Cervical spondylomyelopathy (wobbler syndrome) in the Boerboel

The Boerboel is a South African large-breed dog resembling a Bullmastiff. The records of Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital were searched for dogs that had presented, between 1998 and 2003, with symptoms indicative of wobbler syndrome and had undergone survey radiographic and myelographic studies. Ten cases fitted the inclusion criteria. Dogs presented within the first 2 years of life, often with acute onset of symptoms. All presented with pelvic limb and 6 with concomitant thoracic limb ataxia or paresis. Treatment varied and included none (4), prednisolone (2), and dorsal laminectomy (2). Two dogs were euthanased at the time of diagnosis. The breed appears to be affected with a form of spondylomyelopathy that comprises bony malformation of cervical and/or thoracic vertebrae. In 8 dogs, malformations were evident on survey radiographs and were characterised by enlarged, irregular articular facets and associated medial deviation of the pedicles. These changes resulted in axial compression of the spinal cord best seen on ventrodorsal or dorsoventral myelographic studies. Multiple vertebrae were affected in some dogs and lesions were not confined to the caudal area of the cervical spine. Three dogs were alive and without symptoms at follow-up. Four were euthanased as a result of the disease and 1 died as a result of post-operative complications. Two additional dogs presenting with wobbler clinical signs are also described. One had medial deviation of the T5 and T6 caudal pedicles and 1 dog suffered from multiple cervical articular facet synovial cysts.     

Localisation and activity of cathepsins K and B in equine osteoclasts

Cathepsin K and cathepsin B were immunolocalised in equine osteoclasts (OC s) present in ex vivo cartilage/subchondral bone samples. Samples were obtained post mortem from the lateral trochlear ridge (LTR) of six horses and ponies aged between 303 days gestation to 8 months. Strong expression of cathepsin K was detected in OC s, particularly those located at the osteochondral junction, apparently involved in the resorption of calcified cartilage. Cathepsin K expression was also detected in hypertrophic chondrocytes and in the endothelial cells of some blood vessels penetrating the hypertrophic zone of cartilage. By contrast, cathepsin B was either absent or present at very low levels in OC s.Osteoclast-like cells (OCL s) were generated in vitro from bone marrow (BM), obtained from the femurs of one horse and two ponies. High levels of cathepsin K activity but only very low levels of cathepsin B activity were demonstrated in OCL s using fluorogenic substrates for these enzymes. The cathepsin K activity could be blocked by the general cysteine proteinase inhibitor, E-64, but not by the cathepsin B inhibitor, CA-074Me. The cathepsin B activity was completely blocked by both CA-074Me and E-64. Taken together, these results suggest that cathepsin K is more important than cathepsin B in the osteoclastic resorption of bone and calcified cartilage of developing equine long bones. Given the apparent importance of cathepsin K in equine endochondral ossification further investigation into the possibility that abnormal expression of this enzyme is involved in the pathogenesis of equine developmental orthopaedic disease is warranted.     

Neutrophil Phagocytosis Following Inoculation of Salmonella choleraesuis into Swine

Neutrophils are an important mediator of host defence, especially in early stages of infection. A major function of neutrophils is the uptake and killing of invading microbes. Little is known about the effect of neutrophil activity on the pathogenesis and development of the carrier state in swine following infection with Salmonella choleraesuis. A human whole-blood microassay using flow cytometry was modified to measure the effect of S. choleraesuis infection in vivo on the rate of ingestion, or rate of uptake, of homologous bacteria by porcine neutrophils. Pigs were inoculated intranasally with 5–8×10⁸ CFU S. choleraesuis and blood was collected in heparinized tubes at –5, 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 days post inoculation (PI). Heat-killed S. choleraesuis were labelled with fluorescein isothiocyanate and incubated for various times with diluted whole blood. Red blood cells were lysed, external non-phagocytized bacteria were quenched with a commercially available lysing solution, and fluorescence from internalized bacteria labelled with fluorescein isothiocyanate was detected by flow cytometry. The rate of uptake by neutrophils did not increase until 2 days PI and then remained elevated to 4 days PI. The minimal uptake of S. choleraesuis early after exposure to these organisms may provide an opportunity for the pathogen to colonize and/or replicate to levels that facilitate establishment of a carrier state or clinical infection in swine.     

Plasma aspartate aminotransferase and creatine kinaseactivities in thoroughbred racehorses in relation to age, sex, exercise and training

In order to investigate the effect of age, sex and month on the response of plasma aspartate aminotransferase(AST) and creatine kinase (CK) to exercise, blood samples were collected once a month between March and September from a group of 40 2- and 3-year-old (2yo and 3yo) thoroughbred racehorses (kept under the same managemental regimen) at rest before exercise (PRE) and at 2 (2H) and 24h (24H) post-exercise. The absolute change in activities between the 2H and PRE samples (2HΔ) and the 24H and PRE samples (24HΔ) was also calculated. Age had a significant effect on all measured and calculated parameters for colts (C), apart from 24HΔ CK but showed no effect in the fillies (F). Sex only had a significant effect in the 3yo in the 2HΔ CK. In the 2yo, significant effects of sex were found for both CK and AST in the PRE, 2H and 24H samples. The effect of month varied according to the classification group with only the 2yoC not showing any significant effect on any parameter. Fillies were, in general, more likely than colts to show greater than a twofold increase in CK activity at 2H post-exercise and the number of animals showing such an increase decreased as the season progressed. Very little change in AST activities occurred with exercise.     

Mild to moderate overweight in dogs: is there an impact on routine hematological and biochemical profiles,echocardiographic parameters and cardiac autonomic modulation?

Veterinary Research Communications - Obesity is considered the most common nutritional disease of dogs. Even though overt obesity is more likely to impair health, even moderately overweight dogs...     

EFFECTS OF FLUID AND COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL FACTORS ON CONSPICUITY OF CANINE AND FELINE NASAL TURBINATES

Turbinate destruction is an important diagnostic criterion in canine and feline nasal computed tomography (CT). However decreased turbinate visibility may also be caused by technical CT settings and nasal fluid. The purpose of this experimental, crossover study was to determine whether fluid reduces conspicuity of canine and feline nasal turbinates in CT and if so, whether CT settings can maximize conspicuity. Three canine and three feline cadaver heads were used. Nasal slabs were CT‐scanned before and after submerging them in a water bath; using sequential, helical, and ultrahigh resolution modes; with images in low, medium, and high frequency image reconstruction kernels; and with application of additional posterior fossa optimization and high contrast enhancing filters. Visible turbinate length was measured by a single observer using manual tracing. Nasal density heterogeneity was measured using the standard deviation (SD) of mean nasal density from a region of interest in each nasal cavity. Linear mixed‐effect models using the R package ‘nlme’, multivariable models and standard post hoc Tukey pair‐wise comparisons were performed to investigate the effect of several variables (nasal content, scanning mode, image reconstruction kernel, application of post reconstruction filters) on measured visible total turbinate length and SD of mean nasal density. All canine and feline water‐filled nasal slabs showed significantly decreased visibility of nasal turbinates (P < 0.001). High frequency kernels provided the best turbinate visibility and highest SD of aerated nasal slabs, whereas medium frequency kernels were optimal for water‐filled nasal slabs. Scanning mode and filter application had no effect on turbinate visibility.     

Dissipation of the herbicide benzofenap (Taipan 300) in a rice field ecosystem

The fate of benzofenap [2-[4-(2,4-dicholoro-m-toluoyl)-1,3-dimethylpyrazol-5-yloxy]-4'-methylacetophenone] applied to flooded rice was studied at two locations in New South Wales (Australia). Solid-phase extraction (SPE) was compared with liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) for the determination of the commercial chemical in water samples. SPE performed well as compared to LLE (84 vs 80%) in irrigation waters. However, at the lower end of the concentration range (3 microg/L), LLE achieved higher recoveries than SPE (72 vs 59%). Rates of dissipation (DT50) from floodwaters and soils were measured. Dissipation of the herbicide from water and soil occurred fairly erratically in both mediums and can be best explained by a first-order decay process. The DT50 value for benzofenap was <1 day in irrigation water due to rapid deposition of the suspension concentrate formulation. The DT50 in surface soil was 44 days. The maximum measured concentration of benzofenap in a rice field floodwater was 39 microg/L, taking approximately 32 days to dissipate to <1 microg/L.     

Extraction and characterization of oil bodies from soy beans: a natural source of pre-emulsified soybean oil

Soybeans contain oil bodies that are coated by a layer of oleosin proteins. In nature, this protein coating protects the oil bodies from environmental stresses and may be utilized by food manufacturers for the same purpose. In this study, oil bodies were extracted from soybean using an aqueous extraction method that involved blending, dispersion (pH 8.6), filtration, and centrifugation steps. The influence of NaCl (0-250 mM), thermal processing (30-90 degrees C, 20 min) and pH (2-8) on the properties and stability of the oil bodies was analyzed using zeta-potential, particle size, and creaming stability measurements. The extracted oil bodies were relatively small ( d 32 approximately 250 nm), and their zeta-potential went from around +12 mV to -20 mV as the pH was increased from 2 to 8, with an isoelectric point around pH 4. The oil bodies were stable to aggregation and creaming at low (pH = 2) and high (pH >/= 6) pH values but were unstable at intermediate values (3 相似文献