Blood-brain barrier dysfunction and decreased transcription of tight junction proteins in epileptic dogs.

Background: Epilepsy in dogs and humans is associated with blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction (BBBD), which may involve dysfunction of tight junction (TJ) proteins, matrix metalloproteases, and astrocytes. Imaging techniques to assess BBB integrity, to identify potential treatment strategies, have not yet been evaluated in veterinary medicine.

Hypothesis: Some dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (IE) will exhibit BBBD.

Training and validation of a novel non-invasive imaging system for ruling out malignancy in canine subcutaneous and cutaneous masses using machine learning in 664 masses.

Objective: To train and validate the use of a novel artificial intelligence-based thermal imaging system as a screening tool to rule out malignancy in cutaneous and subcutaneous masses in dogs.

Animals: Training study: 147 client-owned dogs with 233 masses. Validation Study: 299 client-owned dogs with 525 masses.

Quantitative analysis of magnetic resonance images for characterization of blood-brain barrier dysfunction in dogs with brain tumors.

Background: Blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability can be assessed quantitatively using advanced imaging analysis.

Hypothesis/objectives: Quantification and characterization of blood-brain barrier dysfunction (BBBD) patterns in dogs with brain tumors can provide useful information about tumor biology and assist in distinguishing between gliomas and meningiomas.

Animals: Seventy-eight hospitalized dogs with brain tumors and 12 control dogs without brain tumors.

Detection of blood-brain barrier dysfunction using advanced imaging methods to predict seizures in dogs with meningoencephalitis of unknown origin.

Background: The blood-brain barrier (BBB), which separates the intravascular and neuropil compartments, characterizes the vascular bed of the brain and is essential for its proper function. Recent advances in imaging techniques have driven the development of methods for quantitative assessment of BBB permeability.

Hypothesis/objectives: Permeability of the BBB can be assessed quantitatively in dogs with meningoencephalitis of unknown origin (MUO) and its status is associated with the occurrence of seizures.

Telmisartan as an add-on treatment for dogs with refractory idiopathic epilepsy: a nonrandomized, uncontrolled, open-label clinical trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effect on seizure frequency of add-on telmisartan treatment in dogs with refractory idiopathic epilepsy.

Animals: 11 client-owned dogs with idiopathic epilepsy and ≥ 2 generalized seizures/mon that were currently being treated with ≥ 2 antiepileptic drugs.

Procedures: Telmisartan was administered at a dosage of 0.

Prospective evaluation of 5 urinary biomarkers as predictors of acute kidney injury in nonazotemic, hospitalized dogs.

Background: Early recognition of acute kidney injury (AKI) is hindered by current definitions and use of traditional, insensitive markers.

Hypothesis/objectives: Urinary (u) activity of γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and concentrations of heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) and interleukins (ILs) -6 and -18, are predictive biomarkers for AKI and survival.

Animals: Nonazotemic, hospitalized dogs (n = 118) and healthy controls (n = 20).

Extended spectrum β lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae shedding by race horses in Ontario, Canada.

Background: We aimed to investigate the prevalence, molecular epidemiology and prevalence factors for Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) shedding by race horses. A cross-sectional study was performed involving fecal samples collected from 169 Thoroughbred horses that were housed at a large racing facility in Ontario, Canada. Samples were enriched, plated on selective plates, sub-cultured to obtain pure cultures and ESBL production was confirmed.

Conserved role of matrix metalloproteases 2 and 9 in promoting the migration of neural crest cells in avian and mammalian embryos.

Neural crest cells (NCCs) are a unique embryonic cell population that initially reside at the dorsal neural tube but later migrate in the embryo and differentiate into multiple types of derivatives. To acquire motility, NCCs undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and invade the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). Matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) are a large family of proteases which regulate migration of various embryonic and adult cells via ECM remodeling.

Paroxysmal slow cortical activity in Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy is associated with blood-brain barrier dysfunction.

A growing body of evidence shows that epileptic activity is frequent but often undiagnosed in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and has major therapeutic implications. Here, we analyzed electroencephalogram (EEG) data from patients with AD and found an EEG signature of transient slowing of the cortical network that we termed paroxysmal slow wave events (PSWEs). The occurrence per minute of the PSWEs was correlated with level of cognitive impairment.

Detection of Intraspinal Spirocerca lupi in Canine Cerebrospinal Fluid by Polymerase Chain Reaction.

Aberrant migration of Spirocerca lupi into the spinal cord is an important cause of severe progressive neurological dysfunction in dogs. Although early diagnosis is essential to prevent deterioration, ante-mortem diagnosis of this condition remains challenging. The aim of this study was to evaluate the detection of the 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) S.

Blood-brain barrier dysfunction in canine epileptic seizures detected by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.

Objective: Dogs with spontaneous or acquired epilepsy exhibit resemblance in etiology and disease course to humans, potentially offering a translational model of the human disease. Blood-brain barrier dysfunction (BBBD) has been shown to partake in epileptogenesis in experimental models of epilepsy. To test the hypothesis that BBBD can be detected in dogs with naturally occurring seizures, we developed a linear dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) analysis algorithm that was validated in clinical cases of seizing dogs and experimental epileptic rats.

Prickle1 as positive regulator of oligodendrocyte differentiation.

Spontaneous neural repair from endogenous neural stem cells' (NSCs) niches occurs in response to central nervous system (CNS) injuries to only a limited extent. Uncovering the mechanisms that control neural repair and can be further manipulated to promote NSCs toward oligodendrocyte progenitors cells (OPCs) and myelinating oligodendrocytes is a major objective. In the current study, we describe high-throughput transcriptional changes in adult mouse subventricular zone (SVZ)-NSCs during differentiation in vitro.