Veterinary Research Forum

Abstract In recent years, liver transplantation has emerged as the standard therapy for several liver disorders. Throughout the procedure, the transplanted liver tissue is subjected to varying degrees of ischemia-reperfusion (IR) damage. Consequently, there has been a long-standing pursuit of substances that can alleviate the harm caused by IR. In our investigation, we employed dapagliflozin as a potential therapeutic agent. Eighteen Wistar rats were divided into three groups (n = 6), including treatment, IR, and control that did not undergo surgical intervention. Two days prior to surgery, the treatment group received dapagliflozin at a dosage of 10.00 mg kg^-1 orally. During surgery, liver ischemia was induced for 1 hr, followed by a 24-hr reperfusion period. The IR group exhibited elevated levels of alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, lactate dehydrogenase, and malondialdehyde compared to the control group. In contrast, the treatment group showed levels of these factors that were closer to those of the control group. While total protein, albumin, and total anti-oxidant capacity decreased in the IR group, this decline was less significant in the treatment group. Analysis of oxidative stress in liver tissue revealed that the treatment group had increased anti-oxidant capacity, and exhibited less oxidative stress compared to the IR group. Furthermore, dapagliflozin was found to reduce the degree of liver edema, necrosis, and vascular hyperemia following IR. Overall, dapagliflozin demonstrates the potential to lessen liver damage, enhance liver tissue regeneration, and mitigate the consequences associated with liver impairment.

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the pituitary gland dimensions due to age and weight using computed tomography (CT) in dogs and cats. The CT images of pituitary gland were assessed in 11 client-owned dogs (six males and five females; age range, 1 to 9 years) and 15 client-owned cats (eight males and seven females; age range, 1 to 14 years) with no evidence of pituitary diseases. The length, height, width and volume of the pituitary gland were measured in sagittal and transverse planes. Mean pituitary length, width, height and volume (± standard deviation: SD) were respectively 4.96 (± 0.69 mm), 3.62 (± 0.64 mm), 2.62 (± 0.05 mm) and 26.19 (± 7.99 mm³) in cats and were 7.00 (± 2.14 mm), 4.80 (± 1.20 mm), 3.80 (± 0.70 mm) and 77.53 (± 51.64 mm³) in dogs, respectively. Mean pituitary height-to-brain ratio (P:B ratio), (± SD) in cats and dogs was 0.28 (± 0.05) and 0.21 (± 0.03), respectively and mean percent of pituitary volume to brain volume (± SD) in cats and dogs was 0.10 (± 0.05) and 0.10 (± 0.07), respectively. There was no significant correlation between the size of pituitary gland and age, weight and body condition score (BCS) in dogs, however in cats, significant difference was found between height of pituitary gland and weight and BCS, pituitary width and weight and P:B ratio and BCS. These findings could be useful to identify abnormal pituitary gland enlargement in CT images. To be more accurate in the assessments, further studies are required.