Familial osteopetrosis in Agouti paca: report of nine cases

Tracheal stenosis in a yellow-crowned parrot (Amazona ochrocephala) due to diffuse ossification and osteopetrosis of tracheal rings

Tracheal luminal stenosis can cause clinical respiratory distress in wild birds. We describe a case of tracheal stenosis due to diffuse ossification with osteopetrosis of tracheal rings in a yellow-crowned parrot (Amazona ochrocephala) with a history of chronic respiratory distress and death after development of marked dyspnoea. An ante-mortem radiographic examination revealed that the tracheal rings were radiopaque and that there were multiple areas of osteopenic change in long bones. At necropsy, there was stenosis of the tracheal rings characterized by complete replacement of cartilage by thickened compact bone with osteopetrosis and bone necrosis. The clinical respiratory distress and death of the parrot were associated with tracheal luminal stenosis due to thickening of the tracheal rings by diffuse ossification with osteopetrosis.

Osteopetrosis in obese female rats is site-specifically inhibited by physical training

NEW FINDINGS

What is the central question of this study? Clinical studies suggest that obesity 'protects' against osteoporosis. However, these studies used only bone densitometry and assessed only one bone site, which is insufficient to enable conclusions to be drawn about the response of the whole skeleton. Furthermore, the effects of exercise on bone responses in obesity have not been explored previously. What is the main finding and what is its importance? We show that obesity causes osteopetrosis. Therefore, the classical perspective of 'protective effects of obesity' needs to be reviewed, and exercise is an important tool to avoid these alterations and to maintain the homeostasis of bone. A sedentary lifestyle and obesity induce systemic inflammatory responses. Although the effects of physical inactivity on osseous tissue have been well established, the effects of obesity on bone tissue remain controversial. Furthermore, the effects of physical training on bone tissue responses in the presence of diet-induced obesity are unknown. Our aim was to investigate the effects of obesity and physical training at multiple bone sites in rats. Female Wistar rats were divided into the following four groups: (i) control diet, non-trained (C-NT); (ii) high-refined carbohydrate-containing diet, non-trained (HC-NT); (iii) control diet, trained (C-T); and (iv) high-refined carbohydrate-containing diet, trained (HC-T). At 5 months of age, the rats were submitted to daily exercise for 30 min day(-1). After 13 weeks, blood samples, adipose and skeletal tissues were harvested. Two-way ANOVA was applied to detect differences (significance accepted when P ≤ 0.05). The HC-NT group exhibited increased body mass, adiposity, serum leptin, serum insulin, insulin resistance index and concentrations of tumour necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6. Obese rats (HC-NT) exhibited thickening of nasal bones, trabecular bones in the lumbar vertebrae and long bones in a site-dependent manner. The HC-T group exhibited similar adiposity and inflammatory results. Morphological analysis of the lumbar vertebrae in rats fed the HC diet revealed characteristics of osteopetrosis that were inhibited by exercise. In conclusion, the HC diet induced obesity and inflammatory/hormonal alterations and increased the trabecular bone in a site-dependent manner. However, obesity caused osteopetrosis in the lumbar vertebrae, which could be inhibited by physical training. Although exercise inhibited the development of bone alterations, physical training did not inhibit the HC diet-induced obesity responses.

Anemia mielotísica por osteopetrose em um cão: relato de caso

A osteopetrose é uma doença rara, caracterizada pelo aumento generalizado da densidade óssea. Tem como característica principal, a reabsorção osteoclástica defeituosa, resultando no acúmulo de massa óssea. Além disso, pode ocorrer retardo do crescimento, desnutrição progressiva, anemia e caquexia. O presente relato descreve o caso de uma cadela, com aproximadamente nove meses de idade, sem raça definida, com histórico de apatia e disorexia. Hemogramas seriados demonstraram pancitopenia persistente. Vários exames laboratoriais foram realizados para excluir doenças como erliquiose, leishmaniose e cinomose, porém todos foram negativos. O mielograma constatou hipocelularidade relativa por provável aplasia/hipoplasia medular. Exames radiográficos evidenciaram o aumento da radiopacidade óssea e hipertrofia da região cortical, e a necropsia confirmou a redução do canal medular. O exame histopatológico confirmou a osteopetrose. Conclui-se que a osteopetrose pode causar comprometimento na produção de células sanguíneas, sendo uma causa rara de anemia mielotísica, além de alterações neurológicas secundárias à má-formação dos ossos do crânio.