Cataract in the UK Leonberger population

OBJECTIVE: To survey the Leonberger, a numerically small breed in the UK, for the presence of cataract and find statistical support for the possible presence of inherited forms of cataract. METHODS: Ocular examinations were carried out by the first author between September 1996 and September 1998 on 211 Leonbergers; results of the ocular examination of further 228 Leonbergers examined between January 1990 and September 1998 by members of the British Veterinary Association/KC/ISDS eye scheme (BVA/KC/ISDS eye scheme) panel were analyzed. Data from all dogs examined were pooled in a composite database of 365 Leonbergers and the relationships between offspring and parents for the identified forms of cataract were examined with appropriate statistical methods. RESULTS: Cataracts were diagnosed in 90 Leonbergers, the majority being nuclear (40) or posterior polar subcapsular (31). A subgroup of nuclear cataracts, diagnosed in 11 dogs, is described and named as 'posterior nuclear cataract.' For posterior polar cataract, a positive association between offspring and parents was made in the logistic regression model, supporting the suggestion of inheritance. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of several types of cataract in the UK Leonberger population is described. Statistical support for the inheritance of posterior polar subcapsular cataract is given.     

Cytology and the cell block method in diagnostic characterization of canine lymphadenopathy and in the immunophenotyping of nodal lymphoma

Minimally invasive techniques used to evaluate canine peripheral lymphadenopathy (PLN), including fine needle aspiration biopsy with cytological evaluation (FNAB‐C) and flow cytometry (FC), have benefits and limitations. The cell block (CB) method is an alternate processing technique in which fine needle aspirate biopsy samples are concentrated, fixed, and embedded in paraffin for routine histological processing/staining. Utilizing three observers, we determined the diagnostic value of the CB in evaluating canine PLN across six categories (non‐diagnostic, reactive, inflammatory/infectious, probable lymphoma and lymphoma, metastatic neoplasia) and correlated findings to immunophenotypic and clonal antigen receptor rearrangement results in canine nodal lymphoma. Eighty‐five paired FNAB‐C and CB samples were evaluated from canine patients presenting to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Oncology or Internal Medicine services. Diagnostic quality samples were obtained in 55/85 (65%) CB and 81/85 (95%) FNAB‐C samples, respectively, and nodal pathology impacted CB diagnostic yield. Overall percent agreement between diagnostic‐quality FNAB‐C and CB samples was 86%, but increased to 95% if the categories of lymphoma and probable lymphoma were combined. There was 100% agreement for both the diagnoses of metastatic neoplasia and reactive lymph nodes and 92% agreement for the diagnosis of lymphoma/probable lymphoma. Using immunohistochemistry (IHC), CB samples correctly immunophenotyped 22/23 (96%) cases of B‐cell lymphoma, but only 1/6 (17%) cases of T‐cell lymphoma. IHC was not completed on nine cases of lymphoproliferative disease because of insufficient cellularity. When the CB method (CBM) yielded diagnostic quality samples there was good to excellent agreement with FNAB‐C samples and CB samples were suitable for some IHC tests.     

Changes in hormones, metabolites, and milk after treatment with sometribove (recombinant methionyl bST) in Deutsches Fleckvieh and German black and white cows

Twelve second-lactation Deutsches Fleckvieh cows, (FV, a dual-purpose breed) and 12 German Black and White (BW, a dairy breed) were used to evaluate similarities and differences in the response to a prolonged-release formulation of sometribove (N-methionyl bovine somatotropin, bST). Cows were milked twice daily and fed a basic diet (70% corn silage, 30% alfalfa hay) ad libitum plus 1 kg of concentrate. Additionally, concentrates and supplements were offered at the rate of 1 kg for each 22 kg of milk produced above 12 kg/d. Six cows of each breed were treated s.c. with 500 mg of sometribove at 14-d intervals from wk 9 to 29 postpartum (pp). Blood was collected by jugular vein puncture once weekly from wk 7 to 33 pp and daily for 14 d after the first and last (11th) injection of bST. Somatotropin (ST), insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), insulin, thyroid hormones, nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA), liver enzymes, and blood metabolites were evaluated. During bST treatment, plasma ST increased significantly on d 7 in both breeds and then decreased on d 14 after injection. Plasma IGF-I was positively correlated with ST. Plasma NEFA were high on d 7 and decreased on d 14. In response to bST, the average milk yield increased for FV and BW cows by 5.1 kg/d (29.7%) and 5.0 kg/d (28%), respectively, and 4% fat-corrected milk (FCM) increased by 5.0 kg/d (28%) and 5.3 kg/d (19.9%), respectively. Milk content of fat, protein, lactose, number of somatic cells, and body weight were similar across treatments.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Procoagulant activity in respiratory tract secretions from horses with chronic pulmonary disease

Cell-free supernatants (sol phases), obtained after centrifugation (50,000 x g for 45 minutes) of respiratory tract secretions from horses with chronic pulmonary disease, were assayed for procoagulant activity (PCA) in a one-stage clotting assay. Of the 103 specimens tested, 59% (61) contained PCA. Procoagulant activity was detected most often in respiratory tract secretions of severely affected horses and was correlated with the quantity of neutrophils in the respiratory tract secretions. In 12 of the 17 secretions tested, the clotting time was decreased in a dose-dependent manner. However, in the coagulation assay, some reversal of PCA or inhibition of coagulation was observed in 4 secretion specimens when greater volumes of sol phase were added. Procoagulant activity was characterized tentatively as tissue factor, because it was temperature stable and was inhibited by phospholipase C and by concanavalin A. Clotting was induced in factor VIII-deficient human plasma; however, with the exception of 1 respiratory secretion specimen, clotting was not enhanced in factor VII-deficient human plasma. Procoagulant activity is a useful indicator of airway inflammation.     

Comparison of bronchoalveolar lavage and respiratory secretion cytology in horses with clinically diagnosed chronic pulmonary disease

Thirty-nine horses and 3 ponies underwent a thorough respiratory examination and were grouped as follows: healthy (4 horses and 1 pony); mild chronic pulmonary disease (CPD 11 horses); moderate CPD (16 horses and 1 pony); and severe CPD (8 horses and 1 pony). Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid collected from all animals and respiratory secretions (RS) obtained from 39 of these animals were evaluated cytologically and the results were compared. It was concluded that cytological examination of either BAL fluid or RS was useful in diagnosing various equine pulmonary diseases. The only advantage that BAL offered over RS sampling was in cases in which there was no RS available in the trachea. In addition, the severity of the CPD did not always correlate with either RS or BAL cytology.     

Use of serology and real time PCR to control an outbreak of bovine brucellosis at a dairy cattle farm in the Nile Delta region,Egypt

Background

Bovine brucellosis remains one of the most prevalent zoonotic infections affecting dairy cattle in developing countries where the applied control programs often fail. We analyzed the epidemiologic pattern of bovine brucellosis in a dairy cattle herd that showed several cases of abortions after regular vaccination with RB51 (B. abortus vaccine). In 2013 thirty dairy cows, from a Holstein-Friesian dairy herd with a population of 600 cattle, aborted five months post vaccination by a regular RB51 vaccine. Blood samples were drawn from milking cows and growing heifers, as well as heifers and cows pregnant up to 6 months. These samples were collected in June 2013 (n?=?257) and May 2014 (n?=?263) and were tested by real time (rt)-PCR as well as serological tests, in particular Rose Bengal Test (RBT), Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA) and Fluorescence Polarization Assay. Tissue specimens were also collected from an aborted fetus and cultured. Isolates were subjected to bacteriological typing tests at the genus and species levels.

Results

Five months post vaccination with RB51 vaccine, Brucella (B.) DNA was detected in blood samples of cows by rt-PCR. The serological tests also revealed the spread of Brucella field strains within the herd in 2013. Four Brucella isolates were recovered from specimens collected from the aborted fetus. These isolates were typed as follows: one B. abortus RB51 vaccine strain and three isolates of B. abortus field strain. The seropositive cows with positive rt-PCR might indicate an infection by the Brucella field strain; while the positive rt-PCR results from seronegative animals may either be due to circulating RB51 vaccine DNA in vaccinated animals or to circulating field strain in infected animals before seroconversion.

Conclusion

The results herein suggest that PCR can be a good supplementary tool in an outbreak situation, if an assay is available that can differentiate vaccine and field strains with a high analytical sensitivity. We recommend using RBT and ELISA in parallel in outbreak situations, to identify as many infected animals as possible during the initial screenings. This test procedure should be repeated for at least three successive negative tests, with one month interval.