Search

ABSTRACT: Type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is characterized by defects in insulin secretion and combined peripheral resistance to the hormone. Several non-human primates (NHP) species develop T2DM, mainly captive animals with reduced physical activity and incorrect feeding. This case report describes the T2DM treatment of a black-eared marmoset (Callithrix penicillata) by diet reformulation and metformin oral administration. An adult female was diagnosed with T2DM after hyperglycemia and high serum fructosamine associated with glycosuria and obesity. Metformin hydrochloride (125mg/animal, orally, q24h) associated with feeding intervention was started. After 26 days, a significant reduction in weight, glycemia, and serum fructosamine could be observed, showing satisfactory results for the adopted therapy. Metformin is considered a safe drug for T2DM treatment due to its low hypoglycemia risk. The new diet consisted of sweet potato, squash, and varied fruits offered twice daily. In addition, thawed-mice newborns, egg whites, and small portions of pelleted primate food. In the present report, metformin use, associated with a low glycemic index diet, was effective in treating this particular marmoset and may present a potential for T2DM treatment in other NHPs.

ABSTRACT: This study carried out a survey about enteropathogenic agents in domestic cats’ shelter as a stage of investigation for the intermittent chronic diarrhea. Individual fecal samples from 39 cats with free access to the external environment were submitted to parasitological examination, parvovirus, and coronavirus by PCR, and Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia spp. and Tritrichomonas foetus by real-time PCR. From the cats evaluated, 30 (76.9%) were positive for one or more enteric agents, and coinfections were observed in 11 cats samples (28.2%). Helminth eggs were observed in 48.7% of cats (19/30), 16 (41%) were positive for parvovirus or coronavirus and 25.6% (10/30) were infected by protozoa. From the positives for protozoa, five cats were positive to T. foetus (12.82%). The first finding of this protozoan through PCR was in the southern Brazil, and the second was in the whole country. Chronic diarrhea in cats may be multifactorial in shelter animals where the population density is high and the control of parasitic, and viral infections are deficient. Moreover, it is due to poor hygiene conditions in these shelters. The factors associated with the proliferation of infectious diseases in shelters are correlated with new pathogens infections such as T. foetus.

ABSTRACT: Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is a highly infectious pathogen that affects bovines worldwide leading to great economic impact. Although Brazil has the largest commercial cattle population throughout the world and an increasing buffalo breeding industry, the country has no control or eradication program for BVDV. In this perspective, the aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of BVDV in cattle and buffaloes from two Brazilian states. Four different ELISA tests were performed and confirmed by virus neutralization testing (VNT). The presence of BVDV antibodies in the serum or plasma from 77 cattle from six herds (ELISA-1 and ELISA-4) and from 89 buffaloes from three herds (ELISA-1 through ELISA-4) was detected. Extraction of viral RNA was performed from the serum or plasma samples for the detection of BVDV by RT-PCR analysis. Amplified nucleotide sequences were used to construct a phylogenetic tree. In cattle, ELISA-1 detected 49.4% of seropositive animals, while ELISA-4 detected 37.7%. In buffaloes, ELISA-1 failed to detect any seropositive animals, while ELISA-2 and ELISA-3 detected 20.2% of seropositive animals, and ELISA-4 detected 21.3%. Eight of the nine herds tested had seropositive animals. The rate of PCR positive animals was 6.5% in cattle and 9% in buffaloes. Subtype 1d was found in cattle, and subtypes 1d and 1f were found in buffaloes. This is the first-time subtype 1f has been reported in Brazil. The absence of a control and eradication program seems to be favoring the spread of BVDV in the Brazilian herds. In addition, the improvement of diagnostic strategies for BVDV in buffaloes are required.

Demanding attention in order to keep postural balance increases with aging and with the presence of concurrent tasks that require information processing. Several studies have demonstrated that motor performance can be related to the complexity of the task and aging process, presenting a possible interaction between these factors. The aim of this review was to identify and analyze published papers about the effects of cognitive tasks on the postural control of elderly individuals. A systematic search in the Web of Science, SportDiscus, CINAHL. Science Direct on line, Biological Abstracts, PsycINFO, and Medline databases was made and 444 articles were found. Eight were selected that studied the variables of interest. These studies showed that postural control seems to be influenced by the individual's attention processes and that deficits in such ability may be associated to an increased risk of falls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the effects of regular, systematic and supervised activity on the cognitive functions, balance and risk of falls of elderly patients with Alzheimer's Dementia (AD). Methods: Sixteen elderly patients (mean age 78.5±6.8 years) were divided into two groups: intervention group (IG; n=9) and routine group (RG; n= 7) The IG exercised systematically for six months, and both groups were submitted to the following tests: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) and the agility/dynamic balance (AGIBAL) item of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) test battery. Results: There was a statistically significant interaction (two-way ANOVA; F1, 14 =32.07; p=0.01) between groups and moments for the AGIBAL. The Mann Whitney U test indicated significant differences between groups (p=0.03), only at the post-intervention moment for the TUG measured in steps and for BBS. Therefore, no significant intergroup differences were found for the TUG, BBS and MMSE at the pre-intervention moment or at post-intervention moment for the TUG measured in seconds and MMSE. The intragroup analysis by means of the Wilcoxon test showed a significant decline in the TUG, BBS and MMSE for the RG, but not for the IG. Spearman's coefficient showed a significant correlation between the results of the MMSE and AGIBAL. Conclusions: Physical activity may be an important non-pharmacological approach that can benefit cognitive functions and balance and reduce the risk of falls. Moreover, agility and balance are associated with cognitive functions in elderly patients with AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine which spatial and temporal parameters are predictors of the gait pattern of individuals with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, for the aerobic endurance and agility tests included in the battery of tests of the AAHPERD protocol. Methods: Six men and six women with mild and moderate impairment and disease stage were selected. They performed agility and aerobic endurance test in accordance with the AAHPERD protocol, and walked 8 m on a walkway. A digital video camera recorded one central stride. Markers were attached to the fifth metatarsal and lateral face of the calcaneus of the right leg and to the first metatarsal and medial face of the calcaneus of the leg. The dependent variables selected were the time taken in the agility and endurance tests and the kinematic variables: stride length (SL), cadence (CAD), stride time (ST), double support time (DS), single support time (SS), swing time (SW) and stride velocity (SV). Results: For agility, Pearson's test showed statistically significant correlations with SL (r=-0.70; p

Objective: To determine which spatial and temporal parameters are predictors of the gait pattern of individuals with idiopathic Parkinson's Disease, for the aerobic endurance and agility tests included in the battery of tests of the AAHPERD protocol. Methods: Six men and six women with mild and moderate impairment and disease stage were selected. They performed agility and aerobic endurance test in accordance with the AAHPERD protocol, and walked 8 m on a walkway. A digital video camera recorded one central stride. Markers were attached to the fifth metatarsal and lateral face of the calcaneus of the right leg and to the first metatarsal and medial face of the calcaneus of the left leg. The dependent variables selected were the time taken in the agility and endurance tests and the kinematic variables: stride length (SL), cadence (CAD), stride time (ST), double support time (DS), single support time (SS), swing time (SW) and stride velocity (SV). Results: For agility, Pearson's test showed statistically significant correlations with SL (r=-0.70; p≤0.05), CAD (r=-0.72; p≤0.01), SV (r=-0.83; p≤0.01), ST (r=0.71; p≤0.01) and DS (r=0.90; p≤0.01). For endurance, there were correlations with SL (r=-0.67; p≤0.05), CAD (r=-0.72; p≤0.01), SV (r=-0.82; p≤0.01), ST (r=0.71; p≤0.01), and DS (r=0.90; p≤0.01). Multiple regression analysis revealed that DS was the only variable that predicted performance in both the agility (R2=0.82; p≤0.01) and the endurance (R2=0.81; p≤0.01) tests. Conclusions: It was observed that DS measure has a potential use as a kinematic parameter of gait that predicts the performance in agility and aerobic endurance tests in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the effects of regular, systematic and supervised activity on the cognitive functions, balance and risk of falls of elderly patients with Alzheimer's Dementia (AD)., Methods: Sixteen elderly patients (mean age 78.5+/-6.8 years) were divided into two groups: intervention group (IG; n=9) and routine group (RG; n=7). The IG exercised systematically for six months, and both groups were submitted to the following tests: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) and the agility/dynamic balance (AGIBAL) item of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) test battery., Results: There was a statistically significant interaction (two-way ANOVA; F1,14=32.07; p=0.01) between groups and moments for the AGIBAL. The Mann Whitney U test indicated significant differences between groups (p=0.03), only at the post-intervention moment for the TUG measured in steps and for BBS. Therefore, no significant intergroup differences were found for the TUG, BBS and MMSE at the pre-intervention moment or at post-intervention moment for the TUG measured in seconds and MMSE. The intragroup analysis by means of the Wilcoxon test showed a significant decline in the TUG, BBS and MMSE for the RG, but not for the IG. Spearman's coefficient showed a significant correlation between the results of the MMSE and AGIBAL., Conclusions: Physical activity may be an important non-pharmacological approach that can benefit cognitive functions and balance and reduce the risk of falls. Moreover, agility and balance are associated with cognitive functions in elderly patients with AD.

Objective: Despite the growing evidence of the benefits of physical exercise for cognition, there is a controversy about the systematic practice of physical activity in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, the objective of this study was to procedure a systematic review of studies that analyzed the effect of systematized physical activity on cognitive performance in elderly individuals with Alzheimer's disease., Method: We conducted a search in PsycINFO, Biological Abstracts, Medline, Web of Science, Physical Education and SPORTDiscus Index from 1990 to 2008, using the following keywords: 'physical activity', 'physical therapy', 'exercise', 'fitness', 'aerobic', 'strength', 'intervention', 'cognition', 'cognitive performance', 'Alzheimer's disease', 'Alzheimer's dementia', 'Alzheimer's', and cross-references of selected articles., Results: There were found eight studies that met inclusion criteria adopted for the present work. These studies showed that systematized physical activity contributed to at least improve temporarily some cognitive functions of patients with Alzheimer's disease, particularly, attention, executive functions and language., Conclusion: Unable to establish a protocol of recommendations about the type and intensity of systematized physical activity required to produce benefits in cognitive functioning. However, the practice of regular systematized physical activity appears to contribute to the preservation or improvement of cognitive functions in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

The author studied the mnemonic activity from epileptic patients with complex partial seizures (CPS), with the aims: 1) to identify memory disorders; and 2) to compare the patients' with the controls' results. Fifty adult patients and 20 subjects without neuropsychiatric disorders were studied. The methods consisted in: 1) investigation of the mnemonic activity through the Wechsler Memory Test (subtests: Storage and Recall, Recent Memory, and Immediate Memory); 2) comparison among the results of both groups; association from mnemonic activity with brain SPECT. In the three subtests, the patients showed cognitive performance significantly lower than the controls (p < 0.05). It was found association from reduced blood flow, mainly in left temporal region, with memory impairment of the three subtetsts. The conclusion was that the CPS are associated to memory impairment.

Purpose: To report the results of percutaneous coronary interventions, in Brazil, in the years 1996-97, comparing them to those of 1992-93., Methods: Data were collected in a standard form and the 1996-97 results were compared to those of 1992-93., Results: The current Registry received data from 79% effective members of the SBHCI in 127 hospitals, including 22,025 patients, 60.67% of whom underwent PTCA, 36.57% stent implantation, 2.3% PTRA, 0.06% DCA and 0.4% laser angioplasty. Balloon angioplasty was the most frequent procedure in 1996-97, but its overall rate fell from 6.75% to 55.8% (p = 0.0001) concomitantly, there was a 35% relative increase in the use of stents from 1992-93 to 1996-97. The success rate of the later period was higher (89.7% vs 92.8%, p = 0.000001), with lower residual stenosis (22% vs 19%, p = 0.001). Besides, there were lower major complications rates: acute myocardial infarction (2.5% vs 1.2%, p = 0.002) and death (1.8% vs 1.4%, p = 0.0003)., Conclusion: The procedures most often carried out in both periods were balloon angioplasty (60.67%) and implantation of stents (36.57%); the success rate high, abrupt closure rate was low (1.5%). These favorable results corroborate the high standards of the Brazilian Interventional Cardiology.

Six patients with Q-wave myocardial infarction in the ECG, two with coronary disease, two with metabolic alterations, one with acute myocarditis and another with ischemic stroke had an improvement of ECG tracings with disappearance of the Q wave. All had normal plasmatic levels of CPK and CKMB. It is believed that metabolic transitory disturbance of the myocardium increases the rest transmembrane potential turning the cell nonresponsive to electrical stimulus and without mechanical activity (inactive electrical zone, not a necrosis zone, which is an anatomo-pathological diagnosis).

A case of postural hypotension in a patient with tabes dorsalis is reported. A polygraphic study of the arterial pression by intraortic catheterism, laboratory examinations and Minor test were made. As the results were negative for a disorder in the autonomic nervous system, it was concluded that the lesion responsible for the postural hypotension in the reported case was localizated in the aferent system of the baroreceptors.