[Enzootic spinal ataxia in fallow and wild red deer in Upper Bavaria].

Since 1993 several cases of spinal ataxia occurred in adult red and/or fallow deer in four farms in Southern Bavaria. The disease based on a secondary copper deficiency due to a high level of molybden and a low level of copper content in the feed. Some of the animals suffer from a severe disturbance of motion.

Congenital myopathy in Braunvieh x Brown Swiss calves.

A hitherto unknown skeletal muscle disorder is described in six Braunvieh x Brown Swiss calves. The animals showed rapidly progressing muscular weakness and became recumbent within 2 weeks of birth. Histological examination of skeletal muscle revealed a marked variation in muscle fibre size, internally placed nuclei, segmental loss of cross-striation with disorganization of myofibrils, and accumulation of nemaline rods.

Depression of the somatotropic cells in the bovine pituitary gland due to application of recombinant bovine somatotropin--an immunohistochemical and morphometric study.

The morphological alterations in the bovine pituitary gland resulting from the administration of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) are described. Three groups of German Simmental heifers (12 animals for each group) were treated. Group 1 received a placebo (vehicle), group 2320 mg and group 3640 mg of a prolonged-release formulation of rBST at 2 week intervals.

Alexander's disease in a Bernese mountain dog.

We present a case of Alexander's disease (AD) in a Bernese mountain dog. The male dog had a clinical history of tremors of the hind legs and posterior weakness, which deteriorated rapidly to posterior paresis and tetraparesis. After a disease duration of 4 weeks the dog was euthanatized at 13 weeks of age.

Spongiform central nervous system myelinopathy in African dwarf goats.

A novel spongiform myelinopathy of the central nervous system (CNS) of eleven African dwarf goats was examined by light and electron microscopy. Histological lesions consisted of extensive vacuolation predominantly of the white matter of the diencephalon, midbrain and cerebellar peduncles, as well as of spinal white matter. Ultrastructurally, vacuoles were shown to be intramyelinic, resulting from the splitting of the outer myelin lamellae at the intraperiod line.

Rhinencephalic glial cell nests and their possible role in glioma formation: morphometric studies do not reveal significant differences between brachycephalic and dolichocephalic dogs.

Gliomas frequently occur in boxer dogs and are often located in the rhinencephalic allocortex. This brain region contains unusual glial cell nests (GCN). The presence of structural abnormalities in the GCN in the boxer dog might indicate that they are involved in the development of gliomas, which would explain the predisposition of this canine breed for glioma formation.

[Neuroscience and veterinary medicine].

Clinical neurology in veterinary medicine did receive its initial secure basis by Hermann DEXLER in Vienna during late fall of 19th century. He could demonstrate that knowledges in neuroanatomy and -pathology are basis requirements for a reliable interpretation of morbid entities of central and peripheral nervous system. During the following decades a varied development of neurosciences was to be observed in veterinary medicine, comparing different countries.

In-situ hybridization for demonstration of equine herpesvirus type 1 DNA in paraffin wax-embedded tissues and its use in horses with disseminated necrotizing myeloencephalitis.

The detection of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) in infected cell cultures, and in tissues taken at necropsy, by the in-situ hybridization technique is described. A 4.9 kb Bam HI fragment of EHV-1 vaccine strain RacH was used as a probe after labelling with [alpha-32P] thymidine 5'-triphosphate ([32P]TTP) or digoxigenin-deoxyuridine 5'-triphosphate (dUTP).

Spinal dysmyelination in cross-bred brown Swiss calves.

The occurrence of a congenital neurological disorder "spinal dysmyelination" in cross-bred calves in Denmark is reported. A total of 36 affected calves of the Red Danish Dairy breed X American Brown Swiss were detected. The calves occurred in a clear familiar pattern consistent with an autosomal recessively inherited trait, and the parents could be traced to a common ancestor.

Age-dependent changes in the glial cell nests of the canine rhinencephalic allocortex. A morphometric study.

In the present study, the morphological features as well as the age-dependent changes of the glial cell nests (GCN) within the rhinencephalic allocortex of the dog are described. A combination of two stereological methods, i.e.

Spinal dysmyelination in new-born brown Swiss x Braunvieh calves.

In four new-born Braunvieh calves suffering from connate recumbency and body tremor, a hitherto not described myelination disorder of the spinal cord was examined. Bilateral symmetric hypo- as well as demyelination in several spinal tracts were the most conspicuous findings, affecting the ascending gracile funiculus, the ascending dorsolateral spinocerebellar tract, and the mainly descending sulcomarginal tract. Deficient myelin production, loss of myelin, consecutive axonal degenerations, and prominent astrogliosis within these tracts were the histological hallmarks of the disease.

Rabies virus neuritic paralysis: immunopathogenesis of nonfatal paralytic rabies.

Two pathogenetically distinct disease manifestations are distinguished in a murine model of primary rabies virus infection with the Evelyn-Rokitnicky-Abelseth strain, rabies virus neuritic paralysis (RVNP) and fatal encephalopathogenic rabies. RVNP develops with high incidence in immunocompetent mice after intraplantar infection as a flaccid paralysis restricted to the infected limb. The histopathologic correlate of this monoplegia is a degeneration of the myelinated motor neurons of the peripheral nerve involved.

[Spinal muscle atrophy in Brown Swiss x Braunvieh cross calves].

The report describes seven SMA-cases in descendents of crossbreeds of American Brown Swiss x Deutsches Braunvieh. Symptoms and course: After initially normal development of the calves for one to six weeks the disease set in suddenly followed by a rapid lethal course of one to one and a half weeks duration due to asphyxia and/or secondary diseases. Only one case was reported having been sick since birth (?).

[Unexpected transgene expression of a mammary-specific growth hormone gene construct in Bergmann glial cells of the mouse].

Pronuclear microinjection was used to produce transgenic mice harboring gene constructs, in which 110 base pairs (WAP1) or 2.4 kilobases (WAP2) of the 5' flanking sequences of the whey acidic protein (WAP) gene were fused to human growth hormone (hGH)-coding sequences. Female WAP-hGH transgenic mice expressed the transgenes in the mammary gland, the expression of the WAP2-hGH transgene mirroring that of the endogenous WAP gene.

Morphological, immunocytochemical and growth characteristics of three human glioblastomas established in vitro.

The human glioblastoma-derived cell lines 86HG-39, 87HG-28 and 87HG-31, used for the production of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against glioma-associated antigens (GAA), were characterized in terms of morphology, growth behaviour, chromosomes and antigen expression. In the primary tumours, differential expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein, S100 protein, Leu-7 and GAA as defined by mAbs MUC 2-39, MUC 2-63 and MUC 8-22 was demonstrated. Receptors for epidermal growth factor (EGFr) and nerve growth factor (NGFr) were found in many cells in short-term cultures, but the transferrin receptor (Tr) was found in only a few cells of 87HG-28.

[The differential diagnosis of spinal cord malformations in cattle].

Hereditary developmental disorders of the CNS, especially spinal cord, are of increasing importance in the bovine species. Therefore, congenital spinal malformations of non-hereditary origin have to be ruled out by carefully directed neuromorphological procedures. The two cases of malformation of the spinal cord reported were not accompanied by vertebral defects: The first one represents a complete diplomyelia of the caudal lumbo-sacral medulla in an 18 months old Brown Swiss heifer, the second one a circumscribed hydromyelia of the fifth lumbal segment, based on an incomplete dysraphic defect, in a 4 months old male German Simmental calf.

Production of antibodies to canine distemper virus in chicken eggs for immunohistochemistry.

The present study describes the application of egg yolk antibodies in immunohistochemistry. In order to obtain specific antibodies against canine distemper virus (CDV), chickens were immunized with attenuated virus. Distinct antibody titres in serum and yolk could be detected by means of a modified plaque/focus immunoassay (ELISA) two weeks after a second immunization.

[Diabetic neuropathy in dogs and cats--a bioptic electron microscopic study].

Electron microscopic examination of peripheral nerves within dermal corium based upon skin biopsies (punch diameter = 6 mm) of chronic diabetic dogs and cats in comparison with normal controls revealed that more than 90% of the diabetic animals (31/34 dogs, 9/10 cats) had developed characteristic neuropathies. The main features were of axonal atrophy of myelinated and unmyelinated fibers, demyelination and - to a lesser degree - intraaxonal accumulation of glycogen (about 25%). In contrast with human diabetic polyneuropathy vascular basement membranes were throughout of normal appearance.

Morphological studies in canine (Dalmatian) neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinosis.

Dalmatian dogs may develop a neuronal or generalized ceroid-lipofuscinosis (NCL) which strongly resembles that seen in English setters, especially as to the ultrastructural changes and ubiquity of the stored lipopigments and the retinal pathology, while differing clinically from the disorder of English setters in that the disease has a longer course of up to 5 or 6 yr. Clinical onset is at about age 6 months; however, an unequivocal morphological diagnosis is possible between the 4th and 5th month of life in biopsied skin. Detailed data of additional investigations are in progress and are awaiting later publication.

Ultrastructure of retinal pigment epithelial and neural cells in the neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinosis affected Dalmatian dog.

Ubiquitous accumulation of lipopigments, entailing lamellar, fingerprint, and curvilinear bodies in varying cell types of the retina, and, in addition, peculiar circular inclusions within retinal pigment epithelial cells in the retina of two Dalmatian dogs afflicted with neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinosis, emphasize the identity of its retinal ultrastructural pathology to that observed in NCL-affected English setters, while the retinal layers appear largely preserved. The circular inclusions in RPE cells are unique to canine NCL; they are not encountered in human NCL, nor in primary non-NCL retinal dystrophies of other canine species. Their origin and pathogenesis, so far, remain subject to speculation, rather than to convincing explanation.