A Missense Variant in Associated with Canine Succinic Semialdehyde Dehydrogenase Deficiency (SSADHD) in the Saluki Dog.

Dogs provide highly valuable models of human disease due to the similarity in phenotype presentation and the ease of genetic analysis. Seven Saluki puppies were investigated for neurological abnormalities including seizures and altered behavior. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a diffuse, marked reduction in cerebral cortical thickness, and symmetrical T2 hyperintensity in specific brain regions.

Extreme Beta-Cell Deficiency in Pancreata of Dogs with Canine Diabetes.

The pathophysiology of canine diabetes remains poorly understood, in part due to enigmatic clinical features and the lack of detailed histopathology studies. Canine diabetes, similar to human type 1 diabetes, is frequently associated with diabetic ketoacidosis at onset or after insulin omission. However, notable differences exist.

Silencing of IkBβ mRNA causes disruption of mitochondrial retrograde signaling and suppression of tumor growth in vivo.

A number of studies show that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) depletion and attendant activation of retrograde signaling induces tumor progression. We have reported previously that activation of a novel nuclear factor-Kappa B pathway is critical for the propagation of mitochondrial retrograde signaling, which induces both phenotypic and morphological changes in C2C12 myoblasts and A549 lung carcinoma cells. In this study, we investigated the role of stress-induced nuclear factor-Kappa B in tumor progression in xenotransplanted mice.

Identification of the rostral migratory stream in the canine and feline brain.

In the adult rodent brain, neural progenitor cells migrate from the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle towards the olfactory bulb in a track known as the rostral migratory stream (RMS). To facilitate the study of neural progenitor cells and stem cell therapy in large animal models of CNS disease, we now report the location and characteristics of the normal canine and feline RMS. The RMS was found in Nissl-stained sagittal sections of adult canine and feline brains as a prominent, dense, continuous cellular track beginning at the base of the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle, curving around the head of the caudate nucleus and continuing laterally and ventrally to the olfactory peduncle before entering the olfactory tract and bulb.

Feline cholangitis: a necropsy study of 44 cats (1986-2008).

Forty-four cats diagnosed with moderate to severe cholangitis at necropsy are described. The population comprised 0.86% of all feline necropsies performed during the 22-year study period.

Lycoperdonosis in two dogs.

Lycoperdonosis is a rare respiratory disease that results from the inhalation of spores released from the Lycoperdon (puffball) mushroom. In the present study, 2 cases of confirmed canine lycoperdonosis are described. The first case presented to the Matthew J.

Prevalence of clinical abnormalities in cats found to have nonneoplastic middle ear disease at necropsy: 59 cases (1991-2007).

Objective: To determine the prevalence of nonneoplastic middle ear disease among cats undergoing necropsy and the prevalence of clinical abnormalities in cats in which nonneoplastic middle ear disease was identified.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Animals: 59 cats that underwent necropsy between January 1991 and August 2007.

The correlation between male age, sperm quality and sperm DNA fragmentation in 320 men attending a fertility center.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of male aging on sperm quality and sperm DNA fragmentation.

Methods: The ejaculates of 320 unselected men attending a fertility clinic and, as a control, 84 normozoospermic men without any history of ART were analyzed according to WHO guidelines. Sperm DNA fragmentation was measured by flow cytometry after staining with propidiumiodide.

Gerbode type defect and third degree atrioventricular block in association with bacterial endocarditis in a dog.

Gerbode type defects are rare left ventricular outflow tract-right atrial communications in people that may be congenital or acquired; they have been reported only once previously in dogs. Acquired forms in humans have been reported secondary to bacterial endocarditis, trauma, and valve replacement surgery, among other causes. We report a case of left ventricular outflow tract to right atrium and right ventricle communications (Gerbode type defect) in association with aortic and tricuspid valve bacterial endocarditis in a geriatric dog.

Clinicopathologic, histologic, and toxicologic findings in 70 cats inadvertently exposed to pet food contaminated with melamine and cyanuric acid.

Objective: To document clinicopathologic, histologic, and toxicologic findings in cats inadvertently exposed to pet food contaminated with melamine and cyanuric acid.

Design: Case series.

Animals: 70 cats from a single cattery inadvertently fed contaminated food that was the subject of a March 2007 recall.

Clinical, electrophysiological, and serum biochemical measures of progressive neurological and hepatic dysfunction in feline Niemann-Pick type C disease.

Niemann-Pick type C (NP-C) disease is a neurovisceral lysosomal storage disease characterized by neurologic dysfunction, hepatosplenomegaly, and early death. Natural history studies are very difficult to perform due to the low incidence and high heterogeneity of disease in the human population. Sixteen cats with a spontaneously occurring missense mutation in NPC1 were evaluated over time to define the progression of neurologic and hepatic disease.

A novel locus for dilated cardiomyopathy maps to canine chromosome 8.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), the most common form of cardiomyopathy, often leads to heart failure and sudden death. While a substantial proportion of DCMs are inherited, mutations responsible for the majority of DCMs remain unidentified. A genome-wide linkage study was performed to identify the locus responsible for an autosomal recessive inherited form of juvenile DCM (JDCM) in Portuguese water dogs using 16 families segregating the disease.

Tumors affecting the spinal cord of cats: 85 cases (1980-2005).

Objective: To determine the prevalence of lymphosarcoma and other tumors affecting the spinal cord of cats and to relate specific types of tumors with signalment, history, and clinical findings.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Animals: 85 cats with tumors affecting the spinal cord.

A complex rearrangement in GBE1 causes both perinatal hypoglycemic collapse and late-juvenile-onset neuromuscular degeneration in glycogen storage disease type IV of Norwegian forest cats.

Deficiency of glycogen branching enzyme (GBE) activity causes glycogen storage disease type IV (GSD IV), an autosomal recessive error of metabolism. Abnormal glycogen accumulates in myocytes, hepatocytes, and neurons, causing variably progressive, benign to lethal organ dysfunctions. A naturally occurring orthologue of human GSD IV was described previously in Norwegian forest cats (NFC).

Canine intracranial primary neoplasia: 173 cases (1986-2003).

This study investigates the clinical and pathologic findings associated with 173 primary brain tumors in our hospital population of dogs that presented between the years 1986 and 2002. Of the 173 primary brain tumors, 78 (45%) were meningiomas, 29 (17%) were astrocytomas, 25 (14%) were oligodendrogliomas, 12 (7%) were choroid plexus tumors, and 7 (4%) were primary central nervous system lymphomas. Smaller numbers of glioblastomas (n = 5), primitive neuroectodermal tumors (n = 5), histiocytic sarcomas (n = 5), vascular hamartomas (n = 4), and unclassified gliomas (n = 3) were identified.

Fibrocartilaginous embolic myelopathy in five cats.

Five cats had clinical signs, radiographic findings, and cerebrospinal fluid analyses consistent with fibrocartilaginous embolic myelopathy. All cats had an acute onset of nonpainful, asymmetrical spinal cord signs (paresis or paralysis of one or more limbs). Magnetic resonance imaging was performed in three cats.

Prevalence of diseases of the spinal cord of cats.

A retrospective review of records of 205 cats with histologically confirmed disease of the spinal cord was performed to identify the prevalence of disease in this nonrandomly selected population of cats. Clinical records were reviewed, and age, duration of neurologic illness, and clinical and histopathologic findings in cats with spinal cord disease were abstracted. Disease processes were classified into 7 categories and 23 groups.

Magnetic resonance imaging features of feline intracranial neoplasia: retrospective analysis of 46 cats.

The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics of feline brain tumors and to determine whether these characteristics can be used to accurately predict the histologic diagnosis. MRI scans of 46 cats with histologically confirmed brain tumors were reviewed, including 33 meningiomas, 6 lymphomas, 4 gliomas, 2 olfactory neuroblastomas, and 1 pituitary tumor. MRI features including axial origin, shape, location, signal intensity, contrast enhancement, peritumoral edema, and mass effect were reviewed and characterized for each tumor type.

Feline intracranial neoplasia: retrospective review of 160 cases (1985-2001).

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of different tumor types within a large cohort of cats with intracranial neoplasia and to attempt to correlate signalment, tumor size and location, and survival time for each tumor. Medical records of 160 cats with confirmed intracranial neoplasia evaluated between 1985 and 2001 were reviewed. Parameters evaluated included age, sex, breed, FeLV/FIV status, clinical signs, duration of signs, number of tumors, tumor location(s), imaging results, treatment, survival times, and histopathologic diagnosis.

Clinical differentiation of acute necrotizing from chronic nonsuppurative pancreatitis in cats: 63 cases (1996-2001).

Objective: To characterize clinical, clinicopathologic, radiographic, and ultrasonographic findings in cats with histologically confirmed acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) or chronic nonsuppurative pancreatitis (CP) and identify features that may be useful in the antemortem differentiation of these disorders.

Design: Retrospective study.

Animals: 63 cats with histologically confirmed ANP (n = 30) or CP (33).

Association between diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism or hyperadrenocorticism, and atherosclerosis in dogs.

The objective of this study was to determine whether dogs with atherosclerosis are more likely to have concurrent diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, or hyperadrenocorticism than dogs that do not have atherosclerosis. A retrospective mortality prevalence case-control study was performed. The study group included 30 dogs with histopathological evidence of atherosclerosis.

Disruption of dynein/dynactin inhibits axonal transport in motor neurons causing late-onset progressive degeneration.

To test the hypothesis that inhibition of axonal transport is sufficient to cause motor neuron degeneration such as that observed in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we engineered a targeted disruption of the dynein-dynactin complex in postnatal motor neurons of transgenic mice. Dynamitin overexpression was found to disassemble dynactin, a required activator of cytoplasmic dynein, resulting in an inhibition of retrograde axonal transport. Mice overexpressing dynamitin demonstrate a late-onset progressive motor neuron degenerative disease characterized by decreased strength and endurance, motor neuron degeneration and loss, and denervation of muscle.