Pancreatitis associated with clomipramine administration in a dog

A three-year-old, male, entire, Yorkshire terrier was presented with peracute onset of abdominal pain and vomitus. Clinicopathological abnormalities included severely increased serum lipase activity, immeasurably high serum trypsin-like immunoreactivity and mild hypocalcaemia. Canine pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity (cPLI) was intended to be measured, however, the sample got lost. Ultrasonography revealed a hypoechoic pancreas with small amounts of peripancreatic fluid and hyperechogenic mesentery. Acute pancreatitis (AP) was diagnosed and the dog recovered with appropriate therapy within 48 hours. Clomipramine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) for alleviating signs of separation anxiety had been given for seven weeks. Two similar, albeit less severe, episodes associated with previous courses of clomipramine had occurred eight months earlier that responded to discontinuing clomipramine and supportive care. As SSRIs are associated with AP in human beings and no other trigger could be identified, we conclude that clomipramine should be considered as a potential cause when investigating causes for AP in susceptible breeds or other dogs presenting with compatible clinical signs.     

Synovial Hemangioma in a Dog

Objective— To report arthroscopic diagnosis and treatment of synovial hemangioma in a dog.
Study Design— Case report.
Animal— Standard Poodle (8-year-old neutered male).
Methods— A soft tissue density mass observed radiographically in the left stifle joint of a dog with a 2-month history of recurrent lameness, hemarthrosis, and a slight cranial drawer sign, was located by diagnostic arthroscopy and surgically excised via arthrotomy.
Results— Histologic evaluation revealed tissue composed of variably sized cavernous vascular spaces filled with erythrocytes that were considered compatible with synovial hemangioma.
Conclusions— In this dog, synovial hemangioma evident as a soft tissue mass on radiographs was associated with chronic lameness and hemarthrosis, and resolved with surgical excision.
Clinical Relevance— Synovial hemangioma, although seemingly rare in dogs, should be considered in the differential diagnosis for nontraumatic, recurrent lameness, and unresponsive to anti-inflammatory therapy when there is a circumscribed intracapsular soft tissue mass evident radiographically together with hemarthrosis.     

Analysis of founder-specific inbreeding depression on birth weight in Ripollesa lambs

Although inbreeding (F) is a topic of major concern in animal breeding, estimates of inbreeding depression are usually obtained by modeling the overall F coefficient of each individual, without considering that the recessive (deleterious) genetic load of a given population may be unevenly distributed among the founder genomes. The founder-specific partial F coefficient is calculated as the identity-by-descent probability at any given autosomal locus related to a particular founder and allows a more detailed analysis of inbreeding depression on productive traits. Within this context, birth BW data from 2,459 Ripollesa lambs were analyzed under a hierarchical animal model without F-related covariates (model 0), with inbreeding depression modeled by the overall F coefficient (model F1), or by the partial F coefficient of 9 founders that made a relevant contribution to the population inbreeding (model F2). A straightforward empirical Bayes factor (BF) was developed for testing statistical relevance of each F-related covariate, in which greater-than-1 values favored the model including the covariate. The deviance information criterion (DIC) clearly supported model F1 (5,767.8) rather than model 0 (5,771.2), suggesting that inbreeding depression had a relevant influence on birth BW data. The linear effect of inbreeding depression was statistically relevant in model F1 (BF = 2.52 x 10(35)), with lamb birth BW declining by -13.6 g with each 1% F increase. The quadratic effect of inbreeding depression was almost null in model F1 (BF = 0.02), as suggested by the reduction in DIC (5,766.9) when this effect was removed from model F1. On the other hand, model F2 provided a similar DIC (5,767.9) value, with this parameter decreasing to 5,764.7 when nonrelevant founder-specific inbreeding depression effects were removed. Substantial heterogeneity in founder-specific inbreeding depression was reported by model F2, in which estimates for 4 of the 9 founders did not differ from zero (BF between 0.05 and 0.42), whereas 5 founders originated moderate (-8.2 g for each 1% F increase; BF = 1.42) to large inbreeding depression (-96.2 g for each 1% F increase; BF = 8.80 x 10(19)). The substantial variability between founder estimates suggested that inbreeding depression effects may mainly be due to a few alleles with major deleterious effects. These results contribute valuable information that should help to achieve more accurate management of inbreeding in the Ripollesa breed.     

Growth pattern and partial proteome of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis during the stress response to hypoxia and nutrient starvation

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis is an important pathogen that causes Johne's disease in animals and has been implicated in Crohn's disease in man yet few data exist on its physiological adaptation in either the host or the environment. In this study, the proteomic responses of the two distinct strains of M. a. paratuberculosis, cattle (C) and sheep (S), to hypoxia and starvation were studied in vitro. Nutrient starvation inhibited growth of both strains and was lethal for S strain after 12 weeks. Hypoxia induced a state of very low metabolic activity but rapid resuscitation occurred upon restoration of an aerobic atmosphere, consistent with the dormancy response of other mycobacteria. A total of 55 protein spots differentially expressed in response to starvation and/or hypoxic stress in one or both strains were identified from 2D gels and classified based on biological function. Antioxidant enzymes, oxidoreducatse enzymes and proteins involved in amino acid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, ATP and purine biosynthesis, proteolysis, cell wall synthesis, protein synthesis, signal recognition and hypothetical proteins with putative functions including dormancy response regulators and universal stress proteins were identified. These proteins are potential screening targets for future diagnosis, prevention and control of M. a. paratuberculosis infection and their identification will assist understanding the pathogenesis of diseases caused by this organism.     

Inter-laboratory and inter-assay comparison on two real-time PCR techniques for quantification of PCV2 nucleic acid extracted from field samples

Several real-time PCR assays for quantification of PCV2 DNA (qPCR) have been described in the literature, and different in-house assays are being used by laboratories around the world. A general threshold of 10(7) copies of PCV2 per millilitre serum for postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) diagnosis has been suggested. However, neither inter-laboratory nor inter-assay comparisons have been published so far. In the present study, two different qPCR probe assays used routinely in two laboratories were compared on DNA extracted from serum, nasal and rectal swabs. Results showed a significant linear association between the assays (p<0.0001), and a systematic difference of 1.4 log10 copies of PCV2 per millilitre of sample (p<0.0001). This difference indicated that the assay from laboratory 1 yielded a higher output than the one from laboratory 2. Results also showed that there was no linear association between the amount of PCV2 DNA and the amount of total DNA, neither in nasal (p=0.86) nor in rectal (p=0.78) swabs, suggesting that normalizing of PCV2 DNA load in swab samples to total DNA concentration is not suitable. The present exploratory study highlights the need for the performance of ring trials on qPCV2 protocols between laboratories. Meanwhile, the proposed thresholds for PMWS diagnosis should only be considered reliable for each particular laboratory and each particular assay.     

The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of ivermectin in domestic animal species

The pharmacokinetic properties of drugs are closely related to their pharmacological efficacy. The kinetics of ivermectin are characterised, in general terms, by a slow absorption process, a broad distribution in the organism, low metabolism, and slow excretion. The kinetics vary according to the route of administration, formulation, animal species, body condition, age, and physiological status, all of which contribute to differences in drug efficacy. Characterisation of ivermectin kinetics can be used to predict and optimise the value of the parasiticide effects and to design programmes for parasite control. This article reviews the pharmacokinetics of ivermectin in several domestic animal species.     

Screening of five drugs for efficacy against Babesia felis in experimentally infected cats

The efficacy of 5 drugs was tested against experimental Babesia felis infection in domestic cats. Two of the drugs, rifampicin and a sulphadiazine-trimethoprim combination, appeared to have an anti-parasitic effect, but were inferior to primaquine. The other 3 drugs, buparvaquone, enrofloxacin and danofloxacin, had no significant anti-babesial effect.