Abstract. Thirteen uterine tumors were diagnosed in 13 cats and accounted for 0.29% of all feline neoplasms received during a 9.6-year period. Age at diagnosis ranged from 3 to 16 years; median 9 years. Six were Domestic Shorthair cats, and 7 were purebred cats of 5 different breeds. Eight adenocarcinomas and 1 mixed Müllerian tumor (adenosarcoma) comprised the endometrial tumors. Myometrial tumors included 3 leiomyomas and 1 leiomyosarcoma. One of the adenocarcinomas developed in the uterine stump of an ovariohysterectomized cat; the other cats were sexually intact. Concurrent mammary adenocarcinoma was diagnosed in 1 cat with uterine adenocarcinoma and in another with uterine leiomyoma. Tumors were discovered during elective ovariohysterectomy in 2 cats, but at least 3 others had experienced reproductive problems (infertility or pyometra). Five cats presented for abdominal or pelvic masses. Endometrial adenocarcinomas were positive immunohistochemically for cytokeratins and negative for smooth muscle actin (SMA); 1 of 6 cats was positive for vimentin and 4 of 8 were positive for estrogen receptor-␣ (ER␣). Adenosarcoma stromal cells were positive for vimentin and ER␣ but negative for cytokeratins and SMA. Smooth muscle tumors were positive for vimentin and SMA and negative for cytokeratins. Leiomyomas, but not the leiomyosarcomas, were positive for ER␣. Adenocarcinomas in 4 cats had metastasized by the time of ovariohysterectomy. Two other cats were euthanized 5 months after ovariohysterectomy; at least one of these cats had developed an abdominal mass that was not examined histologically. Only 2 cats with endometrial adenocarcinoma had disease-free intervals longer than 5 months after surgery. Metastasis was not detected in any mesenchymal tumor; however, these cats were either euthanized on discovery of the tumor or the tumor was first detected at necropsy.Endometrial adenocarcinoma, the most common uterine epithelial tumor, is rare in domestic animals other than rabbits and cattle. 26 The most common mesenchymal tumor of the uterus is leiomyoma. 28 Uterine neoplasia is seemingly rare in cats. 44 No uterine neoplasms were recorded in separate reviews of 395 7 and 621 feline tumors, 17 and only 1-4 cases of uterine neoplasia (leiomyoma, 12,38,46 adenocarcinoma, 14,43,46 adenoma, 43 leiomyosarcoma, 46 or lymphosarcoma 13 ) were found in retrospective surveys of 165-571 cats with tumors. Uterine leiomyoma has been the most common tumor in retrospective studies limited to feline genital tract neoplasia. Four leiomyomas, 2 leiomyosarcomas, and 1 endometrial adenocarcinoma comprised the uterine tumors in 1 review. 24 In another report, 8 there were 8 leiomyomas, 4 adenocarcinomas, and 3 leiomyosarcomas. In a 20-year survey, 7 leiomyomas, 1 leiomyosarcoma, and no adenocarcinomas were recorded.

Dysregulation of hepatic lipid and cholesterol metabolism is a significant contributor to cardiometabolic health, resulting in excessive liver lipid accumulation and ultimately non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Therapeutic activators of the AMP-Activated Protein Kinase (AMPK) have been proposed as a treatment for metabolic diseases; we show that the AMPK β1-biased activator PF-06409577 is capable of lowering hepatic and systemic lipid and cholesterol levels in both rodent and monkey preclinical models. PF-06409577 is able to inhibit de novo lipid and cholesterol synthesis pathways, and causes a reduction in hepatic lipids and mRNA expression of markers of hepatic fibrosis. These effects require AMPK activity in the hepatocytes. Treatment of hyperlipidemic rats or cynomolgus monkeys with PF-06409577 for 6 weeks resulted in a reduction in circulating cholesterol. Together these data suggest that activation of AMPK β1 complexes with PF-06409577 is capable of impacting multiple facets of liver disease and represents a promising strategy for the treatment of NAFLD and NASH in humans.

Samples of connective tissue obtained from the hoof of six laminitic and eight non-laminitic adult horses were analysed zymographically to investigate whether connective tissue matrix metalloproteinases are activated or induced during laminitis. The activity or matrix metalloproteinases was substantially greater in the tissues from the laminitic horses than in the tissues from the non-laminitic horses. A comparison of the collagenolytic activity in the laminitic and control tissues showed that collagenolytic activities corresponding to the 92 kDa (P < 0.001), 72 kDa (P < 0.01) and 66 kDa (P < 0.01) bands were induced in the laminitic tissues.

A series of insertion patterns for chemically modified nucleotides [2'-O-methyl (2'-OMe), 2'-fluoro (2'-F), methoxyethyl (MOE), locked nucleic acid (LNA), and G-Clamp] within antisense gapmers is studied in vitro and in vivo in the context of the glucocorticoid receptor. Correlation between lipid transfection and unassisted (gymnotic--using no transfection agent) in vitro assays is seen to be dependent on the chemical modification, with the in vivo results corresponding to the unassisted assay in vitro. While in vitro mRNA knockdown assays are typically reasonable predictors of in vivo results, G-Clamp modified antisense oligonucleotides have poor in vivo mRNA knockdown as compared to transfected cell based assays. For LNA gapmers, knockdown is seen to be highly sensitive to the length of the antisense and number of LNA insertions, with longer 5LNA-10DNA-5LNA compounds giving less activity than 3LNA-10DNA-3LNA derivatives. Additionally, the degree of hepatoxicity for antisense gapmers with identical sequences was seen to vary widely with only subtle changes in the chemical modification pattern. While the optimization of knockdown and hepatic effects remains a sequence specific exercise, general trends emerge around preferred physical properties and modification patterns.