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Copyright of Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia is the property of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Escola de Veterinaria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia is the property of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Escola de Veterinaria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia is the property of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Escola de Veterinaria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aimed to evaluate the immunomodulatory and neuroprotective effects of allogeneic and cryopreserved mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on spinal cord injury. A total of 120 rats were distributed into the following groups: negative control (NC) - without injury, positive control (PC) - with injury without treatment, and group treated with MSC (GMSC) - with injury and treated. Motor function was evaluated by the BBB test at 24, 48, and 72 h and at 8 and 21 postoperative days. Spinal cords were evaluated by histopathology and immunohistochemistry to determine the expression of CD68, NeuN, and GFAP. IL-10, TNF-α, IL-1β, TGF-β, BDNF, GDNF, and VEGF expression was quantified by RT-PCR. The GMSC presented higher scores for motor function at 72 h and 8 and 21 days after injury, lower expression of CD68 at 8 days, and lower expression of GFAP at 21 days compared to the PC. In addition, higher expression of NeuN and lower degeneration of the white matter occurred at 21 days. The GMSC also showed higher expression of IL-10 24 h after injury, GDNF at 48 h and 8 days, and VEGF at 21 days. Moreover, lower expression of TNF-α was observed at 8 and 21 days and TGF-β at 24 h and 21 days. There were no differences in the expression of IL-1β and BDNF between the GMSC and PC. Thus, cryopreserved MSCs promote immunomodulatory and neuroprotective effects in rats with spinal cord injury by increasing IL-10, GDNF, and VEGF expression and reducing TNF-α and TGF-β expression.

Standard tube feeding gastrostomy is associated with a myriad of problems among which leakage of gastric contents is the most serious. Over the years many methods of creating tubeless gastrostomy have been unsuccessful because of the extent of surgery required and the persistent leakage of gastric fluids. By using gastrointestinal staplers to create a gastric tube and by incorporating a reverse intussusception valve at its base, we created a continent tubeless feeding gastrostomy in 23 patients aged 10 to 81 years. Eight had head injuries, 12 had cerebrovascular strokes, and 3 had head and neck disorders leading to aphagopraxia. Twelve of the procedures were performed with local anesthesia and the remainder with general anesthesia. The GIA stapler was used to create a 5 cm gastric tube after which circumferential stitches were placed to intussuscept 2 cm of the tube into the stomach to create a valve. A 1 cm stoma was created at skin level. Operative time was 47 to 90 minutes and there were no operative deaths or complications. Stomal necrosis occurred in two patients so they were converted to a standard tube gastrostomy by leaving a Foley catheter in place. After 16 months of follow-up, one stricture developed at 4 months and two were electively closed under local anesthesia. None is incontinent. The tubeless continent feeding gastrostomy is convenient for both patients and nursing staff and should replace the standard feeding gastrostomy when long-term nutritional support is needed.