Search

Research is often an essential component of completing a veterinary medicine degree, with universities worldwide aiming to teach students a variety of techniques and general research comprehension and skills. As universities worldwide navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, it was often necessary to move towards distance learning, this was employed for the research module at The University of Nottingham, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science. Following completion of their independent research project, each student cohort was sent a student evaluation of the module questionnaire and quantitative and qualitative analysis was undertaken. In addition, assessment outcomes based on dissertation grade, supervisor grade and overall module score were analysed quantitatively. This was conducted on both the individual cohorts and between the pre- and peri-pandemic groups, ranging from 2017–2018 through to 2021–2022 cohorts. The students received increased dissertation and supervisor grades (by nearly 6%) during the 2021–2022 peri-pandemic cohort, when compared to the pre-pandemic cohorts, but did differ significantly compared to the 2020–2021 cohort. The pre- and peri-pandemic Likert-scale ratings for module organisation and assessment criteria were similar, workload management and the ability to explore concepts and ideas was reduced in the peri-pandemic cohorts, whereas the accessibility to resources was increased in the peri-pandemic students compared to those taught prior to the pandemic. Student feedback can provide essential information when designing and managing research projects and when compared to assessment grades it can help us understand attainment, essential information when providing a quality university level education whilst supporting student welfare following the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Treatment of Vitis vinifera fruit (VVF) ingestion can be challenging due to no clear toxic dose, signalment factors and variable clinical signs. Current treatment guidance is generalised: decontamination, aggressive fluid therapy, monitoring and/or treatment of renal dysfunction. The objective of this study was to conduct a scoping review of scientific evidence regarding the ingestion of VVF in dogs. Three primary areas were reviewed: VVF types ingested, clinical signs reported and treatments given. The inclusion criterion was any paper presenting data on clinical signs or treatments of dogs that had ingested VVF (unprocessed VVF only). Methods: The following databases were searched: CAB Abstracts, Medline, Embase and Scopus. No limits were placed on language or date. The review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology. Results: Twenty‐four papers were identified. A wide range of VVF types were ingested, but the toxic dose was difficult to ascertain. The most commonly reported signs were gastrointestinal, renal, neurological and haematological. Treatment commonly consisted of fluid therapy, diuretics and antiemetics. Limitations: This scoping review neither explored cases of processed VVF ingestion nor did it chart laboratory findings; therefore, potentially clinically significant findings in these areas may have been missed. Conclusions: VVF ingestion typically causes gastrointestinal/renal dysfunction, with no clear toxicity attributable to VVF type. Treatments varied according to the presence/absence of clinical signs, and the prognosis was varied. Further research on current treatment efficacy is warranted, permitting an evidence‐based, risk–benefit approach to be adopted by clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity is an independent risk factor for developing chronic kidney disease. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), interleukin (IL)-18, and uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) are important components of the innate immune system mediating inflammatory renal damage. Early to midgestation maternal nutrient restriction appears to protect the kidney from the deleterious effects of early onset obesity, although the mechanisms remain unclear. We examined the combined effects of gestational maternal nutrient restriction during early fetal kidney development and early onset obesity on the renal innate immune response in offspring. Pregnant sheep were randomly assigned to a normal (control, 100%) or nutrient-restricted (NR, 50%) diet from days 30 to 80 gestation and 100% thereafter. Offspring were killed humanely at 7 days or, following rearing in an obesogenic environment, at 1 yr of age, and renal tissues were collected. IL-18 and TLR4 expression were strongly correlated irrespective of intervention. Seven-day NR offspring had significantly lower relative renal mass and IL-18 mRNA expression. At 1 yr of age, obesity resulted in increased mRNA abundance of TLR4, IL-18, and UCP2, coupled with tubular atrophy and greater immunohistological staining of glomerular IL-6 and medullary tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-[alpha]. NR obese offspring had a marked reduction of TLR4 abundance and renal IL-6 staining. In conclusion, maternal nutrient restriction during early fetal kidney development attenuates the effects of early onset obesity-related nephropathy, in part, through the downregulation of the innate inflammatory response. A better understanding of maternal nutrition and the in utero nutritional environment may offer therapeutic strategies aimed at reducing the burden of later kidney disease. interleukin-18; interleukin-6; Toll-like receptor 4; uncoupling protein 2; nephropathy; nutrition doi: 10.1152/ajprenal.00303.2009.

We tested the hypothesis that fetal cardiovascular responses to hypoxemia change close to full term in relation to the prepartum increase in fetal basal cortisol and investigated, in vivo, the neural and endocrine mechanisms underlying these changes. Fetal heart rate and peripheral hemodynamic responses to 1 h of hypoxemia were studied in 25 chronically instrumented sheep within three narrow gestational age ranges: 125-130 (n = 13), 135-140 (n = 6), and > 140 (n = 6) days (full term ~145 days). Chemoreflex function and plasma concentrations of vasoconstrictor hormones were measured. Reductions in fetal arterial [P.sub.O.sub.2] during hypoxemia were similar at all ages. At 125-130 days, hypoxemia elicited transient bradycardia, femoral vasoconstriction, and increases in plasma concentrations of catecholamines, neuropeptide Y (NPY), AVP, ACTH, and cortisol. Close to full term, in association with the prepartum increase in fetal basal cortisol, there was a developmental increase in the magnitude and persistence of fetal bradycardia and in the magnitude of the femoral constrictor response to hypoxemia. The mechanisms mediating these changes close to full term included increases in the gain of chemoreflex function and in the magnitudes of the fetal NPY and AVP responses to hypoxemia. Data combined irrespective of gestational age revealed significant correlations between fetal basal cortisol and fetal bradycardia, femoral resistance, chemoreflex function, and plasma AVP concentrations. The data show that the fetal cardiovascular defense to hypoxemia changes in pattern and magnitude just before full term because of alterations in the gain of the neural and endocrine mechanisms mediating them, in parallel with the prepartum increase in fetal basal cortisol. fetus; prepartum cortisol surge; glucocorticoid

The role of glucocorticoids in the intrauterine programming of hypertension was assessed in the progeny of rats fed either 18 g casein/100 g diet (control diet) or 9 g casein/100 g diet (low protein diet), before conception and throughout pregnancy. Rats exposed to the low protein diet had significantly (P < 0.05) higher systolic blood pressures than control animals, when weaned. These rats had elevated brain and liver activities of specific glucocorticoid-inducible marker enzymes, relative to controls. Glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity was also higher (377%) in whole brains of newborn rats exposed to low protein diet in utero, but no similar effect of corticosteroids was noted in brains of d 20 fetuses. Weanling rats of the low protein group exhibited a blunted diurnal pattern of adrenocorti-cotrophin (ACTH) concentrations in plasma. Plasma corticosterone concentrations were unaltered by prenatal dietary experience and exhibited a normal pattern of diurnal variation. Brain regional 11[Beta]-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activities were unaltered by prenatal dietary experience, as was binding of 3H-corticosterone to type I glucocorticoid receptors in hippocampus, hypothalamus and liver. Type II glucocorticoid receptor binding capacity and receptor numbers in male rats were apparently elevated in hippocampus of low protein - exposed rats and were significantly lower in liver (P < 0.05), relative to control rats. Programming of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is inferred, and the observation that binding of steroid to type II receptor sites in vascular tissue is increased in low protein exposed rats may provide a direct mechanism for modulation of blood pressure by glucocorticoids in this model. J. Nutr. 126: 1578-1585, 1996. INDEXING KEY WORDS: * rats * glucocorticoids * glucocorticoid receptors * pregnancy and nutrition * hypertension