Hemogram-Derived Inflammatory Markers in Cats with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by chronic inflammation, which mediates the progressive replacement of functional nephrons by fibrotic tissue. Hemogram-derived inflammatory markers are known to serve as markers of pathological conditions; however, their diagnostic value in feline CKD is still unknown. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate selected hemogram-derived inflammatory markers (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and the systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII)) in cats at different clinical stages of CKD.

Treatment of canine cognitive dysfunction with novel butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor.

Canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) is common in aged dogs and has many similarities with Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately, like Alzheimer's disease, CCD cannot be cured. In the present study, we treated dogs with CCD with our newly developed and characterized butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor (BChEi).

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound for evaluation of tumor perfusion and outcome following treatment in a murine melanoma model.

Due to a lack of data on predictors of electroporation-based treatment outcomes, we investigated the potential predictive role of contrast-enhanced harmonic ultrasound (CEUS) in mice B16F10 melanoma treated by gene electrotransfer (GET) to silence melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM) and radiotherapy, which has not been evaluated yet. CEUS evaluation was verified by tumor histological analysis. Mice bearing subcutaneous tumors were treated with GET to silence MCAM, irradiation or the combination of GET to silence MCAM and irradiation (combined treatment).

Tumor perfusion evaluation using dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound after electrochemotherapy and IL-12 plasmid electrotransfer in murine melanoma.

Electrochemotherapy with bleomycin (ECT BLM) is an effective antitumor treatment already used in clinical oncology. However, ECT alone is still considered a local antitumor therapy because it cannot induce systemic immunity. When combined with adjuvant gene electrotransfer of plasmid DNA encoding IL-12 (GET pIL-12), the combined therapy leads to a systemic effect on untreated tumors and distant metastases.

Results of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Correlate With Treatment Outcome in Canine Neoplasia Treated With Electrochemotherapy and Interleukin-12 Plasmid Electrotransfer.

Electrochemotherapy (ECT) and/or gene electrotransfer of plasmid DNA encoding interleukin-12 (GET pIL-12) are effective treatments for canine cutaneous, subcutaneous, and maxillofacial tumors. Despite the clinical efficacy of the combined treatments of ECT and GET, data on parameters that might predict the outcome of the treatments are still lacking. This study aimed to investigate whether dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US) results of subcutaneous tumors differ between tumors with complete response (CR) and tumors without complete response (non-CR) in dogs treated with ECT and GET pIL-12.

Radiological findings of porcine liver after electrochemotherapy with bleomycin.

Background Radiologic findings after electrochemotherapy of large hepatic blood vessels and healthy hepatic parenchyma have not yet been described. Materials and methods We performed a prospective animal model study with regulatory approval, including nine grower pigs. In each animal, four ultrasound-guided electroporated regions were created; in three regions, electrodes were inserted into the lumen of large hepatic vessels.

Solid type primary intraosseous squamous cell carcinoma in a cat.

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most common nonodontogenic oral tumor in cats. In the jaw, it usually presents as an ulceroproliferative lesion associated with enlargement of the affected bone.

Case Presentation: This report describes the case of a cat in which clinical and radiographic findings of a mandibular swelling were suggestive of an aggressive process, but the oral mucosa was unaffected.

Effects of Electrochemotherapy with Cisplatin and Peritumoral IL-12 Gene Electrotransfer on Canine Mast Cell Tumors: a Histopathologic and Immunohistochemical Study.

Background: The study was aimed to characterize tumor response after combined treatment employing electrochemotherapy with IL-12 gene electrotransfer in dogs with spontaneous mast cell tumors (MCT).

Materials And Methods: Eleven dogs with eleven MCT were included in the study. Histological changes were investigated in biopsy specimens collected before the treatment (T), and 4 (T) and 8 weeks (T) later.

Electrochemotherapy with intravenous bleomycin injection: an observational study in superficial squamous cell carcinoma in cats.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of electrochemotherapy (ECT) with bleomycin for treatment of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in cats. Between March 2008 and October 2011, 11 cats with 17 superficial SCC nodules in different clinical stages (ranging from Tis to T4), located on nasal planum (6/11), pinnae (3/11) and both locations (2/11), were included in a prospective non-randomised study. Sixteen of 17 SCC nodules were treated with ECT (15/16 with single session and in one case with two sessions); one nodule was surgically removed.

Surgical correction of labial fusion with vaginoplasty in a cat.

A spayed female domestic shorthair cat was first examined at the age of 16 months because of persistent licking of the perineal area. The cat had a grossly enlarged and oedematous vulva with pronounced superficial pyoderma of the perivulvar area, which responded favourably to systemic antibiotics, analgesics and local corticosteroids. A month after the initial examination, the cat was re-presented owing to pollakiuria, stranguria and dyschesia.

IL-12 based gene therapy in veterinary medicine.

The use of large animals as an experimental model for novel treatment techniques has many advantages over the use of laboratory animals, so veterinary medicine is becoming an increasingly important translational bridge between preclinical studies and human medicine. The results of preclinical studies show that gene therapy with therapeutic gene encoding interleukin-12 (IL-12) displays pronounced antitumor effects in various tumor models. A number of different studies employing this therapeutic plasmid, delivered by either viral or non-viral methods, have also been undertaken in veterinary oncology.

Electrogene therapy with interleukin-12 in canine mast cell tumors.

Background: Mast cell tumors (MCT) are the most common malignant cutaneous tumors in dogs with extremely variable biological behaviour. Different treatment approaches can be used in canine cutaneous MCT, with surgical excision being the treatment of choice. In this study, electrogene therapy (EGT) as a new therapeutic approach to canine MCTs, was established.

Controlled systemic release of interleukin-12 after gene electrotransfer to muscle for cancer gene therapy alone or in combination with ionizing radiation in murine sarcomas.

Background: The present study aimed to evaluate the antitumor effectiveness of systemic interleukin (IL)-12 gene therapy in murine sarcoma models, and to evaluate its interaction with the irradiation of tumors and metastases. To avoid toxic side-effects of IL-12 gene therapy, the objective was to achieve the controlled release of IL-12 after intramuscular gene electrotransfer.

Methods: Gene electrotransfer of the plasmid pORF-mIL12 was performed into the tibialis cranialis in A/J and C57BL/6 mice.

Local and systemic antitumor effect of intratumoral and peritumoral IL-12 electrogene therapy on murine sarcoma.

Soft tissue sarcomas pose a challenge for successful treatment with conventional therapeutic methods, therefore newer therapeutic approaches are considered. In this study, we evaluated the antitumor effect of IL-12 electrogene therapy (EGT) on murine SA-1 fibrosarcoma. The therapeutic plasmid was injected either intratumorally into subcutaneous SA-1 nodules or intradermally into the peritumoral region.

Gene electrotransfer into murine skeletal muscle: a systematic analysis of parameters for long-term gene expression.

Skeletal muscle is an attractive target tissue for delivery of therapeutic genes, since it is well vascularized, easily accessible, and has a high capacity for protein synthesis. For efficient transfection in skeletal muscle, several protocols have been described, including delivery of low voltage electric pulses and a combination of high and low voltage electric pulses. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of different parameters of electrotransfection on short-term and long-term transfection efficiency in murine skeletal muscle, and to evaluate histological changes in the treated tissue.

Sequence and time dependence of transfection efficiency of electrically-assisted gene delivery to tumors in mice.

Electrically-assisted gene delivery is a non-viral gene delivery technique, using application of square wave electric pulses to facilitate uptake of plasmid DNA into the cells. Feasibility and effectiveness of this method in vivo was already demonstrated, elaborating on pulse parameters and plasmid construction. However, there were no studies performed on sequencing and timing of plasmid DNA injection into the tumors and application of electric pulses.