DERMATITIS ULCERATIVA EN RATONES BALB/c Cmedc: REPORTE DE 3 CASOS

Ulcerative dermatitis (UD) is a common and spontaneous condition in mice. The disease is characterized by a pruritic skin lesion, pain and a progressive evolution that often results in ulcerations. Sex, environmental conditions, dietary variation, chronic inflammation, barbering and follicular dystrophy are some predisposing factors for the clinical disease development. The aim of this study was report 3 cases of UD in BALBc/Cmedc mice from Center for Comparative Medicine, gross and histopathological lesions were described, and a review about relevance of UD in laboratory mice was made. These cases were characterized by dermatitis, ulcerative and proliferative, chronic, moderate, with neutrophils, hemorrhage and a serocellular crust. Although initial lesions may be mild, lesions in UD typically are unresponsive to treatment and euthanasia is often warranted in severe cases. This is the reason why UD is an important clinical issue that often affects biomedical research by causing problems in mice health and premature removal of animal from laboratory studies.

Immunotherapeutic Strategies for Canine Lymphoma: Changing the Odds Against Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Graphical AbstractThe application of canine lymphoma as an animal model for immunotherapeutic approaches in comparative medicine provides an integrated drug discovery platform that maximize interdisciplinary cooperation and leverage commonalities across humans and dogs for the development of novel immunotherapies against non-Hodgkin lymphoma, benefiting both species.

Leonard George Goodwin. 11 July 1915—25 November 2008

For 24 years Leonard George Goodwin was responsible for developing chemotherapeutic agents against parasites at what became the Wellcome Laboratories of Tropical Medicine. Having degrees in pharmacy, physiology and, eventually, clinical medicine, he was active from the start of World War II in the drive to protect Allied forces in the field from tropical diseases. It was in the 1940s, 1950s and into the 1960s that Goodwin had most immediate and lasting impact, through the establishment of five major drugs: sodium stibogluconate, for treatment of leishmaniasis; pyrimethamine, for malaria; piperazine, to combat ascariasis; bephenium, for ankylostomiasis; and phenanthridine derivates, to treat trypanosomiasis. Such agents also became important in veterinary medicine. In 1963 he became director of the new Nuffield Institute of Comparative Medicine and then director of science at the Zoological Society of London. Although Goodwin never worked in higher education, he nonetheless influenced many careers through his involvement with scientific societies.

The Oxidative Stress Markers of Horses—the Comparison with Other Animals and the Influence of Exercise and Disease

Diacron-reactive oxygen metabolite (d-ROM) and biological antioxidant potential (BAP) levels in the serum of horses were measured (ponies, n = 15; thoroughbred, n = 31; other full-sized horses, n = 7). The mean d-ROM levels in horses were significantly higher (p < 0.001) than those in dairy cattle (n = 25) and dogs (n = 31). However, d-ROM levels in horses were lower than the standard levels reported in humans. When d-ROM and BAP levels were plotted graphically, the points for horses with a disease (ringbone in 1 Japanese sports horse, cellulitis in 1 thoroughbred, melanoma in 1 Lipizzaner) fell outside the group of points for other (non-diseased) horses. A similar separation was seen (using data from other authors) for a horse with Rhodococcus equi, a horse following castration surgery, and a mare following delivery. These results, comparing horses, other animals, and humans, are interesting from the standpoint of comparative medicine, and they contribute to the sparse literature available on d-ROM and BAP levels in animals. Because the level of d-ROM and BAP levels were changed depending on the situation of health, those indexes are promising as indices of health in horses.

Pain as a Clinical Factor and Experimental Variable in Research Rodents

It is broadly accepted that, as part of the humane care and use of animals in research, the pain experienced by animals should be minimized to the extent possible, consistent with the goals of the research. In some cases, pain may be the subject under study, whereas in other cases, the use of some types of analgesics may interfere with the experimental objectives of the work. This issue of Comparative Medicine provides reviews related to the recognition and treatment of pain, the interaction of pain and pain relief on experimental outcomes, and ethical perspectives on the need to reduce pain in research rodents, whenever possible.