Biovailability of ivermectin administered orally to dogs

The bioavailability of three formulations of ivermectin was determined following oral administration to dogs. The average peak plasma level (C _max) of ivermectin administered in the standard tablet formulation at 6 and 100 µg/kg of body weight was 2.97 and 44.31 ng/g, respectively. This suggest dose-dependent pharmacokinetics.C _max and total ivermectin bioavailability, as assessed from the area under the plasma curve (AUC), were similar between two tablet formulations of ivermectin administered at 100 µg/kg. Furthermore,C _max was similar following administration of radiolabelled ivermectin at 6 µg/kg in either a beef-based chewable formulation or in the standard tablet formulation.     

Congenital arthrogryposis: an inherited limb deformity in pedigree Suffolk lambs

Thirty of 52 pedigree Suffolk lambs (58 per cent) were born with arthrogryposis characterised by bilateral flexion rigidity of the metacarpophalangeal and carpal joints. The recent introduction of a breeding ram was identified as the only significant risk factor in the flock, and embryo transfer was used to test the hypothesis that the arthrogryposis was an inherited disorder associated with the introduction of this ram. Two adult ewes that had previously produced lambs with arthrogryposis by the ram and four of its affected daughters were available as donors, and 20 crossbred ewes were used as recipients. Ten Suffolk-crossed ewes that had no known familial relationship with the ram were also mated by the ram as controls and they produced 10 normal lambs. Following embryo transfer, 19 lambs were born, of which seven were stillborn; arthrogryposis was evident in 10 of the 12 live lambs. Analysis of the data suggested that in the population under study, arthrogryposis was inherited as an autosomal recessive condition.     

Strategies to promote healthier food purchases: a pilot supermarket intervention study

OBJECTIVE: To pilot the design and methodology for a large randomised controlled trial (RCT) of two interventions to promote healthier food purchasing: culturally appropriate nutrition education and price discounts. DESIGN: A 12-week, single-blind, pilot RCT. Effects on food purchases were measured using individualised electronic shopping data ('Shop 'N Go' system). Partial data were also collected on food expenditure at other (non-supermarket) retail outlets. SETTING: A supermarket in Wellington, New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS: Eligible customers were those who were the main household shoppers, shopped mainly at the participating store, and were registered to use the Shop 'N Go system. Ninety-seven supermarket customers (72% women; age 40 +/- 9.6 years, mean +/- standard deviation) were randomised to one of four intervention groups: price discounts, nutrition education, a combination of price discounts and nutrition education, or control (no intervention). RESULTS: There was a 98% follow-up rate of participants, with 85% of all reported supermarket purchases being captured via the electronic data collection system. The pilot did, however, demonstrate difficulty recruiting Maori, Pacific and low-income shoppers using the electronic register and mail-out. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study showed that electronic sales data capture is a viable way to measure effects of study interventions on food purchases in supermarkets, and points to the feasibility of conducting a large-scale RCT to evaluate the effectiveness of price discounts and nutrition education. Recruitment strategies will, however, need to be modified for the main trial in order to ensure inclusion of all ethnic and socio-economic groups.     

Improved visualization of the lumbar spine nerve roots in dogs using water excitation (ProSet) as opposed to short tau inversion recovery: A retrospective study of two fat suppression MRI sequences

Magnetic resonance imaging fat suppression techniques are commonly used for diagnosis of canine spinal disease, however, studies comparing different techniques are currently lacking. This retrospective, methods comparison study aimed to evaluate water excitation and STIR MRI pulse sequences for visualization of canine lumbar spinal nerve roots. For inclusion, all dogs had to have dorsal planar MRI studies of the lumbar spine using both sequences. Visual grading analysis was used for scoring the following five criteria: degree of fat suppression; nerve root visualization; subjective tissue contrast; presence of noise; and overall better image quality. Scores were independently recorded by three board‐certified veterinary radiologists on two separate occasions, 3‐6 weeks apart. A total of 90 dogs were sampled. A two‐tailed t‐test showed that there were significant differences in all scored parameters (P < 0.00001), with the exception of noise (P = 0.47343), and that the water excitation sequence scored higher in all cases excluding noise. A Gwets AC kappa for intraobserver and interobserver reliability showed “almost perfect” agreement for the nerve roots in both tests (intra: k = 0.88; inter: k = 0.90). Intraobserver agreement was “substantial” for the degree of fat suppression (k = 0.68), subjective tissue contrast (k = 0.75), and overall better image quality (k = 0.76) and it was “fair” for the noise (k = 0.46). Interobserver agreement was “moderate” for the degree of fat suppression (k = 0.53), subjective tissue contrast (k = 0.63), and overall better image quality (k = 0.66) and “slight” for noise (k = 0.25). These findings supported using the water excitation pulse sequence for fat‐suppressed MRI of canine lumbar spinal nerve roots.     

Mutations in genes causing human familial isolated hyperparathyroidism do not account for hyperparathyroidism in Keeshond dogs

The roles of the calcium sensing receptor gene (CaSR) and the multiple endocrine neoplasia gene (MEN1) were investigated in Keeshond dogs with familial hyperparathyroidism. Mutations in these genes have been shown to cause familial isolated hyperparathyroidism (FIH) in humans. Affected dogs were identified through measurement of blood calcium and parathyroid hormone levels. Parathyroid tissue and whole blood was used to clone the cDNAs and individual exonic sequences of both candidate genes. No sequence abnormalities were identified when comparing normal and affected dogs, suggesting that a mapping strategy may be the most appropriate approach for identifying the genetic basis of this valuable comparative canine disease model.