Posaconazole followed by combination itraconazole and terbinafine for treatment of disseminated histoplasmosis in a cat.

Objective: This is the first reported use of posaconazole for the treatment of feline disseminated histoplasmosis.

Animals: Approximately 1-year-old female spayed domestic longhair cat.

Clinical Presentation, Progression, And Procedures: The cat presented to our institution with weight loss, lymphadenomegaly, hepatosplenomegaly, limb edema, abdominal fluid distension and ulcerated cutaneous nodules.

Neutrophil extracellular traps in stored canine red blood cell units.

Background: Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), webs of DNA and citrullinated histones extruded from activated neutrophils cause transfusion-related acute lung injury. Supernatants of stored red blood cell (RBC) units might promote NETosis in neutrophils from the units or from transfusion recipients.

Hypotheses: (1) NETs form during storage of canine RBC, (2) leukoreduction (LR) before storage of RBC reduces NETosis, and (3) supernatant from stored, nonleukoreduced (NLR) RBC units induces NETosis in healthy canine neutrophils modeling transfusion recipients.

Inaccurate point-of-care blood glucose measurement in a dog with secondary erythrocytosis.

Background: Point-of-care (POC) portable blood glucose meters (PBGMs) are convenient and inexpensive tools for assessing patient blood glucose concentrations. They are often used to quickly diagnose hypoglycemia or collect serial glucose readings in diabetic patients. However, POC meters have been previously identified in human and veterinary literature to be inaccurate when utilized in patients with abnormal HCT.

AKT activation by N-cadherin regulates beta-catenin signaling and neuronal differentiation during cortical development.

Background: During cerebral cortical development, neural precursor-precursor interactions in the ventricular zone neurogenic niche coordinate signaling pathways that regulate proliferation and differentiation. Previous studies with shRNA knockdown approaches indicated that N-cadherin adhesion between cortical precursors regulates β-catenin signaling, but the underlying mechanisms remained poorly understood.

Results: Here, with conditional knockout approaches, we find further supporting evidence that N-cadherin maintains β-catenin signaling during cortical development.

Cortical neural precursors inhibit their own differentiation via N-cadherin maintenance of beta-catenin signaling.

Little is known about the architecture of cellular microenvironments that support stem and precursor cells during tissue development. Although adult stem cell niches are organized by specialized supporting cells, in the developing cerebral cortex, neural stem/precursor cells reside in a neurogenic niche lacking distinct supporting cells. Here, we find that neural precursors themselves comprise the niche and regulate their own development.