Contents page of the issue April 2008




EQUINE

L. Szeredi, Zs. Kléh, V. Pálfi: Equine viral arteritis virus caused disease in a foal in a Hungarian horse farm. Case report / 195

PORCINE
P. Papócsi, A. Hermán, J. Gundel, S. Gy. Fekete: Effect of chopped alfalfa hay supplementation of the feedstuffs during pregnancy on breeding sows’ reproductive performance / 199

SMALL ANIMALS
Á. Maróti-Agóts, A. Markó, L. Zöldág: Modified molecular genetic diagnosis of feline polycystic kidney disease / 205
A. Tipold: Inflammatory diseases of small animals’ central nervous system / 212

WILD ANIMALS
V. Molnár, N. Váradi, A. Beregi, B. Fenyves, E. Sós, M. Liptovszky, B. Bakos, Z. Molnár, F. Felkai: Radiology of bats (Chiroptera) / 219

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
G. Horváth, L. Solti: Use of chemically defined media for the vitrification of bovine oocytes / 227

LABORATORY DIAGNOSTICS
L. Szeredi, Á. Ráczné Mészáros: The use of immunohistochemistry for the diagnosis of infectious animal diseases / 232

INSTRUMENTAL DIAGNOSTICS
L. Tóth, Zs. Petrási, P. Bogner: Possible applications of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the animal sciences / 247

EVENTS
Veterinary Memorial Day in Fejér County (Székesfehérvár, 7 December 2007) (A. Szabó) / 255

IN MEMORIAM
János Szabó Szűcs (1926–2007) (K. Almási) / 211

L. Szeredi – Zs. Kléh – V. Pálfi:
EQUINE VIRAL ARTERITIS VIRUS CAUSED DISEASE IN A FOAL IN A HUNGARIAN HORSE FARM. CASE REPORT

Abortion and respiratory diseases with fever was observed in newborn foals in a small farm. One of the newborn foals died some hours after the onset of symptoms, and the lungs were sent for pathological and microbiological examinations. Severe interstitial pneumonia with the presence of hyaline membrane and mild lympho-histiocytic vasculitis, perivasculitis and fibrinoid necrosis in the small muscular arteries was observed. Equine arteritis virus (EAV) was isolated from the lung and large amount of virus antigen was detected in the lung with immunohistochemistry using a commercially available EAV-specific monoclonal antibody. This case indicates, that EAV-induced disease can rarely occur even nowadays in Hungary, in spite of the high seroprevalence of EAV infection in the country.

P. Papócsi – A. Hermán – J. Gundel – S. Gy. Fekete:
EFFECT OF CHOPPED ALFALFA HAY SUPPLEMENTATION OF THE FEEDSTUFFS DURING PREGNANCY ON BREEDING SOWS’ REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE

The authors compared the effect of an average diet (control) and a basic diet, the control was supplemented with 300 g chopped alfalfa hay daily, to evaluate the optimum fibre supply of the pregnant sows during two whole reproductive cycles. According to their results the lactational weight loss decreased and the voluntary feed intake increased after the application of fibre supplement. Alfalfa supplementation increased the litter size at parturition and the number and daily gain of suckling piglets. These results confirm the beneficial effect of the fibre supplementation, especially in form of the used special alfalfa preparation.

Á. Maróti-Agóts – A. Markó – L. Zöldág:
MODIFIED MOLECULAR GENETIC DIAGNOSIS OF FELINE POLYCYSTIC KIDNEY DISEASE

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is one of the most common inherited feline diseases of nowadays, affecting 38% of Persian and Persian-related cats worldwide, including the British Shorthair, Maine Coon, Exotic Shorthair, Himalaya and in Siamese. The way of inheritance of PKD is proven to be autosomal dominant. During the pathogenesis of the disease, fluid-filled cysts evolve in the kidney and sometimes in other organs, such as the liver, uterus or the pancreas. The cysts cause the atrophy of the kidney’s matter followed by chronic renal failure. The aim of this study was to determine the value of molecular diagnosis of feline PKD, from both new and fixed histological samples. Total genomic DNA was extracted and purified, the mutated sequences (PKD1 gene, exon29) were amplified, sequenced and digested by restriction endonuclease (RFLP), finally separated by electrophoresis. The developed allele specific PCR reaction was successfully applied for diagnosis in a special three primer containing PCR reaction (Figure). Molecular examination of PKD is well-suited for practical application and can be used for routine early diagnosis, screening, and reducing the incidence of warranty cases.

V. Molnár – N. Váradi – A. Beregi – B. Fenyves – E. Sós – M. Liptovszky – B. Bakos – Z. Molnár – F. Felkai:
RADIOLOGY OF BATS (CHIROPTERA)

The most common radiological indications in bats are traumatic injuries of the sceletal system. With the exception of the lungs the radioopacity of the soft tissue organs are quite similar, so there is no justification in bats for the so called hard and soft X-ray techniques used in larger animal species.
Radiology contributes a lot of valuable information to the diagnostic assessment of injured bats. It is indispensable to the correct charting of the alterations, the choice of the proper therapy, the planning and the control of the surgical intervention and the efficacy of regeneration processes.
Neither the form and the size, nor the function of the soft tissue organs can be diagnosed by the evaluation of the radiographs, which raises the need of other diagnostic methods during the basic clinical steps.

G. Horváth – L. Solti:
USE OF CHEMICALLY DEFINED MEDIA FOR THE VITRIFICATION OF BOVINE OOCYTES

Most media used during oocyte vitrification contains protein sources of animal origin, which may raise epidemiological concerns, and as these compounds are not defined chemically, the outcome of vitrification may vary, as well. The aim of the study was to exclude proteins of animal origin from media and to replace it with chemically defined compounds. Prior to vitrification, the oocytes were pretreated with cholesterol loaded into methyl-β-cyclodextrin or fetuin. After vitrification, the cholesterol treated group of oocytes resulted in higher cleavage rate and 8-cell-stage rate in comparison to the untreated oocytes or the ones vitrified with the traditional fetal calf serum containing media, but no effect was seen in their further development. The fetuin supplementation before vitrification did not result in any advantage, but the results were comparable to the standard process, during which fetal calf serum was used.

L. Szeredi – Á. Ráczné Mészáros:
THE USE OF IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTIOUS ANIMAL DISEASES

After a brief review of the immunohistochemical method (IHC), the authors present the IHC protocols used in their laboratory to detect infectious diseases. They report about 35 different, mostly commercially available primary antibodies, which are able to detect viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites in formaldehyde-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue samples. They review the sensitivity and specificity of IHC in case of each infectious disease according to the literature, and they present also their own experiences. The authors suggest the use of IHC in the daily diagnostic work, because of its rapidity, sensitivity and the relative low cost of the test.

L. Tóth – Zs. Petrási – P. Bogner:
POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI) IN THE ANIMAL SCIENCE

The autors review the possible applications of one of the modern imaging techniques, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The authors summarize the fields of application of MRI in animal science, particularly the possibility of usage of MRI in veterinary therapy. Finally, they present the basis and potentials of functional MRI, and review the advantages and limits of the use of MR imaging.