Effect of a commercial anion dietary supplement on acid-base balance, urine volume, and urinary ion excretion in male goats fed oat or grass hay diets

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether feeding a commercial anionic dietary supplement as a urinary acidifier to male goats may be useful for management of urolithiasis. ANIMALS: 8 adult sexually intact male Toggenburg, Saanen, and Nubian goats. PROCEDURE: Goats were randomly assigned by age-, breed-, and weight-matched pairs to an oat or grass hay diet that was fed for 12 days. On days 13 to 14 (early sample collection time before supplementation), measurements were made of blood and urine sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, phosphorus, and sulfur concentrations; blood and urine pH; urine production; and water consumption. During the next 28 days, the anionic dietary supplement was added to the oat and grass hay diets to achieve a dietary cation-anion difference of 0 mEq/100g of dry matter. Blood and urine samples were analyzed during dietary supplementation on days 12 to 13 (middle sample collection time) and 27 to 28 (late sample collection time). RESULTS: Blood bicarbonate, pH, and urine pH of goats fed grass hay and goats fed oat hay were significantly decreased during the middle and late sample collection times, compared with the early sample collection time. Water consumption and urine production in all goats increased significantly during the late sample collection time, compared with the early sample collection time. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The anionic dietary supplement used in our study increases urine volume, alters urine ion concentrations, and is an efficacious urinary acidifier in goats. Goats treated with prolonged anionic dietary supplementation should be monitored for secondary osteoporosis from chronic urinary calcium loss.     

Antihistone Autoantibodies in Dobermans With Hepatitis

Background

Immune system involvement is suggested as an underlying cause for Doberman hepatitis (DH) based on female predisposition, lymphocyte infiltration, abnormal hepatocyte expression of major histocompatibility complex class II antigens, and homozygosity for dog leukocyte antigen DRB1*00601.

Objective

To measure serum antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and serum antihistone antibodies (AHA) in Dobermans with hepatitis. To determine whether increased serum ANA or serum AHA could be used to support the diagnosis of Doberman hepatitis (DH).

Animals

Privately owned 25 subclinically and 13 clinically affected DH Dobermans and 17 healthy control Dobermans.

Methods

Case–control study. Indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) microscopy and line blot tests were employed for the ANA pilot studies and an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) assay for detection of IgG AHA.

Results

Indirect immunofluorescence revealed ANA‐positive cases, and line blot showed AHA reactivity. In ELISA, importantly increased concentrations of AHA were found in 92% (23/25) of dogs in the subclinical stage and 84.6% (11 of 13) of dogs in the clinical stage of DH compared with no control dogs (0/17) (P < 0.0005). The mean AHA absorbance values of the blood samples obtained from the 25 subclinical DH dogs (1.36 ± 0.60, mean ± SD) and the 13 clinically affected dogs (1.46 ± 0.49) were significantly higher than in 17 control dogs (0.51 ± 0.18; P < 0.0001).

Conclusions and Clinical Importance

As the presence of AHA indicates autoimmune activity, our results favor an autoimmune background as one cause for DH. Antihistone antibody could represent a novel means for screening Dobermans with increased serum alanine transaminase concentrations and suspicion of DH.     

The effect of chitosan oligosaccharides on bread staling

The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of chitosan oligosaccharides and chitosan on the rate of staling and properties of bread crumb and crust. Rates of crumb firming varied with storage time. The possible mechanisms including prevention of amylose–lipid complexation, acceleration of dehydration from both starch and gluten, adsorption of chitosan onto the starch surface and increase of moisture migration rate from crumb to crust are proposed and analysed. Chitosan oligosaccharides and low molecular weight chitosan increase bread crumb staling rate to a much lesser extent than does middle molecular weight chitosan.     

Evaluating the Absorption of Boron by Plants��A Potential Tool to Remediate Contaminated Sediments from Cecina River Basin in Italy

Assessment of native plants and laboratory-scale phytoextraction tests are fundamental and preliminary steps in checking the feasibility and practice of low-cost and low-impact phytoremediation. In this study, we investigated the absorption of B by plants as a tool to remove boron in sediments from different areas of the Cecina River basin in Tuscany, Italy. The investigation was performed analyzing total and available B fraction in sediment samples as well as the B content in different tissues of native plants colonizing the contaminated areas. In laboratory scale, a phytoextraction screening test was performed. Selected high biomass crops (Brassica juncea, Zea mays, and Helianthus annuus) were evaluated in the most contaminated sample in two consecutive growing cycles. Results from field survey showed no hyperaccumulator native plant was present in the investigated areas although, high accumulation levels were found in native species from Bulera dump (Rumex crispus??259 mg?kg^?1 and Poa spp??203 mg?kg^?1). Results from laboratory phytoextraction tests showed a higher ability of B. juncea which removed about 18.5 mg?B?kg^?1 sediment in after the two consecutive growing cycles, representing on the whole 45% of the initial available B fraction. The sediment characteristics affected by the phytoextraction processes were also discussed.     

Activation of complement system in kidney after ketoprofen-induced kidney injury in sheep

Background

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely used to treat inflammatory pain in humans and animals. An overdose of an NSAID is nephrotoxic and can lead to acute kidney injury (AKI). Complement activation occurs in several types of renal disorders with proteinuria. The aim of this study was to investigate whether complement system becomes activated in kidneys after a high dose of NSAID. Kidney tissue and urine samples were collected from six sheep with ketoprofen-induced AKI and from six healthy control sheep. The localization of complement proteins in kidney tissue was carried out using immunohistochemical stainings, and excretion of C3 was tested by immunoblotting.

Results

The complement system was found to become activated in the kidney tissue as demonstrated by positive immunostaining for C1q, C3c, C4c, C5, C9 and factor H and by Western blotting analysis of C3 activation products in urine samples in sheep with AKI.

Conclusions

Our results thus suggest that the alternative complement pathway is activated, and it may contribute to the acute tubular injury seen in the kidneys of NSAID-induced AKI sheep. Inhibition of complement activation may serve as potential therapeutic target for intervention in drug-induced AKI.     

Soybean drought-stressed plants impair Anticarsia gemmatalis (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) midgut proteolytic activity and survival

Phytoparasitica - Soybean plants are exposed to multiple stresses during development. Co-occurring stresses can activate common defense pathways on plants, increasing end products concentrations,...     

Pre- and post-operative cardiac evaluation of dogs undergoing lobectomy and pneumonectomy

This study aimed to assess the influence of lobectomy and pneumonectomy on cardiac rhythm and on the dimensions and function of the right-side of the heart. Twelve dogs undergoing lobectomy and eight dogs undergoing pneumonectomy were evaluated preoperatively and one month postoperatively with electrocardiography and Doppler echocardiography at rest. Pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) was estimated by the tricuspid regurgitation jet (TRJ) via the pulse wave Doppler velocity method. Systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria (SIRS) were also evaluated based on the clinical and hematological findings in response to lobectomy and pneumonectomy. Following lobectomy and pneumonectomy, we predominantly detected atrial fibrillation and varying degrees of atrioventricular block (AVB). Dogs that died within seven days of the lobectomy (n = 2) or pneumonectomy (n = 1) had complete AVB. Preoperative right atrial, right ventricular, and pulmonary artery dimensions increased gradually during the 30 days (p<0.05) following pneumonectomy, but did not undergo significant changes during that same period after lobectomy. Mean PASP was 56.0 ± 4.5 mmHg in dogs having significant TRJ after pneumonectomy. Pneumonectomy, but not lobectomy, could lead to increases (p<0.01) in the SIRS score within the first day post-surgery. In brief, it is important to conduct pre- and postoperative cardiac evaluation of dogs undergoing lung resections because cardiac problems are a common postoperative complication after such surgeries. In particular, complete AVB should be considered a life-threatening complication after pneumonectomy and lobectomy. In addition, pneumonectomy appears to increase the likelihood of pulmonary hypertension development in dogs.     

Non-invasive genetic monitoring involving citizen science enables reconstruction of current pack dynamics in a re-establishing wolf population

Background

Carnivores are re-establishing in many human-populated areas, where their presence is often contentious. Reaching consensus on management decisions is often hampered by a dispute over the size of the local carnivore population. Understanding the reproductive dynamics and individual movements of the carnivores can provide support for management decisions, but individual-level information can be difficult to obtain from elusive, wide-ranging species. Non-invasive genetic sampling can yield such information, but makes subsequent reconstruction of population history challenging due to incomplete population coverage and error-prone data. Here, we combine a collaborative, volunteer-based sampling scheme with Bayesian pedigree reconstruction to describe the pack dynamics of an establishing grey wolf (Canis lupus) population in south-west Finland, where wolf breeding was recorded in 2006 for the first time in over a century.

Results

Using DNA extracted mainly from faeces collected since 2008, we identified 81 individual wolves and assigned credible full parentages to 70 of these and partial parentages to a further 9, revealing 7 breeding pairs. Individuals used a range of strategies to obtain breeding opportunities, including dispersal to established or new packs, long-distance migration and inheriting breeding roles. Gene flow occurred between all packs but inbreeding events were rare.

Conclusions

These findings demonstrate that characterizing ongoing pack dynamics can provide detailed, locally-relevant insight into the ecology of contentious species such as the wolf. Involving various stakeholders in data collection makes these results more likely to be accepted as unbiased and hence reliable grounds for management decisions.