A case of protein-losing enteropathy treated with methotrexate in a dog

A 9-year-old female Pug was presented to us with chronic diarrhea. Hematologic findings indicated severe hypoproteinemia and hypoalbuminemia, and endoscopy revealed severe edema of the duodenal mucosa. Based on these results and on additional histopathological findings, we made a diagnosis of protein-losing enteropathy caused by lymphocytic-plasmacytic enteritis with lymphangiectasia. The dog was initially treated with prednisolone and cyclosporine. This treatment regimen was not effective. However, when methotrexate was substituted for cyclosporine, progress was obtained and the diagnosis was confirmed.     

Age-related Histological Findings in the Pineal Gland of Crl:CD(SD) Rats

To provide background data as the pathologic basis, the pineal glands of 190 male and 193 female Crl:CD(SD) rats at ages of 0–7, 51–58, 70–85 and 111 weeks were examined histologically in this study. Mineralization and fibrosis were common findings in the aged rats, whereas they were rarely found in the young ones; mineralization was present in 7, 44, 67 and 79% of males and in 0, 32, 67 and 79% in females, and fibrosis was present in 0, 29, 48 and 44% of males and 0, 18, 40 and 35% of females at ages of 0–7, 51–58, 70–85 and 111 weeks, respectively. Striated muscle fiber appeared regularly in the fibrosis region from 51–58 weeks of age when fibrosis increased, while the origin of this fiber remained unclear. Vacuolation of pineal cells also increased with age in both sexes, though the total incidence was low. There was a low incidence of lymphocytic infiltration in both sexes, but this was not related to age.     

Superficial necrolytic dermatitis associated with extrapancreatic glucagonoma in a dog

An 11-year-old Shih Tzu presented with crusting and erythema, mainly on the abdomen and the root of the tail. Based on histopathological findings, blood examinations and necropsy findings, the condition was diagnosed as superficial necrolytic dermatitis associated with a glucagon-secreting extrapancreatic neuroendocrine tumour. Gross necropsy revealed tumour invasion into the spleen, liver, adrenal glands and mesenteric lymph nodes. Immunohistochemical analysis of the neoplastic cells revealed that the tumour was a glucagonoma, consistent with earlier findings of persistent glucagonaemia and hypoaminoacidaemia.     

Canine distemper virus infection among wildlife before and after the epidemic

In 2007–2008, a canine distemper virus (CDV) epidemic occurred among wild animals in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, and many mammals, including the wild boar and deer, were infected. In this study, CDV prevalence among wild animals was surveyed before and after the epidemic. At first, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated protein A/G was established to detect CDV antibodies in many mammalian species. This established ELISA was available for testing dogs, raccoons and raccoon dogs as well as virus-neutralization test. Next, a serological survey of wild mammalians was conducted, and it was indicated that many wild mammalians, particularly raccoons, were infected with CDV during the epidemic, but few were infected before and after the epidemic. On the other hand, many raccoon dogs died during the epidemic, but CDV remained prevalent in the remaining population, and a small epidemic occurred in raccoon dogs in 2012–2013. These results indicated that the epidemic of 2007–2008 may have been intensified by transmission to raccoons.     

A binding protein for fungal signal molecules in the cell wall of Pisum sativum

In the plant cell wall of Pisum sativum seedlings, we found an NTPase (E.C. 3.6.1.5.) with ATP-hydrolyzing activity that was regulated by an elicitor and suppressors of defense from pea pathogen Mycosphaerella pinodes. The ATPase-rich fraction was purified from pea cell walls by NaCl solubilization, ammonium sulfate precipitation, and chromatography with an ATP-conjugated agarose column and an anion-exchange column. The specific activity of the final ATPase-rich fraction increased 600-fold over that of the initial NaCl-solubilized fraction. The purified ATPase-rich fraction also had peroxidase activity and generated superoxide, both of which were regulated by the M. pinodes elicitor and suppressor (supprescins). Active staining and Western blot analysis also showed that the ATPase was copurified along with peroxidases. In this fraction, a biotinylated elicitor and the supprescins were bound primarily and specifically to ca. 55-kDa protein (CWP-55) with an N-terminal amino acid sequence of QEEISSYAVVFDA. The cDNA clone of CWP-55 contained five ACR domains, which are conserved in the apyrases (NTPases), and the protein is identical to a pea NTPase cDNA (GenBank accession AB071369). Based on these results, we discuss a role for the plant cell wall in recognizing exogenous signal molecules.     

Hypothalamic dopamine is required for salsolinol‐induced prolactin secretion in goats

The aim of the present study was to clarify the relationship between hypothalamic dopamine (DA) and salsolinol (SAL) for the secretion of prolactin (PRL) in goats. SAL or thyrotropin‐releasing hormone (TRH) was intravenously injected into female goats treated with or without the D₂ DA receptor antagonist haloperidol (Hal), which crosses the blood‐brain barrier, and the PRL‐releasing response to SAL was compared with that to TRH. PRL‐releasing responses to SAL, Hal, and Hal plus SAL were also examined after a pretreatment to augment central DA using carbidopa (Carbi) and L‐dopa. The PRL‐releasing response to Hal alone was greater than that to SAL or TRH alone. The PRL‐releasing response to Hal plus SAL was similar to that of Hal alone. In contrast, the PRL‐releasing response to Hal plus TRH was greater than that to TRH or Hal alone. The treatment with Carbi plus L‐dopa inhibited SAL‐ and Hal‐induced PRL secretion. The inhibition of the PRL‐releasing response to SAL disappeared when SAL was injected with Hal. These results indicate that the mechanisms underlying the SAL‐induced PRL response differ from those of TRH, and suggest that hypothalamic DA and its synthesis is associated in part with SAL‐induced PRL secretion in goats.     

Development of photoperiod-sensitive cytoplasmic male sterile (PCMS) wheat lines showing high male sterility under long-day conditions and high seed fertility under short-day conditions

A “two-line system” using photoperiod-sensitive cytoplasmic male sterility (PCMS) caused by Aegilops crassa cytoplasm under long-day photoperiods (≧15 h) has been proposed as a means of producing hybrid varieties in common wheat (Triticum aestivum). The PCMS line is maintained by self-pollination under short-day conditions, and hybrid seeds can be produced through outcrossing of the PCMS line with a pollinator line under long-day conditions. Our previous studies revealed that PCMS lines showing complete male sterility under long-day conditions are necessary for practical hybrid wheat breeding, especially to obtain high hybrid purity in F₁ seeds. Furthermore, practical PCMS lines should have high seed fertility under short-day conditions, which is associated with female fertility. Wheat cv. Norin 26 with Ae. crassa cytoplasm exhibits high seed fertility under short-day conditions, and cv. Fujimikomugi with Ae. crassa cytoplasm shows high male sterility under long-day conditions. Here we developed practical PCMS lines derived from the F₁ generation of Norin 26 and Fujimikomugi (with Ae. crassa cytoplasm) that were then backcrossed to elite wheat lines.     

Transient uplift after a 17th-century earthquake along the Kuril subduction zone

In eastern Hokkaido, 60 to 80 kilometers above a subducting oceanic plate, tidal mudflats changed into freshwater forests during the first decades after a 17th-century tsunami. The mudflats gradually rose by a meter, as judged from fossil diatom assemblages. Both the tsunami and the ensuing uplift exceeded any in the region's 200 years of written history, and both resulted from a shallow plate-boundary earthquake of unusually large size along the Kuril subduction zone. This earthquake probably induced more creep farther down the plate boundary than did any of the region's historical events.