Metastatic Leiomyosarcoma in African Goose (Anser cygnoides)

 Background: In birds, neoplasms are more frequently observed in Psittaciformes and Galliformes and rarely seen in Columbiformes and Anseriformes, with few reports of the occurrence of mesenchymal neoplasms such as leiomyosarcoma affecting birds. Therefore, the objective of this study was to describe a case of metastatic leiomyosarcoma in an African goose (Anser cygnoides), analyzing the epidemiological, clinical and pathological aspects. Case: A 10-month-old male African goose, was referred to the Veterinary Hospital, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Patos, Paraiba, Brazil, whit ataxia, tremors of intention in the head, and nystagmus about one month ago, progressing to lateral decubitus. Due to the unfavorable prognosis, animal was euthanized. Samples of the organs of the coelomic cavity and central nervous system were collected for histologic examination. The samples were fixed in 10% buffered formalin. After fixation, the organs were embedded in paraffin, cut into 4-5 μm sections, and then stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Paraffin blocks with liver, kidney and encephalon fragments were selected and sent for immunohistochemical analysis. The primary antibodies used were: alpha-smooth muscle actin (monoclonal 1A4), anti-vimentin (monoclonal, V9), CD57 (monoclonal, NK1) and cytokeratin (monoclonal, AE1/AE3) and incubated for 18 h at 4Cº. As an amplification and detection system polymer and labeled by addition of the liquid diaminobenzidine+substratechromogen system and counterstained with Harris hematoxylin. Macroscopically were observed in the liver nodular multifocal areas yellowish, sometimes coalescing, firm, and elevated to the surface that at the cut deepened to the parenchyma. In the left kidney there was a similar tumor mass. In the left frontal lobe, there was nodular focal area, well circumscribed, yellowish and protruding. To cutting surface it compressed the parietal and temporal lobe and showed surface yellowish and smooth. Microscopically, the liver was diffusely infiltrated by mesenchymal neoplasia, expansive, infiltrative, poorly circumscribed and not encapsulated, constituted by spindle cells arranged in interlaced bundles. The cells were elongated with sparse cytoplasm, slightly eosinophilic and indistinct borders with rounded to elongated nuclei, with coarse chromatin and evident nucleoli. In fragments of kidney and brain, neoplastic infiltration similar to that described in the liver was observed. In immunohistochemistry, neoplastic cells were positive with antibodies anti-vimentin and alpha-smooth muscle actin.Discussion: The diagnosis of metastatic leiomyosarcoma in an African goose was based on epidemiological, clinical and pathological findings and confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Reports of neoplasms in birds are relatively rare, however the occurrence of metastatic leiomyosarcoma affecting goose in the most varied locations has been described, from skin to organs of the coelomic cavity like kidney, ovary and intestinal wall. In this case, there is the unusual occurrence of dissemination in the liver, kidney and cerebral cortex, progressing to a neurological clinic condition. There are rare cases of metastatic leiomyosarcoma in geese African goose (Anser cygnoides). The main differential diagnoses include fibrosarcomas, neurofibrosarcomas and histiocytic sarcomas, which are similar macroscopically and histologically.Keywords: ornithopathology, mesenchymal neoplasms, anseriformes.Descritores: ornitopatologia, neoplasias mesenquimais, anseriformes.Título: Leiomiossarcoma metastáticoem ganso africano (Anser cygnoides

Axonopatia degenerativa associada com deficiência de cobre em suínos

The epidemiological, clinic and morphological (pathological and ultrastructural) aspects of four outbreaks of copper deficiency affecting 21- to 90-day-old pigs in the Northeast region of Brazil are reported. Clinical signs began with paraparesis and ataxia and progressed to flaccid or spastic paralysis of the pelvic and thoracic limbs, followed by sternal and/or lateral recumbence. In addition, some animals showed dog-sitting position and intention tremors. The clinical manifestation period was 5-20 days. Significant gross lesions were not observed; however, microscopically, symmetrical degeneration of the white matter with ballooned myelin sheaths containing occasional macrophages was observed, mainly in the spinal cord. Two pigs presented with necrosis ad loss of Purkinje cells and ectopic Purkinje cells in the granular layer and cerebellar white matter. A ultrastructural analysis showed different degrees of damage of myelinated axons in the spinal segments, including an absence of the axoplasm structures with only axonal residues remaining. The myelin sheaths were degenerated and often collapsed into the space previously occupied by the axon. These results suggest that myelin degeneration is secondary to the axonal lesion. Finally, the concentration of copper in the liver was determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and was found to be low (ranging from 2.2 to 10.8 ppm). In conclusion, in the Brazilian semiarid region, Cu deficiency occurs in 21 to 90-day-old pigs that ingested different types of waste in their food.São relatados os achados epidemiológicos, clínicos e morfológicos (patológicos e ultraestruturais) de quatro surtos de deficiência de cobre em suínos afetados entre 21 e 90 dias de idade na região Nordeste do Brasil. Os sinais clínicos iniciaram com paraparesia e ataxia, que progrediu a paralisia flácida ou espástica dos membros pélvicos e torácicos, seguido de decúbito esternal e/ou lateral. Além disso, alguns animais apresentaram posição de cão sentado e tremores de intenção. O período de manifestação clínica variou de 5-20 dias. Não foram observadas lesões macroscópicas significativas; no entanto, microscopicamente, foi observada degeneração simétrica da substância branca com fragmentação das bainhas de mielina, contendo ocasionais macrófagos, principalmente na medula espinal. Dois suínos apresentaram necrose e perda de células de Purkinje e células de Purkinje ectópicos na camada granular da substância branca cerebelar. A análise ultraestrutural mostrou diferentes graus de lesões em axônios mielinizados em segmentos da medula espinhal, incluindo o desaparecimento de estruturas do axoplasma, restando apenas restos axonais. A bainha de mielina encontrava- se degenerada e muitas vezes, colapsada dentro do espaço previamente ocupado pelo axônio. Esses resultados sugerem que a degeneração da mielina é secundária à lesão axonal. Finalmente, a concentração do cobre no fígado foi determinada usando espectrometria de absorção atômica e revelou baixos valores (variando de 2,2-10,8ppm). Conclui-se que na região semiárida do Brasil ocorre deficiência de cobre em suínos de 21 a 90 dias de idade alimentados com diferentes tipos de resíduos

Tuberculose no sistema nervoso central de bovinos na Paraíba

This paper describes six cases of tuberculosis in the central nervous system (CNS) of cattle in the state of Paraíba in northeastern Brazil. We reviewed the autopsy reports of 851 bovine necropsies performed from 2003 to 2016. Seventy-three (8.6%) cattle were diagnosed with tuberculosis and six showed lesions in the CNS. Three cases affected cattle up to two-year-old and other three affected adults. Three cattle presented exclusively nervous signs, two had respiratory signs and weight loss and one did not present any clinical signs. At necropsy, five cattle had thickening of the leptomeninges of the cerebellum, pons, obex, spinal cord and cortex, mainly, in the region near the brain basilar Willis´ circle. Another animal, presented a single focal lesion in the cerebellum. Microscopically we observed moderate to severe granulomatous meningitis and encephalitis. Five cattle presented lesions in the lungs and mediastinal lymph nodes and three of them had disseminated lesions in other organs. In all cattle acid-fast bacilli were observed in the lesions and marked positive for immunohistochemistry with polyclonal antibody anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is concluded that bovine tuberculosis of central nervous system occurs sporadically in Paraíba, in cattle of different ages, most of them with disseminate lesions in other organs. The location of the lesions suggests that the agent invaded the brain by hematogenous route through the circle of Willis.Descrevem-se seis casos de tuberculose no sistema nervoso central (SNC) em bovinos, no semiárido da Paraíba. Foram revisados os laudos de um total de 851 necropsias de bovinos realizadas no período de 2003 a 2016. Destes, 73 (8,6%) foram diagnosticados com tuberculose e seis apresentavam lesões no SNC. Três casos ocorreram em bovinos de até dois anos de idade e três em bovinos adultos. Três bovinos apresentaram exclusivamente sinais nervosos, dois tinham sinais respiratórios e perda de peso e um não apresentava nenhum sinal clínico. Macroscopicamente, em cinco bovinos, havia espessamento das leptomeninges do cerebelo, medula espinhal, ponte, obex, colículos e córtex, principalmente, na região basilar encefálica próxima ao polígono de Willis. Em apenas um bovino houve a presença de tubérculo único no cerebelo. Microscopicamente observou-se moderada a acentuada meningite e encefalite granulomatosa. Cinco bovinos apresentaram lesões pulmonares e nos gânglios mediastínicos e três deles tinham lesões disseminadas em outros órgãos. Em todos os bovinos foram encontrados bacilos ácido-álcool resistentes intralesionais e todos tiveram marcação positiva na técnica de imuno-histoquímica com anticorpo policlonal anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Conclui‑se que a tuberculose do sistema nervoso central de bovinos ocorre de forma esporádica na Paraíba, principalmente em bovinos com lesões disseminadas em outros órgãos. Sugere-se que a disseminação do agente ocorre pela via hematógena, possivelmente através do polígono de Willis

Hepatic encephalopathy secondary to poisoning by Tephrosia cinerea in sheep

In the semiarid region of northeastern Brazil, Tephrosia cinerea causes periacinar hepatic fibrosis in sheep with severe ascites and, occasionally, nervous signs. Sixteen sheep from six outbreaks of T. cinerea poisoning were studied. All sheep had histologic lesion of periacinar fibrosis and six showed, in the brain, vacuolization (spongy degeneration) of the white matter and junction between grey and white matter and presence of Alzheimer type II astrocytes in the grey matter. The disease was produced experimentally in two sheep, that presented porto-sistemic shunts and similar histologic lesions as those observed in the spontaneous cases. Immunohistochemistry revealed weak labelling with anti-GFAP antibodies suggesting a degenerative alteration of astrocytes with accumulation of dense bodies and reduction of the GFAP. There was strong labelling with anti-S100 antibodies suggesting cellular reactivity with proliferation of mitochondria and endoplasmatic reticulum. Such alterations are characteristic of the effects caused by ammonia on the astrocytes. It is concluded that in poisoning by T. cinerea nervous signs due to hepatic encephalopathy occur in some sheep

Epidemiological, clinical and pathological aspects of infectious canine hepatitis : 15 cases

We described the main epidemiological, clinical and pathological aspects of canine infectious hepatitis diagnosed in the Laboratory of Animal Pathology of the Federal University of Campina Grande during the period from January 2003 to December 2016. Of the 1,640 necropsied dogs, 15 were diagnosed as infectious canine hepatitis (0.91%). Of the dogs affected nine were males and six females. The ages ranged from 45 days to seven years, being most of them young. Ten animals were mixed breed, four were Poodles and one Rottweiler. Most of the dogs do not received any vaccine protocol. The dogs came from the municipalities of Patos, São Mamede and Teixeira, from Paraiba, northeastern of Brazil. Most of the dogs presented clinical course varying from hyperacute to acute. The main clinical signs were seizure, apathy and hyporexia. At necropsy, the major alterations were observed in the liver, which was pale to orange and with irregular reddish areas on the capsular surface, besides accentuation of the lobular pattern and edema in the wall of the gallbladder. Hemorrhages were observed in several organs. In the histopathology there was centrolobular necrosis of hepatocytes associated with intranuclear viral inclusion bodies, hemorrhages and mixed inflammatory infiltrate. The diagnosis was established based on the characteristic histopathological lesions and was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Infectious canine hepatitis occurs occasionally in the Paraiba, affecting particularly young and unvaccinated dogs

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Metastatic Leiomyosarcoma in African Goose (Anser cygnoides)

 Background: In birds, neoplasms are more frequently observed in Psittaciformes and Galliformes and rarely seen in Columbiformes and Anseriformes, with few reports of the occurrence of mesenchymal neoplasms such as leiomyosarcoma affecting birds. Therefore, the objective of this study was to describe a case of metastatic leiomyosarcoma in an African goose (Anser cygnoides), analyzing the epidemiological, clinical and pathological aspects. Case: A 10-month-old male African goose, was referred to the Veterinary Hospital, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Patos, Paraiba, Brazil, whit ataxia, tremors of intention in the head, and nystagmus about one month ago, progressing to lateral decubitus. Due to the unfavorable prognosis, animal was euthanized. Samples of the organs of the coelomic cavity and central nervous system were collected for histologic examination. The samples were fixed in 10% buffered formalin. After fixation, the organs were embedded in paraffin, cut into 4-5 μm sections, and then stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Paraffin blocks with liver, kidney and encephalon fragments were selected and sent for immunohistochemical analysis. The primary antibodies used were: alpha-smooth muscle actin (monoclonal 1A4), anti-vimentin (monoclonal, V9), CD57 (monoclonal, NK1) and cytokeratin (monoclonal, AE1/AE3) and incubated for 18 h at 4Cº. As an amplification and detection system polymer and labeled by addition of the liquid diaminobenzidine+substratechromogen system and counterstained with Harris hematoxylin. Macroscopically were observed in the liver nodular multifocal areas yellowish, sometimes coalescing, firm, and elevated to the surface that at the cut deepened to the parenchyma. In the left kidney there was a similar tumor mass. In the left frontal lobe, there was nodular focal area, well circumscribed, yellowish and protruding. To cutting surface it compressed the parietal and temporal lobe and showed surface yellowish and smooth. Microscopically, the liver was diffusely infiltrated by mesenchymal neoplasia, expansive, infiltrative, poorly circumscribed and not encapsulated, constituted by spindle cells arranged in interlaced bundles. The cells were elongated with sparse cytoplasm, slightly eosinophilic and indistinct borders with rounded to elongated nuclei, with coarse chromatin and evident nucleoli. In fragments of kidney and brain, neoplastic infiltration similar to that described in the liver was observed. In immunohistochemistry, neoplastic cells were positive with antibodies anti-vimentin and alpha-smooth muscle actin.Discussion: The diagnosis of metastatic leiomyosarcoma in an African goose was based on epidemiological, clinical and pathological findings and confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Reports of neoplasms in birds are relatively rare, however the occurrence of metastatic leiomyosarcoma affecting goose in the most varied locations has been described, from skin to organs of the coelomic cavity like kidney, ovary and intestinal wall. In this case, there is the unusual occurrence of dissemination in the liver, kidney and cerebral cortex, progressing to a neurological clinic condition. There are rare cases of metastatic leiomyosarcoma in geese African goose (Anser cygnoides). The main differential diagnoses include fibrosarcomas, neurofibrosarcomas and histiocytic sarcomas, which are similar macroscopically and histologically.Keywords: ornithopathology, mesenchymal neoplasms, anseriformes.Descritores: ornitopatologia, neoplasias mesenquimais, anseriformes.Título: Leiomiossarcoma metastáticoem ganso africano (Anser cygnoides

Intoxicação por Crotalaria retusa (Fabaceae) em Eqüídeos no semi-árido da Paraíba

De 2000 a 2003 oito casos de intoxicação por Crotalaria retusa L. foram observados em eqüinos em 8 fazendas na região semi-árida da Paraíba e do Ceará. C. retusa foi encontrada no pasto em todas as propriedades. Os principais sinais clínicos foram característicos de encefalopatia hepática, com apatia ou hiperexcitabilidade, pressão da cabeça, andar compulsivo ou em círculo e, ocasionalmente, galope descontrolado e violento. Decréscimo nos reflexos dos nervos craniais, ataxia e fraqueza foram também observados. Outros sinais clínicos foram anorexia, perda de peso, fotossensibilização e icterícia. O curso clínico variou de 4 a 40 dias, mas muitos cavalos tinham um histórico prévio de perda de peso. À necropsia os fígados eram duros, com superfície irregular e áreas brancas misturadas com áreas vermelho-escuras e com aumento no padrão lobular. Icterícia moderada, ascite, hidropericárdio e hidrotorax foram também observados. Edema e moderada congestão foram observadas nos pulmões. As lesões histológicas do fígado foram caracterizadas por fibrose, principalmente periportal, megalocitose e proliferação de células dos ductos biliares. Áreas multifocais de hemorragias centrolobulares ou mediozonais foram também observadas. Necrose hemorrágica centrolobular estava presente em dois eqüinos. Foram observados astrócitos Alzheimer tipo II, isolados ou em grupos principalmente no núcleo caudato e córtex em 4 eqüinos. A intoxicação foi produzida experimentalmente em 1 eqüino e 3 asininos. O eqüino adulto, recebeu diariamente, 100 g de sementes de C. retusa e morreu aos 52 dias após o início do experimento. C. retusa inteira, seca foi misturada com capim e dada a 3 asininos adultos em doses diárias de 10 g/kg, 5 g/kg e 2,5 g/kg respectivamente. O asinino tratado com 5 g/kg morreu aos 48 dias após o início do experimento e os outros dois foram sacrificados aos 120 dias. Os sinais clínicos e a patologia foram similares aos observados nos casos espontâneos, alguns astrócitos Alzheimer tipo II foram observados somente no asinino que morreu após 48 dias do inicio da ingestão. A concentração de monocrotalina na planta inteira administrada aos asininos foi 0,5%