Abiotrophy in domestic animals: a review.

This review of abiotrophies in domestic animals has been organized by the predominate anatomical location of the lesion. Secondary considerations include the major signs of the clinical disorder and special neuropathological features. Those abiotrophies that have an established genetic basis are identified but the review includes degenerative disorders in which the etiology is not yet established.     

畜禽寄生虫病诊断中存在问题的思考

畜禽寄生虫病的正确诊断是有效防治寄生虫病的前提。建立正确诊断 ,必须坚持采取综合性方法 ,遵循流行病学调查及临床诊断基础上检出寄生虫病原体的原则。近年来 ,在畜禽寄生虫病诊断中 ,在寄生虫资源利用、病原体生物学特性的了解、检查方法的规范和血清学辅助诊断诸方面存在一些值得关注和思考的问题。对此进行分析和思考 ,并提出几点建议意见 ,期盼诊断质量踏上一个新平台。     

Neurodegenerative diseases in domestic animals: a comparative review

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterised by selective damage to specific neurons in the nervous system. Interest in such diseases in humans has resulted in considerable progress in the molecular understanding of these disorders in recent decades. Numerous neurodegenerative diseases have also been described in domestic animals but relatively little molecular work has been reported. In the present review, we have classified neurodegenerative disease according to neuroanatomical criteria. We have established two large groups, based on whether the neuronal cell body or its axon was primarily affected. Conditions such as motor neuron diseases, cerebellar degenerations and neuroaxonal dystrophies are discussed in terms of their clinical and neuropathological features. In the most studied disorders, we also present what is known about underlying pathomechanisms, and compare them with their human counterparts. The purpose of this review is to re-kindle interest in this group of diseases and to encourage veterinary researchers to investigate molecular mechanisms by taking advantage of current diagnostic tools.     

Pemphigus and pemphigoid in domestic animals: an overview

Pemphigus and pemphigoid are uncommon dermatological entities in domestic animals and of a presumed autoimmune nature. In one form or another, they have been reported in the dog, cat, horse and goat. Although these diseases are considered to be bullous dermatoses, the clinical presentation may vary from ulcerative to exfoliative to proliferative depending on the individual condition. Currently, four variants of pemphigus are recognized (vulgaris, vegetans, foliaceus, erythematosus) and two of pemphigoid (bullous, cicatricial) although cicatricial pemphigoid has not yet been conclusively demonstrated in animals. Diagnosis is based on history, clinical signs, histopathology and immunopathology. Therapy must be immunosuppressive to be effective and is palliative rather than curative.     

Enantioselective behaviour of drugs used in domestic animals: a review

The chirality of drugs, with particular reference to agents used in veterinary medicine, is reviewed. Basic concepts of chirality and aspects of the methodology for the separation of enantiomers are considered. Chiral compounds are in common use in animals and their pharmacological actions and side-effects (pharmacodynamics) and absorption into and fate within the body (pharmacokinetics) are of fundamental importance; pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties of enantiomeric pairs commonly differ and this has major implications for their effective and safe therapeutic use. As examples of the particular significance of chirality in veterinary medicine, the following drug classes are reviewed; benzimidazole anthelmintics, cloprostenol, verapamil, ketamine, halogenated hydrocarbon anaesthetics and 2-arylpropionic acid anti-inflammatory drugs. The implications of chirality for drug product development and approval by registration authorities are discussed.     

CEA test in domestic animals

In human cancer treatment, CEA (carcino embryonic antigen) testing is a routine procedure, even though the test is of low sensitivity (40%) and low specificity (70%). Since tests with polyclonal antibodies render no reproducible results with animal sera, the applicability of a recently available monoclonal CEA test designed for human sera was evaluated. We were able to show that the latter test was of supplemental diagnostic value when testing animal sera. The upper normal limit for dogs is 1.65 ng/ml, for cats 2.81 ng/ml, for cows 2.85 ng/ml, for sheep 2.85 ng/ml and for horses 1.61 ng/ml.     

Iron deficiency in domestic animals

Iron is essential for the organism. In ionized forms (Fe++, Fe ), it constitutes an integrated part of a lot of different functional proteins (Figure 1). The most important functions are participation in oxygen transport in blood, oxygen storage in muscle tissues and oxidation of nutrients in the mitochondria. Iron is an essential part of cytochrome C and alpha-glycerolphosphate dehydrogenase, and early stages of iron deficiency may, therefore, cause disturbances in tissue metabolism before development of anaemia. Thus, haemoglobin determinations is not very suitable for diagnosing early iron deficiency. The content of iron in roughages, apart from root crops (Table II), is usually sufficient to cover the requirement of domestic animals (Table III), which is met by about 50 mg per kg feed dry matter. Iron deficiency is very often caused by a reduced absorption in the intestinal tract because of components in the feed forming complexes with iron of very low solubility or inhibitors reducing the absorption processes. The immune status of the organism and its resistance against infections depends on the iron supply. Iron deficiency inhibits the myeloperoxidase activity and thus decreases the bacteriocide effect of the leucocytes. In spite of this, when exposed to infections the physiological mechanisms reduce the blood concentration of available iron. By this mode of action, invading pathogens, needing iron like the host animals, will be restrained. The low content of iron in milk (Table II) combined with a high content of iron binding lactoferrin, is ideal to protect newborn and milk fed young animals against intestinal infections.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)