Oncolytic potential of rodent parvoviruses for cancer therapy in humans: a brief review

Summary Rodent parvoviruses are promising candidates for oncolytic virotherapy of cancer in humans because of their oncotropism (preferential killing of transformed cells) in the absence of pathogenicity. Here, we give an overview concerning the possible application of parvovirus H-1 for cancer therapy, with specific emphasis on malignant brain tumours in humans.     

Infections with original cowpox virus and cowpox-like agents in humans and animals: a literature review]

In an evaluation of literature the biological, physical-chemical and antigenic characteristics of cowpoxviruses and cowpox-like agents are presented, the according diseases following a natural and experimental infection are described and their epizootiological and epidemiological aspects discussed.     

Feline retroviruses: a brief review

Representatives of all three retrovirus subfamilies are recognized in the cat: feline leukaemia virus (an Oncovirus), feline syncytium-forming virus (a Spumavirus) and feline immunodeficiency virus (a Lentivirus). Each of these is briefly reviewed.     

Coprophagy in animals: a review

Coprophagy is performed by rodents and lagomorphs and to a lesser degree by piglets, foals, dogs and nonhuman primates. Due to the construction of the digestive system of rodents and rabbits, coprophagy is necessary to supply many essential nutrients. Bacterial synthesis of nutrients occurs in the lower gastrointestinal tract in these animals where little absorption is realized. The eating of their feces provides a method for obtaining these nutrients.     

Epidermolysis bullosa in animals: a review

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a hereditary mechanobullous disease of animals and humans, characterized by an extreme fragility of the skin and mucous membranes. The main feature of EB in humans and animals is the formation of blisters and erosions in response to minor mechanical trauma. Epidermolysis bullosa is caused by mutations in the genes that code for structural proteins of the cytoskeleton of the basal keratinocytes or of the basement membrane zone. Based on the ultrastructural levels of tissue separation, EB is divided into the following three broad categories: epidermolysis bullosa simplex, junctional epidermolysis bullosa and dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. Human types of EB are divided into several subtypes based on their ultrastructural changes and the mode of inheritance; subtypes are not fully established in animals. In humans, it is estimated that EB affects one in 17,000 live births; the frequency of EB in different animals species is not known. In all animal species, except in buffalo with epidermolysis bullosa simplex, multifocal ulcers are observed on the gums, hard and soft palates, mucosa of the lips, cheek mucosa and dorsum of the tongue. Dystrophic or absent nails, a frequent sign seen in human patients with EB, corresponds to the deformities and sloughing of the hooves in ungulates and to dystrophy or atrophy of the claws in dogs and cats. This review covers aspects of the molecular biology, diagnosis, classification, clinical signs and pathology of EB reported in animals.     

The significance of mycotoxicoses for humans and animals

The paper gives a survey on the most important mycotoxicoses, the corresponding fungi imperfecti, and the mycotoxins produced by these fungi. Structure/activity relationships are shown.     

Application of ultrasound for feeding and finishing animals: a review.

The ability to evaluate carcass traits in live animals is of value to research, educational, and industry personnel. Ultrasonic technology has been tested since the early 1950s and continues to be under investigation as a means of accomplishing this task. The accuracy of ultrasound in predicting carcass traits is variable and is dependent on species, ultrasonic instrumentation, and(or) the skill of the technician. Based on this review, the ranges of correlation coefficients (r) for carcass traits as predicted by ultrasound to the respective carcass measurement are as follows: swine (fat .20 to .94; longissimus muscle .27 to .93), sheep (fat .42 to .95; longissimus muscle .36 to .79) and beef (fat .45 to .96; longissimus muscle .20 to .94; marbling .20 to .91). Although these correlation coefficients give an indication of the accuracy of ultrasound, it should be noted that these statistics do not reflect population variation or bias. Applications of ultrasound in swine finishing programs include the successful prediction of market weight carcass characteristics and the prediction of percentage of lean cuts before slaughter. In contrast, the application of ultrasound in lamb finishing programs has met with limited success. Most data indicate that weight and(or) visual estimations of fat are at least as accurate as ultrasound predictions of carcass composition. In beef finishing programs, ultrasound has, at times, been used successfully to predict fat and muscle traits before slaughter and beef carcass chemical composition. The ability to predict marbling, however, remains unclear and requires further investigation. Ultrasound has also been used in beef finishing programs to predict days on feed to a constant body compositional end point. When summarized, these data indicate that a single ultrasonic measurement of fat can be helpful in predicting days on feed in yearling cattle. When used alone, however, a single backfat measurement does not provide adequate accuracy. Therefore, factors such as age, sex, breed type, weight, and hip height are needed to help predict days on feed more accurately.     

中国基干鸟类综述

"基于鸟类(basal birds)"为一种类数量相对较少的化石鸟类,基干鸟类较另一鸟类群--"鸟胸类(Ornithothoraces)"原始;鸟胸类(包括现生鸟类和反鸟类)为一类种类数量很大、具有同一祖先、且来源于基干鸟类的鸟类群.在过去的15年里,共有产自中国的8个属、12个有效种基干鸟类发表,而产自的德国的始祖鸟为唯一的非中国产基干鸟类;当然,孔子鸟化石也发现于朝鲜.本文对产自中国的基干鸟类的形态学、系统发生和生态学进行了简单的综述.中国的化石材料对科学地了解鸟类的早期演化具有重要意义,揭示了基干鸟类个体相对较大、形态特征和生态环境变异也相对较大等特点.尽管有些明显的不确定因素的存在(例如热河鸟、会鸟和中鸟的相对系统关系存有争议),但是由于中国化石材料的存在,鸟类早期演化的真实场景已经愈加清晰.     

Feline immunodeficiency virus: a brief review.

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), previously known as feline T-lymphotropic lentivirus (FTLV), was first described by Pedersen et al. (1987) who isolated the virus from cats with a variety of clinical signs suggestive of immunodeficiency. Since then FIV has become one of the most studied feline viruses, not least because of its similarity to human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) which cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in man.     

Diet and cancer prevention in humans: review of the evidence and its application to companion animals

What is cancer? Cancer is disease of damaged DNA. DNA in every cell is under constant attack, from by‐products of normal metabolism as well as external factors such as radiation and carcinogens. Humans have evolved complex mechanisms to protect DNA from damage so that affected cells either repair their DNA or die. But under certain conditions, cells with damaged DNA can both survive and gain a growth advantage over surrounding cells. Over many years, these rapidly‐growing cells can accumulate additional DNA damage (called somatic mutations) and eventually, when the damage is quite severe, they can become cancers. There are three abnormal characteristics that cells must acquire to become cancers: (1) independence from normal controls on cell growth (proliferation) and death (apoptosis); (2) the ability to stimulate formation of blood vessels to provide nutrients to support rapid cell growth (angiogenesis); and (3) the ability to grow beyond their normal location first locally (invasion) and eventually in distant sites (metastasis). Although these characteristics are shared by all cancers, the clinical characteristics of cancer vary enormously. Some cancers, for example low‐grade prostate cancer, are very slow growing and take decades to become metastatic; other cancers, such as pancreas cancer, are highly invasive and uniformly and rapidly fatal. How could diet affect cancer? The two key components underlying the development of cancer are damage to DNA and rapid cell proliferation. Many mechanisms that protect DNA from damage are dependent upon dietary intake of antioxidants or are regulated by bioactive compounds found in foods. Cell growth is regulated by many factors, including steroid hormones and growth factors such as the insulin‐like growth factors. Cell growth is also influenced by inflammatory cytokines, which stimulate the replacement of cells damaged by inflammatory reactions. Dietary patterns and diet‐related factors such as obesity affect both the levels of circulating hormones and growth factors, and the levels of pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory cytokines. In laboratory experiments, based on cell cultures and animal models, we can consistently show that bioactive food compounds and dietary manipulation can affect DNA damage and cell growth, and that these effects mediate the development and/or growth of cancer cells. Thus, most scientists believe that diet has an important influence on the risk of developing cancer. What is the evidence that diet affects cancer risk? The strongest evidence that diet affects cancer risk in humans is from comparisons across countries. In these studies, there are strong associations between “food disappearance,” (total food production and imports minus food used as animal feed) and cancer incidence, for example between dietary fat and breast cancer. From these studies we have estimated that about 35% of all cancers are associated with diet. However, more analytically rigorous approaches to examining diet and cancer relationships, such as epidemiological studies and large randomized clinical trials, have not yielded consistent and clear answers. This has been very frustrating to scientists working in the field, and has challenged us to examine both our hypotheses about diet and cancer and the approaches we use to study diet and cancer. We now understand that cancer is a very complex disease which is affected strongly both by an individual's genetic characteristics and their life‐long environmental exposures. We have learned that the standard methods used to measure diet in large epidemiological studies are probably not sufficiently accurate to detect moderate diet/cancer associations. And we have learned that randomized clinical trials to test effects of dietary change or dietary supplements on cancer risk can fail to detect associations. Thus, the entire field is now in flux as the next generation of studies are being designed. What specific diet and diet‐related factors affect cancer risk? Currently, the best evidence that diet affects cancer risk is based on the well‐established associations of obesity with increased cancer incidence and mortality. Obesity increases the risk of cancer mortality by about 30‐50%, but this association is remarkably different across cancers. Obesity appears to have an effect both on the risk of developing cancer and on the risk of dying from cancer after diagnosis and treatment. Alcohol is a direct irritant which, in combination with smoking, causes oral and esophageal cancer. Alcohol also increases the risk of breast cancer by interfering with folate metabolism, and it increases the risk of liver cancer through the inflammatory response to cirrhosis. Other dietary factors for which we have strong evidence are fat, selenium, and vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables. Studies examining antioxidant intake from either foods or supplements have been most often negative, suggesting that in humans the role of dietary antioxidants and cancer is much more complex than in animal models. Finally, there are a long list of foods and food components that have been picked up by the media and food manufacturers as ‘cancer prevention agents,’ most notably lycopene (tomatoes), resveratrol (red wine), and genistein (soy), however most of these have not stood up to scientific scrutiny. Does studies in humans obtain for domestic animals? The applicability of studies on cancer risk in humans to domestic, companion animals is uncertain. Some mechanisms linking diet and diet‐related factors with cancer, for example the associations of obesity with serum steroids and inflammatory cytokines, the importance of selenium for the antioxidant activity of selenoproteins, and the function of vitamin E as an antioxidant, are likely similar between humans and domestic animals. In contrast, the types, distributions and activity of xenobiotic enzymes differ across species; thus the dietary induction of enzyme activity, the prevalence and types of genetic polymorphisms, and the relative susceptibility to carcinogens will likely differ as well. Finally, requirements for nutrients differ across species, with the most obvious being the requirement of dietary vitamin C that is exclusive to humans and guinea pigs. The very limited research on diet and cancer in dogs suggests that obesity, especially when young, and exposure to table foods increase breast cancer risk, while the relationship of obesity with cancer overall are probably as complex as those seen in humans. Rigorous studies to understand the association of diet with cancer risk in domestic, companion animals will be difficult, primarily because the costs of this research are high.     

Pharmacokinetics in immature animals: a review.

Differences in drug pharmacokinetics between newborn and adult mammals are reviewed. The pharmacokinetic alterations during the maturation process are related to changes in the pattern of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and renal excretion. The most pronounced feature in neonates vs adults is the prolonged elimination half-life of drugs. The main factors causing delayed elimination are under-developed renal clearance and immature metabolism of drugs. Special attention has to be paid to central nervous system depressants and to drugs that are extensively metabolized because they will accumulate with repeated dosing of newborn animals.     

Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in animals: a review

The objectives of this paper are to review published data on the prevalence and epidemiology of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection and colonization in animals and to provide suggestions for preventing and controlling the problem in veterinary practice. MRSA first emerged as a serious pathogen in human medicine during the late 1970s and has been increasingly reported in animals during the past 10 years. The prevalence of MRSA in human infections varies markedly between geographical areas, being as high as 60% in parts of the USA, 40% in southern Europe but <1% in northern Europe. Epidemiological evidence, including phenotypic and molecular typing data, suggests that MRSA isolates from dogs and cats are indistinguishable from human healthcare isolates, whereas strains of MRSA isolated from horses and associated personnel are different. There is evidence that transfer of MRSA strains can occur between animals and humans and vice versa. Guidelines for the control of MRSA in animals have been drawn up by individual institutions based on those available for human MRSA infection. Risk factors for MRSA infection in animals are currently under investigation and such data are essential for the preparation of specific guidelines for control of MRSA in veterinary practice.     

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.