An 8-year-old female Yorkshire Terrier was presented for investigation of reduced appetite, and occasional vomiting. She has been treated with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) from past 3 year-old age for contraception. Abdominal sonography showed abnormal enlargement of uterus, and ovariohysterectomy was performed. Main gross findings of uterus were enlarged lesions in two areas of the left horn, which had thickened wall and yellowish sticky material in the lumen. Histopathologically, cystic endometrial hyperplasia (CEH) and endometritis were present in the thickened area. In this case, CEH and endometritis may be attributed to prolonged treatment of MPA. It was concluded that further study is needed to clarify the association of MPA treatment with age, its pathogenesis and abnormal uterine changes in dogs.
Animals ; Contraceptive Agents, Female/*adverse effects ; Dog Diseases/*chemically induced ; Dogs ; Endometrial Hyperplasia/chemically induced/*veterinary ; Endometritis/chemically induced/*veterinary ; Female ; Medroxyprogesterone 17-Acetate/*adverse effects

In this study we investigated maternal Helicobacter felis (H. felis) infection status to determine the potential of maternal transmission. Pregnant Beagle dogs were infected experimentally with H. felis. Following the experimental design, the stools of the mother and litters were isolated and assessed for transmission of H. felis at parturition day, 1-week old age and 6-week old age respectively. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to examine the presence of transmitted H. felis. All litters showed no transmission of H. felis at parturition day. However, they revealed 14.3% and 100% at 1-week old age and 6-week old age respectively by PCR. These results suggested that vertical infection during prenatal period or delivery procedure is unlikely as a route of mother-to-child H. felis infection. It might be acquired H. felis through breast-feeding, contaminating saliva and fecal-oral during co-habitat.
Animals ; Cats ; Dogs ; Felis ; Helicobacter ; Helicobacter felis ; Humans ; Mothers ; Parturition ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Postpartum Period ; Research Design ; Saliva

In this study we investigated maternal Helicobacter felis (H. felis) infection status to determine the potential of maternal transmission. Pregnant Beagle dogs were infected experimentally with H. felis. Following the experimental design, the stools of the mother and litters were isolated and assessed for transmission of H. felis at parturition day, 1-week old age and 6-week old age respectively. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to examine the presence of transmitted H. felis. All litters showed no transmission of H. felis at parturition day. However, they revealed 14.3% and 100% at 1-week old age and 6-week old age respectively by PCR. These results suggested that vertical infection during prenatal period or delivery procedure is unlikely as a route of mother-to-child H. felis infection. It might be acquired H. felis through breast-feeding, contaminating saliva and fecal-oral during co-habitat.
Animals ; Cats ; Dogs ; Felis ; Helicobacter ; Helicobacter felis ; Humans ; Mothers ; Parturition ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Postpartum Period ; Research Design ; Saliva

Hermaphroditism was identified in a 3-year-old American Cocker spaniel with an enlarged os clitoridis that was shown as reddish finger-like structure protruding from the vulva. The urethral orifice was located cranially to the base of the os clitoridis. The gonads were situated caudal to the kidneys at the cranial tips of the uterine horns, and were composed mainly of seminiferous tubules and interstitial cells and had ovarian follicles in the cortices. The uterus was enlarged and revealed pyometra. Gross and histopathological findings of the dog suggested hermaphroditism with bilateral ovotestes and pyometra.
Animals ; Dog Diseases/*pathology/surgery ; Dogs ; Female ; Gonads/pathology/surgery ; Hermaphroditism/pathology/surgery/*veterinary ; Histocytochemistry/veterinary

In this study, a medicinal herbal plant, Meliae fructus, was examined and screened for anti-Helicobacter (H.) pylori activity. Seventy percent ethanol was used for herbal extraction. For anti-H. pylori activity screening, inhibitory zone tests as an in vitro assay and in vivo study using a Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) model were performed. Also, the safety of herbal compounds was evaluated by animal study. As a result of inhibitory zone test, Meliae fructus extract demonstrated strong anti-H. pylori activities. Also, as results of in vivo animal studies, Meliae fructus demonstrated strong therapeutic effects against H. pylori infection according to the criteria of histological examination and rapid urease test. As results of the safety study, after 28 days treatment of the Meliae fructus extract, the animals were not detected any grossly and histological changes. These results demonstrate that it can be successfully cured against H. pylori infection and protected from H. pylori-induced pathology with Meliae fructus. It could be a promising native herbal treatment for patients with gastric complaints including gastric ulcer caused by H. pylori.
Animals ; Ethanol ; Gerbillinae ; Helicobacter ; Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Melia ; Plants ; Plants, Medicinal ; Stomach Ulcer ; Urease

Apoptosis is a host defense mechanism that the cell uses to limit production of infectious virus. Although many viruses can induce apoptosis in infected cells, large DNA viruses, such as poxviruses, herpesviruses and adenoviruses, usually exhibit the ability to suppress the induction of apoptosis in the infected cells. Several publications have attested to the ability of herpesviruses to protect cells against apoptosis. We investigated the ability of the virus to protect cells in continuous cultivation from apoptosis induced by the virus itself. The gamma herpesvirus alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1) has been shown to harbor genes with antiapoptotic potentialities. However, here we have demonstrated that productive infection of adherent, permissive cell lines by AlHV-1 resulted in a cytopathic effect characterized by induction of apoptosis. This phenomenon was confirmed using different techniques to detect apoptosis and using different virus strains and cell lines. Therefore, despite the presence of antiapoptotic genes in its genome, AlHV-1 could complete its cycle of productive infection while inducing apoptosis of infected cells. This finding might have implications for the pathobiology of AlHV-1 and other gamma herpesviruses in vivo.
Adenoviridae ; Apoptosis ; Cell Line* ; DNA Viruses ; Genome ; Herpesviridae ; Poxviridae

In this study, we examined a colony of 20 beagle dogs in a laboratory animal facility. Mycoplasma was detected by consensus PCR assay in 1 dog with respiratory and constitutional symptoms. None of the other dogs were affected. The dog was euthanized and necropsied. In postmortem examinations, gray or plum-colored gross lesions were found on the lung, most commonly in the apical and cardiac lobes. Some lesions showed clear demarcation and consolidation. Microscopic examination showed peribronchiolar lymphoid hyperplasia and interstitial thickening, lesions pathognomonic for mycoplasma pneumonia. To identify canine Mycoplasma species, we used species-specific PCR reactions for M. arginini, M. canis, M. cynos, M. edwardii, M. felis, M. gateae, M. maculosum, M. molare, M. opalescens, M. spumans, Mycoplasma sp. HRC 689, and M. collis. As the result, we identified Mycoplasma cynos by amplification of DNA extracted from lung tissue of the laboratory beagle dog with respiratory disease.
Animals ; Animals, Laboratory ; Autopsy ; Cats ; Consensus ; DNA ; Dogs ; Felis ; Hyperplasia ; Lung ; Molar ; Mycoplasma ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

Toxoplasmosis is an important cause of foodborne, inflammatory, as well as congenital abnormalities. There is an urgent need for safe and effective therapies to eliminate or treat this cosmopolitan infectious disease. A medicinal herbal plant, Meliae fructus, has been used to soothe the liver and kills worms in Chinese medicine. In this study, Meliae fructus ethanol extract was examined and screened for its anti-T. gondii activity. For anti-T. gondii activity screening, in vitro study of Meliae fructus extract using tachyzoit of T. gondii RH strain-infected HeLa cells was performed. Further, in vivo anti-T. gondii study using a mouse infection model was conducted. Safety of herbal compounds was evaluated in SD rats by treatment with Meliae fructus extract for 28 days. As a result, selectivity of Meliae fructus ethanol extract was 5.85, which was higher than sulfadiazine selectivity (2.06). We also performed an in vivo study to evaluate the anti-T. gondii activity of Meliae fructus extract in a mouse model. The inhibition rate of Meliae fructus extract was as high as that of sulfadiazine. These results demonstrate that Meliae fructus can successfully cure T. gondii infection and could be a promising native herb treatment for prevention of T. gondii infection.
Animals ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Communicable Diseases ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Ethanol* ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Liver ; Mass Screening ; Melia* ; Mice ; Plants ; Plants, Medicinal ; Rats ; Sulfadiazine ; Toxoplasma ; Toxoplasmosis

To identify herpesviral virions secreted by viral replication, we have established the nuclease-resistance assay (NRA) as a comparative analysis to other conventional assays, including electron microscopy (EM). For this study, we used an efficient experimental in vitro infection model for Alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1), a gamma herpesvirus, to propagate the virus. The NRA could identify extracellular, cell-free, enveloped virions in the supernatants after 24 hours post inoculation (h.p.i.) of AlHV-1. The results of EM observation were correlated with those of NRA. Mature virions were observed in the clarified, concentrated supernatants from 24 h.p.i. by EM. These results show that sensitivity of the NRA is comparable with that of EM for the identification of mature enveloped virions, which directly presents evidence of herpesviral lytic replication. NRA allows us to differentiate the virus from other member of Herpesviridae, and has extended the possibility of analysis for quantification of shedding viruses when used in conjunction with real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Herpesviridae ; Microscopy, Electron* ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Virion*

Recently, several companies have released H. pylori stool antigen (HpSA) test kits. However, there is little information about the usefulness of HpSA testing for Helicobacter felis, which is the major Helicobacter species in cats. The aim of the present study was to compare diagnostic methods for diagnosis of H. felis with HpSA tests and PCR assay using cat stools or gastric mucosa. Male cats (n=6) were infected with H. felis ATCC 49179 (1.0 x 10(9) CFU /cat) by intragastric inoculation two times at 3-day intervals, and stool specimens of cats were collected 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, and 21 days after infection for HpSA testing and H. felis-specific PCR. For the results, sensitivities of the HpSA test and PCR analysis were 50.0% and 83.3% respectively. Cats were sacrificed 21 days after H. felis inoculation, and gastric tissues were homogenized. All gastric biopsy specimens were positive based on a rapid urease test (RUT) (6/6, 100%) and PCR (6/6, 100%). Based on these results, the HpSA kit is useful and effective for monitoring H. felis infection using stool specimens. If an HpSA test could be made with H. felis antibodies in the future, its sensitivity could be increased further. Further, PCR assay could be successfully used to detect H. felis in stools. Application of this HpSA kit and PCR assay can be utilized as a non-invasive strategy to identify H. felis in cats.
Animals ; Antibodies ; Biopsy ; Cats* ; Diagnosis ; Felis ; Gastric Mucosa ; Helicobacter felis* ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Male ; Natural Resources ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Urease