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Canine mammary carcinoma (CMC) is one of the major health threats in dogs. The oncolytic virotherapy is a promising strategy to treat canine as well as human cancer patients with non‐pathogenic replicating viruses. Here, we evaluated the antitumor activity of one lentogenic, non‐lytic Newcastle disease virus (NDV) LaSota strain expressing GFP (NDV‐GFP) on five different CMCs and one non‐tumorigenic cell line, regarding cell viability, cell death, selectivity index, morphology, global and target gene expression analysis. As evidenced by the selectivity index, all CMC cell lines were more susceptible to NDV‐GFP in comparison with the non‐tumorigenic cells (~3.1× to ~78.7×). In addition, the oncolytic effect of NDV‐GFP was more evident in more malignant CMC cells. Also, we observed an inverse association of the IFN pathway expression and the susceptibility to NDV. The downregulated genes in NDV‐GFP‐sensitive cells were functionally enriched for antiviral mechanisms by interferon and immune system pathways, demonstrating that these mechanisms are the most prominent for oncolysis by NDV. To our knowledge, this is the first description of oncolysis by an NDV strain in canine mammary cancer cells. We also demonstrated specific molecular pathways related to NDV susceptibility in these cancer cells, opening the possibility to use NDV as a therapeutic‐targeted option for more malignant CMCs. Therefore, these results urge for more studies using oncolytic NDVs, especially considering genetic editing to improve efficacy in dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammary tumours are the most frequent in female dogs as in women and half are malignant. Tumorigenicity and invasiveness are important acquired characteristics for the development and progression of cancers and could be regulated by transcription factors associated with epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) as ZEB1, ZEB2, SNAI1, SLUG and STAT3. Thus, here, we evaluate the expression of EMT‐associated transcription factors in canine mammary cancer (CMC) cell lines characterized for invasiveness and tumorigenicity to determine if these could be considered good targets for future development of therapies. Five CMC cell lines were characterized regarding their morphology, doubling time and expression of intermediate and actin filaments. In addition, gene expression of SLUG, STAT3, ZEB1, ZEB2 and CDH1, tumorigenicity and invasiveness were assessed. Two of these cells presented an epithelial‐like morphology (E20 and E37) and three a mesenchymal‐like morphology (M5, M25 and CF41.Mg). M25 and CF41.Mg presented higher invasiveness. Furthermore, only mesenchymal‐like cells formed tumorspheres and CF41.Mg made more and larger tumorspheres. The mesenchymal‐like cells are more malignant than the epithelial‐like cells being the CF41.Mg the most malignant. This cell presented higher ZEB1 and ZEB2 and lower CDH1 gene expression. Finally, our results revealed that there is a positive correlation between ZEBs and the tumorsphere number and size. In conclusion, these findings support ZEB1 and ZEB2 as potential therapeutic targets for CMC cells, demonstrating a great potential of canine models for comparative and translational studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Modifications to the classic cesarean section technique described by Pfannenstiel and Kerr have been proposed in the last few years. The objective of this trial was to compare intraoperative and short-term postoperative outcomes between the Pfannenstiel-Kerr and the modified Misgav-Ladach (MML) techniques for cesarean section. Methods. This prospective randomized trial involved 162 patients undergoing transverse lower uterine segment cesarean section. Patients were allocated to one of the two arms: 88 to the MML technique and 74 to the Pfannenstiel-Kerr technique. Main outcome measures were defined as the duration of surgery, analgesic requirements, and bowel restitution by the second postoperative day. Additional outcomes evaluated were febrile morbidity, postoperative antibiotic use, postpartum endometritis, and wound complications. Student's t, Mann-Whitney, and Chi-square tests were used for statistical analysis of the results, and a p < 0.05 was considered as the probability level reflecting significant differences. Results. No differences between groups were noted in the incidence of analgesic requirements, bowel restitution by the second postoperative day, febrile morbidity, antibiotic requirements, endometritis, or wound complications. The MML technique took on average 12 min less to complete (p=0.001). Conclusion. The MML technique is faster to perform and similar in terms of febrile morbidity, time to bowel restitution, or need for postoperative medications. It is likely to be more cost-effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]