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Summary: The dematiaceous fungus Cladosporium cladosporioides is a widely distributed saprophyte that is reported to occasionally infect the lung, skin, eye and brain of humans. This report describes a German shepherd dog with granulomatous encephalitis and nephritis due to C. cladosporioides infection. Although the fungal organisms appeared non-pigmented in haematoxylin and eosin stained sections, they were readily identified with histochemical stains. Semi-nested polymerase chain reaction using universal fungal primers amplified fungal DNA from fixed tissue that had identity to that of C. cladosporioides on sequencing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Primary gastric choriocarcinoma (PGC) is a rare neoplasm to date only reported in humans. This report describes a canine gastric tumour with microscopical, histochemical and immunohistochemical features of PGC. The tumour diffusely infiltrated the submucosa and muscularis propria of the pylorus and anterior duodenum, and metastasized to the gastric lymph node. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells displayed aberrant expression of β-catenin and E-cadherin, but normal expression of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) protein. Expression of the oncogenes c-myc and Ras was also increased. These observations suggest that this canine PGC had synchronous activation of both the Wnt/β-catenin and Ras signalling pathways of carcinogenesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Maedi-visna virus (MVV) in sheep, which infects mainly cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage, produces changes in the lung, mammary gland, brain and joints. In this study, however, the liver and heart of six naturally infected sheep were examined for the presence of the virus. MVV proviral DNA was demonstrated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, and immunohistochemical examination revealed viral antigens in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes and cardiac myocytes. Although histopathological examination showed mild to moderate, chronic lymphocytic cholangiohepatitis and myocarditis and the presence of small lymphoid aggregates, the typical maedi lymphoproliferative lesions (lymphoid follicle-like structures of considerable size with germinal centres) were not seen in the liver and heart. These novel findings suggest that, although the macrophage is the main cell for productive viral replication, the liver and heart represent additional MVV targets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Greek small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) strains remain relatively uncharacterized at the molecular level, despite the fact that lentiviral diseases of small ruminants are known to be widespread in the country. In the present study, we investigated the sequence diversity of the LTR region in Greek SRLV strains from sheep with and without disease symptoms, since sequence differences within this genomic area have been shown to lead to SRLVs with distinct replication rates. The AP-4 and AML (vis) motifs and the TATA-box were highly conserved among Greek strains, whereas the two AP-1 sites exhibited some substitutions. Pairwise comparisons with reference strains revealed that Greek LTR sequences were closer to the ovine strains (25.7% average divergence) rather than the caprine strain CAEV (59.1% average divergence). The most striking difference observed between the two groups of animals was a 13–14 nucleotide deletion in the strains obtained from the asymptomatic sheep. The deletion was located within the R region of LTR, which was also found to be much less homologous (39.6% average divergence) than the U3 and U5. Taken together, our data suggest that the R region of LTR may be involved in virus transcriptional activation. Furthermore, a specific deletion within this region may, at least in part, be associated with low pathogenicity of some SRLV strains. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Infections with maedi-visna virus (MVV) cause progressive inflammation in different organs, mainly the lung, mammary gland, brain and joints. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the kidney represents a viral target in natural MVV infection. For this, kidney samples from 13 sheep naturally infected with MVV were examined by histology, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and immunohistochemistry. The kidneys of nine animals showed membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis and interstitial nephritis. The inflammatory infiltrate consisted of lymphocytes, plasma cells and macrophages. Interestingly, lymphoid follicles resembling those known to occur in other MVV-infected tissues were observed. Lung tissue from the same animals had typical MVV lesions, such as lymphofollicular hyperplasia and interstitial pneumonia. Maedi-visna proviral DNA sequences were detected in renal and lung tissue samples from these nine sheep by PCR, and the specificity of the amplified products was further verified by DNA sequencing. Moreover, MVV-specific immunohistochemistry revealed viral antigen in affected kidneys and lungs. These results suggest that the kidney may be a common target in natural MVV infection, and raise the issue of the role of this organ in the disease. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) infections have a worldwide distribution. In Greece, despite the fact that lentiviral diseases are known since 1967, SRLV genomic sequences have never been detected in field samples of infected animals. In this study, 143 animals from flocks with history of SRLV infections were analysed using ELISA, AGID, and PCR assays. None of the animals exhibited any clinical signs of the disease. ELISA had the highest sensitivity of the three assays (98.3%), but very low specificity (59%), in contrast to PCR that was highly specific (100%), but with low sensitivity (56.7%). AGID test had a good sensitivity (90%) and a very high specificity (100%). AGID failed to detect only six of the infected sheep; these were positive by PCR. This observation, suggests that the combination of AGID and PCR assays in diagnosis of Greek SRLV-strain infections may be advisable in order to achieve 100% sensitivity and specificity. In the present study we report, for the first time in Greece, PCR detection of proviral DNA in blood samples of sheep and goats from flocks with history of SRLV infections, and we compare performance of ELISA, AGID and PCR assays. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present study investigated for the first time benzimidazole (BZ) resistance in Haemonchus contortus originating from sheep in the area of Thessaloniki, Northern Greece, using an allele-specific PCR. This method detects a polymorphism (Phe/Tyr) that affects the amino acid at position 200 of the β-tubulin protein, and is known to be linked to BZ resistance. Forty adult worms were collected from local abattoir from 8 flocks. From each flock a total of 5 sheep were sampled and from each sheep one worm was collected. It was found that all 40 worms were homozygous benzimidazole resistant, which demonstrates for the first time that resistant strains of H. contortus do exist in sheep farms in Northern Greece. These results have practical implications in sheep farmer consulting in Greece, because sensitive screening of important worms using molecular methods may offer in the future a valid estimation on the correct use of anthelmintics towards a more effective control of gastrointestinal nematode parasites of small ruminants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

B Background: b We describe the successful DEN-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in C57BL/6 mice and investigate the impact of 2 different waiting periods (10 and 12 months), and targeted therapies. B Results: b Histopathology analysis showed achievement of HCC genesis in the DEN group and administration of targeted therapies intervened in the development of HCC and the cell signaling. Targeted therapies for HCC demonstrated an inhibitory effect in the development of HCC and intervened in the HCC development cell signaling. [Extracted from the article]