BackgroundProtozoa and bacteria transmitted by arthropods, including ticks and phlebotomine sand flies, may cause a wide range of canine vector-borne diseases. Dogs can be simultaneously or sequentially infected with multiple pathogens. Canine babesiosis caused by Babesia canis canis and Babesia canis vogeli is known to occur in Portugal. This study assessed, by means of blood smear examination, PCR and DNA nucleotide sequencing, the presence of Babesia spp. and co-infecting agents Leishmania, Anaplasma/Ehrlichia and Hepatozoon in 45 dogs from northern Portugal clinically suspected of babesiosis.ResultsForty-four dogs (98%) had infection with B. canis canis and one with B. canis vogeli. Co-infections were detected in nine animals (20%). Eight dogs were found infected with two vector-borne agents: six with B. canis canis and Leishmania infantum; one with B. canis canis and Ehrlichia canis; and one with B. canis canis and Hepatozoon canis. Another dog was infected with three vector-borne pathogens: B. canis vogeli, E. canis and L. infantum. Overall, L. infantum was found in seven (16%), E. canis in two (4%), and H. canis in one (2%) out of the 45 dogs with babesiosis. Almost 90% of the 45 cases of canine babesiosis were diagnosed in the colder months of October (18%), November (27%), December (20%), February (13%) and March (9%). Co-infections were detected in February, March, April, May, October and November. Twenty-two (50%) out of 44 dogs infected with B. canis were found infested by ticks including Dermacentor spp., Ixodes spp. and Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Mortality (9%) included two co-infected dogs that died spontaneously and two with single infections that were euthanized.ConclusionsBabesia canis canis is the main etiological agent of canine babesiosis in northern Portugal. A higher sensitivity of Babesia spp. detection was obtained with PCR assays, compared to the observation of blood smears. Twenty percent of the dogs were co-infected with L. infantum, E. canis or H. canis. Furthermore, this is the first molecular identification of H. canis in dogs from northern Portugal.

BackgroundInflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has a physical, psychological and social impact, often compromising the patient's ability to perform daily activities. Recently a new measurement for disability in IBD was developed. The Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Disability Score (IBD-DS) comprises the following domains: mobility, self-care, major daily life activities, gastrointestinal-related problems, mental health and interaction with the environment. The aim of our study was to translate to Portuguese and to validate the IBD-DS.MethodsEighty-five patients, 55 with Crohn's disease (CD) and 30 with ulcerative colitis (UC), completed the Portuguese version of the IBD-DS and the short inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire (SIBDQ-10 questions). Disease activity was assessed using the Harvey–Bradshaw (HB) for CD and partial Mayo score (pMayo) for UC. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to assess the correlation between the IBD-DS and SIBDQ. The Student's t-test was used to compare the mean of IBD-DS between active and inactive disease. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 21.0 and the statistical level of significance (α) was established at 5%.ResultsIn our study, a significant negative correlation between the IBD-DS and the SIBDQ was observed (r = −0.858, p < 0.001 for CD and r = −0.933, p < 0.001 for UC). There was a statistically significant difference of the mean of IBD-DS between inactive vs. active disease (93.78 vs. 117.57, p = 0.016 for CD and 78.96 vs. 137.14, p < 0.001 for UC).ConclusionThe Portuguese version of the inflammatory bowel disease-disability score has a strong correlation with patients’ quality of life and clinical disease activity and was shown to be a valid tool to measure disability in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

BackgroundCanine leishmaniosis (CanL) caused by Leishmania infantum is an endemic zoonosis in southern European countries. Infected dogs can present rare or atypical forms of the disease and diagnosis can be challenging. The present report describes a case of tongue nodules in a 3-year-old neutered female Labrador Retriever dog with leishmaniosis.FindingsA fine needle aspiration of the lingual nodules revealed amastigote forms of Leishmania inside macrophages. Differential diagnosis ruled out neoplasia, calcinosis circumscripta, solar glossitis, vasculitis, amyloidosis, eosinophilic granulomas, chemical and electrical burns, uremic glossitis and autoimmune diseases. Combined therapy with antimoniate meglumine and allopurinol for 30 days resulted in the normalization of hematological and biochemical parameters. Two months after diagnosis and the beginning of treatment, a mild inflammatory infiltrate was observed by histopathology, but an anti-Leishmania immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) was negative as well as a PCR on both tongue lesions and a bone marrow aspirate. Seven months after diagnosis, the dog’s general condition appeared good, there were no tongue lesions and a new IFAT was negative. Fifteen months after diagnosis this clinically favourable outcome continued.ConclusionsThe dog could have suffered a relapsing episode of CanL, but a new systemic or local infection cannot be excluded. Regular clinical re-evaluation should be maintained, as a future relapse can potentially occur. In conclusion, CanL should be considered in the differential diagnosis of nodular glossitis in dogs.

Introduction: Although different scores have been suggested to predict outcomes in the setting of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB), few comparative studies between simplified versions of older scores and recent scores have been published. We aimed to evaluate the accuracy of pre- (PreRS) and postendoscopic Rockall scores (PostRS), the Glasgow-Blatchford score (GBS) and its simplified version (sGBS), as well as the AIMS65 score in predicting different clinical outcomes. Methods: In this retrospective study, PreRS, PostRS, GBS, sGBS, and AIMS65 score were calculated, and then, areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve were used to evaluate the performance of each score to predict blood transfusion, endoscopic therapy, surgery, admission to intensive/intermediate care unit, length of hospital stay, as well as 30-day rebleeding or mortality. Results: PreRS, PostRS, GBS, and sGBS were calculated for all the 433 included patients, but AIMS65 calculation was only possible for 315 patients. Only the PreRS and PostRS were able to fairly predict 30-day mortality. The GBS and sGBS were good in predicting blood transfusion and reasonable in predicting surgery. None of the studied scores were good in predicting the need for endoscopic therapy, admission to intensive/intermediate care unit, length of hospital stay, and 30-day rebleeding. Conclusions: Owing to the identified limitations, none of the 5 studied scores could be singly used to predict all the clinically relevant outcomes in the setting of UGIB. The sGBS was as precise as the GBS in predicting blood transfusion and surgery. The PreRS and PostRS were the only scores that could predict 30-day mortality. An algorithm using the PreRS and the sGBS as an initial approach to patients with UGIB is presented and suggested.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most commonly diagnosed internal malignancies affecting men. Due to the important roles of IL-6 in different physiological and pathophysiological processes, IL-6 polymorphisms may modulate PCa risk. IL-6 -174 G>C (rs 1800795, also designated -236 G>C) and -636 G>C (rs 1800796, also designated -572 G>C) promoter polymorphisms have been implicated in PCa susceptibility, albeit still controversial. A literature search using PubMed and Highwire databases was conducted, resulting in eight case-control studies concerning the IL-6 -174 G>C polymorphism (11,613 PCa cases and 13,992 controls) and four case-control publications regarding the IL-6 -636 G>C polymorphism (1,941 PCa cases and 3,357 controls). In order to derive a more precise estimation, a meta-analysis based upon these selected case-control studies was performed. There was no significant association between IL-6 -174 G>C polymorphism and PCa increased risk. Nevertheless, the presence of allele C and the CC genotype were statistically significantly associated with decreased PCa risk in the overall analysis for IL-6 -636 G>C polymorphism. Additional studies in larger samples and analyses of functional repercussions of these SNPs in prostate tumor cells are necessary to validate these findings.