Laboratory indicators of hypothyroidism and TgAA-positivity in the Eurasian dog breed.

Background: Hereditary hypothyroidism represents a concern for dog breeders; thus, surveillance programs have been established for several dog breeds.

Methods: Thyroid profiles (total thyroxine (TT4), thyrotropin (thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)), and thyroglobulin autoantibodies (TgAA)) collected as part of a breed surveillance program in Eurasians (2009-2017) were retrospectively analyzed. The study included data from 1,501 Eurasians from a German breeding club.

Expression of CD9 on porcine lymphocytes and its relation to T cell differentiation and cytokine production.

In this work, we report on two novel monoclonal antibodies, specific for porcine CD9. CD9 is a tetraspanin that is expressed on a wide variety of cells. We phenotyped porcine immune cell subsets and found that CD9 was expressed on all monocytes as well as a subset of B cells.

The Effects of Play Behavior, Feeding, and Time of Day on Salivary Concentrations of sIgA in Calves.

The focus of animal welfare science has shifted over the last decades from efforts to avoid negative states to ways of allowing animals the experience of positive emotions. They may influence physiological processes in farmed animals, potentially providing health benefits; in addition, the physiological changes might be used as indicators of emotional states. We investigated calves' salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) concentrations with regard to a possible circadian rhythm and two situations that elicit positive emotions.

An Alliance of Gel-Based and Gel-Free Proteomic Techniques Displays Substantial Insight Into the Proteome of a Virulent and an Attenuated Strain.

The unicellular protozoan is notorious for being the causative agent of histomonosis, which can cause high mortality in turkeys and substantial production losses in chickens. The complete absence of commercially available curative strategies against the disease renders the devising of novel approaches a necessity. A fundamental step toward this objective is to understand the flagellate's virulence and attenuation mechanisms.

Unravelling the differences: comparative proteomic analysis of a clonal virulent and an attenuated Histomonas meleagridis strain.

The current study focused on Histomonas meleagridis, a unicellular protozoan, responsible for histomonosis in poultry. Recently, the occurrence of the disease increased due to the ban of effective chemotherapeutic drugs. Basic questions regarding the molecular biology, virulence mechanisms or even life cycle of the flagellate are still puzzling.

Host-pathogen interplay at primary infection sites in pigs challenged with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae.

Background: Actinobacillus (A.) pleuropneumoniae is the causative agent of porcine pleuropneumonia and causes significant losses in the pig industry worldwide. Early host immune response is crucial for further progression of the disease.

IL-12 and IL-18 induce interferon-γ production and de novo CD2 expression in porcine γδ T cells.

γδ T cells are highly abundant in the blood and spleen of pigs but little is known about their functional differentiation. In this study the potential of the type-1 polarizing cytokines IL-12 and IL-18 in combination with IL-2 and Concanavalin A (ConA) to stimulate porcine γδ T cells was investigated. Stimulation of purified γδ T cells with ConA and IL-2 induced a strong proliferation of CD2(-) γδ T cells, whereas additional stimulation with IL-12 and IL-18 caused a stronger proliferation of CD2(+) γδ T cells.

CD2 and CD8α define porcine γδ T cells with distinct cytokine production profiles.

γδ T cells are a remarkably prominent T-cell subset in swine with a high prevalence in blood. Phenotypic analyses in this study showed that CD2(-) γδ T cells in their vast majority had a CD8α(-)SLA-DR(-)CD27(+) phenotype. CD2(+) γδ T cells dominated in spleen and lymph nodes and had a more heterogeneous phenotype.

Porcine CD27: identification, expression and functional aspects in lymphocyte subsets in swine.

Up to now for Swine Workshop Cluster 2 (SWC2) the orthologous human CD molecule was unknown. By use of the SWC2-specific mAb b30c7 and a retroviral cDNA expression library derived from stimulated porcine peripheral blood mononuclear cells we could identify SWC2 as porcine CD27. Phenotypic analyses of lymphocytes isolated from blood and lymphatic organs revealed that mature T cells in thymus and T cells in the periphery with a naïve phenotype were CD27(+).

Cysteine peptidases, secreted by Trichomonas gallinae, are involved in the cytopathogenic effects on a permanent chicken liver cell culture.

Trichomonas gallinae, the aetiological agent of avian trichomonosis, was shown to secrete soluble factors involved in cytopathogenic effect on a permanent chicken liver (LMH) cell culture. The present study focused on the characterization of these molecules. The addition of specific peptidase inhibitors to the cell-free filtrate partially inhibited the monolayer destruction, which implied the presence of peptidases in the filtrate and their involvement in the cytopathogenic effect.

NKp46 expression discriminates porcine NK cells with different functional properties.

So far little is known about natural killer (NK) cells in the pig due to the lack of NK cell-specific markers. In this study, we identified the activating receptor NKp46 (CD335) in swine with newly developed monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for more detailed studies on NK cells in this species. The NKp46 mAbs showed a specific reactivity with a distinct population of perforin(+) CD2(+) CD3(-) CD8α(+) CD16(+) lymphocytes.

Current knowledge on porcine regulatory T cells.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are known in humans and mice from last 15 years, and several studies led to a detailed knowledge on their phenotype, functions, and role in various immune reactions. In swine, the existence of Tregs was first demonstrated in 2008 and research is still at the beginning. Nevertheless, basic information regarding phenotype, mechanisms and targets of suppression, as well as implications in transplantation and some diseases are available.

Effect of radiation on vascular endothelial growth factor expression in the C2 canine mastocytoma cell line.

Objective: To establish the radiosensitivity and effect of irradiation on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGF receptor (VEGFR) expression in the canine mastocytoma cell line C2.

Sample Population: Canine mastocytoma cell line C2.

Procedures: C2 cells were irradiated with single doses of 2, 4, 6, and 8 Gy.

Detection of Foxp3 protein expression in porcine T lymphocytes.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are potent regulators of various immune reactions. Due to the lack of Treg-specific markers their analysis had often been challenging until the discovery of the transcription factor Forkhead-box p3 (Foxp3) which serves as this highly demanded marker. So far, antibodies staining human and murine Foxp3 have been developed.

Phenotypic and functional characterisation of porcine CD4(+)CD25(high) regulatory T cells.

Over the last years regulatory T cells (Tregs) were defined as CD4(+)CD25(+) T lymphocytes expressing the transcription factor Foxp3 (Forkhead Box P3) with the ability to downregulate various immune responses. In swine the existence of CD4(+)CD25(+) T lymphocytes was described before but nothing is known about the function of this minor cell population to date. Therefore, we studied porcine CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells with regard to major attributes of murine and human Tregs: their phenotype concerning the expression of several T-cell specific antigens, including Foxp3, their IL-10 production and their suppressive capacity.

Detection of autoantibodies against thyroid peroxidase in serum samples of hypothyroid dogs.

Objective: To establish a sensitive test for the detection of autoantibodies against thyroid peroxidase (TPO) in canine serum samples.

Sample Population: 365 serum samples from dogs with hypothyroidism as determined on the basis of serum concentrations of total and free triiodothyronine (T3), total and free thyroxine (T4), and thyroid-stimulating hormone, of which 195 (53%) had positive results for at least 1 of 3 thyroid autoantibodies (against thyroglobulin [Tg], T4, or T3) and serum samples from 28 healthy dogs (control samples).

Procedure: TPO was purified from canine thyroid glands by extraction with detergents, ultracentrifugation, and precipitation with ammonium sulfate.