Results of this study in humans found statistically significant stimulation of collagen type I with no or mild inflammatory response after administration of injectable PLLA.

Background Otitis externa is a commonly diagnosed disorder in dogs and can carry a high welfare impact on affected animals. This study aimed to report the prevalence and explore the role of breed and aural conformation as predisposing factors for canine otitis externa in the UK. The study used a cohort design of dogs under UK primary veterinary care at clinics participating in the VetCompass Programme during 2016. Risk factor analysis used multivariable logistic regression modelling. Results The study included a random sample of 22,333 dogs from an overall population of 905,554 dogs under veterinary care in 2016. The one-year period prevalence of otitis externa was 7.30% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.97 to 7.65). Breed and ear carriage were the highest ranked risk factors. Compared with crossbred dogs, sixteen breed types showed increased odds, including: Basset Hound (odds ratio [OR] 5.87), Chinese Shar Pei (OR 3.44), Labradoodle (OR 2.95), Beagle (OR 2.54) and Golden Retriever (OR 2.23). Four breeds showed protection (i.e. reduced odds) of otitis externa: Chihuahua (OR 0.20), Border Collie (OR 0.34), Yorkshire Terrier (OR 0.49) and Jack Russell Terrier (OR 0.52). Designer breed types overall had 1.63 times the odds (95% CI 1.31 to 2.03) compared with crossbred dogs. Compared with breeds with erect ear carriage, breeds with pendulous ear carriage had 1.76 times the odds (95% CI 1.48 to 2.10) and breeds with V-shaped drop ear carriage had 1.84 times the odds (95% CI 1.53 to 2.21) of otitis externa. Conclusions Breed itself and breed-associated ear carriage conformation are important predisposing factors for canine otitis externa. Greater awareness of these associations for both predisposed and protected breeds could support veterinary practitioners to promote cautious and low-harm approaches in their clinical advice on preventive care for otitis externa, especially in predisposed breeds.

Carriage of Malassezia species yeasts in healthy Sphynx cats was compared with that in Devon Rex cats (DRC), Cornish Rex cats (CRC) and domestic shorthair (DSH) cats. Swab samples from the external ear, anus and claw folds, and contact plate samples from the axillae and groins, were incubated on modified Dixon's agar at 32°C for 7 days. Malassezia species were isolated from all 18 Sphynx cats; M pachydermatis accounted for 118/140 isolates. Of 20 isolates of M nana, 16 were recovered from the ear canal. M slooffiae was isolated from the claw fold of one cat and the left groin of another. The high counts of M pachydermatis obtained from the axillae, groins and claw folds of the Sphynx cats exceeded those of healthy DSH, CRC and DRC; axillary populations were comparable to those of seborrhoeic DRC. These data support recent reports of high Malassezia species colonisation in Sphynx cats.

This double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial indicates that Phytopica can be an effective glucocorticoid sparing agent in canine atopic dermatitis (AD). Twenty-two dogs with perennial AD [Canine Atopic Dermatitis with Severity Index (CADESI-03) >or= 60] were given 200 mg/kg Phytopica or an identical placebo in food once daily for 56 days. All dogs were initially given 0.4 mg/kg methyl-prednisolone once daily, which was then adjusted according to the daily pruritus score (0-100 mm visual analogue scale). The cumulative dose and pruritus score were lower in the Phytopica than the placebo group. There were statistically significant time and treatment effects for the methyl-prednisolone dose and pruritus score, but there were no significant differences between the Phytopica and placebo groups in the proportion of dogs that achieved a > 50% reduction in dose or pruritus scores at day 56; the mean CADESI-03 scores at days 0, 28 and 56; the numbers achieving >50% reduction in CADESI-03 at days 28 and 56; or in the owners' global efficacy score at days 28 and 56. Adverse events included diarrhoea (three Phytopica and one placebo treated dog), polyuria/polydipsia (three dogs in each group), and polyphagia, intermittent anorexia and panting (one dog each in the placebo group). None of these by themselves required withdrawal of treatment.

MeningoencephaloMyelitis of unknown aetiology (MUa) is a common inflammatory condition of the central nervous system and its adnexae in dogs. a presumptive clinical diagnosis of MUa is made based on signalment, history, neurological examination, cerebrospinal fluid assessment and magnetic resonance imaging findings following exclusion of infectious aetiologies. Definitive diagnosis requires histopathological examination of brain tissue, most commonly at postmortem examination, since antemortem brain biopsies are rarely performed (granger and others 2010, talarico and schatzberg 2010). the disease is progressive and fatal unless treated with immunomodulatory therapy (talarico and schatzberg 2010), such as glucocorticoid monotherapy (prednisolone at 1-2 mg/kg twice daily, granger and others 2010), or glucocorticoids in combination with other immunomodulatory agents, such as cytosine arabinoside (cytarabine). cytarabine is an antineoplastic and immunosuppressive agent that causes premature chain termination during Dna synthesis in mitotically active cells. it is an attractive adjunctive agent with glucocorticoids in MUa due to its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and to reduce long-term glucocorticoid requirement. Doses of 50 mg/m 2 are administered as subcutaneous injections every 12 hours over a 48-hour time period, repeated every three to six weeks (Zarfoss and others 2006). in dogs, side effects of cytarabine include myelosuppression, vomiting, diarrhoea and alopecia (scott-Moncrieff and others 1991). in humans, cutaneous side effects of cytarabine are acral erythema, papular or bullous eruptions and vasculitis (cetkovska and others 2002). here, we report the development of severe focal calcinosis cutis and deep pyoderma at the interscapular injection site of cytarabine during combination therapy with prednisolone in three dogs with MUa. to the best of our knowledge, this has not been previously documented. the electronic patient records of the Queen Mother hospital for animals, Royal Veterinary college, london, were searched from 2004 to 2011 for dogs with a presumptive clinical or confirmed diagnosis of MUa. three hundred and sixteen cases were identified, of which 178