Cell culture systems for the protozoan Eimeria are not yet available. The present study was conducted to develop an animal model system by inoculating animals with a live Eimeria vaccine. This study was conducted on 3-day-old chickens (n = 20) pretreated with cyclophosphamide. The chickens were divided into 2 groups: the control group (n = 10) and the inoculated group that received the live Eimeria vaccine (n = 10). During the study period, we compared the clinical signs, changes in body weight, and number of oocysts shed in the feces of the control and inoculated group. This study showed that oocyst shedding was significantly higher in the chickens inoculated with live Eimeria oocysts than in the control chickens. Moreover, body weight gain was lesser in the animals in the inoculated group than in the control animals. Fecal oocyst shedding was observed in the inoculated animals. On the basis of these findings, we suggest that live Eimeria vaccination with cyclophosphamide pretreatment may be used to obtain an effective animal model for studying protozoan infections. This animal study model may eliminate the need for a tedious continuous animal inoculation process every 6 months because the live coccidiosis vaccine contains live oocysts.
Animals ; Body Weight ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Chickens ; Coccidiosis ; Cyclophosphamide ; Eimeria ; Feces ; Models, Animal ; Oocysts ; Protozoan Infections ; Vaccination

An abnormal swelling was identified in the distal portion of the right femur in a 1-year-old non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse. Grossly, a large mass of the distal femur was observed in the right femur. Lesions were poorly marginated, associated with destruction of the cancellous and cortical elements of the bone, and showed ossification within the soft tissue component. Histologically, the tumor was identified as a poorly differentiated sarcoma. Histopathologic examination of the bone masses revealed invasive proliferation of poorly differentiated neoplastic mesenchymal cells forming streams, bundles, and nests, which resulted in destruction of normal bone. Neoplastic cells exhibited random variation in cellular appearance and arrangement, as well as matrix composition and abundance. Haphazard and often intermingling patterns of osteogenic, chondroblastic, lipoblastic, and angiogenic tissues were present. Larger areas of neoplastic bone and hyaline cartilage contained multiple large areas of hemorrhage and necrosis bordered by neoplastic cells. The mass was diagnosed as an osteosarcoma. To our knowledge, this is the first spontaneous osteosarcoma in an NOD mouse.
Animals ; Chondrocytes ; Durapatite ; Femur ; Hemorrhage ; Hyaline Cartilage ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred NOD ; Necrosis ; Osteosarcoma ; Rivers ; Sarcoma

A one-year-old male Beagle dog showed dermatitis, alopecia and scales. Examination of the affected dog revealed generalized alopecia, patchy erythema, and superficial erosions with histological evidence of mural folliculitis. External tests for parasites in scraped skin samples were negative. However, fungal culture tests and polymerase chain reaction revealed the existence of Candida in the lesion. These results suggest that cutaneous candidiasis may induce mural folliculitis and alopecia in dogs.
Alopecia ; Animals ; Candida ; Candidiasis ; Candidiasis, Cutaneous ; Dermatitis ; Dogs ; Erythema ; Folliculitis ; Humans ; Male ; Parasites ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Skin ; Weights and Measures