Imbalanced Expression of Tau and Tubulin Induces Neuronal Dysfunction in Models of Tauopathy.

Tauopathy is a type of dementia defined by the accumulation of filamentous tau inclusions in neural cells. Most types of dementia in the elderly, including Alzheimer's disease, are tauopathies. Although it is believed that tau protein abnormalities and/or the loss of its functions results in neurodegeneration and dementia, the mechanism of tauopathy remains obscure.

Blood glucose is unlikely to be a prognostic biomarker in acute colitis with systemic inflammatory response syndrome in Thoroughbred racehorses.

Although hyperglycemia at admission with colic has been reported to have a poor prognosis, there is no report specifically about acute colitis with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) in horses. In this study, we measured blood glucose (Glu), insulin (Ins), and cortisol (Cor) levels in 17 Thoroughbred racehorses diagnosed as having acute colitis with SIRS, and examined the relationship between time-dependent changes in Glu, Ins, and Cor and prognosis. Glu levels were high in 3 horses at admission, but thereafter no horses had persistently high Glu levels.

Use of standing low-field magnetic resonance imaging to assess oblique distal sesamoidean ligament desmitis in three Thoroughbred racehorses.

Desmitis of the oblique distal sesamoidean ligaments (ODSL) is caused by hyperextension of the metacarpophalangeal/metatarsophalangeal joint and has been described as a significant cause of lameness in racehorses. In this study, three Thoroughbred racehorses (age range: 3-6 years) were diagnosed with desmitis of the forelimb ODSL using standing low-field magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI). Radiography and ultrasonography were inconclusive with regard to a definitive diagnosis.

Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonisation and infection in Thoroughbred racehorses and veterinarians in Japan.

Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections have been confirmed in hospitalised Thoroughbred racehorses at the hospitals of two training centres in Japan since 2009. To investigate the source of infection, the authors examined the rate of nasal MRSA colonisation in 600 healthy Thoroughbred racehorses, 53 veterinarians and 16 office staff at the racehorse hospitals of the two training centres. MRSA was not isolated from healthy Thoroughbred racehorses or hospital office staff.

Curcumin improves tau-induced neuronal dysfunction of nematodes.

Tau is a key protein in the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative diseases, which are categorized as tauopathies. Because the extent of tau pathologies is closely linked to that of neuronal loss and the clinical symptoms in Alzheimer's disease, anti-tau therapeutics, if any, could be beneficial to a broad spectrum of tauopathies. To learn more about tauopathy, we developed a novel transgenic nematode (Caenorhabditis elegans) model that expresses either wild-type or R406W tau in all the neurons.