Clinical Changes and Uterine Hemodynamic in Pyometra Medically Treated Bitches

Antimicrobial use in the surgical treatment of canine pyometra: A questionnaire survey of Arizona-licensed veterinarians

BACKGROUND

Recent studies and consensus statements in veterinary and human medicine recommend more judicious use of antimicrobials. While guidelines have been provided for some veterinary diseases, others have poorly elucidated guidelines. Postoperative treatment of canine pyometra is a condition with minimal guidelines regarding antimicrobial use.

OBJECTIVE

To identify and investigate patterns of antimicrobial use following surgically treated canine pyometra.

METHODS

A 23-question survey, sent to 863 small and mixed animal practitioners, investigated demographics, patterns of antibiotic use, rate of culture submission and participant's recollection of outcomes of surgically treated pyometra cases. Responses were analysed for relationships between demographics, patterns of antibiotic use and culture results to better understand reasoning for antibiotic protocols.

RESULTS

One hundred and fifty-two responses were received. Overall, 76% of veterinarians stated they always use preoperative and perioperative antibiotics, and 74% stated they always use postoperative antibiotics. A total of 16 different antibiotics were reported. Twelve per cent of respondents regularly submitted a culture. Culture submission was impacted by cost, prior experience, poor owner compliance, result turnaround time and anticipated results.

CONCLUSIONS

Most respondents always used antibiotics and rarely or never submitted a culture. To optimise patient care, future clinical studies are needed to determine specific guidelines for the use of culture and antibiotics in the treatment of canine pyometra following ovariohysterectomy.

Drug Discovery in Canine Pyometra Disease Identified by Text Mining and Microarray Data Analysis

Canine pyometra, which is accompanied by bacterial contamination of the dog uterus, is defined as a complex disease associated with the activation of several systems, including the immune system. This study uses text mining and microarray data analysis methods to discover some existing targeted gene drugs and expand potential new drug indications. Text mining ("canine pyometra") and microarray data analysis (GSE99877) were used to obtain a common set of genes. These genes and protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were analyzed using Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Then, the important genes clustered in the PPI network were selected for gene-drug interaction analysis to provide evidence for potential drug discovery. Through text mining and data analysis, we obtained 17,544 text mining genes (TMGs) and 399 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), respectively. There were 256 repeat genes between TMGs and DEGs, including 70 upregulated genes and 186 downregulated genes. Thirty-seven genes clustered in three significant gene modules. Eight of the 37 genes can target 23 existing drugs. In conclusion, the discovery of 8 immune response-related genes (BTK, CSF2RA, CSF2RB, ITGAL, NCF4, PLCG2, PTPRC, and TOP2A) targeting 23 existing drugs may expand the drug indications for pyometra-related diseases in dogs.

Prostaglandin and antigestagen in pyometra bitches: vascular and stereological effect

Effects of conservative treatment on uterine blood flow and morphometric findings are still unknown in bitches. Thus, this study aimed to compare uterine changes of pyometra bitches subjected to distinct modes of treatment. Pyometra bitches were assigned to: OHE (ovariohysterectomy immediately after diagnosis), Aglepristone (days 1, 2 and 8) and Associative (aglepristone treatment coupled with cloprostenol for 7 days) groups. After 9 days, bitches were ovariohysterectomized. Before surgery, uterine area was measured ultrasonographically and the uterine artery Doppler velocimetry analyzed blood flow velocity and indexes. Uterine horns were classified according to resistance index (RI) as more compromised and less compromised. Endometrial vasculature was quantitatively evaluated by color flow Doppler. Blood samples were collected to determine nitric oxide (NO) concentrations. Histological uterine structures were quantified by stereology and VEGF-A (vascular endothelial growth factor) and eNOS were (endothelial nitric oxide synthase) immunohistochemically analyzed. Aglepristone and Associative groups had lower uterine area and vascularization, and higher blood flow velocity and indexes compared to OHE group. Less compromised horn of Associative group had higher blood flow velocity compared to OHE group. Aglepristone group presented lower inflammatory infiltrate and larger uterine stroma. Associative group had lower volume density and absolute surface of endometrial cysts and lower VEGF-A expression for glandular epithelium and stromal cells. Blood NO and e-NOS immunostaining were not different among groups. In conclusion, association between aglepristone and prostaglandin is more effective in decreasing uterine vascularization and modulating uterine blood flow. Moreover, associative therapy promotes marked morphological changes.