Histopathologic features of canine uremic gastropathy: a retrospective study

Uremic gastritis is a term commonly used to describe the gastrointestinal signs and histopathologic changes associated with renal failure in the dog. This retrospective study reviews the clinical, serum biochemical, and postmortem histopathologic data from 28 dogs with renal failure to determine the prevalence of gastric histopathology, characterize the gastric histopathology, and identify associations between gastric histopathology and serum concentrations of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr), calcium-phosphorus product (Ca x Phos), and hematocrit. Affected and control dogs with available renal and gastric tissue, serum biochemistry data, and urinalysis data were identified over a 10-year period (1992-2002) in the pathology department postmortem examination database at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. The serum biochemistry data and histopathologic findings were scored as normal, mild, moderate, and severe. All affected dogs had derangements of BUN, Cr, or Ca x Phos with gastric histopathology in 22 of 28 dogs (79%). Dogs with renal failure had a higher prevalence of gastric histopathologic changes compared with the control group. Associated histopathologic changes in the stomach were edema (P = .008), mineralization (P = .03), and vasculopathy (P = .03). Only 1 dog had evidence of gastric ulceration. Gastric necrosis was an uncommon finding (4/28, 14%). Gastric histopathology appears to be common in dogs with renal failure and is associated with increasing severity in the serum biochemistry data. Unlike humans with renal failure, in whom gastric ulceration predominates, gastric necrosis and ulceration appear to be uncommon in dogs with renal failure.     

A new tomato-infecting tospovirus from iran

ABSTRACT A new tospovirus species serologically distinct from all other established tospoviruses was found in tomato in Iran. Typical disease symptoms observed include necrotic lesions on the leaves and yellow ring spots on the fruits, hence the name Tomato yellow ring virus (TYRV) was proposed. The S RNA of this virus was cloned and its 3,061 nucleotide long sequence showed features characteristic for tospoviral S RNA segments. The nucleocapsid (N) protein with a predicted Mr of 30.0 kDa showed closest relationship to the N protein of Iris yellow spot virus (74% sequence identity).     

Proposal to reclassify Paenibacillus larvae subsp. pulvifaciens DSM 3615 (ATCC 49843) as Paenibacillus larvae subsp. larvae. Results of a comparative biochemical and genetic study

The bacterial pathogen Paenibacillus larvae subsp. larvae (P. l. larvae), is the etiological agent of American foulbrood, an extremely contagious and disastrous disease of honeybee brood. In case of American foulbrood the destruction of infected colonies is often considered the only workable control measure. Therefore, the ability to diagnose this disease properly is important to prevent unnecessary economic loss to beekeepers. The development of suitable methods for the early and reliable detection of P. l. larvae is hampered by the fact that the two subspecies of Paenibacillus larvae, P. l. larvae and Paenibacillus larvae subsp. pulvifaciens (P. l. pulvifaciens), seem to be indistinguishable by cultural characteristics as well as by PCR protocols. Here we present an extensive analysis of several P. larvae reference strains. We employed conventional culture techniques, morphological and biochemical identification, PCR-based methods and sequencing of the 16S rDNA. We found indeed that P. l. pulvifaciens strain DSM 3615 is indistinguishable from P. l. larvae (DSM 7030). We did not face any problems to discriminate between P. l. larvae and P. l. pulvifaciens strains DSM 8442 and DSM 8443. Therefore, classification of DSM 3615 as type strain of P. l. pulvifaciens seems not to be justified. We propose to reclassify this strain as P. l. larvae. Former problems in differentiating the two subspecies might have arisen from this misclassification. PCR-based methods as well as appropriate biochemical identification systems provide a reliable means for the discrimination between the two subspecies P. l. larvae and P. l. pulvifaciens.     

Nucleotides in sow colostrum and milk at different stages of lactation

An experiment was conducted with the objective of measuring the concentrations of total milk solids (TMS), CP, and 5'monophosphate nucleotides in sow colostrum and milk. Twelve multiparous sows (Landrace x Yorkshire x Duroc) were used. Litter size was standardized at 11 piglets for all sows at farrowing. Sows were fed an 18.45% CP corn-soybean meal-based diet throughout lactation. The experimental period was the initial 28 d of lactation, with colostrum collected within 12 h of farrowing and milk collected on d 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28. Colostrum and milk samples were analyzed for TMS, CP, adenosine 5'monophosphate (5'AMP), cytidine 5'monophosphate (5'CMP), guanosine 5'monophosphate (5'GMP), inosine 5'monophosphate (5'IMP), and uridine 5'monophosphate (5'UMP). Total milk solids decreased (P < 0.05) from 26.7% on d 0 to 23.1% on d 3. The TMS further decreased (P < 0.05) to 19.3% on d 7, but remained relatively constant thereafter at 18.2, 18.8, and 19.2% on d 14, 21, and 28, respectively. The concentration of CP decreased from 16.6% in colostrum to 7.7, 6.2, 5.5, 5.7, and 6.3% in milk collected on d 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28, respectively (linear and quadratic effect; P < 0.05). Concentrations of 5'AMP, 5'CMP, 5'GMP, and 5'IMP increased from d 0 to d 3 and d 7, and then decreased during the remaining lactation period (quadratic effect; P < 0.05). The concentration of 5'UMP decreased from d 0 to 28 of lactation (linear and quadratic effects; P < 0.05). In colostrum, 5'UMP represented 98% of all 5'monophosphate nucleotides, and in milk, 5'UMP accounted for 86 to 90% of all nucleotides, regardless of day of lactation. The results of this experiment suggest that the concentrations of TMS and CP in sow mammary secretions changed during the first week of lactation, but were constant thereafter. Likewise, the concentrations of 5'monophosphate nucleotides changed during the initial week postpartum, but during the last 2 wk of a 4-wk lactation period, the concentrations were constant.     

Future developments in the manipulation of growth in farm animals

The anabolic steroid and antimicrobial growth promoters may be regarded as the first generation of animal growth promoters or performance enhancers. There is major investment in the development of new techniques to improve the efficiency of farm animal production. These techniques are reviewed under the headings of growth hormone (somatotrophin) and related techniques, immunological techniques, the beta-adrenergic agonists and the direct genetic manipulation of farm animals.     

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of antibodies to Rift Valley fever virus in ovine and bovine sera

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the rapid detection of antibodies to Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) in ovine and bovine sera. Conditions to reduce nonspecific reactions were optimized. The ELISA results correlated with those of a plaque-reduction neutralization test, revealing 100% specificity and 90.7% sensitivity. In sera from sheep and cattle inoculated against RVFV, the hemagglutination-inhibition test in combination with the ELISA provided a better indication of response to killed RVFV vaccine than did either test alone.     

A randomized controlled trial of misoprostol monotherapy for canine atopic dermatitis: effects on dermal cellularity and cutaneous tumour necrosis factor-alpha

Abstract In this blinded randomized placebo-controlled trial, 20 dogs with atopic dermatitis (AD) were given placebo (8 dogs) or misoprostol (12 dogs) at 5 µg kg⁻¹, orally, three times daily for 3 weeks. Administration of the active drug, but not of placebo, led to a significant decrease in lesional and pruritus scores. The median reduction from baseline of both scores was ≈30%. Misoprostol therapy did not lead to decreases of dermal cell counts or skin tumour necrosis factor (TNF)α mRNA copy numbers that were significantly different from those of placebo. Skin TNFα protein production, assessed using indirect immunofluorescence, decreased or remained unchanged in dogs receiving misoprostol. In contrast, post treatment TNFα fluorescence scores were higher in all but two dogs given placebo. The changes from baseline of TNFα fluorescence scores did not correlate significantly with those of lesional or pruritus indices. These observations confirm the modest efficacy of misoprostol for treatment of canine AD and suggest that its mild anti-allergic effects are not associated with either inhibition of inflammatory cell emigration or TNFα production.     

Effect of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone on the fertility of sows kept outdoors

A total of 1,231 mixed parity sows from five outdoor units in East Anglia were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. Sows in the control group were given no treatment, those in group 1 were injected intramuscularly with 8 microg of the analogue of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH), buserelin, within 24 hours after first service and those in group 2 received the same treatment on day 11 or 12 after first service. There was no significant effect of treatment on farrowing rate to first service (85.0 v 85.4 v 84.7 per cent, respectively) or on overall mean (se) total litter size (11.6 [0.2] v 11.9 [0.2] v 11.9 [0.21]), although litter size was significantly increased by both treatments on one unit (11.6 [0.3] v 12.4 [0.3] v 12.8 [0.3]; P<0.05). However, there was a significant increase overall in the numbers of pigs born alive in both treatment groups (10.9 [0.2] v 11.3 [0.1] v 11.4 [0.3]; P<0.05) to sows of parities 0 to 2 only (P<0.05). This increase in numbers born alive is difficult to reconcile with the lack of overall effect on total litter size.