EVALUATION OF LIPASE AND AMYLASE LEVELS IN THE DIAGNOSTIC INVESTIGATION FOR THE EQUINE ACUTE ABDOMEN.

Lipase and amylase enzymes are mainly produced by the pancreas in horses. Increased lipase and amylase levels occur with acute pancreatic damage. Perturbation of the pancreatic microvascular perfusion is an important pathogenic factor in cases of pancreatitis. Our objective was to investigate the relationship between lipase and amylase levels and disease categories that cause acute abdominal pain in horses. Medical records were reviewed for horses with acute colic between 2011 and 2013. Lipase and amylase levels were measured in 96 cases. Diagnosis was based on clinical signs, rectal examination, abdominal ultrasonography and when appropriate surgical or pathological findings. Using these diagnostic methods primary acute pancreatitis (AP) and proximal enteritis (PE) could not be differentiated in all cases. Twenty-five horses (26%) showed increased lipase or amylase values. Six of them (24%) was diagnosed with AP/PE. All horses with lipase level higher than 1000 IU/l belonged to this group. Six horses (24%) had right dorsal displacement (RDD) of the large colon with average lipase and amylase levels of 623.8 IU/l and 53.5 IU/l respectively and 13 cases had diverse causes of acute abdominal pain with average lipase level of 194.4 IU/l and amylase level of 13.5 IU/l, all with high standard deviations. Fisher’s exact test was used to verify that the lipase and amylase levels are useful in separating AP/PE from RDD or either of these from other diseases. The data suggest that extreme values could be very strong predictors, but larger sample would be needed for quantitative results in this direction

FŰBETEGSÉG MAGYARORSZÁGI ELŐFORDULÁSÁNAK JELLEGZETESSÉGEI

Bevezetés: A lovak fűbetegsége (equine grass sickness, dysautonomia), egy polyneuropathia, ami elsősorban a gyomor-bél traktus beidegzését érinti, de elváltozásokat okozhat a centrális és perifériás idegrendszer más területein is. A betegség hátterében a Clostridium botulinum C egy toxinját feltételezik, és elsősorban legelőn tartott lovakat veszélyeztet. A gyakran halálos kimenetelű betegség egyre több európai országban jelenik meg, köztük 2001-ben Magyarországon. Cél: Jelen tanulmány célja, hogy a megállapított magyarországi fűbetegség esetek jellegzetességeit leírjuk. Módszer: 2001 óta Magyarországon fűbetegséggel diagnosztizált esetek klinikai és kórbonctani adatainak összegyűjtése. A betegség területi előfordulásának nyomon követése. Eredmény: Hazánkban eddig 50 esetben került a fűbetegség megállapításra. A betegség megjelenésétől 2009-ig az esetek 97%-a május és szeptember között fordult elő, 2010 óta az esetek 90% a november-februári időszakra esett. Hazánkban a fűbetegséget mostanáig csak egyetlen ménes, különböző földrajzi régiókban fekvő legelőin észlelték. A 49/50 eset lipicai, 1/50 gidrán fajtájú volt, 23/50 kanca, 27/50 mén és mindegyik az 1-3 éves korcsoportba tartozott. 2013-ban 3 olyan ló pusztult el, melyeket botulizmus ellen féléven belül kétszer oltottak. Az esetek többsége akut vagy szubakut lefolyású volt, csak 6 esetben láttunk tipikus krónikus lefolyást, a betegség kimenetele 96%-ban euthanasiára vagy elhullásra vezetett. A klinikai tünetek között gyakori volt az emelkedett testhőmérséklet, a paralytikus ileus és a ptosis. Következtetés: A betegség előfordulásának földrajzi változása alátámasztja a feltételezést, hogy egy, a lovak béltraktusában hordozott baktérium lehet felelős a megbetegedésekért. A legelők fertőződését a hordozó egyedek mozgatása okozhatja. A 3 évesnél idősebb kancáknál és az 1 évesnél fiatalabb csikóknál nem jelenik meg a betegség, ez igazolja a korhoz kötött, illetve a maternális immunitás jelenlétét. A szezonális előfordulás változása feltételezhetően a globális időjárási viszonyokat tükrözi. A klinikai tünetek nagy része megegyezik a nemzetközi szakirodalomban leírtakkal, de heveny esetekben gyakrabban észleljük a testhőmérséklet emelkedését, és ritkább a dysphagia vagy a tipikus foltszerű izzadás. A korábban használt vakcina hatástalansága alapján, egy újfajta botulizmus vakcina kísérleti felhasználásával, megváltoztatott alapimmunizálási stratégiával, 2015-ben széleskörű megelőzésre teszünk kísérletet

Cerebrospinal fluid parameters of horses with West Nile virus encephalomyelitis

West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne zoonotic arbovirus transmitted in natural cycles between mosquitoes and wild birds. Horses and humans are incidental, dead-end hosts, but can develop severe neurological disorders. By its close contact with the extracellular fluid of the brain, analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) composition can reflect biological central nervous system (CNS) impairments enabling the diagnosis and understanding of various neurodegenerative CNS disorders. Fifteen CSF samples were collected from horses with acute neurologic symptoms and positive WNV IgM ELISA on their sera. CSF samples of twenty healthy horses without any neurologic disease were used as controls. Biochemical and cytological parameters were evaluated and compared. Most of the data obtained from the WNV affected horses did not seem to follow a normal distribution, but protein, creatine-kinase, aspartate-aminotransferase, lactate-dehydrogenase, alkaline-phosphatase, magnesium, glucose, and lactate showed abnormal levels in a number of cases. None of the 6 horses with elevated glucose levels survived (<=0.36, modified Wald method with 90% CI). Opposite to previous equine studies we have found neutrophilic pleocytosis in 54% of cases. Measured data also indicates that CSF neutrophilia is more likely to be found parallel with high protein content (Fisher exact test, two tailed, p = 0.1026). The CSF findings with WNV neuroinvasive disease are nonspecific and variable. Neutrophils are likely play a role in the development of inflammatory response and brain damage. Increased enzyme levels reflect rather CNS injury than blood-brain barrier damage. Elevated glucose levels might be secondary to increased plasma levels and predict outcome

Cerebrospinal fluid parameters of horses with West Nile virus neuroinvasive disease

Objective: To compare biochemical and cytological findings of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples in horses with acute neuroinvasive West Nile virus (WNV) infections with those of control healthy horses. Design: Retrospective case-control study. Samples: Fifteen CSF samples from horses with acute WNV neuroinvaisve disease (WNVND)and twenty from healthy horses. Procedures: WNVND was diagnosed based on acute neurologic symptoms and positive IgM ELISA results. CSF samples were collected either from the atlanto-occipital or the lumbosacral sites. Results: CSF results of the WNV affected group did not follow normal distribution. Protein,creatine-kinase, aspartate-aminotransferase, lactate-dehydrogenase, alkaline-phosphatase,magnesium, glucose, and lactate concentrations showed abnormal levels in a number of WNV cases. None of the 6 horses with elevated glucose concentrations survived (<=0.36, modified Wald method). Opposite to previous equine studies we have found neutrophilic pleocytosis in 54% of cases. Measured data also indicates that CSF neutrophilia is more likely to be found parallel with high protein content (Fisher exact test, p = 0.1026). Conclusions and clinical relevance: The CSF findings with WNVND are nonspecific and variable. Neutrophils likely play a role in the development of inflammatory response and brain damage. Increased enzyme activities and changes in the electrolyte concentrations reflect CNS cellular injury rather than blood-brain barrier leakage. Although elevated glucose levels reliably predicted outcome, these results might be the consequences of increased plasma levels and reflectgeneral stress rather than any CNS pathophysiology. Examination of CSF is most useful when the results are correlated with history, clinical findings and ancillary laboratory studies

EQUINE HERPESVIRUS TYPE 5 IN BRONCHOALVEOLAR LAVAGE FLUID OF HORSES WITH EQUINE MULTINODULAR PULMONARY FIBROSIS (EMPF) AND WITH OTHER CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISORDERS.

The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence and the potential role of equine herpesvirus type 5 (EHV-5) in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples of horses with chronic respiratory signs. Altogether 60 horses with chronic respiratory signs of minimum of 2 weeks duration were involved in the study. Horses were clinically examined, respiratory endoscopy, thoracic radiography, ultrasonography, tracheal culture and evaluation of BALF cytology was performed. EHV-5 PCR assay was carried out on BALF samples of 15 horses in a commercial laboratory (IDEXX-VetMedLab Germany), 54 BALF samples were tested in the research laboratory of Szent Istvan University, Faculty of Veterinary Science and samples of 9 horses were tested by both laboratories. PCR testing by the two different laboratories gave homogenous results. Altogether there were 7 horses (prevalence: 11,6%) with positive PCR results. Three of them were diagnosed with EMPF based on histologic results of lung biopsy specimens or post-mortem tissue samples. These three horses were genetically closely related warmbloods. Two other horses suffered of suspected EMPF based on thoracic radiograpy with nodular interstitial pattern, EHV-5 positivity and intranuclear inclusion bodies but pulmonary biopsy was not performed on any of them. One positive horse was diagnosed with inflammatory airway disease and one with systemic granulomatous disease. Presence of EHV- 5 in BALF significantly (Fisher test, p < 0,001) correlated with the diagnosis of EMPF. BALF testing for EHV-5 is an important examination when establishing the diagnosis of EMPF. Genetic predisposition might render the patient more susceptible to EMPF or viral infection

Gyógynövények használata a cukorbetegség terápiájában : Irodalmi összefoglaló = Medicinal plants used for diabetes mellitus : Literature review

Kutyák és macskák cukorbetegsége egyre gyakrabban kerül diagnosztizálásra. Emberekben a tudományos vizsgálatok által bizonyítottan hatékony gyógynövényeket alkalmazzák a cukorbetegség kiegészítő terápiájában. A szerzők bemutatják és értékelik a gyógynövények állatorvosi célú felhasználását a diabetes terápiájában a rendelkezésre álló kutatási eredmények, szakirodalmi adatok felhasználásával. Megállapítható, hogy a kísérleti eredmények ellentmondásosak és a gyógynövények ilyen célú megalapozott, állatgyógyászatban történő alkalmazásához további vizsgálatok szükségesek. = Diabetes mellitus is one of the major health problems in dogs and cats. Cats rarely develop type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent), but type 2 diabetes (non-insulin-dependent, associated with obesity) has growing importance. Approximately 80-90% of diabetic cats have type 2 diabetes. In contrast, type 1 diabetes is common in dogs while obesity-induced insulin resistance does not progress to type 2 diabetes. There are more than 200 herbs with antidiabetic effects. The most commonly mentioned herbs are cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Cinnamomum verum), fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), gymnema (Gymnema sylvestre), curcuma (Curcuma longa), ginseng (Panax ginseng and P. quinquefolius), ginger (Zingiber officinale), bitter cucumber (Citrullus colocynthis) and bitter melon (Momordica charantia). Most of these have strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. High number of human and laboratory animal studies are published, but much less is known about the physiological function and optimal dosage of these herbs in dogs and cats. In comparison with human studies, the number of published dog (n = 8) and cat (n = 1) papers discussed in this review is limited. These studies used alloxan-induced diabetic dogs, type 1 diabetic dogs, insulin resistant cats, or healthy animals. Most of the studies resulted in decreased blood sugar but bitter cucumber had dosage dependent mild (diarrhoea) to severe (death) side effects. Based on the results we can conclude that the tested herbs having antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects (rosemary, basil, narrow-leaved purple coneflower, European blueberries, curcuma and milk thistle) are efficient and safe. In alloxan-induced diabetic dogs, fenugreek or fenugreek combined with garlic and black seeds seemed to be efficient. In insulin resistant cats roselle showed positive results. More scientific studies involving naturally occurring diabetic patients are needed to establish the optimal dosage and type of medicinal plants