Liver fibrosis is characterized by excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix components in the liver parenchyma that distorts the normal architecture and hepatic function. Progressive fibrosis could end in the advanced stage known as cirrhosis, resulting in the need to resort to liver transplantation. Amniotic membrane (AM) has emerged as an innovative therapeutic approach for chronic liver diseases due to its anti-inflammatory, antiscarring, and wound-healing effects. We have recently shown that AM can be used as a patch on the liver surface at the same time of fibrosis induction, resulting in significantly reduced progression and severity of biliary fibrosis. Here we investigated the effects of human AM on the established rat model of liver fibrosis, induced by the bile duct ligation (BDL). We also explored the effect of AM on the expression of transforming growth factor-1 (TGF-1), the main profibrogenic factor in hepatic fibrosis, and the proinflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Two weeks after BDL, the liver was covered with a fragment of AM or left untreated. Six weeks later, the fibrosis was first assessed by the semiquantitative Knodell and the METAVIR scoring systems and, thereafter, by CellProfiler digital image analysis to quantify the area occupied by collagen deposition, ductular reactions (DRs), activated myofibroblasts, and TGF-1. The hepatic cytokines were determined by ELISA. AM-treated rats showed a significantly lower score compared to the control BDL rats (2.50.9 vs. 3.50.3, respectively; p0.05). The collagen deposition, DRs, number of activated myofibroblasts, and TGF-1 were all reduced to about 50% of levels observed in untreated BDL rats. These findings suggest that AM, when applied as a patch onto the liver surface, is useful for treating well-established cholestatic fibrosis, and the mechanism was partly by means of downregulating the profibrotic factor TGF-1 and IL-6.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the association of low-level laser therapy (LLLT, 830 nm) and calcitonin in bone repair considering that bone healing remains a challenge to health professionals. Calcitonin has antiosteoclastic action and LLLT is a treatment that uses low-level lasers or light-emitting diodes to alter cellular function. Both are used to improve bone healing. Densitometry is a clinical noninvasive valuable tool used to evaluate bone mineral density (BMD). Sixty male rats were submitted to bone defect with a trephine bur, randomly divided into four groups of 15 animals each: control (C); synthetic salmon calcitonin (Ca); LLLT (La); LLLT combined with calcitonin (LaCa). Animals from Ca and LaCa received 2 UI/Kg synthetic salmon calcitonin intramuscularly on alternate days after surgery. Animals from groups La and LaCa were treated with infrared LLLT (830 nm, 10 mW, 20 J/cm2, 6 s, contact mode). Five animals from each group were euthanized 7, 14, and 21 days after surgery and bone defects were analyzed by densitometry. Statistical analysis showed a significant difference in BMD values in LaCa group at 7 and 21 days (). The results of the densitometric study showed that LLLT (830 nm) combined with calcitonin improved bone repair.

This article reports results of the in vitro study for potential evaluation of the laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy in the differentiation between normal and neoplastic human breast tissue. A coumarine dye laser pumped by nitrogen laser generated an excitation light centered at 458 nm. In order to collect the fluorescence signal was used an optical fiber catheter coupled to a spectrometer and CCD detector. Fluorescence spectra were recorded from normal and neoplastic (benign and malignant) human breast tissue, adding up 94 different areas. The discrimination between normal and neoplasm groups reach a sensitivity and specificity of 100%.

A six-year old Holstein cow with an eye cancer (ocular squamous cell carcinoma) involving the third eyelid and conjunctiva was submitted to photodynamic therapy using intratumoral 20% aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA -Aldrich Chemical Company, Milwaukee, USA) and a light emitting diode (LED -VET LED -MMOptics®) with wavelength between 600 and 700 nm, 2 cm diameter circular light beam, power of 150 mW, light dose of 50 J/cm 2 as a source of irradiation. Fifteen days after the experimental procedure we observed about 50% tumor reduction and complete remission after 3 months. Relapse was not observed up to 12 months after the treatment. Although the study only includes one animal not allowing definite conclusions, it indicates that PDT represents a safe and technically feasible approach in the treatment of eye cancer in cattle.

Ingested or penetrating foreign bodies are common in veterinary medicine. When they are radiolucent, these objects become a diagnostic challenge, but they can be investigated sonographically. However, successful object identification depends on the skill of the sonographer. Considering that these cases appear randomly during hospital routines, it is not always possible to train all students to identify them correctly. Therefore, the aim of this study was to produce homemade simulations of radiolucent foreign bodies for veterinary student demonstrations that could be identified sonographically and to evaluate the acceptability, applicability, and usefulness of these simulations according to a visual analog scale questionnaire and subjective questions. For this purpose, object models (a pacifier nipple, a toy ball, a sock, nylon thread, and a mango seed) were designed, produced, and immersed in gelatin. To simulate wood splinters in the integumentary and musculoskeletal system, a piece of meat punctured with a toothpick and ice cream stick splinters were used. The type of phantom had a determinant effect on the visualization (chi-square = 36.528, P< 0.0001) and recognition (chi-square = 18.756, P = 0.0021) capability of the students. All of the students answered that their experience with the models could help in real situations. The student responses to the questionnaire indicated that the project was well accepted, and the participants believed that this experience could be applicable to and useful in veterinary routines.

This study aimed to investigate the pharmacokinetics of a hematoporphyrin derivative in colonic tumors induced by dimethylhydrazine and adjacent normal colon in Wistar rats using anin vivofluorescence spectroscopy technique. In conventional clinical application of photodynamic therapy, the interval between photosensitizer (PS) administration and lesion illumination is often standardized without taking into account variations due to the type or localization of the tumor and intrinsic differences in the microcirculation and vascular permeability of each target organ. The analysis of the fluorescence spectra was based on the intensity of porphyrin emission band centered at around 620 nm in normal colon and colon tumors. The photosensitizer fluorescence intensity rapidly grew for carcinoma and normal colon, reaching the maximum values 1 and 3 hours after PS injection, respectively. Data presented here allow us to verify that the best compromise between selectivity and drug concentration for colon carcinoma in rats took place in the interval between 1 to 4 h after PS injection.

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is an emerging and promising therapeutic modality for treatment of a wide variety of malignant and nononcologic tumors, as well as in the treatment of infected skin ulcers. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the PDT to treat a chronic skin wound that had been already subjected to several clinical and surgical type treatments in a dog. The animal with an infected chronic skin wound with 8 cm diameter in the left leg received an injection of an aqueous solution of 1% methylene blue (MB) with 2% lidocaine into the lesion. After MB injection the wound was irradiated using a LED (LED-VET MMOptics®) with a wavelength between 600 and 700 nm, 2 cm diameter circular light beam, of 150 mW of power, light dose of 50 J/cm 2 . After 3 and 6 weeks PDT was repeated and the wound was re-evaluated. Complete healing was achieved 10 weeks after the first procedure.

The assessment of heart rate variability (HRV) by linear methods in conjunction with Poincaré plots can be useful for evaluating cardiac regulation by the autonomic nervous system and for the diagnosis and prognosis of heart disease in snakes. In this report, we describe an analysis of HRV in conscious adult corn snakes Pantherophis guttatus (P. guttatus).  The electrocardiogram (ECG) parameters were determined in adult corn snakes (8 females, 13 males) and used for HRV analysis, and the RR interval was analyzed by linear methods in the time and frequency domains. There was no sex-related difference in heart rate. However, significant differences were seen in the duration of the P, PR, and T waves and QRS complex; there was no difference in the QT interval. The values for the RR interval varied by 15.3% and 18.8% in male and female snakes, respectively, and there was considerable variation in the values for the high and low frequency domains. The changes in the time domain were attributed to regulation by the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system, in agreement with variations in the high and low frequency domains. The values for standard deviations 1 and 2 in Poincaré plots, as well as the values of the frequency domain, provide useful parameters for future studies of cardiac function in P. guttatus.