Mammary carcinoma arising in an adenoma in a ewe

A large, firm, multi-cystic mammary gland mass grew slowly over 4 y in a 12-y-old, female Finn–Shetland cross sheep. A diagnosis of epithelial malignancy was suspected following fine-needle aspiration cytology at 30 mo after initial observation. The sheep was euthanized when the flock was downsized 18 mo later. A field postmortem examination revealed a large mammary mass, but an absence of metastases to internal organs. Imprint cytology of the mammary tissue supported a benign proliferative process. Histologically, mammary tissue was obliterated by cystic, tubular, and papillary adenomatous arrangements of mammary epithelium, with an anaplastic component, consistent with mammary carcinoma arising in an adenoma. IHC showed strong nuclear positivity to the antibody against progesterone receptor and minimal positivity to the antibody against estrogen receptor alpha expression. Intrinsic subtyping for basal or luminal epithelial origin was attempted through adaptation of companion animal IHC classification panels; high- and low-molecular-weight cytokeratins (CK5, CK8, CK18) failed to stain, but p63 expression for basal epithelium was positive.     

Differences in Reproductive Performance, Embryo Development, Interferon-tau Secretion by the Conceptus and Luteal Function in Ewe Lambs Synchronized in Oestrus before or after the Spontaneous Onset of Luteal Activity Preceding Puberty

In mid-September, 1 month before the insertion of intravaginal pessaries to induce sexual activity, blood samples were collected every 4 days from 16 ewe lambs aged 7 months, in order to determine the incidence of ovulations by measurement of plasma progesterone concentrations. It has been studied whether the response to a progestagen treatment of ewe lambs apparently close to puberty could be modified by the onset of the ovarian events preceding puberty. The effect of the presence or absence of ovulations prior to progestagen treatment on the potential reproductive performance (fertility, litter size and fecundity), embryo development [embryo quality and interferon-tau (IFNτ) secretion], luteal function (progesterone secretion in vitro ) and endometrial progesterone content was studied in seven ovulating (Ov+) and nine nonovulating ewe lambs (Ov−) on day 14 after mating. The best potential reproductive results were obtained with Ov+ animals, although these differences could not be initially attributed to either different progesterone secretion in vitro or concentration of endometrial progesterone. Irrespective of the experimental groups, secretion of progesterone by luteal tissue from ewe lambs with normal embryos was significantly greater (p<0.05) than that of animals with abnormal embryos or with no embryos. Normal embryos secreted a higher amount of IFN-τ than those embryos classified as abnormal (p<0.07). In conclusion, ewe lambs which exhibit luteal activity before puberty have the highest levels of reproductive performances after a progestagen treatment. Corpora lutea from ewe lambs with normal embryos had higher rates of progesterone secretion in vitro and their embryos had a higher IFN-τ production by the embryos, indicating greater capacity for subsequent development.     

Effect of pelleting and beta-glucanase supplementation on the ileal and fecal digestibility of a barley-based diet in the pig

The influences of pelleting and beta-glucanase supplementation on the digestibility of dietary components in a barley-based diet were investigated in pigs fitted with cannulas in the terminal ileum. The diet contained 49.0% starch, 18.9% crude protein and 14.8% dietary fiber, with arabinoxylans (4.9%), mixed-linked beta-glucans (3.4%) and cellulose (3.3%) as the main fiber components. Pelleting increased mixed-linked beta-glucan solubility from 45 to 62%. Neither treatment influenced the ileal or fecal apparent digestibilities of dry matter (64 and 80%, respectively), energy (62 and 79%), crude protein (53 and 75%), crude fat (26 and 27%) or dietary fiber (58 and 72%). However, pelleting increased (P less than .01) the pre-ileal apparent digestibility of starch from 91.5 to 95.3% and decreased (P less than .03) that of ash from -10 to -23%, while increasing (P less than .005) the fecal apparent digestibility of starch from 98.6 to 99.7%. The solubility of mixed-linked beta-glucans in ileal digesta was lower (P less than .001) in pelleted (26%) than in unpelleted (58%) diets. beta-glucanase supplementation also increased (P less than .05) the ileal apparent digestibility of starch, from 92.6 to 94.3%, and of mixed-linked beta-glucans, from 95.7 to 97.1%. Significant between-pig differences in the apparent digestibility of dietary components were observed. In conclusion, treatments that disrupt the endosperm cell walls in barley can increase the proportion of the diet digested prior to the large intestine.     

Caecal intussusceptions in horses: a New Zealand perspective

Objective To establish the prevalence of intussusceptions involving the caecum in a population of horses admitted to a university hospital for colic. Design Retrospective clinical study Methods Medical records of all horses admitted to the Massey University Veterinary Teaching Hospital between 1991 and 2004 were examined for information of those horses diagnosed with an intussusception involving the caecum. Results A total of 135 horses were admitted for colic surgery during the study period and 61 horses had a diagnosis of ileocaecal (37), caecocaecal (5) or caecocolic intussusception (19) made either at surgery or necropsy. Of the horses with ileocaecal intussusception, 32 had an incomplete hand-sewn ileocaecostomy without reduction and 29 survived to discharge. All the horses with caecocaecal intussusceptions were diagnosed preoperatively via rectal examination and/or transabdominal ultrasound: 2 were euthanased at surgery and 3 survived to discharge. In the 19 horses with caecocolic intussusceptions, manually reduction at surgery was performed in 6 and 5 of them survived to discharge. A typhlectomy was performed via a colotomy in 6 horses, 3 of which survived to discharge. Conclusions The high prevalence of intussusceptions involving the caecum seen at this referral centre may indicate a higher prevalence in New Zealand than is reported elsewhere in the world. Clinical relevance Intussusceptions involving the caecum should be considered as a differential diagnosis in horses presenting with chronic low-grade colic. Transabdominal ultrasound is useful for identifying caecocaecal and caecocolic intussusceptions. Hand-sewn side-to-side incomplete ileocaecostomy is a quick, effective and safe method of surgical treatment of ileocaecal intussusceptions.     

A comparison of the population genetics of Lethrinus miniatus and Lutjanus sebae from the east and west coasts of Australia: Evidence for panmixia and isolation

Lethrinus miniatus and Lutjanus sebae are important commercial and recreational species of reef fish. Within Australian waters the former species is less widespread than the latter and has a discontinuous distribution, whilst the latter is continuously distributed in tropical Australian waters. The demographic attributes of these species (e.g. long life span, low rates of natural mortality) make them vulnerable to over-exploitation. Consequently, conservative harvest strategies including no-take zones for these species have been adopted by fisheries management agencies to control exploitation. Information on the genetic stock structure of these species is important for developing specific management strategies. However, little is known about genetic stock structures within and between east and west Australian populations of these species. The current study used the mitochondrial genome hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) of the control region to examine variation between two sites from both the east and west Australian coasts for each species. HVR1 for L. sebae did not differ genetically either within or between coasts (F_st < 0.018, p > 0.15) at the sites studied, suggesting a panmictic population structure. Similarly, L. miniatus did not differ significantly between sites sampled within coast. However, the west coast HVR1 for L. miniatus east and west coast populations, were discrete (F_st of at least 0.92, p < 0.0001). The degree of genetic sub-division between east and west coast populations indicates that they should be managed as discrete stocks. Further, when considering both species, the lower genetic (both haplotype and nucleotide) diversity in three of the four sites on the west coast of Australia, indicates that this region is genetically impoverished and neutrality tests suggest that selection is responsible. Consequently, west Australian populations will be less resilient to perturbations (e.g. fishing, climate change) than east Australian populations, which have higher genetic diversity.     

The effects of two shipping treatments on the carcass characteristics of bulls implanted with zeranol and unimplanted steers

A total of 144 male crossbred calves were allocated to four management treatments (bulls; steers; bulls implanted with zeranol at 100 d of age and re-implanted at 69, 93 and 56 d thereafter; bulls implanted with zeranol at 168 d of age and re-implanted at 93 and 56 d thereafter), and two pre-slaughter shipping treatments (minimum pre-slaughter stress with cattle shipped and slaughtered within 4 h of leaving the feedlot pen; moderate pre-slaughter stress with cattle mixed, trucked 160 km and slaughtered up to 24 h of leaving the feedlot pen) in a 4 X 2 factorial arrangement. Management treatment had no significant effect on carcass pH (45 min), carcass muscle temperature (45 min), or peak shear-force of cooked longissimus muscle. Steers had significantly lower dressing percentage, warm-carcass weight, hide weight and carcass-lean content, but higher marbling score, fat thickness and intramuscular-fat content than all treatments with bulls. Minimum pre-slaughter stress resulted in significantly lower dressing percentage, warm-carcass weight, and carcass pH (45 min), but generally had no effect on carcass tissue-yield measurements compared with the moderate stress treatment. Implanted bulls produced carcasses with significantly darker meat, higher 24-h pH and lower meat expressible juice than bulls and castrates for the moderate pre-slaughter stress treatment. These results provide evidence that zeranol implantation in bulls had a minor influence on carcass characteristics, and did not reduce the incidence of dark-cutting carcasses in young bulls subjected to moderate pre-slaughter shipping stress.