Short-term survival and mortality rates in a retrospective study of colic in 1588 Danish horses

Background

Outcomes of colic treatment are of great interest to clinicians, horse owners and insurers. One commonly used criterion of success is the overall short-term survival rate. This is used as to compare treatments and to measure quality of veterinary care, but may be biased by demographic or social factors such as attitudes towards animal suffering and euthanasia. The aims of this study were to 1) describe and analyse characteristics in horses with signs of colic referred to the University Hospital for Large Animals (UHLA), University of Copenhagen, Denmark over a 10-year period and 2) to compare these rates with those published in other comparable studies.

Results

The overall survival rate for colic horses over the 10-year study period was 68% (confidence intervals (CI): 66–71%; 1087/1588). In the medical group, 1093 horses, short-term survival was 87% (CI: 85–89%). Thirty one % of referred horses were given diagnoses requiring surgical intervention (CI: 29–33%). In this group 32% of the horses were euthanized before surgery (CI: 28–36%; 159/495). Of the surgical cases 27% (CI: 23-31%) were euthanized or died during surgery. Of the horses that recovered from surgery 25% died or were euthanized (CI: 19–32%; 48/189), while 75% survived to discharge (CI: 68–81%).

Conclusions

The short term survival rates of Danish horses with colic were similar or lower to those reported from other countries. Apart from variability of veterinary care, attitudes towards euthanasia vary among the countries, which may bias the outcomes. This study indicates that qualitative interview studies on owners’ attitudes towards animal suffering and euthanasia need to be conducted. Our opinion is that survival rates are not valid as sole indicators of quality of care in colic treatment due to selection bias. If the survival rates are to be compared between hospitals, techniques or surgeons, prospective studies including mutually agreed-on disease severity scores and a predefined set of reasons for euthanasia are needed.     

VH1-44 gene usage defines a subset of canine B-cell lymphomas associated with better patient survival

The use of specific immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region (VH) genes has been associated with increased patient survival in human B-cell lymphomas (hBCL). Given the similarity of human and canine BCL (cBCL) in morphology and clinical treatment, we examined the choice of VH in cBCL and determined whether VH gene selection was a distinct feature associated with survival time in dogs. VH gene selection and mutational status in 52 cBCL, including 29 diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (cDLBCL, the most common subtype of cBCL), were analyzed by comparison with the 80 published canine germline VH gene sequences. We further examined the prognostic impact of the subgroups defined by these features on canine survival. We found that VH1-44 was preferentially expressed in the majority of the 52 cBCLs (60%) as well as in the majority of the cDLBCL subset (59%). VH1-44 gene expression was associated with a statistically better overall survival (p = 0.039) in cBCL patients, as well as in the cDLBCL subset of patients (p = 0.038). These findings suggest that VH gene selection in cBCL is not random and may therefore have functional implications for cBCL lymphomagenesis, in addition to being a useful prognostic biomarker.     

Neutrophil Gelatinase–Associated Lipocalin in Dogs with Naturally Occurring Renal Diseases

Background

Neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin (NGAL) is released from renal tubular cells after injury and serves in humans as a real‐time indicator of active kidney damage, including acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, NGAL concentrations in dogs with naturally occurring AKI or CKD rarely have been explored in detail.

Hypothesis/Objectives

The goal of this study was to evaluate whether NGAL can serve as a useful biomarker in dogs with naturally occurring renal disease.

Animals

Client‐owned dogs with renal disease (57) and control dogs without any disease (12) were examined.

Methods

Serum NGAL (sNGAL) and urine NGAL (uNGAL) concentrations were measured in each animal by a newly developed ELISA system. Demographic, hematologic, and serum biochemical data were recorded. Survival attributable to AKI and CKD was evaluated at 30 days and 90 days, respectively.

Results

Serum and urine NGAL concentrations in azotemic dogs were significantly higher than in nonazotemic dogs and were highly correlated with serum creatinine concentration (P < .05). Among CKD dogs, death was associated with significantly higher sNGAL and uNGAL concentrations compared with survivors. Receiver‐operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis showed that sNGAL was better than serum creatinine concentration when predicting clinical outcomes for CKD dogs (P < .05). The best cutoff point for sNGAL was 50.6 ng/mL, which gave a sensitivity and a specificity of 76.9 and 100%, respectively. Furthermore, dogs that had higher concentrations of sNGAL survived for a significantly shorter time.

Conclusion

sNGAL is a useful prognostic marker when evaluating dogs with CKD.     

不同保活方法对菲律宾蛤仔保活效果的研究

采用低温、真空、麻醉３种方法对菲律宾蛤仔（下称蛤仔）的保活效果进行了探讨。结果表明，温度是蛤仔保活的重要条件；低温法优于真空和麻醉法；乙醇、盐酸氯丙嗪均对蛤仔有促死作用。     

Effects of illumination on early life development and digestive enzyme activities in common pandora Pagellus erythrinus L. larvae

The activities of main digestive enzyme (proteases, amylase and lipase) and animal husbandry (mainly growth and survival) were studied in common pandora Pagellus erythrinus larvae until 30 days after hatching (DAH). Three different illumination levels (10, 30 and 100 lx) were compared in triplicate and green water technique was carried out. At the end of the experiment, illumination did not affect neither survival nor growth except 10 lx treatment. Similarly, specific growth rate (SGR) was different in 10 lx treatment (p < 0.05), although no differences were found in group 30 and 100 lx treatments (p > 0.05). In all groups, trypsin and chymotrypsin specific activities were firstly detected on day 3 related with mouth opening and slightly increased until 20 and 25 DAH respectively, and after this date specific activities of those decreased. Although, there was a significant difference between 10 lx treatment and other experimental groups (p < 0.05), no differences were found in other treatments (p > 0.05). Pepsin was firstly detected on day 25 related with stomach formation and sharp increase was observed until 30 DAH and then slight decrease was measured from this date and no differences were found between all groups. Amylase was firstly determined on day 2 and increased to day 5. After this date, slight decreases were measured in all groups and continued until end of experiments. The highest specific activity of amylase was determined in 30 lx treatment and no significant differences were found between groups (p > 0.05). Lipase was firstly detected on day 4 and increased to day 10. Then, activity of lipase decreased until day 15 and increased again until 25 DAH. Slight decreases were found in all groups until day 30 and continued to end of experiments. No significant differences were detected among groups (p > 0.05).

Finally, the significant improvement in survival, larval development and specific enzyme activities of larvae were determined in 30 lx treated group. It is thought that this phenomenon is related to optimal keeping conditions provided by the medium illumination level for Pagellus erythrinus larvae.     

Pathogenicity of white spot syndrome virus on postlarvae and juveniles of Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei

White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) has decimated the shrimp aquaculture around the world. Breeding efforts to generate resistant stocks are necessary but there is a lack of basic information on challenge test strategies focused on genetic selection. Infection routes and developmental stages were evaluated on Penaeus vannamei as a first step in a strategy to select white spot virus (WSSV)-resistant stocks. Mortalities could not be induced before the PL30 stage. The impact of infection by immersion and blended tissue was intermediate on mortalities when compared to the minced tissue treatment on PL30. Blended and minced tissue treatments produced the highest mortalities on PL40 while immersion was intermediate. A general tendency towards higher susceptibility associated with older stages was detected. Additionally, juveniles of 1 g average weight from three local breeding programs were challenged. There were no differences in survival between the programs, although two of them derived their progenies from survivors of strong WSSV events. The implications of these results to the WSSV epidemiological characteristics and breeding programs are discussed.     

Summer mortality of hatchery-produced Pacific oyster spat (Crassostrea gigas). I. Estimation of genetic parameters for survival and growth

The multidisciplinary project “MOREST” aims to improve our understanding of causes of summer mortality in Crassostrea gigas juveniles in France and to reduce its impact on oyster production. As part of the MOREST project, 43 full-sib families nested within 17 half-sib families were produced, planted out and tested in 3 sites during summer 2001 to assess to what extent genetic variability exists for this trait. A strong genetic basis was found for survival as narrow-sense heritability estimates ranged from 0.47 to 1.08, with higher values in sites where summer mortality was higher. Genetic correlations across sites were positive and very high for survival, indicating no genotype by environment interaction. In contrast, lower genetic variation was observed for growth in all sites. Finally, genetic correlations between growth and survival were low, in all sites. Selective breeding in a single site should therefore be an efficient means of improving survival in oysters less than one year old along the French Atlantic and Channel coastlines with only very limited effects on growth. As yield mostly depends on survival and growth, this approach should significantly improve harvestable yield. Possible reasons why a high genetic variance for survival appears to be maintained in wild populations are discussed.     

金叶复叶槭两种接穗嫁接效果分析

以金叶复叶槭双芽和四芽做接穗进行嫁接试验,发现采用双芽接穗比四芽接穗嫁接成活率高,生长量大,而且能极大地节约生产成本。