Radiosensitivity and capacity for radiation-induced sublethal damage repair of canine transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) cell lines

Understanding the inherent radiosensitivity and repair capacity of canine transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) can aid in optimizing radiation protocols to treat this disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the parameters surviving fraction at 2 Gy (SF(2) ), α/β ratio and capacity for sublethal damage repair (SLDR) in response to radiation. Dose-response and split-dose studies were performed using the clonogenic assay. The mean SF(2) for three established TCC cell lines was high at 0.61. All the three cell lines exhibited a low to moderate α/β ratio, with the mean being 3.27. Two cell lines exhibited statistically increased survival at 4 and 24 h in the dose-response assay. Overall, our results indicate that the cell lines are moderately radioresistant, have a high repair capacity and behave similarly to a late-responding normal tissue. These findings indicate that the radiation protocols utilizing higher doses with less fractionation may be more effective for treating TCC.     

Decreased serum apolipoprotein A-I concentrations in cows infected with Salmonella typhimurium.

Serum apolipoprotein A-I concentrations in cows infected with Salmonella Typhimurium were evaluated to assess its relevance in salmonellosis. Apolipoprotein A-I has been shown in rats to be secreted by the intestine as well as the liver. Clinical symptoms such as diarrhea revealed an outbreak of salmonellosis in 22 cows on a farm, and sera were obtained at 6 (acute phase), 16, 28 (convalescent period) and 42 d (postconvalescent period) after the outbreak. Apolipoprotein A-I concentrations (mean +/- SD, mg/mL), determined by ELISA, were 0.598 +/- 0.497 (day 6), 0.111 +/- 0.060 (day 16), 0.432 +/- 0.311 (day 28) and 0.727 +/- 0.516 (day 42). Compared with the concentration at day 42, those at 16 and 28 d were significantly (P < 0.01, P < 0.05) lower, but that at day 6 was not. The serum concentration of apolipoprotein B-100 (of liver origin in cattle) was unaltered during the course of salmonellosis. The concentration of apolipoprotein A-I was positively correlated with those of serum total cholesterol (r = 0.589, P < 0.01) and phospholipids (r = 0.590, P < 0.01). These results suggest that apolipoprotein A-I in cattle is in part of intestinal origin, and also that its decreased serum concentration in salmonellosis can be attributed to the reduced intestinal synthesis or secretion of this apolipoprotein. Moreover, as a potential carrier for dietary lipids such as cholesterol, determination of serum apolipoprotein A-I concentration is suggested to be useful when assessing the nutritional status of the affected cows.     

Squamous cell carcinoma originating from a cutaneous scar in a llama.

A nonhealing wound associated with a laceration in a 12-year-old llama was evaluated. Initial attempts at closure were unsuccessful and biopsy revealed scar tissue. Subsequent biopsies, 18 mo later, revealed squamous cell carcinoma with regional metastasis. This report describes squamous cell carcinoma, secondary to a traumatic wound in a llama.     

Cardiac glycoside poisoning in sheep caused by Urginea physodes (Jacq.) Bak. and the isolated physodine A

Urginea physodes (Jacq.) Bak., a species closely related to or possibly synonymous with U. pusilla, is described and its distribution given. Four bufadienolides were isolated from U. physodes and the approximated LD50 and cumulative effect of some of them determined in guinea pigs. The most toxic one proved to be mildly cumulative. Typical signs of acute cardiac glycoside poisoning, involving the locomotory, gastro-intestinal, respiratory and cardiac system, were seen in the field cases and/or were experimentally induced by the plant. Similar signs could also be induced by injecting the isolated bufadienolide, physodine A, to a sheep.     

Disseminated Mycobacterium paratuberculosis infection in a cow

A cow with chronic diarrhea and weight loss caused by localization of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis in the intestinal tract (Johne's disease) had gross and microscopic changes indicative of a disseminated infection. A direct association between the remote lesions and the intestinal infection was shown by isolation of M paratuberculosis from renal tissue, detection of intracellular M paratuberculosis antigen(s), using an indirect immunoperoxidase method, and by the characteristic granulomatous nature of the lesions. This case illustrates the potential for extra-intestinal lesions in M paratuberculosis infection of cattle and should cause veterinarians to consider mycobacterial disease when confronted with multinodular lesions of the bovine kidney. The immunoperoxidase method was useful in determining the cause of the inflammatory lesion in which intact organisms were not evident.     

Techniques for venous blood sampling from the white pekin duck

Common sites for blood sampling in the pekin duck and other avian species include the basilic vein, jugular vein, superficial plantar metatarsal vein, heart, and occipital sinus. The use of each of these sites is described and/or illustrated. In the present study using the pekin duck, the superficial plantar metatarsal vein proved most satisfactory for collecting repeated samples (every 5 minutes for 30 minutes) with minimal trauma to the duck.