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Objectives : To determine how general practice veterinarians make weight loss recommendations for dogs and if nutrients become deficient when following these recommendations. Materials and Methods : A questionnaire of general practice veterinarians was conducted to characterise weight loss recommendations made to clients. Using this data, progressive levels of caloric restriction were applied to top‐selling commercial non‐therapeutic adult maintenance diets and non‐therapeutic weight management diets. Nutrient intakes were compared to the National Research Council's Recommended Allowances for metabolic body weight using a theoretical current weight and ideal body weight for an obese dog. Nutrient intakes were also compared to recommendations from the Association of American Feed Control Officials using current body weight. Results : Several nutrients were found at risk of deficiency, including choline, methionine, cysteine, selenium, eicosapentanoic acid, docosahexanoic acid, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and cobalamin in both non‐therapeutic adult maintenance diets and non‐therapeutic weight management diets. Clinical Significance : Caution is warranted when making weight loss recommendations using commercial diets until further research on the nutrient needs of obese dogs undergoing weight loss is undertaken. Restriction of commercial diets to achieve weight loss in dogs may result in nutrient deficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lengthy social separation and prolonged fasting time contribute to increased risks associated with anesthesia in captive primates. This study is an initial attempt to identify a safe pre-anesthetic fasting procedure by identifying gastric emptying time (GET) and gastrointestinal transit time (GTT) of captive chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes. Seven adult chimpanzees at the North Carolina Zoo immobilized for annual physical examinations were fed barium-impregnated polyethylene spheres to measure GET. Eleven animals were individually fed a color dye marker and fecal passage was observed to determine GTT. Gastric emptying time (GET) was approximated to be >3 hours but <16 hours. The mean GTT was 16.5 hours. This study indicates that a fasting time of 3 hours would allow for complete gastric emptying and could potentially replace the current overnight fast (≥16 hour) to help minimize complications associated with pre-anesthetic fasting in captive primates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an abstract of the research paper titled "Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory State Induced by Obesity in the Healthy Feline," that was discussed at the AAVN 6th Annual Clinical Nutrition and Research Symposium. It focuses on a study regarding obesity in cats. It evaluated the status of changes in body composition, oxidative stress biomarkers, inflammatory markers in cats. The study concluded that weight gain and obesity damaged tissues results in loss of lean body mass.

Twenty-seven wether lambs were utilized to evaluate select innate immunity and oxidative stress in response to diet and heat stress. Dietary treatments were: (i) control (tall fescue) hay = no TascoTM (tradename for the extract of the brown seaweed, Ascophyllum nodosum, Acadian Sealants Ltd, Nova Scotia, Canada); (ii) pre-harvest Tasco-Forage-treated hay and (iii) control hay + post-harvest Tasco-EX. Tasco-Forage and Tasco-EX are two forms of the TascoTM extract that are either applied to foliage or used for direct feeding, respectively. All lambs were supplemented with soyabean meal and trace mineralized salt. Heat stress was applied for 10 days with measurements obtained at days 0, 4 and 10. A heat × treatment interaction indicated hay with Tasco enhanced monocyte oxidative burst through short duration (p < 0.05) and long duration (p < 0.10) heat stress. Phagocytic activity was influenced by days of heat stress (p < 0.001) and treatment (p = 0.02) with post-harvest TascoTM lambs exhibiting the greatest immune enhancement (p < 0.05). Red and white blood cell glutathione peroxidase increased by heat stress day 10 in Tasco lambs. Superoxide dismutase activity was increased and lipid hydroperoxide metabolites minimized (p < 0.01) through long duration heat stress in the pre-harvest Tasco group. Tasco treatment of tall fescue hay prior to harvest appears to provide residual effects on animal antioxidant availability in short-duration heat stress. Tasco supplementation to post-harvest fescue hay enhances immune function and protects against prolonged heat-induced oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Duplication of the popliteal and superficial femoral veins (PV, SFV) is a normal variant previously reported in up to 25% of limbs. Little clinical significance, however, has been attributed to this apparently common anomaly. The present study was designed to determine the incidence of duplications in individuals presenting for venous incompetence studies, and whether their presence could, in theory, act as a predisposing factor to deep venous thrombosis (DVT) formation. Methods: Duplex ultrasound examinations were performed in which venous duplications were actively searched for and recorded. The diameters of both limbs of any duplicated system and the single vessel immediately distal to it were recorded. Using these measurements, the changes in total cross-sectional area (CSA) associated with these anomalies were calculated. In addition, with the knowledge that the volume flow rate must remain constant, the velocity changes associated with such systems were calculated. Results: A total of 248 limbs from 177 patients was scanned. Duplications were found in 39 (15.7%) of these limbs. Of these, 30 limbs (77%) involved only the SFV, seven (18%) involved both the SFV and PV, and two (5%) involved only the PV. Short-segment SFV duplications were used to calculate the percentage change in total CSA and therefore blood flow velocities. Of the 13 (33%) suitable for such calculations, and calculating for each individual duplicated system, a mean increase in the vessel’s total CSA of 42%, which corresponded to a theoretical decrease in blood flow velocity of 36%, was found. Conclusion: The present study confirms the significantly high incidence of duplications of the PV and SFV and raises the possibility of the potential for DVT formation secondary to changes in flow velocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammary cancer, a devastating disease in both humans and companion animals, has been associated with numerous factors including diet. Polyphenolic antioxidants found in pomegranate fruits have been shown to reduce tumor burden and inhibit angiogenesis and cell growth.(Kim et al., 2002; Afaq et al., 2005; Malik et al., 2005) Feline mammary carcinomas (FMC) are known to have similar invasive behavior, histologic appearance, and overall poor prognosis to estrogen receptor negative (ER-) invasive human mammary cancer.(Porrello et al., 2004; Zappulli et al., 2005) In this study, supplementation with an antioxidant-rich whole food (pomegranate) was evaluated for anti-cancer properties in an ER- human breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) as a model for FMC. Antioxidant capacity and polyphenolic content of pomegranate juices (PJ) were characterized by reportable methods. ER- cells were exposed to PJ at various concentrations (0.5%, 1%, 5%) and to Cisplatin (5 ug/ml, 10 ug/ml, 15 ug/ml) doses for 48 and 72 h. MTT assays were performed to evaluate the ability of PJ to inhibit tumor cell growth. Statistical significance was determined using PROC GLM (SAS 9.1) with alpha = 0.05. Cell proliferation of the ER- cancer cells was inhibited by pomegranate juice in a dose- and time-dependent manner (p < 0.0001). Maximal inhibition was seen for pomegranate juice formulations at the 5% dose, and the response was comparable to that of high-dose Cisplatin. This first phase study shows that PJ may be a useful nutrient-based, non-chemotherapeutic treatment alternative for the inhibition of ER- breast cancer cell proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A practical alternative to traditional central line delivery of parenteral admixtures (PA) for small animal patients is utilization of a peripheral route. Admixtures delivered via this route should be a lower osmolarity to prevent complications; to attain this goal a high lipid:low dextrose (HL:LD) is formulated. Lipid peroxidation is a common sequella of PA containing high lipid content. This in vitro peroxidation can lead to oxidative injury of biological membranes in vivo. Despite this concern, peripheral PA have many benefits and continue to be utilized. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to measure lipid hydroperoxides in HL:LD PA; and to determine the optimal dose of d-α-tocopherol to minimize peroxidation in the PA during a 24 h hang time. This in vitro experiment included three identical blocks consisting of 14 bags ( n = 7 control; n = 7 treatment) filled aseptically with 109 ml of HL:LD PA. Total lipid content per bag was 8 g as soybean oil (Intralipid®). Natural d-α-tocopherol (Vital E-300™) was added to the treatment bags as 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64 IU/g of lipid. Control bags contained Vital E-300™ equivalent amounts of ethanol and benzyl alcohol. Bags were hung for 24 h at room temperature under fluorescent light exposure. Hydroperoxides were measured by FOX assay and tocopherols by HPLC at times 0 and 24 h. The level of hydroperoxides was expressed as μM equivalents tert-butyl hydroperoxide (μM = TBH). A Repeated Measures anova was used for data analysis, with p < 0.05 considered significant. Detectable levels of hydroperoxides were found in all PA at time 0 and 24. Mean TBH concentrations in control bags were 380 and 383 μM at time 0 and 24 respectively. A 3-way interaction (time x treatment x α-toc) was observed, p = 0.0018. d-α-tocpherol supplementation at 24–64 IU/g lipid decreased (p < 0.0001) TBH production from controls at time 0. By time 24 h, significant reduction in TBH was observed with Vit E concentrations of 48 and 64 IU/g lipid of d-α-tocopherol. In conclusion: lipid peroxidation of HL:LD PA occurs immediately following lipid administration, and d-α-tocopherol, as Vital E-300™, appears to significantly minimize this peroxidation process in vitro based on concentration and time of exposure to lipid. This has clinical implications for parenteral feeding in critically ill patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]