Cancer stem cell (CSC) research has increased exponentially to gain further insight into the mechanisms underlying both carcinogenesis and chemotherapy resistance. The present study was performed to explore the potential value of a side population (SP) assay for identifying and characterizing putative CSCs among canine lymphoma cells. Canine lymphoma cells from cell lines and clinical samples were subjected to the SP assay consisting of Hoechst 33342 staining and subsequent flow cytometric analysis. The SP assay revealed various amounts of a SP fraction among the canine lymphoma cells. The percentages of SP were not affected by inhibitors of membrane transporters, verapamil hydrochloride, or fumitremorgin C. Most of the canine lymphoma cells expressed high levels of Bmi-1 and membrane transporter proteins such as ABCG2 and phosphorylated (p)-glycoprotein. This investigation lays the groundwork for further studies of the biological behaviors and molecular characteristics of CSCs in cases of canine lymphoma.
Animals ; Benzimidazoles/*metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Dog Diseases/*diagnosis/drug therapy/pathology ; Dogs ; Flow Cytometry/*methods/veterinary ; Fluorescent Dyes/*metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Lymphoma/diagnosis/drug therapy/pathology/*veterinary ; Neoplastic Stem Cells/drug effects/*metabolism/pathology ; Side-Population Cells/drug effects/*metabolism/pathology

A ten-year-old dog was presented with pancreatitis and increased hepatic enzymes. On necropsy a large firm mass was observed in the liver extending to the gall bladder. Smaller masses with similar texture were found in multiple organs including lung, stomach, pancreas, lymph nodes, omentum, and mesentery. Neoplastic cells were spindle shaped with prominent osteoid production and occasional trabeculae of woven bone. Tumor cell emboli were observed in the blood vessels and lymphatics of the omentum and stomach. Hepatic osteosarcoma with systemic metastasis is very rare and may serve to broaden the diagnostic spectrum of hepatic and pancreatic diseases in dogs.
Animals ; Blood Vessels ; Dogs ; Liver ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Mesentery ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Omentum ; Osteosarcoma ; Pancreas ; Pancreatic Diseases ; Pancreatitis ; Stomach ; Urinary Bladder

An adult female dog was presented for evaluation of mammary gland masses. Complete blood count and serum chemistry data were within normal limits. Fine-needle aspiration cytology of the mammary masses revealed clusters of malignant epithelial cells with clear cytoplasmic vacuoles. Based on histopathological findings, a diagnosis of lipid-rich mammary carcinoma was made. Approximately 5 weeks after surgical removal, the tumor recurred at the surgery site and metastasis to the tibia was detected. Due to the poor prognosis and deterioration of the condition, the dog was euthanized.
Adult ; Animals ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Blood Cell Count ; Chemistry ; Cytoplasm ; Diagnosis ; Dogs* ; Epithelial Cells ; Female ; Humans ; Mammary Glands, Human ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Tibia ; Vacuoles

Exercise capacity is a valuable trait in horses, and it has been used as a horse selection criterion. Although exercise affects molecular homeostasis and adaptation in horses, the mechanisms underlying these effects are not fully described. This study was carried out to identify changes in the blood profiles of microRNAs (miRNAs) and mRNAs induced by exercise in horse leukocytes. Total RNAs isolated from the peripheral blood leukocytes of four Warmblood horses before and after exercise were subjected to next-generation sequencing (NGS) and microarray analyses to determine the miRNA and mRNA expression profiles, respectively. The expressions of 6 miRNAs, including 4 known and 2 novel miRNAs, were altered by exercise. The predicted target genes of the differentially expressed miRNAs identified by NGS were matched to the exercise-induced mRNAs determined by microarray analysis. Five genes (LOC100050849, LOC100054517, KHDRBS3, LOC100053996, and LOC100062720) from the microarray analysis were matched to the predicted target genes of the 6 miRNAs. The subset of mRNAs and miRNAs affected by exercise in peripheral blood leukocytes may be useful in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of exercise-associated physiology in horses.
Homeostasis ; Horses ; Leukocytes ; Microarray Analysis ; MicroRNAs ; Physiology ; RNA ; RNA, Messenger

To reduce swine production costs, a slaughter check system has been developed in countries with an advanced swine industry. Evaluation of lung lesions in carcasses is a critical part of the slaughter check system. This study was performed to collect background information for use in developing a slaughter check system in Korea. Lung tissues and their gross images were collected from slaughterhouses in Gyeonggi-do, Korea. Scoring of the gross lung lesions was performed on the lung images. Histopathologic examination was conducted to classify the pulmonary lesions as bronchopneumonia or interstitial pneumonia. Scores of the gross lung lesions were significantly different between bronchopneumonia and interstitial pneumonia groups (p < 0.001). A 90% confidence interval of gross lung lesion scores was established for the bronchopneumonia group, and the lesion scoring had a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 77.3%. The gross lung lesion scoring test was subjected to a diagnostic distinction evaluation by examining the receiver operating characteristic curve and was appraised as having good discrimination for bronchopneumonia. Establishment of a gross lung lesion scoring test for the diagnosis of bronchopneumonia could be valuable as a screening test of macroscopic bronchopneumonia in swine slaughter check system.
Abattoirs* ; Bronchopneumonia ; Diagnosis* ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Gyeonggi-do ; Korea ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; Lung* ; Mass Screening ; Pathology ; Pneumonia* ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Swine*

Study purposes were to evaluate ultrasonographic characteristics of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) and quantitate bladder tumor size in dogs. Heterogeneous mass, wall involvement, and broad-based attachment were significantly associated with TCC, but not prominently the trigone region. Mass size evaluation revealed a significant correlation between progressive disease (PD) in TCC patients with piroxicam therapy. Largest diameter of target lesion/body weight (cm/kg) ratio showed a high mean value in PD. A value > 0.3 was associated with PD with 83% sensitivity and 66% specificity. The results suggest that ultrasonography can provide evidence for diagnosing and predicting a prognosis for TCC.
Animals ; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell* ; Dogs* ; Humans ; Piroxicam ; Prognosis ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Urinary Bladder*

Background: Quantitation of urine protein is important in dogs with chronic kidney disease.Various analyzers are used to measure urine protein-to-creatinine ratios (UPCR). Objectives: This study aimed to compare the UPCR obtained by three types of analyzers (automated wet chemistry analyzer, in-house dry chemistry analyzer, and dipstick reading device) and investigate whether the differences could affect clinical decision process. Methods: Urine samples were collected from 115 dogs. UPCR values were obtained using three analyzers. Bland-Altman and Passing Bablok tests were used to analyze agreement between the UPCR values. Urine samples were classified as normal or proteinuria based on the UPCR values obtained by each analyzer and concordance in the classification evaluated with Cohen's kappa coefficient. Results: Passing and Bablok regression showed that there were proportional as well as constant difference between UPCR values obtained by a dipstick reading device and those obtained by the other analyzers. The concordance in the classification of proteinuria was very high (κ = 0.82) between the automated wet chemistry analyzer and in-house dry chemistry analyzer, while the dipstick reading device showed moderate concordance with the automated wet chemistry analyzer (κ = 0.52) and in-house dry chemistry analyzer (κ = 0.53). Conclusions Although the urine dipstick test is simple and a widely used point-of-care test, our results indicate that UPCR values obtained by the dipstick test are not appropriate for clinical use. Inter-instrumental variability may affect clinical decision process based on UPCR values and should be emphasized in veterinary practice.

In this study, we investigated the effects of T-cell suppression on the pathogenesis of subgroup J avian leukosis virus (ALV-J). Chickens were treated with cyclosporin A (CSP) 50 mg/Kg body weight or a corresponding volume of olive oil per every three days after hatching until the end of experiment. Some of the chickens from each treatment group were infected with an isolate of ALV-J, ADOL-7501, at 2 weeks of age. The effects of viral infection were compared to uninfected birds in same treatment group. Intramuscular injection of CSP induced significant T-cell specific immunosuppression determined by decreased cutaneous basophilic hypersensitivity response and decreased lymphocyte mitogenic activity using concanavalin A. Most of the chickens examined had Marek's disease virus infection prior to 3 weeks of age. The percentage of antibody-positive birds and antibody titers were similar in infected chickens between both treatment groups. The ratio of viremic chickens was significantly higher in CSP treated group than that of the Oil treated group. Microscopically, one CSP treated chicken had a nephroblastoma at 10 weeks post infection. At 7 and 10 weeks post-infection, more chickens had myeloid cell infiltrations in multiple organs including heart, liver and occasionally lung. Expression of ALV-J viral antigen determined by immunohistochemical staining was significantly higher in CSP treated chickens than Oil treated chickens at 10 weeks post-infection. This study indicated that chemically-induced T-cell suppression may enhance pathogenicity of the AVL-J virus in broilers.
Animals ; Antibodies, Viral/blood ; Avian Leukosis/*immunology/virology ; Avian leukosis virus/genetics/*immunology ; Body Weight ; *Chickens ; Cyclosporine/*pharmacology ; Dermatitis, Contact/immunology/virology ; Flow Cytometry ; Immunocompromised Host ; Immunohistochemistry/veterinary ; Immunophenotyping ; Immunosuppressive Agents/*pharmacology ; Lymphocyte Activation/immunology ; Marek Disease/*immunology/virology ; RNA, Viral/chemistry/genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/veterinary ; T-Lymphocytes/*immunology/virology ; Viremia/veterinary

Studies were performed to determine the effects of Bcell suppression on the pathogenesis of Subgroup J avian leukosis virus (ALV-J) in broiler chickens. Neonatal chickens were treated with cyclophosphamide (CY) or PBS, and then infected with ALV-J (ADOL-7501) at 2 weeks of age. CY treatment induced B cell specific immunosuppression throughout the experiment confirmed by decreased bursal weight, intact lymphocyte mitogenetic activity stimulated by Con A and increased relative subpopulation of CD3-positive cells as measured by flow cytometry. Chickens in this experiment had Mareks disease virus exposure prior to three weeks of age as determined by the presence of lymphocytic infiltration and antibody. Virus neutralizing antibody against ALV-J was first observed at 6 weeks post-infection in some of the infected chickens in the PBS group. As expected, none of the chickens from the CY group and uninfected chickens developed virus-neutralizing antibody. The viremic status was measured by real time RT-PCR using SYBR green I dye. The percentage of viremic chickens was significantly higher, and more chickens had high titered viremia, in the CY treated group. No neoplastic foci consistent with ALVJ infection were observed in any of the experimental chickens. The frequency and intensity of viral antigen expression determined by immunohistochemistry was significantly higher in tissues from CY treated birds than those of PBS treated chickens at 3 weeks post-infection. This study showed that B cell specific immunosuppression with CY treatment in chickens resulted in increase in viremia and viral antigen load in tissues.
Animals ; Avian Leukosis/*immunology/virology ; Avian leukosis virus/genetics/*immunology ; Body Weight/physiology ; Bursa of Fabricius/immunology ; *Chickens ; Concanavalin A/immunology ; Cyclophosphamide/*pharmacology ; Flow Cytometry/veterinary ; Immunocompromised Host ; Immunohistochemistry/veterinary ; Immunophenotyping/veterinary ; Immunosuppressive Agents/*pharmacology ; Lymphocyte Activation/drug effects/immunology ; Organic Chemicals/chemistry ; Poultry Diseases/immunology/*virology ; RNA, Viral/chemistry/genetics ; Random Allocation ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/veterinary ; Spleen/immunology/virology ; Statistics, Nonparametric ; Viremia/veterinary

Background: Gastric ulcer is one of the prevalent diseases in racehorses. However, it has not been recognized as important in Korea, and drugs used to treat gastric ulcers are included in the doping test list, so they are not allowed to be administered to racehorses in training. Objectives: This study was performed 1) to investigate the prevalence and the severity of gastric ulcers in Thoroughbred racehorses in Korea, 2) to confirm the therapeutic effect of ranitidine and omeprazole, and 3) to compare the efficacy between ranitidine and omeprazole. Methods: Forty-nine horses were randomly recruited, and gastroscopy was performed within two days after racing. Twelve horses with a sum grade of five or higher were randomly assigned to two treatment groups. Seven horses were administered ranitidine, and five horses were administered omeprazole. Follow-up gastroscopy was scheduled within one to five days after finishing the treatment. Results: The prevalence of gastric ulcer in Korean Thoroughbred racehorses after racing was 100%, and the grade was more severe in the non-glandular region than in the pyloric region.There was no correlation between the severity of gastric ulcer in the two regions. Omeprazole had a greater therapeutic effect than ranitidine. Conclusions This study shows the importance of recognizing gastric ulcers as an important factor, and omeprazole as a possible treatment option in Korea, as it has been removed from the list of prohibited substances for racehorses. Thus, the use of omeprazole is currently recommended until one day before the race.