Four types of IVDD (disk degeneration, bulging of the intervertebral disk, disk protrusion, and disk extrusion) were identified on the basis of MRI findings in dogs with thoracolumbar IVDD. We recommend that a standardized nomenclature be adopted for the various types of thoracolumbar IVDD in dogs.

To report a case of HIV infection presenting with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and brucellosis that responded well to plasmapheresis and anti-infective therapy. A 64-year-old woman with moderate confusion, fever and pancytopenia was admitted. HIV infection history was taken from her family and she was not receiving antiretroviral therapy last one year. She had generalized purpuric skin lesions. Wright tube agglutination test was found positive with a 1:160 dilution and the patient was diagnosed as brucellosis. Detailed literature search showed brucellosis as a possible cause of TTP. Patient was treated by plasma exchange/fresh frozen plasma and antimicrobials and the response was excellent. Although brucellosis seems to explain the clinical picture of this patient, it is revealed that broad differential diagnosis is needed to reach uncommon diagnosis like TTP particularly in HIV infected patients.

No abstract

It was demonstrated that donor treatment with taurine resulted in preservation of transplanted lung tissue in respect to histopathological and biochemical findings.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a progressive fatal disorder. Bleomycin (BLM) is a widely used chemotherapeutic agent causing PF. Numerous agents have been investigated to prevent the progression of PF so far, but there is still a need to find more efficacious agents. Proanthocyanidin (PA) is a strong antioxidant, the main ingredient of grape seed extract. Since PA is ready for use in practice, we aimed to compare the preventive effect of PA in comparison with taurine (Tau) in BLM-induced PF. Forty Wistar male albino rats were used in the study and were divided into four groups: group 1, control; group 2, BLM-induced PF group; group 3, BLM-induced PF and treated with PA group; and group 4, BLM-induced PF and treated with Tau group. Treatments were begun 10 days before and continued 21 days after BLM injection. PA and Tau effectively inhibited inflammation, edema, severity of fibrosis, fibrosis extension, inflammatory cell accumulation, iNOS staining, and hydroxyproline level as well (p < 0.05). Total histological scores of the PA group were similar to the control group; Tau was significantly higher than the control group but lower than the BLM group (p < 0.05). We believe that PA could be a new treatment choice for PF, but further studies need to be conducted to verify the findings of the current study.