Investigation of serum amino acid and serum amyloid A concentrations in chickens with amyloid arthropathy

Background: Increased proteolytic cleavage of serum amyloid A (SAA) may potentially contribute to the development of AA amyloid deposition Objective: To study the possible relationship between amyloid artropathy and expression of SAA and some serum amino acids. Animals and methods: Values of 15 serum amino acids and SAA were investigated in chickens with experimentally induced amyloid arthropathy. Thirty-four, 5-week-old chicks were allocated into two groups: one group was injected intra-articularly with 0.25mL complete Freund's adjuvant at the left tibio-metatarsal joint to induce amyloid arthropathy, whereas the other group served as control. All pullets were necropsied 13 weeks after injection. Collected tissue samples were examined histopathologically. Blood samples were collected and SAA concentrations were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to assess the amino acid concentrations in serum. Results: Amyloid accumulation in joints occurred only in the experimental group (89%). SAA concentrations of 166 +/- 17 and 423 +/- 39 (SD) ng/mL were found in the control and experimental groups, respectively (p < 0.001). In the experimental group, an increase was observed in all examined amino acid concentrations except for citrulline. The most significant (p < 0.001) increases were noticed in serine (from 159 +/- 15 to 360 +/- 29 mu mol/L), glycine (from 151 +/- 20 to 279 +/- 16 mu mol/L), isoleucine (from 48 +/- 2 to 80 +/- 6 mu mol/L), and phenylalanine (from 49 +/- 2 to 90 +/- 3 mu mol/L). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that there is a positive correlation between some serum amino acid values, especially serine, glycine, isoleucine, and phenylalanine, and the high concentrations of SAA in chickens with amyloid arthropathy

Steroid receptor expression and HER-2/neu (c-erbB-2) oncoprotein in the uterus of cats with cystic endometrial hyperplasia-pyometra complex

The presence of oestrogen-alpha receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER-2/neu (c-erbB-2) oncoprotein in the uterine walls of 10 healthy cats and 20 subjects with cystic endometrial hyperplasia-pyometra (CEH-P) were evaluated. Lesions were graded according to the severity of cystic dilation, hyperplasia and inflammation, and were classified as normal, mild uterine hyperplasia and severe uterine hyperplasia. The ER, PR and c-erbB-2 expression in the endometrium, glandular epithelium, stromal fibroblasts and myometrial smooth muscle cells was quantified by immunohistochemistry. The ER, PR and c-erbB-2 staining patterns differed between normal uteri and uteri with CEH-P. The ER expression was tended to be higher in the endometrial surface and glandular epithelium in the severe hyperplasia group (P > 0.05) and significantly lower in the mild hyperplasia cases compared with normal endometrium (P < 0.05), whereas the PR expression in both severe and mild hyperplasia cases tended to be higher in stromal cells and glandular epithelium than those in the normal uteri. C-erbB-2 immunoreactivity was observed only in the endometrial surface and glandular epithelium of the uterine wall and immunostaining was found to be highest in cases with severe hyperplasia. As a conclusion, we suggest that c-erbB-2 oncoprotein may play a role in the pathogenesis of the CEH together with the ER and PR in cats, and that ER does not have a role in the mechanism of pyometra, whereas PR plays a role in the pathogenesis of both CEH and pyometra

Case of systemic actinobacillosis in a dog - A case report

A 4-year-old male German Shepherd dog was presented with a history of compromised respiratory function, lack of appetite, and weight loss. A physical examination suggested intra-thoracic pathological lesions, and was later confirmed by radiography and Computed tomography. Intrathoracic granulomatous mass as well as lesions in other organs were found in the autopsy.. Microbiological analysis revealed Actinobacillus lignieresii as a causative agent of the disease

Chronic amyloid arthropathy and increased serum amyloid levels in brown layers

Serum amyloid-A (SAA) levels were investigated in chickens with experimentally induced amyloid arthropathy in comparison with healthy Counterparts. Forty-eight 5-week-old chickens were allocated into two equally numbered groups. Enterococcus faecalis was injected intraarticularly at concentrations of 10(9) cfu/ml, to induce amyloid arthropathy in one of the groups, whereas the other one was kept as a control and injected intraarticularly only with 0.9% NaCl (1 ml). All the chickens were necropsied at the 13(th) week after the injections. Joint sections were examined histopathologically and immunohistochemically. Blood samples were collected and SAA levels were determined by ELISA. Amyloid accumulation in joints was only seen in the experimental group (18/24). The SAA levels found were 154 +/- 20 ng/ml and 419 +/- 27 ng/ml in the control and experimental groups, respectively, and the differences were highly significant at (P < 0.001). In conclusion, SAA plasma concentrations are influenced by amyloid arthropathy. Consequently, SAA may be a sensitive variable to assess the physical welfare in chicks; and increases in these values can be suggestive of chronic inflammatory processes, including amyloid arthropathy

Soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (sVEGFR-1) is decreased in lung cancer patients showing progression: A pilot study

Tumor growth and metastasis depend on angiogenesis, and the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is known to be one of the most important angiogenic factors although the knowledge about its receptors is limited. We, therefore, investigated the treatment-related changes both in the level of the soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 ( sVEGFR-1) in the serum by ELISA and the expression of VEGFR-1 in cancer tissues by immunohistochemistry. The serum levels were studied in 38 lung cancer patients, and 55 control subjects ( 21 benign disease and 34 healthy subjects) before the chemotherapy. The treatment-related changes in serum sVEGFR-1 were evaluated in 15 patients 24 and 48 hours after treatment. In addition to serum analysis, the tissue expressions were evaluated in 32 patients before treatment. The treatment-related changes in tissue VEGFR-1 expressions were evaluated in only 12 patients 24 hours after treatment. We observed no significant difference in terms of serum sVEGFR-1 levels between malignant and nonmalignant groups (p > 0.05). There were no significant differences in the levels of sVEGFR-1 before and after treatment (p > 0.05). However, there was a significant difference between sVEGFR-1 levels in the groups (regressive, stable, progressive) classified according to the response to therapy (p = 0.043). A significant difference also was present between the expression levels of tissue VEGFR-1 in the same groups (p = 0.037). As a conclusion, we suggest that prechemotherapy sVEGFR- 1 can be helpful for prediction of long-term response to therapy, but it should be studied in larger groups to elucidate its benefit in clinics