Megaesophagus was complicated with Billroth I gastroduodenostomy in a cat

A seven-year-old, female, domestic short hair cat was presented with a history of chronic anorexia. Radiographic examination revealed a large space-occupying calcified mass in the abdominal cavity. The mass was located in pylorus and did not extend into the duodenum and surrounding tissues. Billroth I gastroduodenostomy was conducted to remove the mass. Histopathological examination of the mass showed a lymphoma. Although Recovery following the operation was excellent, the patient showed intermittent vomiting unrelated to feeding. Radiographical examination revealed a megaesophagus, which was assumed to be a complication of the Billroth I procedure, since the condition was not observed before the procedure.     

猪隐秘杆菌型出血性坏死性脾炎

六月龄去势公猪表现昏睡、食欲不振、站立困难。尸检发现脾脏边缘呈多重出血灶。从脾脏、肾脏、肌肉和肝脏中分离出革兰氏阳性杆菌,对分离株(TO16177)的16S rDNA基因序列比较分析发现,其可能与未发表过的隐秘杆菌属HJ57-14E菌株(登记号:gi18873551)(比较675bp个碱基,相似性达99.7%)为同一个属。脾脏组织切片的组织学检查发现呈广泛性坏死和炎症,其中革兰氏阳性杆菌显而易见。肝脏中可见多病灶的坏死斑。免疫组织化学检测发现,分离株与抗化脓性隐秘杆菌属(Arcanobacterium pyogenes)和内氏放线菌(Actinomyces naeslundii)的多克隆抗体具有交叉反应,且与后者的交叉反应更强烈。相似的反应也见于扁桃体的化脓灶中分离株,偶尔也见于脾脏和淋巴结中的分离株。本研究结果表明,这种未公开发布的隐秘杆菌属的细菌会引起生长肥育猪多器官功能衰竭,而后继发急性出血性坏死性脾炎。     

Congenital cutaneous fibropapillomatosis with no evidence of papillomavirus infection in a piglet

Multiple yellowish-white, cauliflower-like mass lesions on the skin of the head and back in a 4-month-old piglet were pathologically examined. These lesions had developed before the weaning period. Histologically, the cutaneous neoplasms were characterized by papillary outgrowth of connective tissue covered by thick epidermis. Hyperplasia of the epidermis was corresponded with proliferation of capillaries, lympho-plasmacytic infiltration, and proliferation of fibroblasts in the dermal stroma. There were no inclusion bodies and significant degeneration in the keratinocytes. Papillomavirus antigen and DNA were not detected in these lesions by immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Accordingly, the fibropapillomatosis of the present case might be hamartomatous rather than infectious.     

Arrhythmogenicity of dopamine and its effects on hemodynamics in dogs under halothane anesthesia

The arrhythmogenicity of dopamine, its effects on cardiac function, hemodynamics, and diuresis under halothane anesthesia were evaluated in dogs. The induction time of arrhythemias and the effect of arrhythmias on cardiac function, hemodynamics, and diuresis were determined after infusion of dopamine for 30-min period at increasing doses of 3, 5, 7, 10, and 15 micrograms/kg/min. The results were as follows. 1. Arrhythmia induction percentage was 28.6% at 5 micrograms/kg/mn, 42.9% at 7 micrograms/kg/min, 25% at 10 micrograms/kg/min, and 41.7% at 15 micrograms/kg/min. The induction time of arrhythemias (sec) was 459 at 5 micrograms/kg/min, 332 at 7 micrograms/kg/min, 152 at 10 micrograms/kg/min, and 279 at 15 micrograms/kg/min. No arrhythmias were present at 3 micrograms/kg/min. 2. Heart rate and myocardial oxygen consumption was increased in the arrhythmia-induced group compared to the non-arrhythmia-induced group. 3. Myocardial contractility, mean aortic pressure, mean pulmonary arterial pressure, and diuresis increased dose-dependently in the non-arrhythmia-induced group; however, these measures were increased in the arrhythmia-induced group without regard to dose.     

Hemolytic anemia and red blood cell metabolic disorder attributable to low phosphorus intake in cows

Hypophosphatemia was induced in 2 cows by reducing phosphorus content in their feed after parturition. Serum inorganic phosphorus (Pi) values decreased to 1 mg/dl within 10 days after parturition; and RBC adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) and reduced glutathione values decreased to 50 and 70% of baseline values, respectively. Methemoglobin concentration was moderately higher than normal. These changes preceded the onset of hemolysis, and anemia progressed with decreases in PCV, hemoglobin concentration, and RBC counts. Serum Pi resumed its normal value when anemia was most severe. This RBC disorder was confirmed to be characteristic of hemolytic anemia in cows resulting from hypophosphatemia. The RBC glycolytic intermediates, total triose phosphate (combined glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate content) and fructose-1,6-diphosphate, greatly increased in vivo and in vitro with decreases in serum or plasma Pi and RBC ATP. From our results, we concluded that inadequate Pi in the plasma impairs the function and viability of RBC by hindering the production of ATP via disturbance of reactions at the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase step.     

Genogroup I picobirnavirus in diarrhoeic foals: Can the horse serve as a natural reservoir for human infection?

ABSTRACT: Picobirnaviruses (PBV) are small, non-enveloped viruses with a bisegmented double-stranded RNA genome. In this study a PBV strain, PBV/Horse/India/BG-Eq-3/2010, was identified in the faeces of a 10 month old weaned female foal with diarrhoea in January 2010 from Kolkata, India. Surprisingly, sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis of a short stretch of the RNA dependent RNA polymerase gene revealed close genetic relatedness (> 98% nucleotide identity) to a human genogroup I PBV strain (Hu/GPBV1) detected earlier from the same part of India. Our observations together with earlier findings on genetic relatedness between human and animal PBV warrant further studies on zoonotic potential.     

Species-specific B-cell epitope on the C-terminal region of the alpha antigen from Mycobacterium intracellulare in mice

The alpha antigen, which is an immunodominant antigen, is a 30 kDa protein secreted by mycobacterial species. The C-terminal regions of alpha antigens are quite divergent. We investigated the question of whether the C-terminal regions of Mycobacterium avium alpha antigen (A-alpha), M. intracellulare alpha antigen (I-alpha) and M. bovis BCG alpha antigen (B-alpha) contained species-specific B-cell epitopes. We investigated the reactions of these peptides with anti-A-alpha, anti-I-alpha and anti-B-alpha sera prepared from BALB/c in a Western blot assay and ELISA. The C-terminal regions of I-alpha reacted exclusively with anti-I-alpha serum. The results of the inhibition assay of antibodies binding to I-alpha by peptides of C-A-alpha, C-I-alpha, and C-B-alpha are that only C-I-alpha inhibited the binding of antibodies to C-I-alpha. We found that the C-terminal region was B-cell epitope-specific to I-alpha in BALB/c mice.     

Gene silencing of cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA by RNA interference in bovine cumulus-granulosa cells

Inhibition of specific gene expression using RNA interference (RNAi) is a valuable tool for functional analysis of a target gene. However, there is little information available concerning RNAi for analysis of gene function in relation to the reproductive physiology of follicular cells in ruminants. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the interfering effect of small interference RNA (siRNA) on expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) mRNA and prostagrandin F(2alpha) (PGF(2alpha)) production in bovine cumulus-granulosa (CG) cells. Bovine CG cells were collected from aspirated follicles and cultured. After reaching confluency, two experiments were conducted. In experiment 1, to investigate the effective concentration of siRNA, 0, 100, 250 and 500 pM of Cox-2 siRNA was introduced into the CG cells, respectively. After 24 h, the amount of Cox-2 mRNA expression was measured by RT-PCR and real-time PCR. In experiment 2, to investigate the time required for effective interference of siRNA and Cox-2 activity, 250 pM siRNA was introduced for 0, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h. After culture, the amount of Cox-2 mRNA expression was measured and the culture medium was collected to determine the PGF(2alpha) concentration by enzyme immunoassay. The Cox-2 mRNA expression was not affected by introduction of 100 pM siRNA into CG cells for 24 h, but 250 and 500 pM Cox-2 siRNA significantly reduced the Cox-2 mRNA expression. Moreover, the significant suppressive effect of 250 pM siRNA was observed 6 h after introduction, and the reduction of mRNA expression by RNAi became more obvious over 12 h. On the other hand, the PGF(2alpha) concentration in the culture medium was not significantly different 12 h after siRNA introduction; however, the PGF(2alpha) concentration 24 h after siRNA introduction was significantly decreased compared with the control at the same time point. These results suggest that gene silencing of Cox-2 with siRNA is capable of analyzing the function and expression of specific genes in bovine CG cells.