Occurrence of Odorant Polyfunctional Thiols in Beers Hopped with Different Cultivars. First Evidence of an S-Cysteine Conjugate in Hop ( Humulus lupulus L.)

Forty-one thiols, mainly β-sulfanylalkyl acetates, β-sulfanylalkyl alcohols, and β-sulfanylalkyl carbonyls, were recently evidenced in hop. In a beer hopped with the Tomahawk cultivar, most of them were found at higher levels than expected. The aim of the present work was to investigate the polyfunctional thiols in beers hopped with different varieties. A few thiols proved not to come only from hop (mainly 2-sulfanylethyl acetate, μg/L levels, and 1-sulfanylpentan-3-one and 1-sulfanylpentan-3-ol, ng/L levels, internal standard (IST) equivalents). The thiol profile of Saaz-hopped beer proved similar to that of the reference beer produced without hop. A high level of 3-sulfanyloctan-1-ol emerged as an indicator of the use of Tomahawk hop (140 ng/L, IST equivalents; FD (flavor dilution) = 65536). In both Cascade- and Tomahawk-hopped beers, 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol and 3-sulfanylheptan-1-ol were smelled at high flavor dilutions, although only for the latter, significant amounts of the unreduced 3-sulfanylheptanal were found in hop. As already claimed for hop authentication, 3-sulfanyl-4-methylpentan-1-ol remains a good marker of Nelson Sauvin-hopped beers (548 ng/L, IST equivalents; FD = 65536), together with 4-sulfanyl-4-methylpentan-2-one (128 ng/L, FD = 4096). As illustrated by the huge production occurring during fermentation, accurate prediction of hop varietal impact requires quantitating thiol adducts in hop. S-3-(1-Hydroxyhexyl)cysteine was evidenced here for the first time in Cascade hop.     

Influence of supplemental magnesium, tryptophan, vitamin C, vitamin E, and herbs on stress responses and pork quality

This study investigated the effects of supplemental Mg, Trp, vitamin C, vitamin E, and herbs on stress responses, skin lesions, and meat quality of slaughter pigs (106.0 +/- 8.6 kg of BW). These 5 supplements were tested in 4 similar experiments. In Exp. 1, 2 treatments were tested: 1) control treatment without supplementation, and 2) supplementation of an herbal product (2.5 g/L of drinking water for 2 d). Eighty-eight pigs per treatment were involved, of which 40 were selected for meat quality measurements (over 4 replicates). The experimental design of Exp. 2 and 3 was the same as Exp. 1, except that in Exp. 2 Mg (3 g/L of drinking water for 2 d) was supplemented and in Exp. 3 Trp (6 g/kg of feed, as-fed basis) was supplemented. In Exp. 4, 3 treatments were tested: 1) control treatment without supplementation, 2) supplementation of vitamin C (300 mg/kg of feed for 21 d, as-fed basis), and 3) supplementation of vitamin E (150 mg/kg of feed for 21 d, as-fed basis). In Exp. 4, 66 pigs per treatment were used, of which 42 were evaluated for meat quality (over 6 replicates). Pigs supplemented with vitamin E ate less than control (P = 0.03) or vitamin C-supplemented pigs (P = 0.03). Pigs were transported to a commercial slaughterhouse and were slaughtered after a lairage period. Blood sampling at slaughter revealed no differences between the control and supplemented pigs in plasma cortisol, glucose, lactate, or creatine kinase concentrations. Pigs provided with Mg (P = 0.002) or Trp (P = 0.04) had lower plasma NEFA concentrations than control pigs, and pigs supplemented with vitamin C had greater concentrations than the control (P = 0.03) or vitamin E-supplemented pigs (P = 0.01). Supplementation of the herbal product increased the frequency of pigs with shoulder (P = 0.05) and loin lesions (P = 0.03), whereas Mg lowered the incidence of loin lesions (P = 0.01). Measurements of pH and temperature in the LM and biceps femoris 45 min postmortem revealed no differences among treatments, and no influence of treatments on LM pH, electrical conductivity, and water holding capacity was observed 48 h postmortem. Compared with the control loins, loins of pigs supplemented with vitamin C (Japanese color scale, L*, and a* value; P < 0.05) or vitamin E (Japanese color scale and a* value; P < 0.03) were redder and less pale, and the loin of vitamin E-supplemented pigs was more yellow (b* value; P = 0.04). Generally, Mg could lower loin damage, whereas vitamin C and vitamin E supplementation resulted in a color improvement of the loin.     

Suspected drug-induced destructive cholangitis in a young dog

A nine-month-old miniature doberman was referred for the evaluation of chronic icterus. History and clinical and histopathological findings were supportive of a diagnosis of drug-induced destructive cholangitis. The main histopathological findings were canalicular, centrilobular cholestasis and ductopenia with moderate inflammatory infiltrate. The dog had received three types of treatment for demodicosis before the onset of jaundice. Amoxicillin-clavulanate, amitraz, milbemycin oxime or an interaction between two of the three drugs may have been responsible for the destructive cholangitis.     

Progressive Juvenile Glomerulonephropathy in 16 Related French Mastiff (Bordeaux) Dogs

Background: Familial juvenile glomerulonephropathy (JGN) is reported in several breeds of dogs. The mode of inheritance and spectrum of pathological lesions vary among breeds. A progressive JGN was detected in a pedigree of French Mastiff (FM) dogs. Objectives: To describe clinical, laboratory, and histopathologic findings in related FM dogs suffering from progressive JGN and to determine the mode of inheritance of this condition. Animals: Sixteen affected and 35 healthy related FM dogs Methods: FM dogs <24 months of age and diagnosed with chronic kidney disease with evidence of proteinuria entered the study. Clinical, laboratory, histopathologic findings, and pedigree data were recorded. Results: Clinical signs were typical of progressive glomerulopathy with resultant renal failure. Increased blood urea nitrogen, creatinine and total cholesterol concentrations, and proteinuria were found in all patients. Affected dogs had abnormal kidney structure on abdominal ultrasound examination. Histopathologic examination revealed extensive cystic glomerular atrophy, glomerular hypercellularity, and capillary wall thickening without immune complex deposition when tested with immunohistochemistry or immunofluorescence. Electron microscopy did not disclose specific primary glomerular lesions. Mean age at death was 20 months and mean length of survival after diagnosis was 6 months. Both males and females from healthy parents were affected. An autosomal recessive mode of transmission is suspected, but a more complex mode of inheritance cannot be excluded. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Progressive familial JGN occurs in FM dogs. Characterization of the pathogenesis and mode of inheritance of this disease warrants additional study.     

Development of a capture ELISA for the detection of antibodies to enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) in rabbit flocks using intimin-specific monoclonal antibodies

A capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) was developed using intimin-specific monoclonal antibodies to detect specific antibody in rabbits that have been in contact with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC). Sera from 121 EPEC-negative, minimum-disease-level (MDL) rabbits were used for negative controls, and sera from 25 MDL rabbits, experimentally infected with EPEC of bio-/serotype 3-/O15, for positive controls. These were used to determine a cut-off value for a positive cELISA result. The value selected gave the test a sensitivity of 80.0% and a specificity of 98.4% on an individual level. At this value, a flock level sensitivity and specificity of 79.2 and 85.2%, respectively were calculated for a flock with a prevalence of seven per cent, if 40 animals were tested, and a minimum of two reactors were obtained. The test characteristics improve with increasing prevalence. To evaluate the diagnostic potential of the cELISA, sera from 40 to 50 slaughter rabbits per flock from 25 rabbit flocks with bacteriologically determined EPEC status were tested. The results demonstrated that this test can be a useful tool to determine the EPEC status of a rabbitry, provided that it is used at regular intervals.     

The diversity of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae within and between herds using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis

Over the years, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) has been proven a robust technique to type isolates with a high resolution and a good reproducibility. In this study, a PFGE protocol is described for the typing of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae isolates. The potential of this technique was demonstrated by comparing M. hyopneumoniae isolates obtained from the same as well as from different herds. The use of two different restriction enzymes, SalI and ApaI, was evaluated. For each enzyme, the resulting restriction profiles were clustered using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic means (UPGMA). For both obtained dendrograms, the included isolates of the related M. flocculare species clustered separately from all M. hyopneumoniae isolates, forming the root of the dendrograms. The PFGE patterns of the M. hyopneumoniae isolates of different herds were highly diverse and clustered differently in both dendrograms, illustrated by a Pearson's correlation coefficient of only 0.33. A much higher similarity was observed with isolates originating from different pigs of a same herd. The PFGE patterns of these isolates always clustered according to their herd and this for both dendrograms. In conclusion, the results indicate a closer relationship of M. hyopneumoniae isolates within a herd compared to isolates from different herds and this for both restriction enzymes used. Since the described PFGE technique was shown to be highly discriminative and reproducible, it will be a helpful tool to further elucidate the epidemiology of M. hyopneumoniae.     

Effect of supplemental tryptophan, vitamin E, and a herbal product on responses by pigs to vibration

Economic losses related to increased stress during the transport of pigs are well documented. The effects of supplementing of tryptophan (Trp), vitamin E, or a herbal product via feed or drinking water were investigated in terms of effects on stress response in pigs during transport simulation. The study consisted of three analogous experiments. For the testing in each experiment, the pigs (23.5+/-3.2 kg) were allocated to one of two treatments, with and without supplementation of a product. The applied doses were Trp (5 g/L drinking water for 3 d), vitamin E (additional amount of 300 mg/kg feed for 21 d, as-fed basis), and Sedafit (2.5 g/L drinking water for 2 d). Sedafit is a commercial herbal product containing Valeriana officinalis L. and Passiflora incarnata L. as active components. In each experiment of the study, at least 47 pigs were involved, which were treated in groups of 3. The day before transport simulation, a Holter device was attached to the pigs to produce an electrocardiogram during the night (rest values), as well as during vibration in the transport simulator (1.2 Hz, 1 m/s2), where the behavior of the pigs (standing-sitting-lying) was also observed. Samples of saliva (taken before, during, and after [3x] vibration) and blood (taken before and after vibration) were analyzed for cortisol and intermediate metabolites (glucose, lactate, creatine kinase, and nonesterified fatty acids), respectively. Pigs supplemented with Trp tended to spend more time lying down during the second hour of vibration (P < 0.05). Vitamin E decreased the peak heart rate (P < 0.05), ventricular ectopic beats (P < 0.01), and ST elevation (P < 0.10). The supplementation of Sedafit resulted in smaller increases of the investigated heart variables (minimum heart rate, P < 0.05; ventricular ectopic beats, P < 0.05; ST elevation, P < 0.01) during and after stress evocation compared with the control group. None of the tested products influenced the intermediate metabolites; one possible explanation for this finding may be that peak values were reached before the time of bleeding. In conclusion, Trp had a positive behavioral effect in this experiment, and vitamin E and Sedafit mediated an increase in some heart variables, suggesting sedative and antianxiety effects.     

Lingual abscesses in three dogs

Lingual abscessation is a rare condition in dogs. Very little information is available on the diagnosis and treatment of lingual abscesses in the major surgical textbooks and current veterinary literature. The common clinical signs of lingual abscesses are macroglossia, hypersalivation and a reluctance to open the mouth, but these can vary depending on the time course of the disease and the location of the abscess. This article presents three cases of tongue abscess in the dog outlining treatment and outcomes. A thorough diagnostic work up, consisting of anamnesis, clinical and haematological examinations, oral inspection under sedation and the use of diagnostic imaging techniques should be mandatory before surgical exploration of the abscess. Surgery is followed by drainage and systemic antibiotics, complemented by systemic fluid support and pain management. Conservative management of lingual abscesses can be fatal. Sharp trauma from an unknown object is suspected to be the underlying cause for the abscesses in the present cases.     

Whole blood and tissue fungal DNA quantification in the diagnosis of canine sino-nasal aspergillosis

Various combinations of tests are used to confirm the diagnosis of canine sino-nasal aspergillosis (SNA) because false-positive and false-negative results can occur with each test. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate whether detection of fungal DNA in blood and nasal tissue samples was of value in the clinical diagnosis of this disease. Four groups were included in the study (dogs with SNA, lymphoplasmacytic rhinitis or nasal neoplasia, and control animals). Real-time PCR assays detecting DNA from all Penicillium and Aspergillus species (PenAsp assay) or species-specific DNA from A. fumigatus, A. terreus, A. flavus and A. niger were applied to whole blood and nasal tissue samples. Results obtained by PCR were compared between the groups. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) for fungal DNA detection were compared with those for alternative diagnostic procedures including histopathology, serology and fungal culture. Significantly more fungal DNA was detected by the PenAsp assay in tissue biopsies from dogs with SNA than in the three other groups. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV for this method were 1.00, 0.06, 0.32 and 1.00. A. fumigatus DNA was detected in seven tissue biopsies from dogs with SNA and in one biopsy from a dog with a nasal tumour. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV for this diagnostic test were 0.50, 0.97, 0.87 and 0.82. No significant difference was found between the groups with respect to the amount of DNA detected in blood by the PenAsp assay. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV for this method were 0.71, 0.24, 0.31 and 0.64. A. fumigatus DNA was detected in the blood of three dogs with SNA and sixteen dogs without SNA. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV for this diagnostic tool were 0.21, 0.45, 0.15 and 0.54. Detection of A. fumigatus DNA in nasal tissue had the highest specificity, PPV and NPV but sensitivity of this method was low. Detection of fungal DNA in whole blood was of no value in the diagnosis of SNA.