Neuropathological Characterization of Dolphin Morbillivirus Infection in Cetaceans Stranded in Italy.

Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) is responsible for epidemic and endemic fatalities in free-ranging cetaceans. Neuro-inflammation sustained by CeMV is a leading cause of death in stranded cetaceans. A novel dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) strain of Atlantic origin circulating in Italian waters since early 2016 has caused acute/subacute lesions associated with positive immunolabelling of the virus.

Evidence for Unknown -Like Infection in Stranded Striped Dolphins () from the Ligurian Sea, Italy.

Two striped dolphins (SD1, SD2), stranded along the Ligurian coast of Italy, were diagnosed with a nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis associated with previously undescribed protozoan tissue cysts. As tissue cysts were morphologically different from those of , additional histopathological, immunohistochemical, ultrastructural, and biomolecular investigations were performed, aiming to fully characterize the organism. Histopathology revealed the presence of large -like tissue cysts, associated with limited inflammatory lesions in all CNS areas studied.

Isolation and molecular characterisation of Halicephalobus gingivalis in the brain of a horse in Piedmont, Italy.

Background: A fatal case of meningoencephalitis was reported in a 13-year-old Koninklijk Warmbloed Paard Nederland stallion, suspected of West Nile virus (WNV) infection, in the Piedmont region of Italy. Clinical signs included right head tilt and circling, depression alternated with excitability, fever and lateral strabismus. Combined treatment consisting of dimethylsulfoxide, dexamethasone, sulphonamides and sedative was administered, but because of the poor conditions the horse was euthanatized and submitted for necropsy.

Diets with different lipid contents do not modify the neuronal membrane lipid raft profile in a scrapie murine model.

Unlabelled: In Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), the localization of the prion protein in the neuronal membrane lipid rafts (LR) seems to play a role in sustaining the protein misfolding. Changes in membrane properties, due to altered lipid composition, affect their organization and interaction between lipids and protein therein, and consequently also membrane resident protein functionality; dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), gangliosides and cholesterol seem to influence these processes.

Aims: In this work, the influence of administration of different feed, able to change the composition of lipid membrane, on the clinical progression of prion disease was studied.

Therapeutic effect of CHF5074, a new γ-secretase modulator, in a mouse model of scrapie.

In Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) and Alzheimer disease (AD) both misfolding and aggregation of specific proteins represent key features. Recently, it was observed that PrP (c) is a mediator of a synaptic dysfunction induced by Aβ oligomers. We tested a novel γ secretase modulator (CHF5074) in a murine model of prion disease.

Decrease in pathology and progression of scrapie after immunisation with synthetic prion protein peptides in hamsters.

Effective therapy for prion diseases is currently unavailable. Recently, vaccination was shown to be effective in mouse models of a particular neurodegenerative conditions: Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we report that vaccination with synthetic oligopeptides homologous to the hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) prion protein augments survival time in animals infected intraperitoneally with 263K scrapie agent.