Circadian control of lung inflammation in influenza infection.

Influenza is a leading cause of respiratory mortality and morbidity. While inflammation is essential for fighting infection, a balance of anti-viral defense and host tolerance is necessary for recovery. Circadian rhythms have been shown to modulate inflammation.

Pharmacokinetics of furosemide after intravenous, oral and transdermal administration to cats.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the pharmacokinetics of furosemide in cats following intravenous (IV), oral and transdermal administration.

Methods: This study used six healthy adult cats in a three-phase design to compare plasma furosemide concentrations in cats that received one IV 2 mg/kg dose of furosemide, one oral 2 mg/kg dose of furosemide and 3 days of q12h dosing with 2 mg/kg furosemide transdermally applied to the ear pinna.

Results: After IV administration the elimination half-life was (mean and coefficient of variation) 2.

Sample Size Determination for Evaluation of Time Domain Heart Rate Variability Indices in Canine Lameness.

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a physiologic phenomenon that occurs due to changing autonomic tone resulting in variable RR intervals. A reduction in HRV is used as an index of pain in neonatal human patients. Objective measures of pain would be valuable in the evaluation of canine patients and assessment of response to pain management strategies.

Status of therapeutic gene transfer to treat cardiovascular disease in dogs and cats.

Gene therapy is a procedure resulting in the transfer of a gene(s) into an individual's cells to treat a disease, which is designed to produce a protein or functional RNA (the gene product). Although most current gene therapy clinical trials focus on cancer and inherited diseases, multiple studies have evaluated the efficacy of gene therapy to abrogate various forms of heart disease. Indeed, human clinical trials are currently underway.

Cell signaling.

This review explores advances in our understanding of dynamicism in cellular signaling. Areas highlighted include the role of stochasticity in producing diversity in analogous signaling circumstances; population desynchronization's effect in masking newly appreciated repetitive bursts in protein phosphorylation and messenger RNA production; double-positive feedback interactions and their ability to synchronize multiple signal transduction pathways; scaffolding proteins control over signaling feedback; and frequency-responsive transcriptional regulation as an example of dynamicism in signaling.

Status of therapeutic gene transfer to treat canine dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs.

Therapeutic gene transfer holds promise as a way to treat dilated cardiomyopathy from any underlying cause because the approach attempts to address metabolic disturbances that occur at the molecular level of the failing heart. Calcium-handling abnormalities and increased rates of apoptosis are abnormalities that occur in many types of heart disease, and gene therapies that target these metabolic defects have proven to be beneficial in numerous rodent models of heart disease. The authors are currently evaluating this approach to treat canine idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Gene therapy in large animal models of human cardiovascular genetic disease.

Several naturally occurring animal models for human genetic heart diseases offer an excellent opportunity to evaluate potential novel therapies, including gene therapy. Some of these diseases--especially those that result in a structural defect during development (e.g.

Chronic oral therapy with enalapril in normal ponies.

Enalapril is an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor that is frequently used in human, feline and canine patients with cardiac disease. Its use has been associated with impotence in human patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if enalapril (0.

Gene therapy for cardiovascular manifestations of lysosomal storage diseases.

Cardiac disease causes morbidity in several lysosomal storage diseases, which are the result of deficient activity of lysosomal enzymes. Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) causes aortic and valvular disease, Pompe disease causes cardiac muscle weakness, and Fabry disease causes left ventricular hypertrophy. Enzyme replacement therapy involves intravenous injection of enzyme modified with mannose 6-phosphate, which can be taken up by cells, and is currently approved for some lysosomal storage diseases.

Adhesins of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Strains That Infect Animals.

The first described adhesive antigen of Escherichia coli strains isolated from animals was the K88 antigen, expressed by strains from diarrheic pigs. The K88 antigen was visible by electron microscopy as a surface-exposed filament that was thin and flexible and had hemagglutinating properties. Many different fimbriae have been identified in animal enterotoxigenic E.

Retrograde, transneuronal spread of pseudorabies virus in defined neuronal circuitry of the rat brain is facilitated by gE mutations that reduce virulence.

The pseudorabies virus (PRV) gE gene encodes a multifunctional membrane protein found in infected cell membranes and in the virion envelope. Deletion of the gE gene results in marked attenuation of the virus in almost every animal species tested that is permissive for PRV. A common inference is that gE mutants are less virulent because they have reduced ability to spread from cell to cell; e.

The role of natural killer cells in host-parasite interactions.

Natural killer cells contribute to resistance to infectious organisms, and may also influence the nature of the adaptive immune response associated with infection. During the past year, their role in these events has been more clearly defined. In addition, the results of several recent studies that have begun to define the mechanisms by which natural killer cells recognize their targets will be important in further elucidating their role in infectious disease.

Epidemiologic studies of Lyme disease in horses and their public health significance.

A serologic survey of horses in the New Jersey-Pennsylvania area demonstrated that about 10% (6.2-14.2%) have significant levels of serum antibody to Borrelia burgdorferi.