Case Report: Multiple Cavernous Pericardial Lymphangioma (Pericardial Lymphangiomatosis) in a Captive Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus brookei)

[EN] A 12-year-old female peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus brookei) from a private raptor breeding facility that presented a good body condition, died suddenly without showing previous symptoms. At necropsy, in the coelomic cavity, multiple cystic structures demarcated by a thin transparent wall and filled with a serous content were observed. They were firmly adhered to the cranial part of the epicardium and adjacent tissues and occupied the entire thoracic area of the coelomic cavity. Microscopically, emerging simultaneously from several areas the epicardium, multiple irregular channels and cystic spaces, lined by a single endothelial cell layer and separated by fibrovascular septa containing smooth muscle tissue, were observed. Immunohistochemical examination revealed that the neoplastic endothelial cells positively immunolabelled for the pan-endothelial marker factor VIII-related antigen but immunostained negative for cytokeratins (PCK26) while strong positivity for sarcomeric α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) was detected in the cystic walls. Based on the morphological and immunohistochemical findings, lesions were determined as consistent with a multiple cavernous pericardial lymphangioma, or pericardial lymphangiomatosis, a rare vascular neoplasm. The animal also showed a diffuse chronic perihepatitis, a necrotic area in the liver and foci of cartilaginous metaplasia and calcification in the aorta and vena cava. Literature review, particularly on the epidemiology of lymphangioma, demonstrated the rarity of this tumor in the different animal species and in this location, particularly in birds, being the first report of this type of tumor in a peregrine falconSIThe authors wish to acknowledge the collaboration of personnel from the Departamento de Sanidad Animal of the University of León and thank them for their help in the laboratory analyses, particularly to Eva Martín de Valmaseda. The authors were grateful to Falco Iberia S.L. Company for referring the falcon to the Pathological Diagnostic Service of the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences of León. Technical support provided by Marta Silva and Julio Benavides was also gratefully acknowledged. RV was supported by a predoctoral contract fromthe Spanish Ministry of Education. JE was the recipient of a postdoctoral contract Juan de la Cierva-Formación (FJC2019-042422-I) of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovatio

Administración de estrógenos y su incidencia en el epidídimo de corderos de raza churra

[ES] Administración de estrógenos y su incidencia en el epidídimo de corderos de raza churr

Peripheral IFN-ɣ Production after Blood Stimulation with Different Mycobacterial Antigens in Goats Vaccinated against Paratuberculosis

[EN] Vaccination can be an efficient method for the control of paratuberculosis in ruminants. However, the official tuberculosis control tests cross-interfere with the animals vaccinated against paratuberculosis. In order to test and compare new antigens that could solve this problem, the production of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) in peripheral blood at different post-vaccination days in experimental kids and adult goats, in field conditions, using the avian and bovine purified protein derivative (PPD), the johnin, two peptide cocktails of Mycobacterium bovis (PC-EC and PC-HP) and the antigens VK 055 and VK 067 of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map) has been analyzed in vitro. The non-specific production of IFN-γ was observed after blood stimulation with the PC-EC and PC-HP cocktail in any sample from vaccinated animals, whereas it was detected when bovine PPD was used. These results support the possible use of these new Mycobacterium bovis antigens in the in the differentiation of animals vaccinated against paratuberculosis or infected with tuberculosis by improving the specificity of bovine PPD. In contrast, the two Map antigens tested in this study did not improve the sensitivity of johnin or avian PPD in the detection of vaccinated or Map-infected goatsSIThis research was funded by Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness through the research project with reference: AGL2012-39818-C02-01 titled “Development of pathogenesis and immunization models in paratuberculosis”. Marcos Royo and Noive Arteche-Villasol were recipients of a predoctoral contract for training of doctors by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitivenes

Production Significance of Bovine Respiratory Disease Lesions in Slaughtered Beef Cattle

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).[EN] Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is still a serious concern in feedlots, where it exerts a negative effect on farm productivity. There is a shortage of studies focused on the evaluation of BRD-associated lesions at the slaughterhouse in clinically healthy animals. The objective of this work was to investigate the prevalence and type of subclinical pneumonic lesions in slaughtered beef cattle, according to the age range and management system, and its impact on carcass weight. A total of 1101 beef cattle intended for human consumption were examined at slaughter. Information on age, sex, management system and carcass weight was recorded. The presence and type of pneumonia were evaluated according to gross and microscopic findings and etiological agents by PCR. Lung pneumonic lesions appeared in 17.9% of animals and were predominant among veal calves. According to the type, chronic catarrhal pneumonia prevailed in the majority of animals, and mixed and extensively reared cattle were more likely to suffer acute fibrinous pneumonia. The presence of pneumonic lesions was associated with a significant decrease in carcass weight that had more of an impact in veal male calves coming from intensive systems. Bacterial infections were the predominant infectious agent and the only cause of acute fibrinous pneumonia, while viruses were infrequent and only found in lesions with chronic catarrhal pneumonia. This study shows the importance of BRD in beef feedlots upon production values and points out the feasibility of slaughterhouse assessment of pneumonia as a method for the evaluation of BRD significance.SIThis work was supported by the research funds of the Ruminant Health and Pathology research group of the University of León

Therapeutic implications of NK cell regulation of allogeneic CD8 T cell-mediated immune responses stimulated through the direct pathway of antigen presentation in transplantation

[EN]Natural killer (NK) cells are a population of innate type I lymphoid cells essential for early anti-viral responses and are known to modulate the course of humoral and cellular-mediated T cell responses. We assessed the role of NK cells in allogeneic CD8 T cell-mediated responses in an immunocompetent mouse model across an MHC class I histocompatibility barrier to determine its impact in therapeutic clinical interventions with polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting lymphoid cells in transplantation. The administration of an NK cell depleting antibody to either CD8 T cell replete or CD8 T cell-depleted naïve C57BL/6 immunocompetent mice accelerated graft rejection. This accelerated rejection response was associated with an in vivo increased cytotoxic activity of CD8 T cells against bm1 allogeneic hematopoietic cells and bm1 skin allografts. These findings show that NK cells were impli-cated in the control host anti-donor cytotoxic responses, likely by competing for common cell growth factors in both CD8 T cell replete and CD8 T cell-depleted mice, the latter reconstituting in response to lymphopenia. Our data calls for precaution in solid organ transplantation under tolerogenic protocols involving extensive depletion of lymphocytes. These pharmacological biologics with depleting proper-ties over NK cells may accelerate graft rejection and promote aggressive CD8 T cell cytotoxic allore-sponses refractory to current immunosuppression.SIThis work has been supported by grant FIS PI# 1300029 (Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Ministry of Health, Spanish Government and co-funded by European Union ERDF/ESF, “Investing in your future”), LE093U13 and Unit of Excellence Research UIC #012 (Department of Education of the Regional Government, Junta de Castilla y Leon) and Gerencia Regional de Salud (BIO/01/15) to JIRB, and by Miguel Servet National Grant (Health National Organization Research) CP12/03063, CPII17/00002 and FIS PI16/00002 (Instituto de Salud Carlos III and co-funded by European Union ERDF/ESF, “Investing in your future”), and Gerencia Regional de Salud GRS963/A/2014, GRS1142/A/2015 and GRS 1505/A/2017 to M.L.R.G.This work has been partially funded by the National Network CIBER-ONC (oncology research) CB16/12/00480. P.S. is funded by grant 31003A-17-6256 of the Swiss National Science Foundation. We thank University of Leon for providing funding to cover publication expenses

Effects of Paratuberculosis Vaccination at Different Ages in a Dairy Goat Herd: A 2-Year Follow-Up

[EN] Vaccination could be considered as an effective method for paratuberculosis control, although controversial, with a need for investigation in some aspects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of vaccination, depending on the age of the animals, on their immune response, the reduction of paratuberculosis cases, mortality and culled animals in a commercial dairy herd. Goats from three different ages were immunized with the inactivated Gudair® vaccine. Peripheral antibody and IFN-γ output were evaluated for 21 months post-vaccination (mpv) and intradermal skin tests (IDSTs) for tuberculosis, with avian- and bovine-purified protein derivatives (PPD), were carried out at 6 and at 18 mpv to evaluate the humoral and cellular immune peripheral responses, respectively. The number of dead or culled animals, regardless of the reason, was also monitored and the causes of death determined by pathological examination. A significant increase in the production of IFN-γ was observed in all the vaccinated groups when the blood samples were stimulated with avian PPD, from 3 mpv to 18 mpv, and with bovine PPD, between 3 and 21 mpv. Moreover, serum antibody levels increased between 3 and 21 mpv in all vaccinated groups. The highest levels were found in animals vaccinated at 5 months, and the lowest in adult individuals. No positive reactants to tuberculosis were found by intradermal skin test. No animal losses associated with clinical paratuberculosis were detected in any of the groups. The number of total culled animals was significantly lower in the vaccinated than in the unvaccinated groups, especially on 1.5-month-old vaccinated kids. These results suggest that vaccination of paratuberculosis, especially in young animals, could induce heterologous protectionSIThis research was funded by Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness through the research project with reference: AGL2012-39818-C02-01. Marcos Royo and Noive Arteche-Villasol were recipient of a predoctoral contract of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitivenes

Histomorfología del testículo de corderos de raza churra en relación con la edad

[ES] Histomorfología del testículo de corderos de raza churra en relación con la eda

Effects of Ovine Monocyte-Derived Macrophage Infection by Recently Isolated Toxoplasma gondii Strains Showing Different Phenotypic Traits

[EN] Ovine toxoplasmosis is one the most relevant reproductive diseases in sheep. The genetic variability among different Toxoplasma gondii isolates is known to be related to different degrees of virulence in mice and humans, but little is known regarding its potential effects in sheep. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of genetic variability (types II (ToxoDB #1 and #3) and III (#2)) of six recently isolated strains that showed different phenotypic traits both in a normalized mouse model and in ovine trophoblasts, in ovine monocyte-derived macrophages and the subsequent transcript expression of cytokines and iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase). The type III isolate (TgShSp24) showed the highest rate of internalization, followed by the type II clonal isolate (TgShSp2), while the type II PRU isolates (TgShSp1, TgShSp3, TgShSp11 and TgShSp16) showed the lowest rates. The type II PRU strains, isolated from abortions, exhibited higher levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines and iNOS than those obtained from the myocardium of chronically infected sheep (type II PRU strains and type III), which had higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The present results show the existence of significant intra- and inter-genotypic differences in the parasite-macrophage relationship that need to be confirmed in in vivo experimentsSIThis research was funded by projects of the “Junta de Castilla y León” (LE080U16) and the Spanish Ministry of Sciences (AGL2016-75935-C2-1-R and AGL2016-75935-C2-2-R). R.V. and N.A.-V. were recipients of a predoctoral contract from the Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant nos. FPU-17/05346 and BES-2016076513, respectively

Causes of Mortality and Disease in Rabbits and Hares: A Retrospective Study

P. 1-17In this study we determined the causes of mortality and disease in a total of 325 lagomorphs (rabbits and hares) in northern Spain between 2000 and 2018. Risk factors such as the species, age, sex,time of year and origin were also considered. Clinical signs, gross and histopathological findings and ancillary test results were the basis for the final diagnoses that were reviewed to classify and identify the di erent disorders. A total of 26 di erent conditions were identified. A single cause of death or illness was detected in 267 animals. They were grouped into parasitic conditions (n= 65; 24.34%) represented by encephalitozoonosis, hepatic coccidiosis, hepatoperitoneal cysticercosis, intestinal coccidiosis, parasitic gastritis and cutaneous ectoparasitosis; bacterial diseases (n = 56; 20.97%) including pseudotuberculosis, blue breast, skin abscesses, tularemia, pneumonic pasteurellosis and staphylococcal infections; nutritional and metabolic diseases (n = 48; 17.97%) with epizootic rabbit enteropathy, hepatic steatosis and pregnancy toxemia as prominent diseases; viral infections (n=31; 11.61%) comprising rabbit hemorrhagic disease and myxomatosis and miscellaneous causes (n= 31; 11.61%) where rabbit enteritis complex, renal conditions (nephrosis), heat stroke, and arterial bone metaplasia were included; neoplasms (n = 12; 4.49%) represented by uterine adenocarcinoma, mammary adenocarcinoma, cutaneous fibroma, intestinal lymphoma and hepatic cholangiocarcinoma; toxicoses (n = 11; 4.11%); trauma-related injuries (n = 9; 3.37%) and finally congenital diseases (n = 4; 1.49%). In 58 animals of the study, some of these conditions were presented jointly. We discuss the detection frequency, possible causes or associated factors of the di erent pathologies as well as the importance of the diferent variables considered.S

Pathological Study of Facial Eczema (Pithomycotoxicosis) in Sheep

[EN] Facial eczema (FE) is a secondary photosensitization disease of farm ruminants caused by the sporidesmin A, produced in the spores of the saprophytic fungus Pithomyces chartarum. This study communicates an outbreak of ovine FE in Asturias (Spain) and characterizes the serum biochemical pattern and the immune response that may contribute to liver damage, favoring cholestasis and the progression to fibrosis and cirrhosis. Animals showed clinical signs of photosensitivity, with decrease of daily weight gain and loss of wool and crusting for at least 6 months after the FE outbreak. Serum activity of γ-glutamyltransferase and alkaline phosphatase were significantly increased in sheep with skin lesions. In the acute phase, edematous skin lesions in the head, hepatocytic and canalicular cholestasis in centrilobular regions, presence of neutrophils in small clumps surrounding deposits of bile pigment, ductular proliferation, as well as cholemic nephrosis, were observed. Macrophages, stained positively for MAC387, were found in areas of canalicular cholestasis. In the chronic phase, areas of alopecia and crusting were seen in the head, and the liver was atrophic with large regeneration nodules and gallstones. Fibrosis around dilated bile ducts, “typical” and “atypical” ductular reaction and an inflammatory infiltrate composed of lymphocytes and pigmented macrophages, with iron deposits and lipofuscin, were found. The surviving parenchyma persisted with a jigsaw pattern characteristic of biliary cirrhosis. Concentric and eccentric myointimal proliferation was found in arteries near damaged bile ducts. In cirrhotic livers, stellated cells, ductular reaction, ectatic bile ducts and presence of M2 macrophages and lymphocytes, were observed in areas of bile ductular reactionSIThis work was supported by the research funds of the Ruminant Health and Pathology research group of the University of Leó