The European College of Veterinary Pathologists (ECVP): the professional body for European veterinary pathologists

The European College of Veterinary Pathologists (ECVP) was established in 1995 with the aim of advancing veterinary pathology and promoting high standards within the specialty in Europe. The ECVP is one of 21 European colleges recognized by the European Board of Veterinary Specialisation (EBVS), which represents a quality-assurance system for European veterinary specialists. Until the ECVP was founded, there was no unified European system recognizing the specialty of pathology, and many European countries followed their own qualification systems, which varied in form and standard. The ECVP provides an annual certifying examination, the passing of which is required to gain membership (diplomate status) in the college. This qualification is now accepted on equal terms by the well-established American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP). In line with EBVS requirements, the ECVP has also established a standard continuing professional development (CPD) and re-registration system for its membership. Furthermore, it has promoted and unified European post-graduate training in veterinary pathology by setting up requirements for residency training programs and making registration and monitoring of these programs by the ECVP a prerequisite for approval of an institution as a training facility. The concurrent establishment, together with the European Society of Veterinary Pathology, of an annual summer school that trains residents for the certifying examination has further fostered European post-graduate training. Within 10 years, the ECVP has succeeded in establishing common standards and a unified approach to veterinary pathology throughout Europe. This article describes the evolution and organization of the ECVP.     

Feed intake, nutrient digestibility and ruminal fermentation activities in sheep-fed peanut hulls treated with Trichoderma viride or urea

This study aimed to assess impacts of fungal treatment on the nutritional value of peanut hulls (PH) or urea at the rate of 5 kg/100 g of PH. Fermented sugar beet pulp inoculated with Trichoderma viride was supplemented to PH at rates of 5.0, 10.0 and 15.0 g/100 g air dry of PH and mixed well before aerobic incubation for 21 days. Organic matter (OM) content of PH declined with increased levels of fermented sugar beet pulp inoculums, while crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), and ash increased. Fiber contents were decreased with both treatments of fermented sugar beet pulp and urea. Total N of PH increased with urea treatment, which reduced the true protein N to total protein N ratio. In sacco degradabilities of dry matter (DM), OM, and CP with urea treatment increased compared with fungal treatment. The DM intake of peanut hulls treated with fungus (PHF) was higher (P?<?0.05) than with peanut hulls treated with urea (PHU). Digestibility of OM, CP, neutral detergent fiber, and non-fiber carbohydrate by native breed Ossimi sheep with PH were higher (P?<?0.05) than with PH or urea treated PH. The intakes, losses, and balance of N increased (P?<?0.01) with PHF versus PH feeding. Feeding PHF increased (P?<?0.01) ruminal concentrations of NH₃-N, acetic acid, butyric acid, and the acetic to propionic acid ratio. Bacterial and protozoal counts increased (P?<?0.05) with feeding PHF or PHU versus PH. Overall, this fungal treatment of peanut hulls created a higher nutritive value feed for ruminants.     

Treatment with eCG Decreases the Vascular Density and Increases the Glandular Density of the Bovine Uterus

The uterus plays an essential role in mammalian reproduction and is a target of several hormonal protocols used to improve fertility in cattle. Many studies highlighted the importance of eCG treatment following fixed‐time artificial insemination in improving follicular growth, ovulation and pregnancy rates in cattle. Moreover, eCG has been implicated in angiogenesis, leading to important changes in uterine blood flow and vascularisation. However, there is still a lack of information regarding the specific alterations induced by eCG upon glandular and vascular characteristics of bovine uterus. To investigate the influence of eCG on: uterine thickness and area; uterine artery diameter and area; uterine vascular and gland density; and the expression of the VEGFA‐system, the uteri of crossbred beef cows were collected. All cows were submitted to follicular wave emergence synchronization. On day four of protocol, cows submitted to superovulation (n = 6) received 2000 IU eCG, on day eight, after expected follicular deviation, cows submitted to stimulatory treatment (n = 5) received 400 IU eCG. Control cows (n = 5) did not receive eCG. On day five po cows were subjected to ultrassonographic evaluation and slaughtered for uterine tissue sampling on day six po. Uterine vessels and glands were quantified by the counting point stereological method. The VEGFA‐system was localized in different cellular types, showing no qualitative or quantitative differences in the site of expression or the intensity of the positive signal among the groups. Vascular density was decreased in the endometrium of stimulated and myometrium of superovulated cows compared with the control ones, which showed higher vascular density in the myometrium and endometrium of the ipsilateral uterine horn. The uterine gland density was higher in superovulated compared with stimulated and control cows. Thus, we can infer that stimulatory or superovulatory treatments with eCG influence the vascular density in the endometrium and myometrium in cattle.     

Retrospective evaluation of adjunctive doxorubicin for the treatment of feline mammary gland adenocarcinoma: 67 cases

Medical records for 67 cats with histologically confirmed mammary gland adenocarcinomas treated with adjunctive doxorubicin from June 1994 through December 2002 were reviewed. Data were examined to evaluate factors influencing disease-free interval (DFI) and survival time. The Kaplan-Meier median survival time of cats that received surgery and doxorubicin was 448 days. The Kaplan-Meier median DFI was 255 days. Significant univariate prognostic factors for DFI included histological subtype, completion of initial chemotherapy, development of metastatic disease, and location of metastatic disease. Significant univariate prognostic factors for survival included tumor volume, the development of metastatic disease, and location of metastatic disease.     

Flock dynamics of desert Barki sheep in relation to age structure

Reproduction data of 8689 ewe records spread over 40 years (from 1960 to 2000) representing 2952 breeding Barki ewes were used in this study. The flock belonged to the Desert Research Center in Egypt. Flock dynamics of nine age groups (2–10 yrs) were assessed. Two parameters were used to evaluate flock dynamics, net reproduction rate (R_o) (number of ewe- lambs reaching joining age and produced by each ewe during its lifetime in the flock) and intrinsic rate of increase (r_m) (flock growth when no resource is limiting). Age of ewe had a highly significant (P < 0.01) effect on number of ewes lambing per ewe joined (E_PJ), number of lambs born per ewe joined (L_BJ), number of lambs weaned per ewe joined (L_WJ) and number of ewe lambs reaching joining age per ewe joined (L_EJ.J). All estimates tended to increase with dams age up to four years and decreased thereafter. The results of R_o and r_m showed that the studied flock must consist of 5 age groups to maintain its size and replace itself. It may be recommended to cull the breeding ewe at the age of 6 years to accelerate genetic improvement.     

Autoclave sterilization produces acrylamide in rodent diets: implications for toxicity testing

Acrylamide (AA) is a neurotoxic and carcinogenic contaminant that is formed during the cooking of starchy foods. Assessment of human risks from toxicants is routinely performed using laboratory rodents, and such testing requires careful control of unintended exposures, particularly through the diet. This study describes an analytical method based on liquid chromatography with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry that was used to measure endogenous AA in rodent diets and to survey a number of commercial products for contamination. Method sensitivity permitted accurate quantification of endogenous levels of AA in raw diets below 20 ppb. Autoclaving a standard rodent diet (NIH-31) increased the AA content 14-fold, from 17 to 240 ppb. A nutritionally equivalent diet that was sterilized by irradiation was found to contain approximately 10 ppb of AA (NIH-31IR). A toxicokinetic study of AA and its epoxide metabolite, glycidamide, was performed by switching mice from NIH-31IR to the autoclaved diet for a 30 min feeding period (average AA dose administered was 4.5 microg/kg of body weight). The concentrations of AA and glycidamide were measured in serum collected at various times. The elimination half-lives and the areas under the respective concentration-time curves were similar for AA and glycidamide. Mice maintained on autoclaved NIH-31 diet, but otherwise untreated, showed elevated steady state levels of a glycidamide-derived DNA adduct in liver relative to mice maintained on the irradiated diet. This study demonstrates that a heat sterilization procedure used in laboratory animal husbandry (i.e., autoclaving) can lead to the formation of significant levels of AA in basal diets used for toxicity testing. AA in rodent diets is bioavailable, is distributed to tissues, and is metabolically activated to a genotoxic metabolite, which produces quantifiable cumulative DNA damage. Although the contribution of endogenous AA to the incidence of tumors in multiple organs of rodents otherwise untreated in chronic carcinogenicity bioassays (i.e., control groups) is not known, the reduction of endogenous AA through the use of a suitable irradiated diet was deemed to be critical for ongoing studies of AA carcinogenicity and neurotoxicity.     

Metabolism of biochanin A and formononetin by human liver microsomes in vitro

Biochanin A and formononetin are abundant in legumes. These proestrogenic isoflavones can be converted by 4'-O-demethylation to the more potent phytoestrogens genistein and daidzein. Incubation of biochanin A or formononetin with human liver microsomes resulted in 4'-O-demethylation and the production of additional metabolites. Three new hydroxylated formononetin derivatives, 6,7-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyisoflavone, 7,8-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyisoflavone, and 7,3'-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyisoflavone, were isolated and characterized. We surveyed the O-demethylase competence of cytochrome P450 isoforms found in human liver. Human cytochrome P450 isoforms 1A2, 2E1, 2C9*1, 2C19, and 2D6*1 catalyzed biochanin A consumption and genistein production. Human cytochrome P450 isoforms 1A2, 2C9*1, 2A6, 2D6*1, and 2C19 catalyzed formononetin consumption and daidzein production. These isoforms also generated other hydroxylated metabolites. Although O-demethylation of isoflavones has been attributed to metabolism by gut microflora, our study demonstrates that human hepatic microsomal enzymes can perform the same transformation and may play a key role in the conversion of 4'-O-methylated isoflavones to more potent phytoestrogens.