Genetic parameters for chronic progressive lymphedema in Belgian Draught Horses

Genetic parameters for chronic progressive lymphedema (CPL)‐associated traits in Belgian Draught Horses were estimated, using a multitrait animal model. Clinical scores of CPL in the four limbs/horse (CPL_clin), skinfold thickness and hair samples (hair diameter) were studied. Due to CPL_clin uncertainty in younger horses (progressive CPL character), a restricted data set (D_3+) was formed, excluding records from horses under 3 years from the complete data set (D_full). Age, gender, coat colour and limb hair pigmentation were included as fixed, permanent environment and date of recording as random effects. Higher CPL_clin certainty (D_3+) increased heritability coefficients of, and genetic correlations between traits, with CPL_clin heritabilities (SE) for the respective data sets: 0.11 (0.06) and 0.26 (0.05). A large proportion of the CPL_clin variance was attributed to the permanent environmental effect in D_full, but less in D_3+. Date of recording explained a proportion of variance from 0.09 ± 0.03 to 0.61 ± 0.08. Additive genetic correlations between CPL_clin and both skinfold thickness and hair diameter showed the latter two traits cannot be used as a direct diagnostic aid for CPL. Due to the relatively low heritability of CPL_clin, selection should focus on estimated breeding values (from repeated clinical examinations) to reduce CPL occurrence in the Belgian Draught Horse.     

Leucine markedly regulates pancreatic exocrine secretion in goats

Four goats (30.1 ± 1.3 kg) with common bile duct re‐entrant catheter and duodenal catheter were used to evaluate the effects of duodenal leucine infusion on pancreatic exocrine secretion and plasma parameters with two 4 × 4 Latin square design experiments. In the long‐term infusion experiment, goats were fed twice daily [700 g/day, dry matter (DM) basis] at 8:00 and 18:00 hours and were duodenally infused with 0, 3, 6, 9 g/day leucine for 14 days. Pancreatic juice and jugular blood samples were collected over 1‐h intervals for 6 h daily from d 11 to 14 days to encompass a 24‐h day. In the short‐term experiment, goats were infused leucine for 10 h continuously at the same infusion rate with Experiment 1 after feed deprivation for 24 h repeated every 10 days. Pancreatic juice and blood samples were collected at 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 h of infusion. The results showed that the long‐term leucine infusion did not affect pancreatic juice secretion, protein output, trypsin and lipase secretion and plasma insulin concentration, but linearly increased α‐amylase secretion. No changes in pancreatic protein and lipase secretion were observed in the short‐term infusion. Pancreatic juice and α‐amylase secretion responded quadratically, with the greatest values observed in the 3 and 6 g/day leucine respectively. Trypsin secretion linearly decreased, while plasma insulin concentration increased linearly with increased leucine infusion. The results demonstrated that duodenal leucine infusion dose and time dependently regulated pancreatic enzyme secretion not associated with the change in plasma insulin concentration.     

Role of wild ruminants in the epidemiology of bluetongue virus serotypes 1, 4 and 8 in Spain

ABSTRACT: Although the importance of wild ruminants as potential reservoirs of bluetongue virus (BTV) has been suggested, the role played by these species in the epidemiology of BT in Europe is still unclear. We carried out a serologic and virologic survey to assess the role of wild ruminants in the transmission and maintenance of BTV in Andalusia (southern Spain) between 2006 and 2010.A total of 473 out of 1339 (35.3%) wild ruminants analyzed showed antibodies against BTV by both ELISA and serum neutralization test (SNT). The presence of neutralizing antibodies to BTV-1 and BTV-4 were detected in the four species analyzed (red deer, roe deer, fallow deer and mouflon), while seropositivity against BTV-8 was found in red deer, fallow deer and mouflon but not in roe deer. Statistically significant differences were found among species, ages and sampling regions. BTV RNA was detected in twenty-one out of 1013 wild ruminants (2.1%) tested. BTV-1 and BTV-4 RNA were confirmed in red deer and mouflon by specific rRT-PCR.BTV-1 and BTV-4 seropositive and RNA positive wild ruminants, including juveniles and sub-adults, were detected years after the last outbreak was reported in livestock. In addition, between the 2008/2009 and the 2010/2011 hunting seasons, the seroprevalence against BTV-1, BTV-4 and BTV-8 increased in the majority of provinces, and these serotypes were detected in many areas where BTV outbreaks were not reported in domestic ruminants. The results indicate that wild ruminants seem to be implicated in the dissemination and persistence of BTV in Spain.     

Effect of the US3 protein of bovine herpesvirus 5 on the actin cytoskeleton and apoptosis

The US3 protein is a unique protein kinase only present in the Alphaherpesvirinae subfamily of the herpesviruses. Studies performed with several alphaherpesviruses demonstrated that the US3 protein is involved in cytoskeleton modifications during viral infection and displays anti-apoptotic activity. However, the US3 protein of BoHV-5 has not been studied up to now. As reported for other alphaherpesviruses, our results showed that BoHV-5 US3 confers resistance against apoptosis and induces cytoskeletal reorganization leading to cell rounding, actin stress fiber breakdown and cell projections that interconnect cells. The expression of a kinase-dead version of BoHV-5 US3 showed that the anti-apoptotic activity and the induction of cell projections are kinase-dependent whereas kinase activity is not absolutely required for actin stress fiber breakdown. Besides, the kinase-dead version of US3, but not the wild type protein, was found excluded from the nucleus. These results constitute the first report on the BoHV-5 US3 functions, and highlight that there are functional differences and similarities among US3 proteins of different alphaherpesviruses.     

Survey among Belgian pig producers about the introduction of group housing systems for gestating sows

There is a global move from individual to group housing of gestating sows. In the European Union, individual gestating stalls will be banned by 2013. Just like in other industrialized regions, these stalls have been the standard housing system for intensively kept sows from the 1960s onward in the Flemish region of Belgium. Because the socioeconomic consequences for the pig industry may be far-reaching and because farmer attitude may influence the realization of the hoped-for improvement in animal welfare in practice, we conducted a survey from 2003 until 2009 among representative samples of Flemish pig producers every 2 yr. The share of farms with group housing increased from 10.5% in 2003 to 29.8% in 2007, but then dropped to 24.6% in 2009. It appears that after 2005 users of old group housing systems in particular stopped farming. Because sow herd size increased more on farms with vs. without group housing and because the proportion of the herd that was group-housed also tended to increase between 2003 to 2009, the change to group housing took place faster when expressed at the level of the sow (from 9.1% in 2003 to 34.1% in 2009) instead of farm. The percentage of farmers planning to convert to group housing within 2 yr was 4.1% in 2003, and 6 to 7% thereafter. These were typically young farmers (P = 0.006) with a large sow herd (P < 0.001) and with a likely successor (P = 0.03). Free access stalls were the most common group housing system (31% of farms, 37% of sows). Their popularity is expected to increase further at the expense of electronic feeding stations, ad libitum feeding, and stalls/troughs with manual feed delivery. User satisfaction was generally high but depended on whether or not all gestating sows were kept in group (P < 0.001), the provisioning of environmental enrichment (P = 0.057), and the age (P = 0.012) and type (P = 0.016) of system. The main criteria for choosing a certain group housing system were the investment costs and sow health and welfare. The importance of economic reasons (P = 0.007) and type of labor (P = 0.043) decreased with the age of the system. In 2003 and 2005 the main reason for not having converted to group housing was that farmers would stop keeping sows by 2013. In 2007 and 2009 the reasons mainly concerned uncertainty about the future and maximally delaying the conversion. Belgium is one of the European Union countries where the pig industry is expected to undergo drastic changes during the few years remaining before the ban on individual housing.     

Serum protein electrophoresis in 147 dogs

Reference intervals for serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) were created from a group of 75 clinically healthy dogs and compared with SPE results obtained from clinical cases presented to the University of Bristol over an eight-and-a-half-year period. A total of 147 dogs, in which SPE had been performed, had complete case records available and thus met the inclusion criteria. Signalment and final diagnoses taken from the case records and SPE results were divided into normal and abnormal based on the newly established reference intervals. Cases were grouped according to the SPE protein fraction abnormalities and diagnosis using the DAMNITV classification system. Of the 147 cases, 140 (95.2 per cent) had abnormal SPE results. The most common protein fraction abnormality was decreased albumin (59.3 per cent) followed by a polyclonal increase in γ globulins (38.6 per cent). Decreased β-1 globulins and increased β-2 globulins were documented in 36.4 and 30.0 per cent of cases, respectively. The most common DAMNITV classification associated with abnormal SPE results was infectious/inflammatory disease, which was diagnosed in 79 of 140 cases (56.4 per cent). Monoclonal gammopathies were noted in eight dogs (5.7 per cent), and underlying lymphoproliferative disease was present in all cases where a diagnosis was achieved, including multiple myeloma (four dogs), splenic plasmacytoma (one dog), hepatic plasmacytoma (one dog) and lymphoma (one dog).     

Aglepristone decreases proliferation in progesterone receptor-positive canine mammary carcinomas

Background: Progesterone receptor (PR) antagonist aglepristone (RU534) has been used successfully for pregnancy termination and therapy of pyometra, vaginal tumors, and mammary hyperplasia in bitches and queens. All of these conditions share with canine mammary carcinomas the expression of PR. Objectives: To study the effect of RU534 on proliferation and apoptosis in canine mammary carcinomas in relation to PR expression. Animals: Twenty‐seven nonspayed bitches with mammary carcinomas were treated with either 2 doses of 20 mg/kg RU534 (n = 22, RU534‐treated group) or oil placebo (n = 5, control group) on days 1 and 8. Methods: Tumor samples were collected before (day 1) and after (day 15) treatment for immunohistochemistry. PR expression, proliferation index (PI), and apoptotic index (AI) were determined using antibodies against PR, Ki67, and cleaved lamin A/C antigens, respectively. The effect of treatment on these parameters was analyzed. Results: Differential expression of PR between day 1 (59.1% PR‐positive tumors) and day 15 (36.4% PR‐positive tumors) was observed in RU534‐treated tumors exclusively. After RU534 treatment, mean PI was significantly decreased in PR‐positive but unchanged in PR‐negative RU534‐treated tumors. A reduction of ≥20% in PI was found in 61.5% of RU534‐treated tumors with PR expression. Conversely, no effect on AI was observed after RU534 treatment. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Neoadjuvant RU534 treatment had PR expression‐related inhibiting effects on proliferation of canine mammary carcinoma cells.