens (0.

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Three common insect repellents (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide [DEET], Pyranha, and Repel X) were tested to determine whether they affected Africanized honey bee attack behavior. Eight Africanized honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies were exposed in an alternating series to the test repellents or blank controls delivered in a stream of air directed toward the colony entrances.

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