Unusual congenital pulmonary anomaly with presumed left lung hypoplasia in a young dog

A seven‐month‐old, entire, male miniature schnauzer dog was referred with acute vomiting, inappetence and depression primarily as a result of a gastric foreign body (pine cones). During investigations, thoracic radiographs revealed increased volume of the right lung lobes, deviated cardiomediastinal structures and elevation of the heart from the sternum. Thoracic computed tomography revealed left cranial lung lobe hypoplasia and extension of the right cranial lung parenchyma across the midline to the left hemithorax. Branches of the right pulmonary vessels and bronchi also crossed the midline and extended to the left caudal lung lobe. These findings suggested that the right and left lungs were fused. In humans this finding is consistent with horseshoe lung, which is an uncommon congenital malformation. To the authors’ knowledge, this case represents the first report of such a pulmonary anomaly in a dog.     

A simplified one-step nuclear transfer procedure alters the gene expression patterns and developmental potential of cloned porcine embryos

Various somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) techniques for mammalian species have been developed to adjust species-specific procedures to oocyte-associated differences among species. Species-specific SCNT protocols may result in different expression levels of developmentally important genes that may affect embryonic development and pregnancy. In the present study, porcine oocytes were treated with demecolcine that facilitated enucleation with protruding genetic material. Enucleation and donor cell injection were performed either simultaneously with a single pipette (simplified one-step SCNT; SONT) or separately with different pipettes (conventional two-step SCNT; CTNT) as the control procedure. After blastocysts from both groups were cultured in vitro, the expression levels of developmentally important genes (OCT4, NANOG, EOMES, CDX2, GLUT-1, PolyA, and HSP70) were analyzed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Both the developmental rate according to blastocyst stage as well as the expression levels CDX2, EOMES, and HSP70 were elevated with SONT compared to CTNT. The genes with elevated expression are known to influence trophectoderm formation and heat stress-induced arrest. These results showed that our SONT technique improved the development of SCNT porcine embryos, and increased the expression of genes that are important for placental formation and stress-induced arrest.     

SWAT modeling of best management practices for Chungju dam watershed in South Korea under future climate change scenarios

Suitable and practicable best management practices (BMPs) need to be developed due to steadily increasing agricultural land development, intensified fertilization practices, and increased soil erosion and pollutant loads from cultivated areas. The soil and water assessment tool model was used to evaluate the present and future proper BMP scenarios for Chungju dam watershed (6,642 km²) of South Korea, which includes rice paddy and upland crop areas. The present (1981–2010) and future (2040s and 2080s) BMPs of streambank stabilization, building recharge structures, conservation tillage, and terrace and contour farming were examined individually in terms of reducing nonpoint source pollution loads by applying MIROC3.2 HiRes A1B and B1 scenarios. Streambank stabilization achieved the highest reductions in sediment and T-N, and slope terracing was a highly effective BMP for sediment and T-P removal in both present and future climate conditions.     

In vitro neuronal and osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells from human umbilical cord blood

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the capabilities for self-renewal and differentiation into cells with the phenotypes of bone, cartilage, neurons and fat cells. These features of MSCs have attracted the attention of investigators for using MSCs for cell-based therapies to treat several human diseases. Because bone marrow-derived cells, which are a main source of MSCs, are not always acceptable due to a significant drop in their cell number and proliferative/differentiation capacity with age, human umbilical cord blood (UCB) cells are good substitutes for BMCs due to the immaturity of newborn cells. Although the isolation of hematopoietic stem cells from UCB has been well established, the isolation and characterization of MSCs from UCB still need to be established and evaluated. In this study, we isolated and characterized MSCs. UCB-derived mononuclear cells, which gave rise to adherent cells, exhibited either an osteoclast or a mesenchymal-like phenotype. The attached cells with mesenchymal phenotypes displayed fibroblast-like morphologies, and they expressed mesenchym-related antigens (SH2 and vimentin) and periodic acid Schiff activity. Also, UCB-derived MSCs were able to transdifferentiate into bone and 2 types of neuronal cells, in vitro. Therefore, it is suggested that the MSCs from UCB might be a good alternative to bone marrow cells for transplantation or cell therapy.     

Effect of recombinant canine IFNγ on canine atopic dermatitis evaluated by clinical signs,histopathology and expression of Th1/Th2 cytokine mRNA

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is thought to be caused by immunologic abnormalities expressed as a Th1/Th2 cytokine imbalance in both humans and dogs. Several studies have focused on the therapeutic effects of IFNγ in human AD with successful results; however, the mechanism of action of IFNγ is not fully understood. We investigated the effect of recombinant canine interferon gamma (rCaIFNγ) on 10 dogs with AD and evaluated the ratio of IL‐4 mRNA to IFNγ mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, serum total IgE levels, and histological changes in skin. After six injections of rCaIFNγ over a span of 2 weeks, seven of the 10 dogs showed improvement, and six of these seven dogs exhibited decreased IL‐4:IFNγ mRNA ratios. Two of the three cases that did not improve had increased IL‐4:IFNγ mRNA ratios. Total serum IgE levels were significantly decreased in nine of 10 cases. The number of IgE‐positive cells detected by immunostaining and the number of mast cells in skin biopsy samples were decreased. A reduction of epidermal cell layers was demonstrated by histopathology after treatment. These results demonstrated that rCaIFNγ may be a novel safe and effective therapeutic option for the treatment of canine AD, and the mechanism of action of rCaIFNγ may be related to the modulation of Th2 cytokines to Th1 cytokines with the reduction of serum IgE production. Funding: Self‐funded.     

Cloning of bovine CD69

CD69 is rapidly inducible on various hematopoietic cells upon stimulation and is detectable as an early activation antigen. Although CD69 is well characterized in human and mouse, no information is available on bovine CD69. We report here that, bovine CD69 was cloned from a cDNA expression library prepared from activated peripheral blood lymphocytes. The full-length cDNA contained an 80bp 5' untranslated region, followed by a 600bp coding region and AU-rich motifs in a 3' untranslated region (GenBank accession number AF272828). Comparison of the bovine CD69 coding sequence reveals 69.4 and 78.2% nucleotide sequence identities with mouse and human CD69, respectively. The predicted amino acid sequence of bovine CD69 shares 56.3 and 62.3% sequence identity when compared with mouse and human CD69, respectively. Bovine CD69 has the highly conserved amino acid sequences found in the C-type lectin family, suggesting that the conserved residues may be important for conformation and binding to the, as yet unidentified ligand. In addition, the cytoplasmic tail of bovine CD69 has two casein kinase-2 (CK-2) phosphorylation sites. These data suggest that bovine CD69 plays an important role in the activation of lymphocytes.     

Ultrasonographic evaluation of renal dimension and resistive index in clinically healthy Korean domestic short-hair cats

Renal length, height, width, resistive index (RI), size of cortex, and medulla were determined by renal ultrasonography in 50 healthy Korean domestic short-hair cats. In the sagittal plane, the renal length was 3.83 ± 0.51 cm (mean ± SD) in the left kidney and 3.96 ± 0.48 cm in the right kidney, whereas the renal height was 2.42 ± 0.27 cm in the left kidney and 2.36 ± 0.28 cm in the right kidney. In the transverse plane, the renal height was 2.42 ± 0.28 cm in the left kidney and 2.38 ± 0.27 cm in the right kidney, whereas the renal width was: 2.65 ± 0.35 cm in the left kidney and 2.63 ± 0.31 cm in the right kidney. In the dorsal plane, the renal length was 3.84 ± 0.53 cm in the left kidney and 3.97 ± 0.54 cm in the right kidney, whereas the renal width was 2.65 ± 0.34 cm in the left kidney and 2.66 ± 0.33 cm in the right kidney. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) among the same structure sizes measured in different planes. In the sagittal plane, the size of the renal cortex was 0.47 ± 0.08 cm in the left kidney and 0.47 ± 0.08 cm in the right kidney, whereas of the size of the renal medulla was 0.55 ± 0.30 cm in the left kidney and 0.50 ± 0.07 cm in the right kidney. RI evaluated by pulsed wave Doppler sonography was 0.52 ± 0.05 in the left kidney and 0.55 ± 0.05 in the right kidney. The actual renal dimensions determined by gross examination were not statistically different from those determined by ultrasonography. Furthermore the renal dimensions and RI were statistically correlated to the body weight of cats.     

Animal Biowarfare Research: Historical Perspective and Potential Future Attacks

A biological attack on livestock or poultry could result in the loss of valuable animals, costs related to the containment of outbreaks and the disposal of carcasses, lost trade and other economic effects involving suppliers, transporters, distributors and restaurants; however, it is not possible to secure all livestock, and livestock are much less well guarded than human targets. Thus, the vulnerability of the livestock industry to the introduction of biological agents varies for the following reasons: (i) the majority of lethal and contagious biological agents are environmentally resilient, endemic in foreign countries and harmless to humans, making it easier for terrorists to acquire, handle and deploy these pathogens, (ii) with animals concentrated in fewer production facilities and frequently transported between these facilities, a single pathogen introduction could cause widespread infection and (iii) the extent of human travel around the globe makes it difficult to exclude exotic animal diseases as possible biological agents. Historically, many governments have developed and planned to use biological agents for direct attacks on livestock or poultry. In the past, developed nations have actively developed biological weapons to target animals. The potential spectrum of bioterrorism ranges from isolated acts against individuals by individuals to tactical and strategic military attacks and state‐sponsored international terrorism intended to cause mass casualties in animals, humans or both. This review provides an overview of the past development and use of biological weapons and describes potential future attacks.     

Sacrocaudal agenesis in a Korean native calf (Bos Taurus Coreanae)

A male deformed Korean native calf was examined macroscopically. The deformed calf had no caudal vertebral columns from 5th lumbar vertebra, sacrum and coccygeal vertebrae. The spinal cord was terminated in the vertebral foramen of the 3rd lumbar vertebra. The cervical vertebrae had scoliosis and the 3rd and 4th cervical vertebrae were fused. The 2nd and 3rd lumbar vertebrae were fused and the left and right transverse processes of the 4th lumbar vertebra articulated with ala of the ilium. The rectum was greatly expanded by the imperforate anus and a rectourethral fistula was formed between the rectum and urethra. The deformed calf was recorded as a first documentation of sacrocaudal agenesis confirmed in a Korean native calf.