Small-animal PET demonstrates brain metabolic change after using bevacizumab in a rat model of cerebral ischemic injury

ABSTRACT To evaluate the effect of bevacizumab on cerebral ischemia, we used 2-deoxy-2-18F-fluoro-D-glucose （18F-FDG） small-animal positron emission tomography （PET） in the middle cerebral artery occlusion （MCAO） rat model. After baseline neurologic function tests and PET studies, MCAO Sprague-Dawley rats received bevacizumab or normal saline （controls）. Weekly PET imaging and neurologic function tests showed that the 18F-FDG accumulation in the bevacizumab group was similar to that in the controls during the first 2 weeks, but lower than in controls at weeks 3 and 4. However, no difference was found in neurological scores between the groups. The number of von Willebrand factor-positive cells in the bevacizumab group was lower than that in controls. The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor was higher than in controls at week 4. These results suggested that bevacizumab does not influence functional recovery in this model of cerebral ischemia during a 4-week period, but inhibits vascular formation and metabolic recovery, which may be considered in cancer patients with a recent ischemic stroke.

Isolation and characterization of a Neisseria sp. from the captive wild goose (Anser anser)

The present study investigated 15 dead cases of captive wild goslings(Anser anser),which were bred in a small poultry farm in Shandong Province,China.The examined cases presented diverse clinical signs accompanied with neurological manifestations and fatal outcomes.Bacterial culture identified the gram-negative Neisseria sp.from the brain homogenate of most examined cases(10/15,66.7%).The isolated bacteria were identified based on morphologic characteristics,biochemical tests and 16S rDNA typing.Results proved that 1 identical bacteri­al strain(BNO09-3)was isolated from the positive cases.The phylogeny based on the 16S rDNA gene sequenc­es indicated that this isolate has a close relationship with various strains of genus Neisseria sp.isolated from liv­er and feces of duck.This is the first report of Neisseria sp.causing fatality in captive wild geese in China.