Retrospective study of 46 cases of feline haemobartonellosis in Israel and their relationships with FeLV and FIV infections

Forty-six cats with clinical haemobartonellosis were studied; 75 per cent of the cats of known age were two-and-a-half years old or younger, 50 per cent were intact males and 19.5 per cent were castrated males. The predominant signs of the disease were tachypnoea, lethargy, depression, anorexia, infestation with fleas, pale mucous membranes, icterus, emaciation, dehydration, splenomegaly, anaemia, leucocytosis, increased activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, and azotaemia. Thirty-eight per cent of the cats that were tested for feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) antigen were positive, and 22 per cent of those tested for feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) antibodies were positive. The prevalence of both FeLV and FIV was much higher than in the general Israeli cat population. The cats infected with both Haemobartonella felis and FeLV had a significantly lower body temperature, were more anaemic and the mean cell volume of their erythrocytes was greater than in the cats with haemobartonellosis alone.     

Effects of virginiamycin and monensin plus tylosin on ruminal protein metabolism in steers fed corn-based finishing diets with or without wet corn gluten feed

Six ruminally cannulated steers (345 +/- 20 kg initial BW) were used in a 6 x 6 Latin square to evaluate effects of diet and antibiotics on ruminal protein metabolism. Two diets and three antibiotic treatments were arranged factorially. One diet contained (DM basis) 72% dry-rolled corn, 12% soybean meal, 10% alfalfa hay, and 4% molasses (SBM), and the other contained 63% dry-rolled corn, 30% wet corn gluten feed, and 5% alfalfa hay (WCGF). Antibiotic treatments included control, virginiamycin (175 mg/d; VM), and monensin/tylosin (250 and 100 mg/d, respectively; MT). Steers were fed at 12-h intervals at a rate of 2.4% of empty BW daily. Each period included 18 d of adaptation and 3 d of ruminal fluid collections. Samples were collected at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 h after the morning feeding on d 19 and 20. On d 21, rumens were dosed 2 h after the morning feeding with 350 g of solubilized casein to evaluate in vivo ruminal protease and deaminase activities. Ruminal fluid samples were collected 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 h after the casein dose. On d 19 and 20, antibiotics had no effect on ruminal pH or concentrations of VFA, lactate, ammonia, ciliated protozoa, alpha-amino nitrogen (AAN), or peptide N, but VM reduced (P < 0.01) the concentration of isovalerate compared to MT and control. After casein dosing (d 21), peptide N concentration was unaffected by antibiotics, but AAN were higher (P < 0.01) for VM than MT and control. Relative to MT and control, VM reduced ruminal isovalerate (P = 0.05) and increased ruminal propionate (P < 0.01) on d 21. Ruminal pH was lower (P < 0.01) in steers fed SBM than in steers fed WCGF, but lactate concentrations were unaffected by diet. Steers fed SBM had higher (P < 0.05) ruminal concentrations of total VFA and propionate. Ammonia concentrations were lower before feeding and higher after feeding for steers fed WCGF (P < 0.01). Steers fed WCGF had higher counts of total ciliated protozoa than steers fed SBM (P < 0.05) due to greater Entodinium sp. (P < 0.05). Steers fed WCGF had higher (P < 0.01) ruminal AAN and peptide N concentrations than those fed SBM on d 19 and 20. After casein dosing, ruminal peptide N concentrations were similar, but AAN were lower (P < 0.01) for WCGF than SBM. Overall, VM appeared to depress ruminal deaminase activity, and MT had minimal effects on ruminal fermentation products. The protein in WCGF appeared to be more readily degradable than that in SBM.     

Identification of new allelic variants in the ovine prion protein (PrP) gene

The association between scrapie and polymorphisms of the prion protein (PrP) gene was studied in 1108 German sheep of 33 different breeds. The aim of the investigation was the determination of the codons 136, 154 and 171 of the PrP gene, which are important for scrapie susceptibility. In addition to the published allelic variants ARR, ARQ, AHQ, ARH and VRQ, two novel, rare haplotypes (AHR and VRR) were found in the breeds of Texel, Nolana and Suffolk. A comparison of PrP genotype frequencies among the analysed different breeds revealed distinct variations. Breeds such as Texel showed a complex genotype distribution over 17 variants, while breeds such as Friesian Milk Sheep indicated only seven different genotypes.     

Hepatocholangiocellular carcinoma in a rat--case report

A mixed epithelial tumour in the liver of a 24-month-old male Wistar rat from a 30-month inhalation study is described. The rat, which was in a group exposed to low concentrations of diesel exhaust, was euthanized because of emaciation, forced respiration and abnormal gait. Macroscopic examination of the enlarged liver revealed multiple partly confluent beige-red nodules up to 1.5 cm in diameter. Small nodules up to 7 mm in diameter were seen in the spleen. Histologically, the tumour nodules in the liver consisted of hepatocellular and cholangiocellular components. The hepatocellular component consisted of moderately differentiated polygonal to round hepatocytes about twice as large as normal hepatocytes and having hyperchromatic, centrally located nuclei with prominent nucleoli and eosinophilic cytoplasm. Foci of haematopoiesis and focal necroses were prominent. The cholangiocellular component was moderately differentiated and consisted of tubular structures lined by low cuboidal to cylindrical cells showing cytoplasmic basophilia and small dark nuclei without prominent nucleoli. The histological features of the nodules in the spleen corresponded to those of the primary tumour in the liver. Based on these criteria, the tumour nodules were diagnosed as hepatocholangiocellular carcinoma. The immunohistological examination confirmed the diagnosis, i.e. immunostaining for cytokeratins was positive for eight and 18 (hepatocellular carcinoma) and for seven and 19 (cholangiocellular carcinoma) as well as for vimentin (dense fibrous stroma). This tumour is considered to be spontaneous because of its single occurrence.     

Classification of abomasal displacement in cows according to histopathology of the liver and clinical chemistry

Histopathological features of livers and blood chemical values in cows with abomasal displacement were investigated. Liver biopsy samples were collected during redressment operations in 92 cows with abomasal displacement, and the samples were stained with haematoxylin and eosin or periodic acid Schiff (PAS). Blood was collected for chemical tests. Livers were histopathologically divided into the following four types: normal histology cases (21%), fatty degeneration cases (36%), cloudy swelling cases (19%) and fatty degeneration cases with cloudy swelling (24%). The number of PAS-positive samples was significantly higher in the normal histology group and significantly lower in the severe fatty degeneration group and severe cloudy swelling group. Cows with fatty degeneration had significantly higher levels of serum 3-hydroxybutyric acid, non-esterified fatty acid and aspartate aminotransferase than did those with cloudy swelling or normal histology. The results indicate that the morbid conditions of cows with abomasal displacement can be classified into four types.     

Retrieval of a patent ductus arteriosus coil following embolisation to the right subclavian artery

A two-month-old female Tibetan terrier was re-presented with an incomplete closure of the patent ductus arteriosus. Following a second attempt to close the shunt by coil embolisation, arterial embolisation occurred. The successful removal of the embolised coil is described.     

Development of Purkinje cells in the ovine brain

Purkinje cells are involved in many vital functions within the body. Twenty ovine fetuses ranging from 2 to 5 months of gestation, two lambs in the first week after birth and three adult sheep were studied. Sections of the cerebellum were stained with haematoxylin and eosin, cresyl violet and Klüver-Barrera. This study indicates that Purkinje cells began to appear after the 15(th) week of gestation. There were varying degrees of development of Purkinje cells in different zones of the cerebellum. Our findings in sheep fetuses suggest that the maturation of Purkinje cells starts in the caudal regions of the cerebellum and that the process begins in the vermis before it does in the cerebellar hemispheres. The alignment of Purkinje cells was found to be very regular in the caudal regions of the cerebellum. A partial absence of Purkinje cells in the rostral regions of the cerebellum was observed in both sheep fetuses and adult sheep. In the first post-natal week, some ectopic Purkinje cells were found in the white matter of the cerebellum.     

Diversity of genome segment B from infectious bursal disease viruses in the United States

Several phylogenetic lineages of the infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) genome segment B have been identified. Although this genome segment has been shown to contribute to virulence, little is known about the genetic lineages that exist in the United States. The nucleotide genome segment B sequences of 67 IBDV strains collected from 2002 to 2011 in the United States were examined. Although they were from nine different states, a majority (47) of these viruses were from California. A 722-base pair region near the 5' end of genome segment B, starting at nucleotide 168 and ending at 889, was examined and compared to sequences available in GenBank. The nucleotide sequence alignment revealed that mutations were frequently observed and that they were uniformly spaced throughout the region. When the predicted amino acids were aligned, amino acids at positions 145, 146, and 147 were found to change frequently. Six different amino acid triplets were observed and the very virulent (vv) IBDV strains (based on presence of vvIBDV genome segment A sequence) all had the triplet T145, D146, and N147. None of the non-vvIBDV strains had this TDN triplet. Phylogenetic analysis of the 67 nucleotide sequences revealed four significant genome segment B lineages among the U.S. viruses. One of these included the genome segment B typically found in vvIBDV and three contained non-vvIBDV genome segment B sequences. When the available sequences in GenBank were added to the analysis, two additional lineages were observed that did not contain U.S. viruses; one included viruses from China and the other contained viruses from the Ivory Coast. Although the samples tested do not represent all poultry producing regions in the United States, serotype 1 viruses from states outside California all belonged to one genome segment B lineage. The other three lineages observed in the United States were populated with viruses exclusively found in California, except the serotype 2 lineage, where the type strain was a serotype 2 virus from Ohio. The data provide further evidence for the importance of genome segment B identification during routine molecular diagnosis of all IBDV strains.     

LDSO: a program to simulate pedigrees and molecular information under various evolutionary forces

Simulations are a major tool to evaluate new statistical methods and optimize experimental designs in the genomic era. However, this can only be achieved when the simulations are close enough to reality, as well as diverse enough to be realistic. For mapping studies, it is thus critical to re-create as much as possible the forces generating linkage (mutation, random drift, changes in population sizes, selection and pedigree structure) and the mechanisms producing trait genetic architecture (additivity, dominance, epistasis). We present here a computer program (ldso) simulating these phenomena. Optional outputs provide statistics on the linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure and the identity by descent between chromosomal segments, facilitating further data analyses. Furthermore, ldso enables the simulation of genomic data in known pedigrees, which sticks as precisely as possible to recent population history and structures of the long-range LD, allowing optimization of fine-mapping strategies.