Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Intercanine Distance Used As A Measure To Rule Out Biters In Bite Mark Forensics, Alana Joy Scudiere Ohana

Masters Theses

The science of identification by bite mark analysis has recently been called into serious question. (Reesu and Brown 2016) Human dentition is truly variable, but often not unique. When animal bites are considered, a proper ID of the perpetrator is nearly impossible. Primary distortion (when the bite is made) and secondary distortion (during decomposition or healing) both further disrupt landmarks that might be used for identification. (Sheasby and MacDonald 2001) Using only ink marks and intercanine distance on live subjects, this study attempts to determine maximum distortion possible for a variety of bite mark locations on skin. (Pretty and Sweet …

An Analysis Of The Use Of Dogs In Predicting Human Toxicology And Drug Safety, Jarrod Bailey, Michelle Thew, Michael Balls

Jarrod Bailey, PhD

Dogs remain the main non-rodent species in preclinical drug development. Despite the current dearth of new drug approvals and meagre pipelines, this continues, with little supportive evidence of its value or necessity. To estimate the evidential weight provided by canine data to the probability that a new drug may be toxic to humans, we have calculated Likelihood Ratios (LRs) for an extensive dataset of 2,366 drugs with both animal and human data, including tissue-level effects and Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) Level 1–4 biomedical observations. The resulting LRs show that the absence of toxicity in dogs provides virtually no …

Evaluating The Prevalence And Effectiveness Of Breed-Specific Legislation, Felicia E. Trembath

Open Access Dissertations

Dog bites pose a persistent public health problem, which some jurisdictions pass breed-specific legislation (BSL) to address. However, very little non-anecdotal evidence regarding the efficacy of BSL has been presented. Currently, BSL research is hampered by the absence of standard terminology, an established prevalence, or a scientific consensus on its effectiveness. The purpose of this study is to propose standardized terminology for BSL, establish the prevalence of each type of BSL in the USA, and conduct a systematic review of the effectiveness of BSL.

After review of terminology currently in use, as well as review of the regulatory actions of …

Electrocardiographic Changes In Dogs With Degenerative Mitral Valve Disease Treated With Pimobendan: A Retrospective Study Of 29 Cases, Sirilak Disatian Surachetpong, Nisarat Boonlue, Pasorn Pupa, Waratsarin Boonsathitanan, Sumanee Rakthaidee, Tanawan Mangklabruks, Siriwan Sakarin

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate changes in electrocardiograms (ECG) and cardiac arrhythmias in 29 dogs with degenerative mitral valve disease (DMVD) treated with pimobendan chronically. All dogs had normal ECG before pimobendan administration. The dogs were classified according to ECG after pimobendan administration into 2 groups: normal ECG (n=19) and abnormal ECG (n=10). Age, sex, breed, serum alkaline phosphatase, concurrent digoxin administration, total daily dosage of pimobendan and digoxin, duration of pimobendan administration, and ECG parameters including heart rate, P wave, PR interval, QRS complex, and QT interval were analyzed. Cardiac arrhythmias were increasingly found in …

Selection Of Reference Genes For Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction In Canine Oral Tumor And Cancer, Sirinun Pisamai, Anudep Rungsipipat, Chanin Kalpravidh, Gunnaporn Suriyaphol

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Tumors in oral cavity either benign or malignant are often found in dogs. Despite the increasing number of studies of gene expression associated with canine oral cavity diseases, reference gene selection for normalizing target genes has not been performed. The objective of the present study was to identify potential reference genes in canine oral tumors, including epulis, ameloblastoma, oral melanoma, oral squamous cell carcinoma, etc. Suitability of 6 candidate reference genes, beta-actin (ACTB), beta-2-microglobulin (B2M), glyceraldehydes-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), ribosomal subunit L13a (RPL13a), ribosomal protein S5 (RPS5) and ribosomal protein S19 (RPS19), was evaluated with 5 algorithms, geNorm, Normfinder, BestKeeper, the …

Clinical Study Of Canine Tear Lacritin As A Treatment For Dry Eye, Katherine E. Kelly

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS), the deficiency of tears also known as dry eye, is a prevalent disease that affects both humans and canines. The current treatment for dye eye, cyclosporine (Restatis®), only provides temporary relief, is often associated with discomfort and is inconsistently effective. Lacritin is a naturally occurring tear glycoprotein secreted from the human and canine lacrimal glands. It has been shown that lacritin stimulates basal tearing in rabbits when applied topically. This study characterized the amount and form of lacritin found in the tears of dogs with healthy and dry eyes—information which may be applied to the development of …

Involucrin Expression And Association With Ki-67 In Paraffin Embedded Tissue Of Canine Skin Tumors: A Retrospective Study, Nongnut Assawawongkasem, Gunnaporn Suriyaphol, Sayamon Srisuwattanasagul, Sirin Theerawatanasirikul, Achariya Sailasuta

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Involucrin (INV) is a cornified envelope precursor protein that is commonly used as an early stage marker of human terminal keratinocyte differentiation. This research investigated the expression of INV in canine skin tumors using 56 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedding (FFPE) biopsied specimens. The expression of INV was investigated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and RT-PCR. Correlation between INV and Ki-67 was also performed. The malignant tumor groups showed significantly different INV staining scores and Ki-67 positive cells than the normal skin group by IHC (p<0.05). The INV scores of moderately differentiated SCC (MSCC), trichoblastoma (TCB), basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and poorly differentiated SCC (PSCC) significantly decreased, with a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). Interestingly, the INV of poorly differentiated SCC disappeared in some specimens. The INV expression in most tumors was found to be inversely proportionate to Ki-67 positive cells. In addition, only SCC regardless of tumor grade without tumor-graded specimens showed an inversely statistically significant difference between the Ki-67 positive cells and INV expression (p<0.0001). In RT-PCR, mRNA expression of the FFPE specimens showed substantial similarity of INV expression as in IHC. It is suggested that the INV expression should be further studied in terms of clinical prognosis in canine cutaneous SCC.

Identification Of Genetic Variation And Haplotype Structure Of The Canine Abca4 Gene For Retinal Disease Association Studies, Barbara Zangerl, Sarah J. Lindauer, Gregory M. Acland, Gustavo D. Aguirre

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Over 200 mutations in the retina specific member of the ATP-binding cassette transporter superfamily (ABCA4) have been associated with a diverse group of human retinal diseases. The disease mechanisms, and genotype–phenotype associations, nonetheless, remain elusive in many cases. As orthologous genes are commonly mutated in canine models of human blinding disorders, canine ABCA4 appears to be an ideal candidate gene to identify and study sequence changes in dogs affected by various forms of inherited retinal degeneration. However, the size of the gene and lack of haplotype assignment significantly limit targeted association and/or linkage approaches. This study assessed the naturally observed …

Targeting Gene Expression To Cones With Human Cone Opsin Promoters In Recombinant Aav, András M. Komáromy, John J. Alexander, Anne E. Cooper, Vince A. Chodo, Gregory M. Acland, William W. Hauswirth, Gustavo D. Aguirre

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Specific cone-directed therapy is of high priority in the treatment of human hereditary retinal diseases. However, not much information exists about the specific targeting of photoreceptor subclasses. Three versions of the human red cone opsin promoter (PR0.5, 3LCR-PR0.5 and PR2.1), and the human blue cone opsin promoter HB569, were evaluated for their specificity and robustness in targeting green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene expression to subclasses of cones in the canine retina when used in recombinant adeno-associated viral vectors of serotype 5. The vectors were administered by subretinal injection. The promoter PR2.1 led to most effective and specific expression of GFP …

A Kutya Mint Modell Az Örökletes Retinadegenerációk Kutatásában / The Dog As A Model In Research Into Inherited Retinal Degenerations, Ágnes I. Berta, Ágoston Szél, Gustavo D. Aguirre

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Összefoglalás: A kutya mint modellállat csak az elmúlt 15 évben került az érdeklődés középpontjába. A kutya retinája különösen érdekes, mivel számos örökletes retinadegeneráció szoros homológiát mutat az ember hasonló betegségeivel. Röviden összefoglaljuk a kutya retinájának sajátosságait és azokat az alapkutatásban használt módszereket, melyek segítségével a retina degenerációja leírható kutyában. A kutya örökletes retinadegenerációi közül a szemészek számára a legérdekesebb csoport a progresszív retinalis atrophia (PRA), mivel genetikai, patológiai és klinikai szempontból is nagyon hasonló a retinitis pigmentosa különböző típusaihoz. A PRA csoport tagjai élő modellrendszerek, melyek alkalmazhatók az örökletes retinadegenerációk alap- és klinikai kutatásában egyaránt. Ezekben a súlyos és mindenekelőtt …

A Non-Stop S-Antigen Gene Mutation Is Associated With Late Onset Hereditary Retinal Degeneration In Dogs, Orly Goldstein, Julie Ann Jordan, Gustavo D. Aguirre, Gregory M. Acland

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Purpose: To identify the causative mutation of canine progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) segregating as an adult onset autosomal recessive disorder in the Basenji breed of dog. Methods: Basenji dogs were ascertained for the PRA phenotype by clinical ophthalmoscopic examination. Blood samples from six affected cases and three nonaffected controls were collected, and DNA extraction was used for a genome-wide association study using the canine HD Illumina single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array and PLINK. Positional candidate genes identified within the peak association signal region were evaluated. Results: The highest -Log10(P) value of 4.65 was obtained for 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms on …

A Digital Atlas Of The Dog Brain, Ritobrato Datta, Jongho Lee, Jeffrey Duda, Brian B. Avants, Charles H. Vite, Ben Tseng, Jim C. Gee, Gustavo D. Aguirre, Geoffrey K. Aguirre

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

There is a long history and a growing interest in the canine as a subject of study in neuroscience research and in translational neurology. In the last few years, anatomical and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of awake and anesthetized dogs have been reported. Such efforts can be enhanced by a population atlas of canine brain anatomy to implement group analyses. Here we present a canine brain atlas derived as the diffeomorphic average of a population of fifteen mesaticephalic dogs. The atlas includes: 1) A brain template derived from in-vivo, T1-weighted imaging at 1 mm isotropic resolution at 3 …

Molecular Mechanisms Of Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid In The Inhibition Of Tgf-Β1-Mediated Canine Corneal Fibrosis, Kristina M. Gronkiewicz, Elizabeth A. Giuliano, Ajay Sharma, Rajiv R. Mohan

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Objective—To investigate molecular mechanisms mediating anti-fibrotic effect of SAHA in the canine cornea using an in vitro model. We hypothesized that SAHA attenuates corneal fibrosis by modulating Smad-dependent and, to a lesser extent, Smad-independent signaling pathways activated by TGF-β1, as well as matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity.

Methods—Cultured canine corneal fibroblasts (CCF) were incubated in the presence/absence of TGF-β1 (5ng/ml) and SAHA (2.5μM) for 24hrs. Western blot analysis was used to quantify non-phosphorylated and phosphorylated isoforms of Smad2/3, p38 MAP kinase (MAPK), ERK1/2 and JNK1. Real-time PCR and zymography were utilized to quantify MMP1, MMP2, MMP8 and MMP9 mRNA expression and …

P2x7 Receptor Activation Causes Phosphatidylserine Exposure In Canine Erythrocytes, Megan Faulks, Tracey A. Kuit, Reece Sophocleous, Belinda L. Curtis, Stephen J. Curtis, Lisa M. Jurak, Ronald Sluyter

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

AIM To determine if activation of the ATP-gated P2X7 receptor channel induces phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure in erythrocytes from multiple dog breeds. METHODS Peripheral blood was collected from 25 dogs representing 13 pedigrees and seven crossbreeds. ATP-induced PS exposure on canine erythrocytes in vitro was assessed using a flow cytometric Annexin V binding assay. RESULTS ATP induced PS exposure in erythrocytes from all dogs studied. ATP caused PS exposure in a concentrationdependent manner with an EC50 value of 395 μmol/L. The non-P2X7 agonists, ADP or AMP, did not cause PS exposure. The P2X7 antagonist, AZ10606120, but not the P2X1 antagonist, NF449, …