The purpose of the present study was to determine hypoxic brain damage in calves with perinatal asphyxia using brain-specific damage biomarkers. Ten healthy and 25 calves with perinatal asphyxia were enrolled in the study. Clinical examination, neurological status score, and laboratory analysis were performed at admission, 24, 48, and 72 h. Serum concentrations of ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolysis 1 (UCHL1), calcium-binding protein B (S100B), adrenomodullin (ADM), activitin A (ACTA), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and creatine kinase-brain (CK-B) were measured. Histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations of the brain tissue were performed in 13 nonsurvivor calves. The neurological status score of the calves with asphyxia was significantly (p < 0.05) lower. Mix metabolic-respiratory acidosis and hypoxemia were detected in calves with asphyxia. Serum UCHL1 and S100B were significantly (p < 0.05) increased, and NSE, ACTA, ADM, and CK-B were decreased (p < 0.05) in calves with asphyxia. Histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations confirmed the development of mild to severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. In conclusion, asphyxia and hypoxemia caused hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in perinatal calves. UCHL1 and S100B concentrations were found to be useful markers for the determination of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in calves with perinatal asphyxia. Neurological status scores and some blood gas parameters were helpful in mortality prediction.

Mitochondrial biogenesis (MB) induction has recently emerged as potential therapeutic approaches in kidney pathology and the mitochondria-targeted therapies should be investigated to improve treatment of animals with kidney diseases. This study aimed to investigate the effects of MB induction with sildenafil citrate on the cGMP/NO pathway, glomerular filtration, and reduction of kidney damage and fibrosis (TGF-β/SMAD pathway) in cats with acute on chronic kidney disease (ACKD). Thirty-three cats were divided into the non-azotemic (healthy) group (n:8) and the ACKD group (n:25), comprising different breeds, sexes, and ages. Sildenafil citrate was administered to the non-azotemic and ACKD groups (2.5 mg/kg, PO, q12 hours) for 30 days. Serum and urine NO, MDA, NGAL, KIM-1, TGF-β1, IL-18, FGF 23, PGC-1α and cGMP concentrations were measured. Serum cGMP concentrations increased (P < 0.05) in the non-azotemic group during the 2nd (median 475.99 pmol/mL) and 3rd (median 405.01 pmol/mL) weeks of the study, whereas serum cGMP concentrations decreased in the ACKD group during the 4th(median 188.52 pmol/mL) week compared to the non-azotemic group (P < 0.05). No difference was observed in serum biomarker concentrations except NO, which increased in the 4th week (P < 0.05). The urinary concentrations of NO, MDA, PGC-1α, TGF-β1, NGAL, KIM-1, IL-18, and FGF 23 in the ACKD group were found to be higher compared to those in the non-azotemic group from the 1st to the 4th week (P < 0.05). In the ACKD group, the urine PGC-1α concentration in the 2nd (median 6.10 ng/mL) week was lower compared to that in the 0 and 1st (median 7.65 and 7.21 ng/mL, respectively) week, and the NO concentration in the 3rd (median 28.94 µmol/mL) week was lower than that in the 0th (median 37.43 µmol/mL) week (P < 0.05). While sildenafil citrate has been determined to induce a low level of MB and to have a beneficial effect on glomerular filtration, it is observed to be ineffective in mitigating renal damage and fibrosis via the TGF-β/SMAD pathway in cats with ACKD.

Aging is a process that includes natural and time-dependent changes in the body. Dogs whose quality of life is not adversely affected are classified as healthy elderly dogs. Behavioral and cognitive status should be taken into consideration together with blood analyzes in the health evaluation of old dogs. Therefore, it was aimed to evaluate hematochemical parameters and canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) scale in 10 healthy senior (senior group, SG) and 14 healthy geriatric (geriatric group, GG) dogs in this study. No statistical difference was determined between the groups in the CBC analysis. In the blood gases analysis, pCO2 (P=0.006), base excess (P=0.020) and HCO3 (P=0.041) levels were found to be lower in GG compared to the SG. In serum biochemistry analysis, BUN (P=0.016) and GGT (P=0.003) levels were found to be higher whereas LDH (P=0.008) and triglyceride (P=0.003) levels were found to be lower in GG compared to SG. The total CCD scale score was 14.50 (12-23) in the SG and 50.50 (32-68) in the GG (P<0.001). In conclusion, differences in some parameters were determined as a result of blood gases and serum bio-chemistry analyzes between healthy senior and geriatric dogs, and it was concluded that routine hematochemical ana-lyzes are important also in healthy elderly dogs. In addition, it was observed that the CCD scale scores of Terriers were higher in this study.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of endothelial activation and glycocalyx degradation in the pathogenesis of feline panleukopenia (FPL) using biomarkers and to determine the diagnostic and prognostic significance of these biomarkers. Thirty cats with FPL and 10 healthy cats were enrolled. Clinical examination, blood gases, and complete blood count (CBC) were performed at enrollment. Endothelin-1 (ET-1), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), and syndecan-1 (Syn-1) concentrations were measured using feline specific commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits to assess endothelial glycocalyx damage. Nineteen (63.3%) of the cats with FPL recovered and survived, while 11 (36.7%) died. In cats with panleukopenia, acidemia was the most important blood gas finding, while leukopenia, lymphopenia, monocytopenia, granulocytopenia, and thrombocytopenia were the most dominant CBC findings. ET-1, ADMA, VEGF-A, and Syn-1 concentrations were significantly higher in cats with panleukopenia (p < 0.01). Serum Syn-1 and ET-1 concentrations were found to be useful in predicting mortality. In conclusion, the fact that the concentrations of all endothelial glycocalyx biomarkers (ET-1, ADMA, VEGF-A, Syn-1) were higher in cats with panleukopenia compared to healthy cats suggests that endothelial glycocalyx damage occurs during panleukopenia infection. In addition, Syn-1 and ET-1 were found to be potential prognostic factors with high sensitivity and specificity.

World Health Organization data suggest that neurological disorders are an important and growing cause of morbidity. One of the most common neurological disorder affecting people is epilepsy. Many companion animal neurological diseases share epidemiologic, pathophysiologic and clinical features with their human counterparts. In companion animals, affected species are mostly dogs, cats and rabbits. Seizure is defined as the clinical manifestation of abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Epilepsy is a brain disease characterized by the psychological, cognitive, social and environmental consequences of seizures. The epileptic seizures are recurrent events characterized by behavioral alterations that reflect the underlying neural mechanisms of the disease. In most cases, the disease can be diagnosed by anamnesis or observing the seizure. There are many reviews and researches about epilepsy and epileptic seizures in companion animals such as dogs and cats but not in rabbits. There are several causes of epilepsy in rabbits including viral, bacterial, parasitic, metabolic, respiratory, cardiovascular, nutritional, toxic, traumatic, enviromental and non-epileptic causes. Rabbits can be considered suitable for seizure and epilepsy investigations due to their recurrent seizures with low risk of death. As mentioned, there are several causes of epilepsy in rabbits but still to elucidate the exact mechanism of epilepsy and epileptic seizures in rabbits more studies need to be carried out. Despite the advances in the disease management, epilepsy is still an important cause of disability and mortality in both humans and companion animals. As tonic-clonic seizures with brainstem origin mostly affect children, epileptic seizures in rabbits may be a good model for further studies. Key words: Brain disease, epilepsy, neural disturbances, behavioral alterations, rabbit, seizure.