Matteo Cerquetella

Clinical investigation on Theileria equi and Babesia caballi infections in Italian donkeys

BackgroundInterest in the welfare and diseases of donkeys is constantly increasing in several countries. Despite this, clinical research into donkeys needs to be in continual development since they show different reactions compared to horses in many conditions, including infectious diseases, and need specific clinical and therapeutic approaches. No reports are currently available on clinical and clinical pathology data regarding donkeys with natural piroplasms infection.ResultsVenous blood samples were taken from one hundred and thirty eight donkeys and underwent indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) to detect IgG antibodies against Theileria equi and Babesia caballi and real-time polimerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. Clinical examinations, haematological analyses and serum bilirubin evaluation were also performed and compared with positive or negative status. A seroprevalence of 40.6% and 47.8% was found for T. equi and B. caballi, respectively; double positivity was detected in 19.6% of the animals. PCR results showed that 17.4% of the animals tested positive for T.equi and 3.6% for B. caballi with no double positivity. Twelve donkeys (8.7%) had clinical signs consistent with chronic forms of the disease and no acute forms were detected. Fifty-eight donkeys had haematological and serum bilirubin alterations and 56 (96.6%) of them were IFAT and/or PCR positive. Changes in erythrocyte number, packed cell volume, hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, platelets number and total bilirubin were significantly associated with positive and symptomatic animals.ConclusionNonspecific clinical presentation seems to be very common in donkeys and several clinical pathology alterations persist after natural infection. Therefore, apparently healthy donkeys can have masked but severe clinical pathology alterations. Acute forms are very seldom observed in donkeys. Clinical monitoring of chronically infected donkeys is recommended since such animals represent a risk both for transmission to other animals and for their own health; furthermore, their production performances could be reduced. The study should also be intended as a contribution for veterinary practitioners because it describes the most usual clinical presentations and laboratory findings of equine piroplasmosis in naturally infected donkeys in endemic areas.

First detection of Cytauxzoon spp. infection in European wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris) of Italy

Cytauxzoonosis is an emerging, tick-transmitted, protozoan disease affecting domestic and wild felids and caused by Cytauxzoon felis, Cytauxzoon manul and Cytauxzoon spp. This study aimed to determine the presence of infection with Cytauxzoon spp. in Felis silvestris silvestris in Italy, in order to enhance the comprehension of its pattern distribution among domestic cat populations. In addition, wildcats were tested for other endemic vector-borne pathogens in Italy. The carcasses of 21 F. s. silvestris were collected from central and northern regions of Italy. All the animals were submitted to necropsy and samples of the spleens were collected. Cytauxzoon infection was surveyed by a conventional PCR amplifying a portion of the SSU-rDNA of species of Piroplasmida. The samples were also screened for Anaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., Rickettsia spp., Babesia spp., Theileria spp., and Leishmania spp. using SYBR Green Real-Time PCR (rPCR) assays. Four animals (19%) were positive for Piroplasmida-PCR assay and three sequenced amplicons were obtained (14.3%), clustering with the Italian, Spanish, French and Romanian Cytauxzoon spp. isolates and with C. manul found in Mongolia. The samples were negative for the other pathogens screened. The present results showed that Cytauxzoon spp. may infect both F. s. silvestris and F. s. catus.

Epidermolysis Bullosa in the Dog: Four Cases

Cerquetella, M., Spaterna, A., Beribe, F., Mechelli, L. and Tesei, B., 2005. Epidermolysis bullosa in the dog: Four cases. Veterinary Research Communications, 29(Suppl. 2), 289-291

Clinic and ultrasonographic findings in a cat with Tetralogy of Fallot.

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is a congenital cardiopathy of man and domestic animals. Fallot was a cardiologist in human medicine of the late 19th–early 20th century. This cardiac malformation is characterized by ventricular septal defect, dextroposition of the aorta, pulmonic stenosis and consequent right ventricular hypertrophy. Cardiac morphological alterations in TOF derive from a defective fetal development of both pulmonary and aortic arteries, resulting from troncus arteriosus, and right and left ventricular outflow tracts, resulting from conus arteriosus. There is also an incomplete development of the conotruncal septum which causes a skew between dorsal and apical parts of interventricular septum. As shown by Goodwin and Cooper (1992), pulmonary stenosis causes an increased resistance to blood flow ejected from the right ventricle. This leads to hypertrophy and hypertension of this ventricle, and leads to a right-to-left shunt through interventricular septum defect. The first consequence of the shunt is an inflow in aorta of bad oxygenated blood, that can easily induce hypoxia. Symptoms are failure to grow, exercise intolerance, cyanosis and syncope. Cyanosis depends on the entity of the shunt and it is not always present, but it is typical of most cases. For this reason, in the past the illness was called ‘‘blue disease’’ because of the colour assumed by mucosae. Cyanosis is always present when the subject gets excited or during physical effort, when even asphyxia can occur. TOF is more common for dogs than for cats (Patterson et al., 1993). For this species diagnosis is performed by anatomo-pathological examination or angiography which is an invasive intra vitam examination involving a lot of risks (Eyster et al., 1977). The aim of this report is to furnish a contribution to the study of this pathology in cats, especially for the non-invasive diagnostic methods such as ultrasound.

Feline idiopathic ulcerative dermatosis: three cases

A. Spaterna1*, L. Mechelli2, F. Rueca3, M. Cerquetella1, C. Brachelente2, M.T. Antognoni3 and B. Tesei1 1Veterinary Science Department, Clinical Section, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, 62024 Matelica, Macerata, Marche; 2Veterinary Biopathological Science Department; 3Veterinary Pathology, Diagnostic and Clinic Department, Section of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, 06100 Perugia, Umbria, Italy *Correspondance: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Sezione clinica, Università degli studi Camerino, 62024 Matelica, (MC), Marche, Italy E-mail: andrea.spaterna@unicam.it

Ultrasonographic biometry of the eyes of healthy adult donkeys

Sixty-two healthy adult donkeys were included in this study, giving a total of 124 eyes for examination. The weight of the donkeys was estimated and an ultrasonography of the eyes was performed using a curvilinear transducer. Ocular measurements were taken in a horizontal plane and included the following values: globe axial length (GAL), anterior chamber depth (ACD), vitreous body depth (VD), lens diameter (LDi) and lens depth (LDe). The mean and sds for each measurement are reported in mm: GAL 34.22±2.05; ACD 3.01±0.58; VD 20.20±1.63; LDi 17.96±1.66 LDe 11.06±0.71. Gender was not a variability factor for ocular biometry in donkeys, while the weight was directly related to the ultrasonographic ocular values. Lens dimensions represented an exception and further investigation should be carried out to verify a possible correlation with age rather than weight. This is the first paper reporting reference data for ocular biometry in donkeys. The ultrasonographic evaluation of the equine eye is a manageable procedure that is easy to perform and can provide information not always obtainable with direct ocular examination. It allows the imaging of intraocular and retrobulbar structures and the diagnosis of some important disorders involving these areas (Scotty and others 2004, Michau 2005, Dietrich 2007). Ocular ultrasound is also indicated where it is impossible to directly visualise (eg, with an ophthalmoscope) posterior structures of the globe in cases of corneal oedema or ulceration, cataract or ocular masses (Withcomb 2002). Ultrasound can be used to investigate enophthalmos, buphthalmos or exophthalmos in cases of ocular protrusion and suspicion of disparity in globe size (Withcomb 2002). The most common diseases that can be detected or confirmed with ultrasound are corneal diseases, cataract, lens luxation, intraocular cysts or masses, glaucoma and retinal detachment (Reef 1998, Withcomb 2002). Although horses and donkeys can be affected by …

Efficacy of an enterovaccine in recurrent episodes of diarrhea in the dog: a pilot study

Recurrent episodes of self-limiting diarrhea in the dog, due to sudden dietary changes and to stressful or exciting situations, are conditions sometimes difficult to treat. Colifagina(®), a commercially available bacterial enterovaccine, showed, in previous studies performed on experimentally induced colitis in mice, to be able to improve both disease activity index and histological appearance, increase colonic secretion of IgA, and reduce inflammatory chemokine secretion. In the present study Colifagina(®) was administered to five dogs presenting recurrent episodes of self-limiting diarrhea and to one dog presenting chronic diarrhea. During the follow-up period, almost all patients decreased the number of episodes of abnormal defecation and the fecal score of such episodes improved in five out of six dogs. Even if further studies are needed to understand the exact potential of the compound, in dogs presenting recurrent episodes of self-limiting diarrhea due to sudden dietary changes and/or stressing or exciting situations, Colifagina(®) seems to be helpful in managing most of these patients.

Chronic hepatitis in man and in dog: a comparative update.

Chronic hepatitis is a frequent pathologic condition encountered in both dogs and humans; however, in the latter etiologic factors are usually searched and found that allow targeted therapeutic approaches, whereas in dogs this is less frequent. This review will take into consideration chronic hepatitis in dogs, and discuss differences and similarities between the two species with respect to this disease.

Faecal microbiota in dogs with multicentric lymphoma

Malignant lymphoma B-cell type is the most common canine haematopoietic malignancy. Changes in intestinal microbiota have been implicated in few types of cancer in humans. The aim of this prospective and case-control study was to determine differences in faecal microbiota between healthy control dogs and dogs with multicentric lymphoma. Twelve dogs affected by multicentric, B-cell, stage III-IV lymphoma, and 21 healthy dogs were enrolled in the study. For each dog, faecal samples were analysed by Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA genes and quantitative PCR (qPCR) for selected bacterial groups. Alpha diversity was significant lower in lymphoma dogs. Principal coordinate analysis plots showed different microbial clustering (P = .001) and linear discriminant analysis effect size revealed 28 differentially abundant bacterial groups in lymphoma and control dogs. The qPCR analysis showed significant lower abundance of Faecalibacterium spp. (q < .001), Fusobacterium spp. (q = .032), and Turicibacter spp. (q = .043) in dogs with lymphoma compared with control dogs. On the contrary, Streptococcus spp. was significantly higher in dogs with lymphoma (q = .041). The dysbiosis index was significantly higher (P < .0001) in dogs with lymphoma. In conclusion, both sequencing and qPCR analyses provided a global overview of faecal microbial communities and showed significant differences in the microbial communities of dogs presenting with multicentric lymphoma compared with healthy control dogs.

Immunohistochemical Expression of Ornithine Decarboxylase, Diamine Oxidase, Putrescine, and Spermine in Normal Canine Enterocolic Mucosa, in Chronic Colitis, and in Colorectal Cancer

We compared the immunohistochemical expression of putrescine (PUT), spermine (SPM), ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), and diamine oxidase (DAO) in bioptic samples of canine colonic mucosa with chronic inflammation (i.e., granulomatous colitis and lymphoplasmacytic colitis) or neoplasia. Single and total polyamines levels were significantly higher in neoplastic tissue than in normal samples. Samples with different degrees of inflammation showed a general decrease expression of ODC if compared to controls; SPM was practically not expressed in control samples and very low in samples with chronic-granulomatous inflammation. In carcinomatous samples, the ODC activity was higher with respect to controls and samples with inflammation. This is the first description of polyamines expression in dog colonic mucosa in normal and in different pathological conditions, suggesting that the balance between polyamine degradation and biosynthesis is evidently disengaged during neoplasia.