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Biomedical subjects

P Buracco

Publications and source records attributed to P Buracco.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Adrenal myelolipoma in a dog.

Abdominal ultrasound examination in an 11-year-old, intact, female Labrador dog with hepatic disease revealed a nodular swelling of the left adrenal gland. Hyperadrenocorticism was suspected, but endocrine tests were negative. At the owner's request, an adrenalectomy was performed. Grossly, a nodular mass protruded from the external surface of the left adrenal gland and in cut section was hemorrhagic and effaced the cortical and medullary regions. Histologic examination revealed a cortical neoplasm with medullary involvement. The mass was composed of well-differentiated adipose cells, megakaryocytes, hematopoietic cells, and macrophages containing hemosiderin deposits. A diagnosis of cortical adrenal myelolipoma was made.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗

Reversal of multidrug-resistance using Valspodar (PSC 833) and doxorubicin in osteosarcoma.

High-grade osteosarcoma is an extremely aggressive neoplasm, where over 80% of patients present with life-threatening micrometastases at diagnosis. Systemic control of the disease is therefore critical for the treatment of these patients and neoadjuvant chemotherapy using various drugs, including doxorubicin (DXR), which has been demonstrated to be the most effective regimen. Multidrug resistance (MDR) to some anticancer agents, including DXR, mediated by the MDR1 gene product P-glycoprotein (Pgp), has been shown to be a major cause of chemotherapy failure in osteosarcoma. We analyzed the effect of a cyclosporine A derivate Valspodar (PSC 833) on MDR human osteosarcoma cells. We also evaluated Pgp expression in sporadic appendicular canine osteosarcoma. Moreover, dogs were treated with combined administration of DXR and PSC 833. Several blood samples were collected for the determination of DXR and PSC 833 levels. PSC 833 induced a complete reversal of the resistant phenotype at concentrations compatible with the clinical use. Pgp was present in 12/18 (66.6%) of the cases. At the time of DXR administration, adequate blood concentrations of PSC 833, to provide a complete MDR reversal, were obtained without clinical or laboratory findings of toxicity. Combination therapy with DXR and PSC 833 allowed a 30% decrease in DXR dose infusion with equivalent therapeutic exposure. The high incidence of Pgp expression in osteosarcoma confers to the study a rationale for an effective regimen based on down-modulation of MDR.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Mem↗

Bone allografts and adjuvant cisplatin for the treatment of canine appendicular osteosarcoma in 18 dogs.

The results achieved in 18 dogs following the use of frozen bone cortical allografts for limb-sparing resection of non-metastatic canine appendicular osteosarcoma are presented. Three to five cisplatin doses (70 mg/m2) were administered, starting the day after surgery. The mean and median survival times were 478 and 266 days (range 80 to 2,611 days), respectively. The survival rate was 94 per cent at three months, 78 per cent at six months, 35 per cent at 12 months, 23 per cent at 18 months and 19 per cent at 24 months; the disease-free interval was 80 to 1,246 days (mean 365 days, median 266 days). Lung metastasis developed in 55 per cent of the dogs within one year. Complications were observed in 14/18 dogs (78 per cent), comprising local recurrence (28 per cent), allograft infection (39 per cent) and implant failure (11 per cent). Despite complications, limb sparing is a useful alternative to amputation in selected cases of appendicular osteosarcoma.

Animals↗

MET oncogene aberrant expression in canine osteosarcoma.

The objective of this study was to investigate the role of the MET oncogene in canine osteosarcoma. Seven large-breed dogs affected by spontaneous skeletal osteosarcoma underwent en bloc tumor excision. Total RNA was extracted from frozen tumor samples and assessed for expression of the MET oncogene by Northern blot analysis. Five of seven biopsy samples expressed high levels of the MET oncogene; its expression in the primary tumors was comparable with that previously identified in primary osteosarcomas in humans. A lung metastasis from one of the dogs expressed MET at a higher level than did its primary tumor. Spontaneously arising osteosarcoma in dogs clinically and pathologically mimics the corresponding disease in humans. We previously demonstrated that the MET oncogene was aberrantly expressed in a high percentage of human osteosarcomas. The results of the current study also provide a molecular parallel between the tumors in dogs and humans. This in vivo model may be helpful in evaluating new strategies for therapy against osteosarcoma.

Animals↗

Osteomyelitis and arthrosynovitis associated with Leishmania donovani infection in a dog.

A 10-month-old male maremma shepherd dog was presented with chronic diarrhoea, moderate polyuria/polydipsia, lethargy, dysorexia and stiffness. Pain was elicited in the distal parts of all four limbs. Radiographs of the limbs showed increased endomedullary radiopacity and lysis, with thick periosteal proliferations at the metadiaphyseal areas of each radius-ulna and tibia and of the distal metacarpus on one side. Polyclonal hypergammaglobulinaemia was documented and a similar electrophoretic protein pattern was also found in the synovial fluid. Leishmania amastigotes were found in the macrophages in a bone marrow aspirate performed at the level of a distal radius and in a synovial fluid sample obtained from a carpal joint. An indirect immunofluorescence test confirmed the infection. Treatment with N-methyl-glucamine antimoniate was successful and the osteoarticular changes progressively disappeared.

Animals↗

Ileo-colon-rectoplasty. An experimental morpho-functional study on the pig.

A small bowel loop was interposed, isoperistaltically or pouch-shaped between colon and rectum, (ileo-colon-rectoplasty) in 8 pigs to clarify whether the small intestine can push the semi-solid and septic content of the colon, and whether the function and morphology of the loop are modified with respect to the original. A radiographic and histologic study was performed 6 months after the operation. The structural modifications of the interposed small bowel consist of disappearance of folds, villous atrophy, superficial appearance of the glandular crypts, and, only in the isoperistaltic loop, hypertrophy of the muscular layers. Any modification in the morphologic aspect of the pouch has not been observed, as shown by the radiographic barium enema. Therefore the mucosa of the grafted ileum suffered an architectural change caused from the contact with the fecal material. The lack of structural modifications of the muscular layers and the dimensions of the above colon of the interposed ileal pouch represents an indirect proof of the correct function of reservoir ejection. The experimental results obtained confirm the applicability of this technique in the reconstruction of transit after wide resection of the left colon and rectum, for technical reasons, in man.

Animals↗