Molecular insights into dietary induced colic in the horse

Equine colic, a disorder manifested in abdominal pain, is the most frequent cause of emergency treatment and death in horses. Colic often requires intestinal surgery, subsequent hospitalisation and post operative care, with a strong risk of complications arising from surgery. Therefore strategies that explore approaches for preventing the condition are essential. To this end, a better understanding of the factors and mechanisms that lead to the development of colic and related intestinal diseases in the horse allows the design of preventive procedures. Colic is a multifactorial disorder that appears to be induced by environmental factors and possibly a genetic predisposition. One factor that seems to influence the risk of developing colic is the excessive consumption of diets containing high levels of carbohydrates. Therefore, major efforts have been made by various laboratories and institutions across the world to study the type and digestibility of various feed in order to formulate accurate and safe feed components and proportions. However, relatively little work has been carried out to characterise, in detail, the carbohydrate digestive and absorptive capacity and mechanisms underlying the potential adaptive response of equine gut epithelium to a changing diet. This review focuses on advances made towards understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in digestion and absorption of dietary carbohydrates in the equine gastrointestinal tract and the implication of these processes for the whole body physiology. It addresses the underlying mechanisms that may govern the adaptive response of equine small intestine to increased dietary hydrolysable carbohydrates. Furthermore, it describes changes that occur in the equine large intestinal microbiology and host tissue biology brought about by alterations in diet and in colic. It is hoped that a better understanding of the molecular and cellular processes that play important roles in the physiology and pathology of the equine gastrointestinal tract will assist the development of effective strategies to prevent equine colic.     

Antimicrobial peptides and surfactant proteins in ruminant respiratory tract disease

In ruminants, respiratory disease is multifactorial and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Pulmonary innate immunity is the first line of defense for the respiratory tract. Alteration of regulation, expression, and function of these factors may be important to disease development and resolution. Many antimicrobial peptides and surfactant proteins are constitutively expressed in the respiratory tract and expression levels are regulated. Beta-defensins are cationic peptides with broad antimicrobial activity against bacterial, viral and fungal pathogens. Beta-defensins are primarily expressed in mucosal epithelia (and in some species leukocytes); where they may also participate in chemotaxis, wound repair and adaptive immune responses. Surfactant proteins A and D are secreted pulmonary surfactant proteins that have antimicrobial and immune regulatory activity. Anionic peptide is a constitutively expressed, aspartate-rich peptide that has antimicrobial activity and is most prominent during reparative epithelial hyperplasia. Regulation of these immune defense components by stress, pathogens, and inflammatory cytokines may play a role in the susceptibility to, severity and resolution of respiratory infection. The expression patterns of these molecules can be specific for host-species, class of pathogen and stage of infection. Understanding the regulation of antimicrobial peptide/protein expression will further enhance the potential for novel prophylactic and therapeutic modalities to minimize the impact of respiratory disease.     

Antimicrobial sensitivity testing of Australian isolates of Bordetella avium and the Bordetella avium-like organism

SUMMARY: The in-vitro sensitivity of 16 Australian isolates of Bordetella avium and 15 isolates of B avium -like organism to 11 antimicrobial agents or combinations of agents was determined using a microtitre plate system to establish minimal inhibitory concentrations. All the B avium isolates were sensitive to ampicillin but resistant to erythromycin, lincomycin, spectinomycin, sulphamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and lincomycin + spectinomycin. Most of the B avium isolates were sensitive to tetracycline and resistant to streptomycin and sulphadiazine. All the B avium -like isolates were resistant to ampicillin, erythromycin, lincomycin, spectinomycin, streptomycin, tetracycline, trimethoprim, and lincomycin + spectinomycin. Most B avium -like isolates were sensitive to sulphadiazine, sulphamethoxazole and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole.     

Medical treatment of osteoarthritis in the horse - a review

The medical treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) in the horse is one of the most utilized therapeutic regimens in the equine practice. It is important to understand the anatomy of synovial joints and the pathophysiology of the disease process to treat OA adequately. Once a thorough understanding of the disease process is comprehended the proper combination of systemic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), intraarticular steroids, viscosupplementation and chondroprotectants can be used to treat the disease and inhibit further progression of degenerative changes to the cartilage surface. The equine practitioner is faced with many choices for controlling inflammation in OA. This review presents the background and appropriate uses of various NSAIDs such as phenylbutazone, flunixin meglumine, ketoprofen, naproxen, and carprofen as well as their associated toxicities. Various steroid formulations exist for intraarticular (IA) administration and much has been learned in the past decade regarding correct dosage, frequency of administrations, indications and toxicity. This review presents IA steroids and their indications in addition to various chondroprotective drugs that also exist to control inflammation and provide viscosupplementation. Data are also given on disease modifying OA drugs such as glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate that have more recently become available to the equine practitioner.     

Identification of the PR prealbumin proteins in horse serum

The Pr protein, which is one of the major equine acidic prealbumins and which consists of a large number of phenotypes, has been studied with regard to its chemical identity.Serum samples of known Pr phenotype which had been treated with varying amounts of bovine trypsin were subjected to starch gel electrophoresis at pH 4.8. When a certain amount of trypsin was used, the Pr protein was markedly affected, whereas the other acidic prealbumins retained their normal electrophoreitic pattern.Extracts from three different regions of the acidic prealbumin field were tested by the casein precipitating inhibition test (CPI-test). Marked antitrypsin effect appeared against the extract from the Pr zone but not against the extracts from the two other acidic prealbumin zones.When acidic starch gel electrophoresis was combined with the CPI-test, a broad inhibitory zone appeared in the area of the Pr proteins.Pr protein was isolated by the use of agarose gel electrophoresis and sepharose column chromatography. The isolated protein which was tested for purity by gel electrophoresis had a molecular weight of about 60,000.It is concluded that the equine Pr protein corresponds to αi-antitrypsin.     

Antimicrobial peptides and bacteriocins: alternatives to traditional antibiotics

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are ubiquitous, gene-encoded natural antibiotics that have gained recent attention in the search for new antimicrobials to combat infectious disease. In multicellular organisms, AMPs, such as defensins and cathelicidins, provide a coordinated protective response against infection and are a principal component of innate immunity in vertebrates. In unicellular organisms, AMPs, such as bacteriocins, function to suppress competitor species. Because many AMPs kill bacteria by disruption of membrane integrity and are thus thought to be less likely to induce resistance, AMPs are being extensively evaluated as novel antimicrobial drugs. This review summarizes and discusses the antibiotic properties of AMPs highlighting their potential as alternatives to conventional antibiotics.     

Phenylbutazone and oxyphenbutazone distribution into tissue fluids in the horse

The clinically recommended dose rate of phenylbutazone (4.4 mg/kg) was administered intravenously as a single dose to five Welsh Mountain ponies. Distribution of phenylbutazone and its active metabolite oxyphenbutazone into body fluids was studied by measuring concentrations in plasma, tissue-cage fluid, peritoneal fluid and acute inflammatory exudate harvested from a polyester sponge model of inflammation. The ready penetration of phenylbutazone into inflammatory exudate was demonstrated by the relatively high mean value for C_max of 12.4 μg/ml occurring at a time of 4.6 h and a mean AUQ)_24 of 128 μg-h/ml. A high mean exudate: plasma AUCo_24 ratio of 0.83 was recorded. Plasma: exudate concentration ratios for phenylbutazone were initially greater than and subsequently less than one; the slower clearance from exudate was indicated by approximate t_½β values of 4.8 and 24 h for plasma and exudate, respectively. These findings may help to explain the relatively long duration of action of phenylbutazone, in spite of a plasma elimination half-life of less than 5 h. Lower values of C_max and AUC_0–24 for phenylbutazone passage into peritoneal fluid (6.3 μg/ml and 45 (μh/ml) were recorded, and a limited number of sampling times indicated a similar degree of penetration as into tissue cage fluid. Mean concentrations of oxyphenbutazone in all fluids were lower than phenylbutazone concentrations at all times, but ready penetration of the metabolite into body fluids, especially into inflammatory exudate, occurred suggesting that oxyphenbutazone may contribute to the anti-inflammatory effect. The hyperaemia of acute inflammation and the high protein levels in inflammatory exudate may both assist passage of phenylbutazone and oxyphenbutazone into exudate. The slower clearance of both compounds from exudate, periton?ceal fluid and tissue cage fluid than from plasma is similar to previous reports for other drugs.     

重组表达抗菌肽Hadrurin抗菌活性分析

为了给表达高活性的抗菌肽Hadrurin提供开发应用的依据,进一步为用基因工程方法生产具有多种生物活性的抗菌肽Hadrurin蛋白提供研究基础,本研究表达获得重组抗菌肽Hadrurin(rHadrurin)蛋白的基础上,将纯化的rHadrurin蛋白进行肠激酶酶切,恢复其天然活性结构。用最小抑菌浓度(MIC)和最小杀菌浓度(MBC)方法检测抗菌肽Hadrurin在不同剂量、不同pH值、不同保存温度下对鸡致病性大肠杆菌和金黄色葡萄球菌的抑菌活性及杀菌活性。并以小鼠为动物模型,进行抗菌肽rHadrurind对小鼠的体内保护实验。结果表明抗菌肽rHadrurin对上述细菌的最小抑菌范围为1.32μg/mL～4.32μg/mL,最小杀菌范围为1.77μg/mL～8.54μg/mL,而且-70℃～100℃及在pH3～pH10条件下仍具有高效抗菌活性。240μg/只剂量的抗菌肽蛋白可有效预防保护小鼠免受致死剂量鸡致病性大肠杆菌攻击,320μg/只剂量可达到保护率85%以上。     

Schistosoma reflexum in a cat: insights into aetiopathogenesis

A foetal cat exhibiting multiple congenital malformations and meeting the criteria for being considered as a case of true schistosoma reflexum (SR) is described. SR in animals is briefly compared with relatively similar malformation entities in humans. Murine gene mutations producing severe ventral body wall defects associated with anomalies of internal organs and other structures are briefly reviewed. New insights into aetiopathogenic mechanisms possibly implicated in the development of SR are suggested. This is probably the first case of true SR reported in the cat.     

Relationship between paired plasma and serum viscosity and plasma proteins in the horse

The relationship between paired plasma and serum viscosity measurements and plasma proteins, including fibrinogen, were compared in 106 horses with both normal and abnormal serum protein levels. There is a highly significant positive correlation between serum viscosity and total serum proteins and total globulin levels. The difference between plasma and serum viscosity correlated well with clottable fibrinogen concentration. Albumin levels showed a negative correlation with plasma and serum viscosity, globulins and fibrinogen. Simultaneous estimation of serum and plasma viscosity improves the diagnostic value of the latter test without appreciable increase in cost or time and should prove useful for screening large numbers of samples for the presence or absence of abnormal levels of globulins and, or, fibrinogen.     

Antimicrobial peptides: agents of border protection for companion animals

Over the past 20 years, there have been significant inroads into understanding the roles of antimicrobial peptides in homeostatic functions and their involvement in disease pathogenesis. In addition to direct antimicrobial activity, these peptides participate in many cellular functions, including chemotaxis, wound healing and even determination of canine coat colour. Various biological and genetic approaches have helped to elucidate the role of antimicrobial peptides with respect to innate immunity and host defense. Associations of antimicrobial peptides with various skin diseases, including psoriasis, rosacea and atopic dermatitis, have been documented in humans. In the longer term, therapeutic modulation of antimicrobial peptide expression may provide effective new treatments for disease. This review highlights current knowledge about antimicrobial peptides of the skin and circulating leukocytes, with particular focus on relevance to physiology and disease in companion animals.     

An investigation into the feasibility of interspinous injections in the horse

Injections of substances into the interspinous spaces between the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae cannot be practically achieved in the horse.