Outcome and complications associated with treatment of pemphigus foliaceus in dogs: 43 cases (1994-2000)

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors affecting prognosis, outcome, and complications associated with pemphigus foliaceus in dogs. DESIGN: Retrospective study. ANIMALS: 43 dogs with pemphigus foliaceus. PROCEDURE: Medical records were reviewed for signalment, age at diagnosis, duration to diagnosis, body area affected, initial immunosuppressive regimens and concurrent use of antimicrobials and sucralfate or histamine receptor 2 blocking agent, adverse effects of treatment, duration of treatment, number of visits for follow-up care, cause of death, and credentials of the veterinarians responsible for continued care. RESULTS: The case fatality rate was 60.5%. Factors significantly correlated with survival time included concurrent use of antimicrobials during initiation of immunosuppressive treatment and a lower number of adverse effects to treatment. Treatment times lasting more than 10 months from diagnosis correlated significantly with survival. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Treatment with or prophylactic use of antimicrobials may be warranted during initial immunosuppressive treatment. The inverse correlation between survival time and number of adverse treatment effects was not unexpected because it was reflective of the owners' decision to euthanatize their dogs and of corticosteroid-related secondary diseases. Survival beyond the tenth month of treatment predicted long-term survival, which suggests that dogs require careful management during the early months of treatment.     

Congenital ectopic ureters in a continent male dog and cat

A male dog and cat were evaluated because of clinical signs associated with hydronephrosis. Both animals had ectopic ureters, but neither had urinary incontinence. The diagnoses were made by use of ultrasonography, excretory urography, retrograde urethrocystography, and surgery. In both animals, hydronephrosis was bilateral but of unequal severity, such that unilateral ureteronephrectomy could be performed. Both animals underwent ureteroneocystostomy of the remaining ureter. This treatment resulted in good clinical outcome during follow-up periods of 18 months and 3 years.     

Chlorambucil-induced myoclonus in a cat with lymphoma

Chlorambucil is an alkylating agent commonly used in veterinary oncology for conditions including lymphoma. Chlorambucil neurotoxicity has been well recognized in human patients. Onsets of central nervous system signs, such as myoclonus, tremors, muscular twitching, agitation, and tonic-clonic seizures, have been reported in humans and laboratory animals treated with chlorambucil. This case of a cat with intestinal lymphoma represents the first veterinary patient reported to have chlorambucil-induced neurotoxicity. Neurotoxicity should be considered a potential side effect of chlorambucil therapy in veterinary patients.     

Occurrence, isolation and biological activity of phytotoxic metabolites produced in vitro by Sphaeropsis sapinea, pathogenic fungus of Pinus radiata

Sphaeropsis sapinea was repeatedly isolated in Sardinia from symptomatic samples of the upper part of declining pine (Pinus radiata) plants. Observed symptoms mainly consisted of foliage chlorosis, drying of needles and cankers on branches. The S. sapinea strains were shown to produce phytotoxic metabolites in culture filtrates. Three metabolites were isolated for the first time from this fungus and identified by their spectroscopic and optical properties as R-(−)-mellein, (3R,4R)-4-hydroxymellein and (3R,4S)-4-hydroxymellein. When assayed for phytotoxic and antifungal activities on host and non-host plants and on some phytopathogenic fungi, the R-(−)-mellein showed significant activity, while the other two 3,4-dihydroisocoumarins showed only a synergic activity in both tests.     

Seed production of semi-natural grasslands: Amount and variability in an unfertilized upright brome and a fertilized tall oat-grass meadow

Seed production is an important grassland feature, as it affects its persistence and botanical composition, and plays an essential role in complex plant–animal interactions. Species-rich seed mixtures from grasslands can be utilized for ecological restoration. Previous studies used different methods to characterize seed production and did not consider all the main aspects involved; hence, they did not allow the complete understanding of the seed production. In this study the seed yield of an unfertilized Mesobromion and a fertilized Arrhenatherion meadow were investigated by considering all main reproductive traits and grassland species. In Arrhenatherion, the viable seed production was 24,000 seeds m⁻² year⁻¹, with a viable seed set of 21% (ovule number 115,000 m⁻²). These values were three times higher than those in Mesobromion. This difference was mainly attributed to different fertile shoot densities (758 vs. 358 m⁻² for Arrhenatherion and Mesobromion respectively). Grasses transformed ovules to seeds (38%) more efficiently than forbs (11%). The standing seed yield at the first mowing was 35% and 45% of the produced seeds for Mesobromion and Arrhenatherion respectively. Because of late mowing, which is typical for Mesobromion meadows, the proportion of species found as seed at the first mowing was higher than that in Arrhenatherion. However, because many Mesobromion species were found to be poorly seed-producing forbs with high spatial and temporal variabilities of seed yield, harvesting of seeds of all species would be more difficult, and a greater effort would be necessary if the collected seeds are to be used in ecological restoration.     

Ecologically Sustainable Exploitation Rates—A multispecies approach for fisheries management

Fisheries management is slowly evolving from its traditional single‐species focus to a more holistic ecosystem‐based approach. Yet, limits for exploitation are almost always set based on single‐species models, treating species as isolated entities. This is problematic since the sustainability of a fishery hinges on its effects on the exploited community as a whole. Here, we develop a novel analytical approach of estimating exploitation rates that are sustainable with respect to the state of whole fish communities. Our approach simultaneously addresses species interactions, environmental covariates and natural variability of population sizes, yet it is framed around a simple and accessible objective. We derive Ecologically Sustainable Exploitation Rates, that is exploitation rates associated with a maximum acceptable probability (determined by management) that any interacting species decreases to an unacceptably low population size. Using models fitted to an exploited fish community, we show how accounting for species interactions constrains the possibilities for ecologically sustainable exploitation. The conventional omission of species interactions may thus result in overestimated exploitation limits. Moreover, our application rendered a counterintuitive result: it suggests that the exploitation of one species should increase, as compared to mean historical levels, for the purpose of conservation of the community as a whole. Such insights could impossibly be gained using single‐species approaches, illustrating the need to adopt multispecies models in fisheries management. Analytical derivation of Ecologically Sustainable Exploitation Rates offers a mean to do so.     

Effect of clove (Eugenia caryophyllus) and cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) essential oils in Nile tilapia diets on performance,antioxidant power and lipid oxidation in fillets

This study evaluated the addition (0.35 and 0.70 g/kg feed) of clove (EOcl) or cinnamon (EOci) essential oils to Nile tilapia feed for 45 days to assess animal performance, antioxidant capacity and lipid oxidation in fillets. The design was completely randomised with five treatments and three replicates. Antioxidant capacity was determined by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC_FL), 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazylhydrate (DPPH), ferric reducing ability power (FRAP) and 2,2’‐azino‐bis (3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulphonic acid) (ABTS) assays, and lipid oxidation was determined by the thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substances (TBARs) assay. Animal performance was not altered by adding the essential oils. The fillets treated with 0.35 g/kg of EOcl presented higher antioxidant capacity in the L‐ORAC_FL assay and a 40.3% reduction in lipid oxidation, whereas the EOci provided a pro‐oxidant effect relative to the control treatment. Based on these results, adding 0.35 g/kg of EOcl to the diet for 45 days before slaughter increased the antioxidant capacity and reduced the lipid oxidation of the fillets, contributing to product quality without altering animal performance.     

Different efficiencies in organic P exploitation of two Italian alfalfa (Medicago sativa) landraces involving a possible adaptation pattern of the phytase encoding MsPHY1 gene

The agricultural practice of manure cropping can result in the accumulation of surplus phosphorus (P) in soils with consequent losses by leaching. Two Italian alfalfa landraces originating from intensive (“Cremonese”) versus extensive (“Senese”) cattle farming regions were studied in order to investigate their variation for (a) efficiency in exploiting different P sources–farm dairy effluents (FDE), phytic acid (Phy), and inorganic P (IP)–in a lysimeter trial, and (b) the sequence of the MsPHY1 gene, which encodes a root extracellular phytase, releasing inorganic P for plant growth. The Cremonese landrace showed higher P uptake efficiency than Senese in the FDE and Phy treatments and lower inorganic P losses in leachates, particularly in the FDE treatment. The MsPHY1 gene was highly variable and the variation was not neutral but maintained by selection. Two non-synonymous SNPs, in particular SNP970, located in a motif containing conserved metal-ligating residues, produced alternative alleles with frequency differences between landraces. A pattern of adaptive response for the ability to use organic P forms is discussed at both the physiological and genetic levels.