Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019209 (hepatomegaly)
 5,798 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

An 8-year-old, Maltese-cross bitch presented with chronic neck and back pain and an acute onset of circling, hyperaesthesia and constant crying. Clinical examination revealed temporal muscle atrophy, an abnormal hanging reflex, cervical rigidity and severe hepatomegaly. Ultrasonography of the liver showed several disseminated, poorly demarcated, hypoechoic areas which on fine needle aspirates, contained large numbers of pigmented fungal hyphae. Cerebrospinal fluid examination revealed fungal hyphae and numerous Ehrlichia canis morulae. A diagnosis of systemic phaeohyphomycosis secondary to ehrlichiosis was proposed. Treatment was unsuccessful and the dog was euthanased. At necropsy, multiple yellowish-green to black, necro-granulomatous foci were found throughout the liver parenchyma and similar foci were present in the spleen, renal cortices and adrenal glands. Irregular, multifocal, grey to black foci of malacia were present in both the grey and the white matter of the brain. On histopathological examination pigmented fungal hyphae were demonstrated in the liver, spleen, kidneys, portal lymph node and adrenals, as well as in the brain. Cultures of various organs yielded a fungal organism identified as Xylohypha bantiana.
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PMID:Systemic phaeohyphomycosis caused by Xylohypha bantiana in a dog. 760 73

Ehrlichiosis is a disease transmitted by tick's bite that affect dogs and humans caused by the species Ehrlichia canis and E. chaffeensis, respectively. These bacteria are obligated intracellular gram negatives, with a cocoid to pleomorph aspect and can infect monocytes and trigger symptoms such as high fever, anorexia, thrombocytopenia, hemorrhages, anemia, and some serious problems such as splenomegaly, hepatomegaly and meningitis. There are several diagnostic tests for ehrlichiosis such as the hematological ones that evaluate the morphology of the monocytes in search of morulae; serological tests that includes the search of anti-Ehrlichia antibodies, although they might be limited due to cross reaction with other species. In other hand, the culture of Ehrlichia species is an effective method to obtain antigens and even develop indirect immunofluorescence assays (IFA). The polymerase chain reaction offers a definitive diagnosis associated to the use of genus-specific and species-specific primers, as well as its increased sensibility and specificity, compared to the others methods. Thus, in this review, we will discuss various methods applied to the diagnosis of this disease, as well as the advantages and disadvantages that these present.
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PMID:[Effectivity of diagnostic methods for the detection of human and canine monocytic ehrlichiosis]. 3185 7