Birth delivery method affects expression of immune genes in lung and jejunum tissue of neonatal beef calves

peer-reviewedBackground Caesarean section is a routine veterinary obstetrical procedure employed to alleviate dystocia in cattle. However, CS, particularly before the onset of labour, is known to negatively affect neonatal respiration and metabolic adaptation in humans, though there is little published information for cattle. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of elective caesarean section (ECS) or normal trans-vaginal (TV) delivery, on lung and jejunal gene expression profiles of neonatal calves. Results Paternal half-sib Angus calves (gestation length 278 + 1.8 d) were delivered either transvaginally (TV; n = 8) or by elective caesarean section (ECS; n = 9) and immediately euthanized. Lung and jejunum epithelial tissue was isolated and snap frozen. Total RNA was extracted using Trizol reagent and reverse transcribed to generate cDNA. For lung tissue, primers were designed to target genes involved in immunity, surfactant production, cellular detoxification, membrane transport and mucin production. Primers for jejunum tissue were chosen to target mucin production, immunoglobulin uptake, cortisol reaction and membrane trafficking. Quantitative real-time PCR reactions were performed and data were statistically analysed using mixed models ANOVA. In lung tissue the expression of five genes were affected (p < 0.05) by delivery method. Four of these genes were present at lower (LAP, CYP1A1, SCN11α and SCN11β) and one (MUC5AC) at higher abundance in ECS compared with TV calves. In jejunal tissue, expression of TNFα, Il-1β and 1 l-6 was higher in ECS compared with TV calves. Conclusions This novel study shows that ECS delivery affects the expression of key genes involved in the efficiency of the pulmonary liquid to air transition at birth, and may lead to an increased inflammatory response in jejunal tissue, which could compromise colostral immunoglobulin absorption. These findings are important to our understanding of the viability and management of neonatal calves born through ECS

Using examination performance data and focus groups to inform teaching – a case study from final year students of veterinary medicine

Background: Student feedback has played an important role in the maintenance of quality and standards in higher education. Perhaps the most commonly used method to capture feedback is a series of questions or statements where students indicate their degree of satisfaction or agreement. Focus groups offer an alternative means of capturing ‘richer’ qualitative data relating to students’ thoughts on course structure. Aside from student evaluations, student examination performance has been used as a method to evaluate the efficacy of curriculum changes at programme level. However, this data is utilised less so at a ‘finer detail’ level to identify specific issues with the delivery of teaching. Case presentation: The purpose of this report was to outline the approach taken using qualitative and quantitative data to identify problems with a specific area of teaching, inform a new teaching approach and to assess the impact of those changes. Following quantitative and qualitative analysis, a practical class on dairy herd fertility performance was highlighted as an area for improvement. After the introduction of the newly formatted practical class with a greater focus on self-directed learning, there was a significant increase in the average score (p &lt; 0.001) and a decrease in the proportion of students failing (p &lt; 0.001) the question that assessed the analysis of dairy herd fertility data. In addition, the R-squared value between students’ performance in the fertility question and their performance in the overall examination increased from 0.06 to 0.11. Conclusions: The combination of qualitative focus group data and quantitative analysis of examination performance data represent robust methods for identifying problems associated with specific aspects of veterinary teaching

Molecular characterisation of a bovine-like rotavirus detected from a giraffe

Background Rotavirus (RV), is a member of the Reoviridae family and an important etiological agent of acute viral gastroenteritis in the young. Rotaviruses have a wide host range infecting a broad range of animal species, however little is known about rotavirus infection in exotic animals. In this paper we report the first characterisation of a RV strain from a giraffe calf. Results This report describes the identification and detailed molecular characterisation of a rotavirus strain detected from a 14-day-old Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), presenting with acute diarrhea. The RV strain detected from the giraffe was characterized molecularly as G10P[11]. Detailed sequence analysis of VP4 and VP7 revealed significant identity at the amino acid sequence level to Bovine RV (BoRV). Conclusion This study demonstrates the need for continuous surveillance of RV strains in various animal populations, which will facilitate the identification of rotavirus hosts not previously reported. Furthermore, extending typical epidemiology studies to a broader host range will contribute to the timely identification of new emerging strain types

Practical Approach to Caudal Epidural Anaesthesia and sedation for flank and other surgeries in Ruminants

In practice, anaesthesia of cattle under field conditions involves the application of local anaesthetic techniques such as flank anaesthesia, regional limb perfusion and caudal epidural anaesthesia in order to obtain suitable operating conditions without having to perform general anaesthesia. Caudal epidural anaesthesia can be divided into 2 different categories: High dose and low dose. High epidural anaesthesia involves administration of a relatively large volume of local anaesthetic to provide analgesia to more cranial body regions and is therefore used for surgeries on the hind limb and flank. The more common method is low epidural analgesia which differs only in the volume of the local anaesthetic injected. This technique is inexpensive, effective and practical and requires no sophisticated equipment. It is therefore relatively easy to perform under field conditions.Author has checked copyrightAMS. No abstract or keywords

Interovulatory intervals in mares receiving deslorelin implants in Ireland (2009 to 2010)

Deslorelin acetate implants, recently licensed in Ireland and the UK for ovulation induction in mares, have been associated with prolonged interovulatory intervals in USA studies, leading to the practice of removing implants postovulation. Trial data in Australia indicate a less pronounced effect on interovulatory intervals, suggesting possible geographical variation. Objectives of the current study were to assess the effect of deslorelin implants, with and without removal on oestrous cycle length in Irish- and UK-based Thoroughbred broodmares. Data were collected retrospectively from 88 oestrous cycles. A statistically significant difference (P=0.02) was found between interovulatory intervals in mares in which the deslorelin implant was not removed, compared with administration and removal of the implant or the use of human chorionic gonadotrophin. The results suggest that implant removal when possible is advisable. The delay in subsequent ovulations was less marked than that reported in some studies from the USA. This information is useful in deciding when to schedule subsequent breeding for mares which received a deslorelin implant during the previous oestrous period and provides evidence to counter-concerns that mares treated with deslorelin implants may experience a long delay in return to oestrus if the implant is not removed.Author has checked copyrightTS 24.09.1

A novel twist to uterine torsion and abomasal displacement in dairy cows

Every bovine practitioner is acutely aware of the increased risk of the occurrence of ‘transition cow disease’ in dairy cows during their transition from late pregnancy to early lactation. Changes in management during this time can result in a multitude of problems including those associated with metabolic and energy imbalances, as well as infection of the uterus and mammary gland (Mulligan et al., 2006 and LeBlanc, 2008). The periparturient period can thus be quite a precarious phase in terms of the health of these ‘high performance athletes’ that are constantly balancing on a tightrope between health and disease.Author has checked copyrightTS 24.09.1

Hormonal composition of follicular fluid from abnormal follicular structures in mares

The objective was to characterise the hormonal composition of follicular fluid from mares with distinct anovulatory-cystic follicles. Follicular fluid was aspirated from six mares that presented with cystic follicles and from pre-ovulatory follicles of five normal mares (controls). Differences in progesterone, oestradiol, testosterone, IGF-I and IGF binding were analysed using Fisher's exact test. There were greater (P<0.03) follicular fluid oestradiol concentrations in normal follicles and the testosterone concentration of the cystic fluid was greater (P<0.05) than that of the normal fluid. There also was a greater (P<0.03) percentage of IGF-I binding and lower (P<0.02) IGF-I concentrations in the fluid collected from the cystic structures compared with the fluid from normal follicles. Despite the limited number of animals, the fact that fluid aspirated from cystic follicles had higher testosterone and lower oestradiol concentrations could be of diagnostic value when a practitioner wants to distinguish between a cystic and non-cystic persistent follicle. The research reported here also indicates a likely role for the IGF system in the pathogenesis of the development and maintenance of anovulatory follicular structures in mare ovaries

DNA methylation dynamics at imprinted genes during bovine pre-implantation embryo development

Background: In mammals, maternal differentially methylated regions (DMRs) acquire DNA methylation during the postnatal growth stage of oogenesis, with paternal DMRs acquiring DNA methylation in the perinatal prospermatagonia. Following fusion of the male and female gametes, it is widely accepted that murine DNA methylation marks at the DMRs of imprinted genes are stable through embryogenesis and early development, until they are reprogrammed in primordial germ cells. However, the DNA methylation dynamics at DMRs of bovine imprinted genes during early stages of development remains largely unknown. The objective of this investigation was to analyse the methylation dynamics at imprinted gene DMRs during bovine embryo development, from blastocyst stage until implantation. Results: To this end, pyrosequencing technology was used to quantify DNA methylation at DMR-associated CpG dinucleotides of six imprinted bovine genes (SNRPN, MEST, IGF2R, PLAGL1, PEG10 and H19) using bisulfite-modified genomic DNA isolated from individual blastocysts (Day 7); ovoid embryos (Day 14); filamentous embryos (Day 17) and implanting conceptuses (Day 25). For all genes, the degree of DNA methylation was most variable in Day 7 blastocysts compared to later developmental stages (P < 0.05). Furthermore, mining of RNA-seq transcriptomic data and western blot analysis revealed a specific window of expression of DNA methylation machinery genes (including DNMT3A, DNMT3B, TRIM28/KAP1 and DNMT1) and proteins (DNMT3A, DNMT3A2 and DNMT3B) by bovine embryos coincident with imprint stabilization. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that the DNA methylation status of bovine DMRs might be variable during the early stages of embryonic development, possibly requiring an active period of imprint stabilization.Science Foundation Irelan

Complete genomic sequence analyses of the first group A giraffe rotavirus reveals close evolutionary relationship with rotaviruses infecting other members of the Artiodactyla

Group A Rotaviruses (RVA) have been established as significant contributory agents of acute gastroenteritis in young children and many animal species. In 2008, we described the first RVA strain detected in a giraffe calf (RVA/Giraffe-wt/IRL/GirRV/2008/G10P[11]), presenting with acute diarrhoea. Molecular characterisation of the VP7 and VP4 genes revealed the bovine-like genotypes G10 and P[11], respectively. To further investigate the origin of this giraffe RVA strain, the 9 remaining gene segments were sequenced and analysed, revealing the following genotype constellation: G10-P[11]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A3-N2-T6-E2-H3. This genotype constellation is very similar to RVA strains isolated from cattle or other members of the artiodactyls. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed the close relationship between GirRV and RVA strains with a bovine-like genotype constellation detected from several host species, including humans. These results suggest that RVA strain GirRV was the result of an interspecies transmission from a bovine host to the giraffe calf. However, we cannot rule out completely that this bovine-like RVA genotype constellation may be enzootic in giraffes. Future RVA surveillance in giraffes may answer this intriguing question.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Complete genomic sequence analyses of the first group A giraffe rotavirus reveals close evolutionary relationship with rotaviruses infecting other members of the Artiodactyla journaltitle: Veterinary Microbiology articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2014.01.012 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.status: publishe