Christian Gerspach

Blood plasma lipidome profile of dairy cows during the transition period

BackgroundThe transition period of dairy cows, around parturition and the onset of lactation, involves endocrine and metabolic changes to compensate for an increased energy requirement aggravated by reduced feed intake. Transition cows adjust to the resulting negative energy balance with the mobilization of lipids from the adipose tissues yielding increased blood levels of non-esterified fatty acids and ketone bodies like β-hydroxybutyrate.ResultsTo study the biochemical adaptations underlying this physiologic adjustment and possible pathologic derangements, we analyzed the blood plasma lipidome of transition cows by ultra-pressure liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The resulting data were processed by principal component analysis, revealing over 60 lipid masses that change in abundance over the test period ranging from two weeks before calving to four weeks postpartum. Further characterization of analytes by tandem mass spectrometry demonstrated that the concentration of triacylglycerides in plasma drops at the day of parturition whereas the plasma level of many phosphatidylcholines and two sphingomyelins increases steadily during early lactation.ConclusionThis newly identified shift in phospholipid composition delivers a potential biomarker to detect aberrant metabolic pathways in transition cows and also provides insights into how to prevent and treat associated disorders like fatty liver disease.

Clinical findings and treatment in cattle with caecal dilatation

BackgroundThis retrospective study describes the clinical and laboratory findings, treatment and outcome of 461 cattle with caecal dilatation.ResultsThe general condition and demeanor were abnormal in 93.1% of cases, and 32.1% of the patients had colic. Ruminal motility was reduced or absent in 78.3% of cattle. In 82.6% of cases, swinging and/or percussion auscultation were positive on the right side, and 82.4% had little or no faeces in the rectum. Caecal dilatation could be diagnosed via rectal palpation in 405 (88.0%) cattle. There was caudal displacement of the dilated caecum in 291 patients, torsion around the longitudinal axis in 20 and retroflexion in 94. The most important laboratory finding was hypocalcaemia, which occurred in 85.1% of cases. Of the 461 cattle, 122 (26.5%) initially received conservative therapy (intravenous fluids, neostigmine, calcium borogluconate) and 329 (71.4%) underwent surgical treatment. Ten patients were slaughtered or euthanased after the initial physical examination. Of the 122 cattle that received conservative treatment, 42 did not respond after one to two days of therapy and required surgical treatment. The final number of cattle that were operated was 371 (80.5%). Because of a grave prognosis, 24 cases were euthanased or slaughtered intraoperatively. Another 24 cattle did not respond to one or more operations and were euthanased or slaughtered. Of the 461 patients, 403 (87.4%) responded to either conservative or surgical treatment and were cured, and 58 were euthanased or slaughtered.ConclusionsCaecal dilatation can usually be diagnosed based on clinical findings and treated conservatively or surgically. Swinging and percussion auscultation as well as rectal examination are important diagnostic tools. Conservative treatment is not rewarding in cattle considered surgical candidates with suspected caecal torsion or retroflexion and surgery should not be delayed in these patients.

Clinical findings in 11 cattle with abscesses in the thoracic vertebrae.

The clinical signs and imaging features of the meningiomas in this cat were comparable to those reported previously. All three lesions were associated with a dural tail sign on MRI. This has been considered a potentially diagnostic feature of meningioma in dogs and cats (Graham and others 1998); however, it is now recognised to be a non-specific finding (Aoki and others 1990, Hutzelmann and others 1998). No signs were identified by MRI to suggest that one of the meningiomas was malignant. Meningiomas that invade the adjacent brain parenchyma are considered to be malignant, although local invasion of dura, paranasal sinuses, regional muscle or bone may be seen in meningiomas that are classified histologically as benign in human beings (Zee and others 1992). Variations in morphology, imaging features, histological subtype and behaviour of meningiomas have been described in cats, dogs and human beings (LeCouteur and others 1983, Summers and others 1995, Kraft and others 1997, Maiuri and others 1997); however, it is unusual to find multiple meningiomas exhibiting different biological behaviours in one cat. In human beings, it is also rare to find benign and malignant histological features in one individual with multiple meningiomas (Koh and others 2001). Immunohistochemistry of feline meningioma is rarely reported. In one cat with papillary meningioma, the neoplastic cells were positive for cytokeratin, S-100 protein and vimentin (Kaldrymidou and others 2000). Canine meningiomas commonly express positive vimentin intermediate filaments (Summers and others 1995). This investigation confirms that feline meningiomas may stain positive for vimentin. The lack of staining for cytokeratin may reflect variations between lesions or the antibody used. The most notable immunohistochemical finding in this case was the variation in S100 staining. While the entirety of the two benign lesions stained positive for S-100, the malignant lesion contained regions of poor staining and the metastatic island was negative for S-100. It is unclear whether this variation reflects poor differentiation of the metastatic cells or if the metastatic island was derived from the poorly stained whorled areas of the largest mass. The usefulness of S-100 in predicting the behaviour of feline meningiomas remains to be addressed.

Clinical and radiographic findings in six cattle with cervical diskospondylitis.

joints show increased radionuclide uptake of around 100 per cent 24 hours after injury. In contrast, fractures of the shaft of the long bones and axial skeleton may take up to 12 days to show increased radionuclide uptake (Spitz and others 1993). Interestingly, the same study found that skull fractures in human beings often showed no increased radionuclide uptake. The differences in radionuclide uptake are thought to be attributable to the variation in the blood supply to different bones, the amount of disruption to the blood supply caused by the fracture, and the amount of callus formation during healing. Pilsworth and Shepherd (1996) reported delayed radionuclide uptake in the equine pelvis after acute fracture. This delay may be attributable to the major disruption to the blood supply which often occurs with pelvic fractures. Additionally, the thickness of soft tissue covering the pelvic region may make detection of small increases in radionuclide uptake more difficult. In contrast, the bones of the craniomaxillofacial region have an abundant blood supply and a very thin layer of soft tissue covering them; trephination is unlikely to cause a marked disruption to blood supply; and resorption, remodelling and healing are reported to proceed more rapidly and with higher intensity in thin bones, such as the frontal bone. It was therefore surprising that there was no significant difference between the ROI ratios of trephined and control horses. A number of other variables may also have affected the uptake of radionuclide in the frontal sinus region, in particular the cause and chronicity of the sinusitis and also the distance between the primary lesion and the frontal sinus. The use of a control group helped to minimise these variables but because the sample size was small, these extraneous factors may have influenced the results. The clinical implications of delayed radionuclide uptake after acute fracture are extremely important. False negative bone scans of acute limb and pelvic fractures may have catastrophic consequences. In the skull, it is extremely unlikely that such consequences would result from false negative scans. In contrast, the absence of increased uptake at a trephined site is of diagnostic benefit because other lesions within the skull are not obscured by this artefact. In conclusion, trephination of the frontal sinus performed up to seven days before scintigraphic examination has no significant effect on local radionuclide uptake.

Ultrasonographic findings in 63 cows with haemorrhagic bowel syndrome

Cows with haemorrhagic bowel syndrome were examined by ultrasonography. A 5.0 MHz linear transducer was used to scan the right side of 63 standing, non-sedated cows. The small intestine was found to be dilated and had a diameter of 4.3 to 12.0 cm (mean [sd] 6.76 [1.78] cm), and there was markedly reduced or absent small intestinal motility in all the cows. In 22 (34.9 per cent) cows, empty poststenotic segments of small intestine were seen in addition to empty prestenotic intestine. In 12 (19 per cent) cows, the intestinal lumen contained localised hyperechoic material consistent with blood clots. Fluid with or without fibrin was seen between intestinal loops in 39 (61.9 per cent) cows. Accumulation of ingesta in the abomasum and sometimes in the omasum and rumen was seen in 14 (22.2 per cent) cows. Ultrasonography was considered to be a useful tool for the diagnosis of ileus. However, this imaging modality could be used to make a definitive diagnosis of haemorrhagic bowel syndrome only when a blood clot was seen in the intestinal lumen.

Altered plasma lipidome profile of dairy cows with fatty liver disease

Fatty liver disease is a common health problem of dairy cows occurring during the transition from pregnancy to lactation. It is a direct response to fat mobilization due to negative energy balance. Accumulation of lipids in the liver occurs if the uptake of non-esterified fatty acids by the liver exceeds the capacity of lipid oxidation or secretion by the liver. Currently, the diagnosis of fatty liver disease requires confirmation through biopsies to determine the hepatic lipid content. In view of this lack of a practical diagnostic tool, we compared the plasma lipidome of diseased dairy cows using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Multivariate data analysis yielded 20 m/z values that were able to distinguish between dairy cows with no hepatic lipidosis and those exhibiting different stages of the disease. Based on the chromatography retention time and m/z ratios, we identified phosphatidylcholines with reduced plasma abundances in cows with fatty liver disease. The abundances of different bile acids tended to be increased. In addition, we detected two metabolites related to inflammation, resolvin E1 and palmitoyl-ethanolamine (PEA), which need to be further investigated in cattle. These results indicate that the measurement of specific representatives of phosphatidylcholines in plasma may provide a novel diagnostic biomarker of fatty liver disease in dairy cows.

A possible case of caprine-associated malignant catarrhal fever in a domestic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in Switzerland

BackgroundMalignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is a fatal herpesvirus infection, affecting various wild and domestic ruminants all over the world. Water buffaloes were reported to be particularly susceptible for the ovine herpesvirus-2 (OvHV-2) causing the sheep-associated form of MCF (SA-MCF). This report describes the first case of possibly caprine-associated malignant catarrhal fever symptoms in a domestic water buffalo in Switzerland.Case presentationThe buffalo cow presented with persistent fever, dyspnoea, nasal bleeding and haematuria. Despite symptomatic therapy, the buffalo died and was submitted to post mortem examination. Major findings were an abomasal ulceration, a mild haemorrhagic cystitis and multifocal haemorrhages on the epicardium and on serosal and mucosal surfaces. Eyes and oral cavity were not affected. Histopathology revealed a mild to moderate lymphohistiocytic vasculitis limited to the brain and the urinary bladder. Although these findings are typical for MCF, OvHV-2 DNA was not detected in peripheral blood lymphocytes or in paraffin-embedded brain, using an OvHV-2 specific real time PCR. With the aid of a panherpesvirus PCR, a caprine herpesvirus-2 (CpHV-2) sequence could be amplified from both samples.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first report of malignant catarrhal fever in the subfamily Bovinae, where the presence of CpHV-2 could be demonstrated. The etiological context has yet to be evaluated.

Klinische Befunde bei 4 Rindern mit Abszess in der Halswirbelsäule

The purpose of this paper was to describe the clinical findings in four cattle with abscesses in the cervical vertebrae. In all of the animals there was generalized ataxia and normal behaviour, mentation and cranial nerve function. All animals had marked difficulty rising and had generalized ataxia. The most important haematological and biochemical findings were a mildly increased concentration of plasma protein in all animals and a markedly increased fibrinogen concentration in two animals. A sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was collected from three animals. The protein content was mildly increased in the CSF samples of two animals. Based on the clinical findings, a tentative diagnosis of central nervous system disease with localisation in the neck region was made in all of the animals. Due to a poor prognosis, all of the animals were slaughtered. Postmortem examination revealed abscesses in the region of C3 to C6, which had resulted in extramedullary compression of the spinal cord. The abscesses varied in diameter from 2 to 8 cm.

Pharyngeal perforation in three cows caused by administration of a calcium bolus.

which encode chlamydial heat shock protein 60 (cHSP60) and omp2 protein, respectively. The PCR assays were performed by the method described by Fukushi and Hirai ( 1994) for groEL and as described by Hartley and others (2001) for omp2. The PCR products were of approximately 1300 bp and 600 bp, as expected. The amplicons were purified and sequenced (GenBank accession numbers AY184288 and AY184289). Comparison by CLUSTAL W of the omp2 sequence of the FEIS-M isolate with that of the FP strain (accession number AF367407) in the GenBank database showed 99-8 per cent similarity. The AluI restriction pattern of the ompA gene of the FEIS-M isolate was found to be identical to that obtained previously from DNA extracted from conjunctival swabs of 12 cats in the same cattery and from 18 cats in two other catteries in Bologna (Di Francesco and others 2003). The nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences of groEL and omp2 genes of the FEIS-M isolate were also identical to the same regions amplified and sequenced from these conjunctival swabs (GenBank accession numbers AF448139 and AF484215). These results suggest the presence in the area surveyed of only one strain of Cfelis showing a high degree of genomic similarity with other feline chlamydial strains isolated in other countries. In view of the limited geographical area surveyed so far, further investigations of Cfelis isolates from other areas of Italy are necessary to confirm the strain homogeneity.

Biphasisches Mesotheliom bei einer Braunviehkuh: Klinische, histomorphologische, immunhistochemische und elektronenmikroskopische Befunde

A 10-year-old Swiss Braunvieh cow near term was referred to our clinic because of severe abdominal distension, which caused loss of demarcation between the udder and ventral abdominal wall. Ultrasonographic examination revealed marked ascites and multiple echogenic nodules in the greater omentum. Based on the findings, non-inflammatory ascites attributable to neoplasia was diagnosed. Rupture of the prepubic tendon from the pubic symphysis was also suspected. Because of a grave prognosis, parturition was induced and a live calf was delivered. The cow was euthanized and a postmortem examination was carried out. The abdominal cavity contained 248.5 litres of clear fluid. The greater omentum was thickened and oedematous and regionally contained fluid-filled cystic structures, which varied in size with a maximum diameter of 10 centimetres. Based on the histological, immunohistochemical and electron microscopical findings, biphasic mesothelioma with cyst formation affecting the entire abdominal cavity was diagnosed.