Effects of cyclosporine on feline lymphocytes activated in vitro

Label-free detection of ConA-induced T-lymphocyte activation at single-cell level by microfluidics

Lymphocyte activation is critical in regulating immune responses. The resulting T-cell proliferation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of autoimmune diseases, such as SLE and rheumatoid arthritis. ConA (concanavalin A)-induced activation has been widely used in the T lymphocytes model of immune-mediated liver injury, autoimmune hepatitis, and so on. In those works, it usually requires fluorescent labeling or cell staining to confirm whether the cells are transformed successfully after medicine treatment to figure out efficacy/pharmacology. The detection preparation steps are time-consuming and have limitations for further proteomic/genomic identifications. Here, a label-free microfluidic method is established to detect lymphocyte activation degree. The lymphocyte and ConA-activated lymphocyte were investigated by a microfluidic device. According to where single cells in the sample were captured in the designed channel, lymphocyte and ConA-activated samples are differentiated and characterized by population electric field factors, 2.08 × 104 and 2.21 × 104 V/m, respectively. Furthermore, salidroside, a herbal medicine that was documented to promote the transformation, was used to treat lymphocyte cells, and the treated cell population is detected to be 2.67 × 104 V/m. The characterization indicates an increasing trend with the activation degree. The result maintains a high consistency with traditional staining methods with transformed cells of 15.8%, 28.8%, and 48.3% in each cell population. Dielectrophoresis is promising to work as a tool for detecting lymphocyte transformation and medical efficacy detection.

The Pharmacokinetic and Absolute Bioavailability of Cyclosporine (Atopica for Cats®) in Cats

This study aimed to evaluate the absolute bioavailability of cyclosporine in cats by investigating the pharmacokinetic profile after intravenous and oral administration, respectively. Twenty-four clinically healthy cats were enrolled in this study and randomly divided into four groups, namely the intravenous group (3 mg/kg), low oral group (3.5 mg/kg), medium oral group (7 mg/kg), and high oral group (14 mg/kg). Whole blood was obtained at the scheduled time points after a single dose administration and cyclosporine was determined using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry technology (UPLC-MS/MS). Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using the WinNonlin 8.3.4 software via compartmental and non-compartmental models. As a result, the bioavailability values for the low, medium, and high oral groups were 14.64%, 36.98%, and 13.53%, respectively. The nonlinear pharmacokinetic profile was observed in the range from 3.5 mg/kg to 14 mg/kg in cats following oral administration. Whole blood concentrations taken 4 h after oral administration were better correlated with the area under the blood concentration-time curve AUC_0-24 with a high regression coefficient (R² = 0.896). This concentration would be a greater predictor in the following therapeutic drug monitoring. No adverse effect was observed in the whole study process.

Efficacy of Topical 0.05% Cyclosporine A for Ocular Surface Disease Related to Topical Anti-Glaucoma Medications

Purpose: We aimed to determine the therapeutic efficacy of 0.05% topical cyclosporine A (CsA) for chronic ocular surface disease (OSD) in patients using benzalkonium chloride (BAK)-preserved antiglaucoma eye drops. Methods: A prospective, randomized, paired-eye, controlled clinical trial was conducted with participants who had been instilling at least one BAK-preserved topical antiglaucoma drug in both eyes for at least 6 months. Topical CsA was only applied in randomly selected unilateral eyes. Visual field (VF) indices, ocular surface parameters, tear meniscus height (TMH), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) immunoassay were evaluated at baseline and at 2 and 4 months. Results: Seventy eyes from 35 participants were included in the study. The Schirmer I, tear breakup time, and TMH increased by 4.5 ± 8.6 mm (P < 0.01), 5.0 ± 5.3 s (P < 0.001), and 85.4 ± 159.0 μm (P < 0.01) in the treated eyes at 4 months from baseline, respectively. The ocular staining score and MMP-9 positivity in the treated eyes decreased by 2.2 ± 1.3 (P < 0.001) and 0.7 ± 0.9 points (P < 0.001), respectively, at 4 months. In untreated eyes, only TMH increased by 41.4 ± 92.1 μm (P = 0.016) from baseline to 4 months. In VF indices, the tracking failure frequency was 19.09% ± 21.62%, and the test duration was 336.0 ± 79.5 s in the treated eyes at 4 months, which were lower than 34.37% ± 23.13% (P < 0.001) and 375.9 ± 70.7 s (P < 0.05) in the nontreated eyes. Conclusion: Application of topical 0.05% CsA significantly improved the OSD parameters and the reliability indices of VF tests. This study was registered with the Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS) (number KCT0007124).

Vaccination of Immunocompromised Cats

Immunocompromise is a common condition in cats, especially due to widespread infections with immunosuppressive viruses, such as feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV), but also due to chronic non-infectious diseases, such as tumours, diabetes mellitus, and chronic kidney disease, as well as treatment with immunosuppressive drugs, such as glucocorticoids, cyclosporins, or tumour chemotherapy. In this review, the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD), a scientifically independent board of experts in feline medicine from eleven European countries, discusses the current knowledge and rationale for vaccination of immunocompromised cats. So far, there are few data available on vaccination of immunocompromised cats, and sometimes studies produce controversial results. Thus, this guideline summarizes the available scientific studies and fills in the gaps with expert opinion, where scientific studies are missing. Ultimately, this review aims to help veterinarians with their decision-making in how best to vaccinate immunocompromised cats.

Management of Severe Oral Inflammatory Conditions in Dogs and Cats

Severe oral inflammatory disease is not uncommon in the mouths of canine and feline patients. An approach to oral diagnosis is offered. This article discusses a brief review of important points in the oral diagnosis and management of main canine (canine chronic ulcerative stomatitis (CCUS), eosinophilic stomatitis, and Wegener's granulomatosis (WG)) and feline diseases (feline gingivostomatitis/caudal stomatitis, oral eosinophilic lesions, pyogenic granuloma, and autoimmune diseases with oral manifestations), and-whereby possible-information about the current understanding of disease pathogenesis and treatment is offered.

Cyclosporine reduces the spleen dimensions in rabbits

Purpose

To assess the influence of prolonged cyclosporine use on the macro- and microscopic morphology of the spleen.

Methods

16 adult rabbits were divided into two groups (n = 8): group 1 – a placebo group, which was followed-up over a period of nine months; group 2 – which had taken an oral dose of cyclosporine (10 mg·kg^–1·day^–1) over nine months. At the end of this period, the splenic histoarchitecture of all animals was evaluated and the splenic corpuscles were measured.

Results

The spleens of the first group presented normal characteristics and dimensions. The second group, however, had a reduction in all dimensions and its tissue texture had become soft. The white pulp and the perivascular sheath had become reduced in size and the number of lymphoid follicles had also fallen (p = 0.002), manifesting less splenic corpuscles (p = 0.0012) and lymphocyte nuclear pigments (p = 0.03).

Conclusions

Prolonged use of cyclosporine reduces the spleen size, transforming it into a soft organ associated with a decrease in white pulp, perivascular sheath, lymphoid follicles and nuclear pigments in rabbits.