Assessment of the diagnostic accuracy of circulating cardiac troponin I concentration to distinguish between cats with cardiac and non-cardiac causes of respiratory distress

Objective

To determine if serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI) concentrations can distinguish cardiac from non-cardiac causes of respiratory distress (RD) in cats.

Animals, materials and methods

53 cats. cTnI concentrations were measured in 30 cats with non-cardiac respiratory distress (RD-NC) and compared to 23 cats with RD due to congestive heart failure (RD + CHF).

Results

The RD + CHF group had higher median cTnI concentration (0.94 ng/ml interquartile range IQR 0.54-4.00, range <0.20 - 90.14) than the RD-NC group (<0.2 ng/ml IQR < 0.2-0.33, range <0.20-41.1, p < 0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.842 (95% CI 0.728-0.955) for the receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis of the accuracy of cTnI concentrations to discriminate RD + CHF from RD-NC cats. A cut-off of ≥ 0.81 ng/ml discriminated RD + CHF from RD-NC cats with a sensitivity and specificity of 65.2% and 90.0% respectively. However considerable overlap in cTnI concentrations between the 2 groups was identified.

Conclusions

Serum cTnI concentrations were different in RD + CHF compared to RD-NC cats. However the overlap in cTnI concentrations between the 2 groups reduced the clinical efficacy of the assay which therefore should not be used as a stand-alone test but in combination with other diagnostics such as echocardiography and radiography.     

Soil carbon pools, plant biomarkers and mean carbon residence time after afforestation of grassland with three tree species

Afforestation of grassland has been globally identified as being an important means for creating a sink for atmospheric carbon (C). However, the impact of afforestation on soil C is still poorly understood, due to the paucity of well designed long-term experiments and the lack of investigation into the response of different soil C fractions to afforestation. In addition, little is known about the origins of soil C and soil organic matter (SOM) stability after afforestation. In a retrospective study, we measured C mass in the soil light and heavy fractions in the first 10 years after afforestation of grassland with Eucalyptus nitens, Pinus radiata and Cupressus macrocarpa. The results suggest that C mass in the soil heavy fraction remained stable, but the C mass in the light fraction decreased at year 5 under three species. Soil δ¹³C analysis showed that the decrease in the light fraction may be due to reduced C inputs from grassland species litter and low inputs from the still young trees. After the initial reduction, the recovery of soil C in the light fraction depended on tree species. At year 10, an increase of 33% in light fraction soil C was observed at the 0-30 cm depth under E. nitens, compared to that under the original grassland (year 0). Planting P. radiata restored light fraction soil C to the original level under grassland, whereas planting C. macrocarpa led to a decrease of 33%. We concluded that the increase of light fraction soil C between year 5 and 10 is most likely due to C input from tree residues. Most of the increased C was derived from root turnover under pine and from both root and leaf turnover under E. nitens, as indicated by plant C biomarkers such as lignin-derived phenols and suberin and cutin-derived compounds in the 0-5 cm soil layer. Modelling of soil ?¹⁴C‰ suggested that SOM had a greater mean residence time at year 10 than year 0 and 5 due to increased relative abundance of recalcitrant plant biopolymers.     

Effects of dimethoate and beta-naphthoflavone on selected biomarkers of Poecilia reticulata

The main objective of the present study was to investigate if a battery of enzymatic biomarkers was suitable for use as effect criteria in acute toxicity tests with Poecilia reticulata. To attain this objective, the in vivo effects of dimethoate and beta-naphthoflavone on acetylcholinesterase (AChE), cytochrome P4501A-dependent monooxygenase activity of 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD), glutathione S-transferases (GST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase activities of P. reticulata were studied. After 96 h of exposure to sublethal concentrations (0.063 mg l⁻¹ to 1 mg l⁻¹) of the pesticide, an inhibition of the enzymes AChE and GST, as well as an induction of LDH was observed. The compound beta-naphthoflavone significantly induced both EROD and GST. The remaining enzymes analysed were not significantly altered by the exposure to beta-naphthoflavone (0.82 mg l⁻¹ to 1.7 mg l⁻¹). These results suggest that in vivo toxicity tests based on the biomarkers used in this study are sensitive and present advantages to conventional acute tests based on mortality, since they were able to detect sublethal effects in a short-period of time (96 h) indicating target and/or detoxification mechanisms. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Phenoloxidase and peroxidase activity in the shrimp Litopenaeus schmitti,Pérez‐Farfante and Kensley (1997) exposed to low salinity

Phenoloxidase and peroxidase activity were analysed in haemolymph of juvenile shrimp, Litopenaeus schmitti, exposed to different salinity levels (35%, 18%, 8%) for 48 h. A significant reduction (P<0.05) in total glucose and phenoloxidase activity in animals exposed to lower salinities (18% and 8%) was recorded, while peroxidase activity and total protein concentration did not vary. Histology revealed the occurrence of oedema in gills in shrimp exposed to 8%. The work demonstrates for the first time that in L. schmitti, low salinities can decrease glucose levels in haemolymph and create an immunosuppressive state by reducing phenoloxidase activity.     

European veterinary dissertations

Diseases affecting synovial joints are a major cause of chronic disability both in humans and in companion animal species, most notably dogs and horses. As progressive deterioration of the articular cartilage is the hallmark of degenerative joint disease or osteoarthritis, research efforts traditionally tended to focus primarily on cartilage pathology. However, in recent years it has become clear that synovial joints should be considered intricate organs in their own right, with each of the constituent tissues (cartilage, bone, and synovial membrane) interacting with each other both in health and disease. Moreover, with the advent of modern molecular biology techniques, the importance of synovial inflammation in disease development and progression has become increasingly recognized. These realizations have spurred the need for tools that allow a more comprehensive, integral study of synovial joint homeostasis. This review provides a brief overview of synovial joint biology and the concept of joint homeostasis, followed by a discussion of methods that may be used to study joint homeostasis (varying from in vitro tissue culture to in vivo imaging) including specific advantages and limitations of each approach. It then zooms in on one such approach, synovial fluid biomarker analysis, as a promising avenue in synovial joint research, highlighting some results from equine studies performed in the author's own laboratory that illustrate how such studies may help shed light on in vivo joint homeostasis and therapeutic modulation thereof. The review concludes with some future perspectives and promising developments in the field.     

Alterations of cardiac and renal biomarkers in horses naturally infected with theileria equi

Equine theileriosis due to Theileria equi is probably the most widespread and pathogenic disease of equines, which comes with major cardiac and renal complications. This study was undertaken to investigate the biomarkers of cardiac and renal functions in horses infected with T. equi and determine the association between these parameters and the level of parasitemia. Giemsa-stained blood smears from 300 horses with ages of 3–4 years old were examined for detection of T. equi on erythrocytes. Moreover, multiplex PCR was employed for confirmation of the diagnosis in the 28 positive cases. Based on the rate of red blood cell infection, the infected animals were subdivided into horses with low (n = 9), moderate (n = 13) and high (n = 6) parasitemia. The concentrations of urea, creatinine, cystatin-C, cardiac troponin I (cTn-I), homocysteine (Hcy), myocardial fractions of creatine kinase (CK-MB) and d-dimer were determined in control (healthy) horses (n = 20) and the infected animals. The results revealed that both the renal (urea, creatinine and cystatin-C) and the cardiac (cTn-I, Hcy, CK-MB and d-dimer) biomarkers increased in a parasitemia burden-dependent pattern. However, urea, creatinine, cTn-I and d-dimer levels were not significantly influenced in the horses infected with low rate (<1 %) of parasitemia (p> 0.05). Moreover, all of the biomarkers were significantly and positively associated with the parasitemia (R²> 0.5). In conclusion, T. equi infection was related to cardiac and renal complications evidenced by increase in the levels of biomarkers and evaluation of these indices may have promise for early diagnosis of the complications.     

Serum Cardiac Troponin I Concentration in Dogs with Precapillary and Postcapillary Pulmonary Hypertension

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a disease condition leading to right-sided cardiac hypertrophy and, eventually, right-sided heart failure. Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is a circulating biomarker of cardiac damage.
Hypothesis: Myocardial damage can occur in dogs with precapillary and postcapillary PH.
Animals: One hundred and thirty-three dogs were examined: 26 healthy controls, 42 dogs with mitral valve disease (MVD) without PH, 48 dogs with pulmonary hypertension associated with mitral valve disease (PH-MVD), and 17 dogs with precapillary PH.
Methods: Prospective, observational study. Serum cTnI concentration was measured with a commercially available immunoassay and results were compared between groups.
Results: Median cTnI was 0.10 ng/mL (range 0.10–0.17 ng/mL) in healthy dogs. Compared with the healthy population, median serum cTnI concentration was increased in dogs with precapillary PH (0.25 ng/mL; range 0.10–1.9 ng/mL; P < .001) and in dogs with PH-MVD (0.21 ng/mL; range 0.10–2.10 ng/mL; P < .001). Median serum cTnI concentration of dogs with MVD (0.12 ng/mL; range 0.10–1.00 ng/mL) was not significantly different compared with control group and dogs with PH-MVD. In dogs with MVD and PH-MVD, only the subgroup with decompensated PH-MVD had significantly higher cTnI concentration compared with dogs with compensated MVD and PH-MVD. Serum cTnI concentration showed significant modest positive correlations with the calculated pulmonary artery systolic pressure in dogs with PH and some echocardiographic indices in dogs with MVD and PH-MVD.
Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Serum cTnI is high in dogs with either precapillary and postcapillary PH. Myocardial damage in dogs with postcapillary PH is likely the consequence of increased severity of MVD.     

Serum enolase: a non‐destructive biomarker of white skeletal myopathy during pancreas disease (PD) in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L.

Diseases which cause skeletal muscle myopathy are some of the most economically damaging diseases in Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., aquaculture. Despite this, there are limited means of assessing fish health non‐destructively. Previous investigation of the serum proteome of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., during pancreas disease (PD) has identified proteins in serum that have potential as biomarkers of the disease. Amongst these proteins, the enzyme enolase was selected as the most viable for use as a biomarker of muscle myopathy associated with PD. Western blot and immunoassay (ELISA) validated enolase as a biomarker for PD, whilst immunohistochemistry identified white muscle as the source of enolase. Enolase was shown to be a specific marker for white muscle myopathy in salmon, rising in serum concentration significantly correlating with pathological damage to the tissue.