Cutaneous Alternaria infectoria infection in a dog in association with therapeutic immunosuppression for the management of immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia.

A 4-year-old, ovariohysterectomized, English springer spaniel on immunosuppressive therapy was re-examined for the review of its immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia and the recent development of skin lesions. For the 3 months since hospital discharge, the dog had been receiving 1.3 mg/kg prednisolone and 2.

Undifferentiated carcinoma of the salivary gland in a chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera).

A 12-year-old chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) developed a slow-growing, soft, fluctuating, nonpainful mass on the ventral neck with focally extensive alopecia over a period of approximately 8 months. On postmortem examination, an extensive, multilobulated, cystic, neoplastic mass extended subcutaneously over the ventral and lateral neck with metastatic spread to submandibular lymph nodes, spleen, liver, and lungs. Neoplastic cells were strongly positive for vimentin and pan-cytokeratin but were negative for alpha-smooth muscle actin, S100, and myosin; no intracytoplasmic myofibrils were detected on phosphotungstic acid hematoxylin staining.

Imaging diagnosis--congenital venous aneurysm of the left external jugular vein.

Primary congenital jugular vein aneurysms are rare with only one prior report in a canine patient. Herein, we describe an 18-week-old Flat Coated Retriever dog in which ultrasound was used to diagnose a primary congenital external jugular vein aneurysm with concurrent dilatation of the internal jugular vein. The aneurysm was successfully removed and the dog remains disease free 24 months postoperatively.

Distribution of myofibroblasts, smooth muscle-like cells, macrophages, and mast cells in mitral valve leaflets of dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Objective: To map the cellular distribution and phenotypic alteration of the predominant stromal cell population throughout the entire valve length of dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD).

Sample Population: 31 mitral valve complexes (ie, mitral valve leaflets) collected from 4 clinically normal dogs and 27 dogs with MMVD of varying severity.

Procedures: A combination of standard histologic and immunohistochemical techniques was used to identify pathologic changes, the presence of mast cells, and the density and distribution of cells expressing vimentin, desmin, alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA), smooth muscle myosin, and the macrophage marker MAC387.

Apical junction complex protein expression in the canine colon: differential expression of claudin-2 in the colonic mucosa in dogs with idiopathic colitis.

Canine idiopathic lymphocytic-plasmacytic colitis (LPC) is a well-recognized clinical and pathological entity in the dog, associated with altered immune cell populations and cytokine expression profiles. Clinical and experimental data indicate that alterations in the permeability of the intestinal epithelium contribute to the pathogenesis of a range of related conditions. The apical junction complex plays a significant role in regulating epithelial paracellular permeability, and we have characterized the distribution of a number of its component tight junction (ZO-1, occludin, claudin-2) and adherens junction (E-cadherin and beta-catenin) proteins in normal colon and colon from dogs with idiopathic LPC.

Unusual histiocytic disease in a Somali cat.

An 8-year-old Somali cat presented with a 9-month history of inappetence, vomiting and weight loss. The disease progressed to involve neurological signs associated with a mass lesion at the level of the first lumbar vertebra. Histopathology identified the condition as malignant histiocytosis affecting the lungs, stomach, mesenteric lymph nodes, liver, spleen, brain and spinal cord.

Expression of receptors for verotoxin 1 from Escherichia coli O157 on bovine intestinal epithelium.

Human enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) infection most commonly arises, either directly or indirectly, from cattle, which act as a reservoir host for these bacteria. In man, EHEC disease can be severe, whereas EHEC do not normally cause disease in cattle. Verotoxins (VTs) are the main virulence factors in human disease but no role for VT has been ascribed in cattle; however, this study shows for the first time that VT receptor is expressed by the bovine intestinal tract.