A 7-month-old brown pig with a discoid and pedunculate mass measuring 14.0×12.5×2.5 cm on the skin of the right shoulder was noted at the slaughter house in Jeju. The surface of mass approximately 7×4 cm was interfaced with skin. The color of mass with firm consistency was mainly black and partially white on cut surface. Histopathologically, numerous unencapsulated endocrine-like cellular nodules of epithelioid cell type with abundant intracytoplasmic black pigment, melanin, were occupied in dermis and subcutis.

Residual materials such as veterinary drugs, environmental contaminants, and pesticides are affecting food safety. High resolution techniques and quality controls are needed to analyze these materials from part per million to part per trillion quantities in food. In order to achieve quality results, standardized methods and techniques are required. Our laboratories were prepared to obtain a certificate of accreditation for ISO/IEC 17025 in the analytical criteria of animal drugs, dioxins, pesticides, and heavy metals. ISO together with IEC has built a strategic partnership with the World Trade Organization with the common goal of promoting a free and fair global trading system.

Ethanol abuse is associated with liver injury, neurotoxicity, modulation of immune responses, and increased risk for cancer, whereas moderate ethanol consumption exerts protective effects against liver injury. However, the underlying signal transduction mechanisms of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) which play an important regulatory role in various metabolism mechanisms are not well understood. We investigated the effects of ethanol-induced p42/44 activity on IGF-I secretion, IGF-I receptor and IGFBP-1 secretion using radioimmunoassay and western blotting in primary cultured rat hepatocytes.

Suaeda (S.) asparagoides M∧IQ, one of the halophyte groups, has been used as a folk remedy for digestive disturbances in Korea. However, its pharmacological activity on gastrointestinal motility has not been reported yet. In this study, the effects of this halophyte extracts with various solvent fractions (ethanol, hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol, and water) on mice ileal spontaneous motility was examined. All solvent fractions at the concentration of 100 ㎍/ml showed inhibitory actions on spontaneous motility of ileum with the potency order of water greater-than 70% ethanol greater-than hexane much greater-than chloroform greater-than or equal to butanol greater-than or equal to ethyl acetate, respectively.

A stable and reliable Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection animal model would be necessary for evaluating vaccine efficacy and helpful for understanding the pathological mechanism of the organism. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of ethanol treatment prior to H. pylori inoculation on associated gastric mucosal injury and to establish ethanol-pretreating animal model to study H. pylori infection. Male Mongolian gerbils were used for the study. H. pylori was orally inoculated after 12 h fasting.

The shigellae are common etiological agents of bacillary dysentery in humans and primates. During four years from 2002 to 2005, 22 strains of Shigella spp. were isolated from the diarrheic patients in Seoul region. All of them were identified as S. flexneri by biochemical tests and serotyping. The prevalence of serotypes were variable by year, but the major serotypes were 2a and 3a. In an antimicrobial susceptibility test, all of the isolates were resistant to streptomycin and tetracycline, and susceptible to amikacin, kanamycin, cefoxitin, and gentamicin.

Progressing to the iron deficiency anemia was experimentally induced in 4 clinically healthy dogs by repeated phlebotomy to characterize hematologic features, serum iron values, and RBC indices. Abnormal RBC morphologies were also evaluated semiquantitatively on Wright's-stained blood films. Hematologic abnormalities in early stage of anemia included decreased both hematocrit and hemoglobin, and reticulocytosis, with no changes in mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were represented.

A 2-month-old female Shih-tzu dog was referred because of lameness, exercise intolerance, depression, elbow and stifle joint swelling. Physical examination, complete blood counts, serum-chemistry, radiography, synovial fluid analysis, antinuclear antibody test, and rheumatoid factor measurement were initiated. On radiography, soft tissue swelling of elbow and stifle joints without erosiveness were founded. The results of synovial fluid analysis revealed severe neutrophilic pleocytosis (nondegenerative), decreased viscosity, increased turbidity, positive on mucin-clot test, and negative on bacterial culture.

A 4-year-old male Miniature Pinscher was referred because of head tilt, nystagmus, and ataxia. The hemogram revealed a moderate neutrophilic leukocytosis. On magnetic resonance imaging, cerebellar inflammation was detected. And cerebrospinal fluid analysis indicated marked neutrophilic pleocytosis. Based on these results, bacterial meningoencephalitis was suspected. The clinical signs were well controlled by a combination antibiotics therapy of the third generation cephalosporins (cefotaxime and cefixime) and metronidazole.

Objective-To investigate the mechanisms by which corticosteroid administration may predispose cats to congestive heart failure (CHF). Animals-12 cats receiving methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) for the treatment of dermatologic disorders. Procedure-The study was conducted as a repeated-measures design. Various baseline variables were measured, after which MPA (5 mg/kg, IM) was administered. The same variables were then measured at 3 to 6 days and at 16 to 24 days after MPA administration. Evaluations included physical examination, systolic blood pressure measurement, hematologic analysis, serum biochemical analysis, thoracic radiography, echocardiography, and total body water and plasma volume determination. Results-MPA resulted in a substantial increase in serum glucose concentration at 3 to 6 days after administration. Concurrently, RBC count, Hct, and hemoglobin concentration as well as serum concentrations of the major extracellular electrolytes, sodium and chloride, decreased. Plasma volume increased by 13.4% (> 40% in 3 cats), whereas total body water and body weight slightly decreased. All variables returned to baseline by 16 to 24 days after MPA administration. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-These data suggest that MPA administration in cats causes plasma volume expansion as a result of an intra- to extracellular fluid shift secondary to glucocorticoid-mediated extracellular hyperglycemia. This mechanism is analogous to the plasma volume expansion that accompanies uncontrolled diabetes mellitus in humans. Any cardiovascular disorders that impair the normal compensatory mechanisms for increased plasma volume may predispose cats to CHF following MPA administration.