Intramuscular anesthesia of bonito and Pacific mackerel with ketamine and medetomidine and reversal of anesthesia with atipamezole

OBJECTIVE: To determine anesthetic effects of ketamine and medetomidine in bonitos and mackerels and whether anesthesia could be reversed with atipamezole. DESIGN: Clinical trial. ANIMALS: 43 bonitos (Sarda chiliensis) and 47 Pacific mackerels (Scomber japonica). PROCEDURE: 28 bonitos were given doses of ketamine ranging from 1 to 8 mg/kg (0.5 to 3.6 mg/lb), i.m., and doses of medetomidine ranging from 0.2 to 1.6 mg/kg (0.1 to 0.7 mg/lb), i.m. (ratio of ketamine to medetomidine, 2.5:1 to 20:1). Doses of atipamezole equal to 1 or 5 times the dose of medetomidine were used. The remaining 15 bonitos were used to determine the anesthetic effects of ketamine at a dose of 4 mg/kg (1.8 mg/lb) and medetomidine at a dose of 0.4 mg/kg (0.2 mg/lb). The mackerels were given ketamine at doses ranging from 11 to 533 mg/kg (5 to 242 mg/lb) and medetomidine at doses ranging from 0.3 to 9.1 mg/kg (0.1 to 4.1 mg/lb; ratio of ketamine to medetomidine, 3:1 to 800:1). Doses of atipamezole equal to 5 times the dose of medetomidine were used. RESULTS: I.m. administration of ketamine at a dose of 4 mg/kg and medetomidine at a dose of 0.4 mg/kg in bonitos and ketamine at a dose of 53 to 228 mg/kg (24 to 104 mg/lb) and medetomidine at a dose of 0.6 to 4.2 mg/kg (0.3 to 1.9 mg/lb) in mackerels was safe and effective. For both species, administration of atipamezole at a dose 5 times the dose of medetomidine reversed the anesthetic effects. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggest that a combination of ketamine and medetomidine can safely be used for anesthesia of bonitos and mackerels and that anesthetic effects can be reversed with atipamezole.     

A cost/benefit study of paratuberculosis certification in French cattle herds

Paratuberculosis has received increasing attention in France because of the important losses this disease may provoke. The use of certification schemes has proven its effectiveness for the protection of healthy herds against diseases transmitted mainly by trade. The economic justification of such schemes in the particular case of paratuberculosis is studied, for French cattle herds, using a cost/benefit approach. The basic economical hypotheses and estimates have been proposed and carefully examined by a working group composed of paratuberculosis experts and field specialists. By adopting the point of view of a breeder that buys animals, we first estimated the benefits resulting from the non-introduction of the disease. They were then compared with the costs resulting from the fact that the vendor reports its own certification costs on the price of the animals he sells. Two average herds (the mean French beef herd and the mean French dairy herd), and two certification levels were studied. The results show that, currently, the use of the certification is not very economically profitable in French cattle herds. This conclusion, however should be reappraised if the certification costs decrease, for example with the commercialization of diagnostic tests on mixtures.     

Prolonged remission after immunosuppressive therapy in six dogs with pemphigus foliaceus

Limited information is available on the long-term outcome of treatment of pemphigus foliaceus in dogs. The purpose of this study is to report that a prolonged remission can occur after discontinuation of immunosuppressive regimens in some animals with this disease. Six dogs were diagnosed with pemphigus foliaceus based on suggestive clinical signs and histopathology. These patients were treated either with immunosuppressive doses of oral glucocorticoids or with a combination of oral glucocorticoids and azathioprine. After clinical signs underwent complete remission, which occurred 1.5-5 months after immunosuppression was initiated, the drugs were tapered progressively and eventually withdrawn. The total duration of immunosuppressive therapy varied between 3 and 22 months. Skin lesions of pemphigus foliaceus did not recur for 1.5-6 years after treatment was stopped. These observations suggest that, in some dogs with pemphigus foliaceus, immunosuppression can lead to long-term remission of skin lesions, and that discontinuation of treatment is not necessarily followed by a recurrence of clinical signs.     

Massive-star supernovae as major dust factories

We present late-time optical and mid-infrared observations of the Type II supernova 2003gd in the galaxy NGC 628. Mid-infrared excesses consistent with cooling dust in the ejecta are observed 499 to 678 days after outburst and are accompanied by increasing optical extinction and growing asymmetries in the emission-line profiles. Radiative-transfer models show that up to 0.02 solar masses of dust has formed within the ejecta, beginning as early as 250 days after outburst. These observations show that dust formation in supernova ejecta can be efficient and that massive-star supernovae could have been major dust producers throughout the history of the universe.     

Contents of carboxylic acids and two phenolics and antioxidant activity of dried portuguese wild edible mushrooms

The organic acids and phenolics compositions of nine wild edible mushrooms species (Suillus bellini, Tricholomopsis rutilans, Hygrophorus agathosmus, Amanita rubescens, Russula cyanoxantha, Boletus edulis, Tricholoma equestre, Suillus luteus, and Suillus granulatus) were determined by HPLC-UV and HPLC-DAD, respectively. The antioxidant potential of these species was also assessed by using the DPPH* scavenging assay. The results showed that all of the species presented a profile composed of at least five organic acids: oxalic, citric, malic, quinic, and fumaric acids. In a general way, the pair of malic plus quinic acids were the major compounds. Only very small amounts of two phenolic compounds were found in some of the analyzed species: p-hydroxybenzoic acid (in A. rubescens, R. cyanoxantha, and T. equestre) and quercetin (in S. luteus and S. granulatus). All of the species exhibited a concentration-dependent scavenging ability against DPPH*. T. rutilans revealed the highest antioxidant capacity.     

Quantitation of immune response gene expression and cellular localisation of interleukin-1beta mRNA in Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., affected by amoebic gill disease (AGD)

The characterisation of selected immune response genes during amoebic gill disease (AGD) in Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., was performed using semi-quantitative RT-PCR, quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), and in situ hybridisation (ISH). The immune response genes of interest were interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), serum amyloid A (SAA), and serum amyloid P-like pentraxin (SAP). Atlantic salmon were inoculated with the ectoparasite Neoparamoeba sp., the causative agent of AGD, and gill, liver and anterior kidney tissue sampled at 0, 7 and 14 d post-inoculation (p.i.). Semi-quantitative RT-PCR was performed on the tissue samples to identify up/down-regulated mRNA expression relative to uninfected control fish and normalised to the housekeeping gene, beta-actin. Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) was the only immune response gene of those investigated whose mRNA was differentially regulated in any of the tissues and was found to be up-regulated in the gills by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Increased gill IL-1beta mRNA expression was then accurately quantitated and confirmed using probe-based qRT-PCR. The cellular localisation of the IL-1beta mRNA expression in the gills of uninfected and infected fish was then determined by ISH using an IL-1beta-specific biotinylated cRNA probe. Expression of IL-1beta mRNA was localised to filament and lamellar epithelium pavement cells in gills of uninfected and infected Atlantic salmon. These data implicate the involvement of IL-1beta at the site of infection, the gills, of Atlantic salmon during AGD. This work supports previous studies that suggest IL-1beta is important in the regulation of the fish immune response to parasitic infection but additionally shows the cellular localisation of fish IL-1beta mRNA expression during infection.     

Analysis of national serological surveys for the documentation of freedom from porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome in Switzerland

Results of national serological surveys for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) conducted in Switzerland in 2001 and 2004 were analyzed. In 2001, 41,124 breeding sows from 2,540 herds out of 6,406 were sampled, and in 2004, 7,498 animals were sampled from 1,074 herds out of 5,320. All serum samples were tested for PRRS using an ELISA developed at the Institute of Virology and Immunoprophylaxis (IVI), Switzerland with a sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of 94 and 97%, respectively. Positive samples were re-tested with a commercial ELISA (IDEXX) with Se of 100% and Sp of 99%. Samples positive in the second test were confirmed with the fluorescent antibody test (FAT). A stochastic model using data from the main survey conducted in 2001 was done to verify whether the sampling scheme used could detect at least one infected herd with 99% confidence level if the herd designed prevalence was at 0.1 or 0.2%. Additionally, a Bayesian approach was conducted to calculate the post-survey probability of freedom from PRRS using data from the 2001 and 2004 surveys. A Monte Carlo simulation with 5000 iteration was run for each model. Eleven samples in 2001 and six in 2004, all from different farms, could not be conclusively confirmed as negative by the FAT. All other samples were negative. Truly infected animals and herds were not predicted by a stochastic model at the 99% confidence level and 0.1% herd prevalence using data from the 2001 survey. However, it was demonstrated that the prior probability of freedom from PRRS increased from 89.3 to 99.2% after the 2001 survey. Upon completion of the 2004 survey, the probability of freedom from PRRS reached a value of 99.7%. Based on our results, we could conclude that the pig industry in Switzerland is free of PRRS virus with this level of confidence. Restricted import activities over the last decades are a possible explanation for the continuing absence of PRRS-infection in the Swiss swine population. Import requirements defined by the pig industry minimize the risk of introduction of PRRS-infected animals in the future.     

Genetic variant BDNF (Val66Met) polymorphism alters anxiety-related behavior

A common single-nucleotide polymorphism in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene, a methionine (Met) substitution for valine (Val) at codon 66 (Val66Met), is associated with alterations in brain anatomy and memory, but its relevance to clinical disorders is unclear. We generated a variant BDNF mouse (BDNF(Met/Met)) that reproduces the phenotypic hallmarks in humans with the variant allele. BDNF(Met) was expressed in brain at normal levels, but its secretion from neurons was defective. When placed in stressful settings, BDNF(Met/Met) mice exhibited increased anxiety-related behaviors that were not normalized by the antidepressant, fluoxetine. A variant BDNF may thus play a key role in genetic predispositions to anxiety and depressive disorders.     

Pharmacokinetics of pentoxifylline and its 5-hydroxyhexyl metabolite after oral and intravenous administration of pentoxifylline to healthy adult horses

OBJECTIVE: To determine serum pharmacokinetics of pentoxifylline and its 5-hydroxyhexyl metabolite in horses after administration of a single IV dose and after single and multiple oral doses. ANIMALS: 8 healthy adult horses. PROCEDURES: A crossover study design was used with a washout period of 6 days between treatments. Treatments were IV administration of a single dose of pentoxifylline (8.5 mg/kg) and oral administration of generic sustained-release pentoxifylline (10 mg/kg, q 12 h, for 8 days). Blood samples were collected 0, 1, 3, 6, 12, 20, 30, and 45 minutes and 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 hours after IV administration. For oral administration, blood samples were collected 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 hours after the first dose and 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 hours after the last dose. RESULTS: Elimination of pentoxifylline was rapid after IV administration. After oral administration, pentoxifylline was rapidly absorbed and variably eliminated. Higher serum concentrations of pentoxifylline and apparent bioavailability were observed after oral administration of the first dose, compared with values after administration of the last dose on day 8 of treatment. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In horses, oral administration of 10 mg of pentoxifylline/kg results in serum concentrations equivalent to those observed for therapeutic doses of pentoxifylline in humans. Twice daily administration appears to be appropriate. However, serum concentrations of pentoxifylline appear to decrease with repeated dosing; thus, practitioners may consider increasing the dosage if clinical response diminishes with repeated administration.     

Effects of caloric restriction and a moderate or intense physiotherapy program for treatment of lameness in overweight dogs with osteoarthritis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of a weight reduction program combined with a basic or more complex physical therapy program including transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation on lameness in overweight dogs with osteoarthritis. DESIGN: Nonblinded prospective randomized clinical trial. Animals-29 adult overweight or obese dogs with a body condition score of 4/5 or 5/5 and clinical and radiographic signs of osteoarthritis. PROCEDURES: A weight-loss program was initiated for all dogs. One group received caloric restriction and a home-based physical therapy program. The other group received the identical dietetic protocol and an intensive physical therapy program including transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. Lameness was assessed clinically and by kinetic gait analysis on a treadmill with 4 force plates to measure symmetry of ground reaction forces (GRFs) of the affected and contralateral limbs in bimonthly intervals for 6 months. RESULTS: Significant weight loss was achieved in both groups; however, greater weight reduction was attained by dogs treated with caloric restriction and intensive physiotherapy. Mobility and symmetry indices of GRFs were improved after 6 months; the best outcome was detected in the group receiving energy restriction combined with intensive physical therapy. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Caloric restriction combined with intensive physical therapy improved mobility and facilitated weight loss in overweight dogs. The combination of dietetic and physical therapy may help to improve the health status more efficiently than dietetic treatment alone.