A six-year-old, female Jin-do dog was referred for the recurrence of vaginal prolapse. Less than 7 months previously, the dog with the vaginal prolapse had been treated with hormone therapy because ultrasonography had identified a single follicular cyst in the left ovary. Three months after the first visit, the dog came into heat and the vaginal prolapse recurred. Ultrasonography showed multiple follicular cysts in both ovaries and radioimmunoassay detected a plasma estradiol-17β concentration of 13.3 pg/ml. Treatment involved the repositioning of the vaginal prolapsed, ovariohysterectomy and the resection of the protruding tissue. The dog had been completely recovered two months later after the treatment.

A calmodulin-dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) sandwich fusion protein was generated by insertion of calmodulin into the β-bulge region of DHFR to observe the effects of structurally constraining the calmodulin structure. The calcium binding properties of the sandwich protein were almost identical to calmodulin. Similar to calmodulin (10.7 μM), the sandwich protein bound four equivalents of calcium, with half saturation (K∧0.5) observed at a [Ca²+] of 8 μM. However, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) kinase activation property of the sandwich protein was lower than that of calmodulin. The sandwich protein activated NAD kinase, but to only half of the level obtained with calmodulin. The K∧0.5 for both calmodulin and the sandwich protein were approximately the same (1-2 nM). Methylation analyses of the sandwich protein show that insertion of calmodulin into DHFR results in a large decrease in methylation. The V∧max observed with the sandwich protein (95 nmole/min/ml) was only 22% of the value observed with calmodulin (436 nmol/min/ml) in the presence of calcium. Addition of trimethoprim to the reaction significantly inhibited the observed methylation rate. Overall, the data suggest that the insertion of calmodulin into the DHFR structure has little effect on calcium binding by the individual lobes of calmodulin, but may constrain the lobes in a manner that results in altered interaction with the calmodulin-dependent proteins and severly perturbed the methyltransferase recognition site.

This study was conducted to investigate incidence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing strains and characteristics of ESBL gene in pathogenic Escherichia coli isolated from poultry during the period from April 2003 to December 2005 in Korea. Among 203 isolates, 4 isolates (3 from broilers and 1 from layer) were confirmed as ESBL producing strains by double disk synergy test, polymerase chain reaction and sequencing for β-lactamase genes. bla∧CTX-M-15 and bla∧CMY-2 were detected in these 4 isolates and were transferred to recipient by conjugation, respectively. Also, these ESBL producing strains were associated with multiple drug resistance. In conclusion, these results exhibit incidence of CTX-M and CMY-2 β-lactamase in pathogenic E coli from poultry in Korea, and clinically important meaning in human. And they also suggest the needs for rapid and broad surveillance to monitor ESBL genes and R plasmid transferring resistant gene in poultry.

Antimicrobial drugs are widely used in poultry industry as growth promoters or to control infectious diseases. However, this practice is reported to have caused high resistance to antimicrobial drugs in normal chicken flora and pathogens. Antimicrobial resistance to Escherichia coli (E. coli) from chicken has been mainly reported in normal flora, but rare in pathogenic organism in Korea, recently. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate prevalence of antimicrobials resistance, transfer of R plasmid, and association between antimicrobial drug resistance and O serotype of 203 pathogenic E. coli from poultry in Korea during the period from April 2003 to December 2005. These isolate showed a high resistance to tetracycline (Tc, 92.6%), streptomycin (Sm. 81.8%), ampicillin (Ap, 77.3%), ciprofloxacin (Ci, 70.9%), sulfisoxazole (Su, 66.5%), and trimethoprim (Tp, 58.1%). Two hundred-one (99.0%) of the isolates were resistant to one or more drugs. They showed 57 different resistant patterns, and the most prevalent resistant pattern among them was Tc, Sm, Su, Ap, Tp, Ci, Na. Sixty-eight (33.8%) of the isolates transferred all or a part of their antimicrobial resistant pattern to the recipient strain by R plasmid. The most common antinicrobial resistant pattern was Tc, Sm, Su, Ap, Tp, Ci, Na in serotype O78, O88 and O15, respectively. These results exhibit high individual and multiple resistance to antimicrobials of pathogenic E. coli from poultry in Korea. They also suggest the needs for surveillance to monitor antimicrobial resistance in pathogenic bacteria that can be potentially transmitted to humans from food animals and to regulate the abuse of antimicrobials in food-producing animals in Korea.

A two-year-old mixed breed sow was requested to the Veterinary Pathology Laboratory of Cheju National University with a clinical signs of severe abdominal pain and sudden death. Grossly, there was severe hemorrhage in abdominal cavity. Most of internal parenchymas and subcutaneous muscle showed severe pale discoloration. Both ovaries were enlarged with oval to round protruding multilobular masses and dark red in color. And they were firm and contained multiple small cysts in their cut surface. Histopathologically, numerous neoplastic granulosa cells had spherical-to-oval, hyperchromatic nuclei and scant eosinophilic cytoplasms were distributed with follicular pattern in ovarian masses. And the typical Call-Exner bodies, distinctive microcanityies, were observed in the center of small neoplastic follicles. Based on the gross and histopathologic findings, this case was diagnosed as granulosa cell tumor. In our best knowledge, this is believed to be the first report of granulosa cell tumor in a sow in Korea.

Many herbal extracts have been reported to have a preventive or therapeutic effect of on diabetes mellitus. Momordica Charantia commonly known as bitter melon or karela has been reported to be a medicinal plant for treating various diseases including cancers and diabetes. The objectives of this study were to investigate anti-diabetic effects of bitter melon (BM) as determined by blood glucose levels, glucose tolerance test (GTT), insulin tolerance test (ITT), insulin and HbA∧1c activities in serum, serum biochemical and lipid levels histopathology, immunohistochemistry and AMPK-α2 expression of skeletal muscle in male C57BL/6J db/db mice. There were four experimental groups including vehicle control, BM 10 mg/kg, BM 50 mg/kg, and BM 250 mg/kg. BM at doses of 10, 50, and 250 mg/kg was orally administered to the diabetic mice everyday for 8 weeks. The treatments of BM 10, 50, and 250 mg/kg significantly decreased the blood glucose level in the diabetic mice compared with vehicle control (p less than 0.05). The treatments of BM 10 and 50 mg/kg significantly decreased the GTT, ITT and HbA1c levels in the diabetic mice compared with vehicle control (p less than 0.05). All BM groups significantly decreased GOT, GPT, BUN, LDL and glucose levels in the diabetic mice compared with the vehicle control mice (p less than 0.05). The livers of mice treated with the BM 10, 50, and 250 mg/kg showed a remarkable decrease in the number of lipid droplets compared with the vehicle control. The pancreas of mice treated with the BM 10, 50, and 250 mg/kg showed a remarkable increase in insulin concentration of β-cells compared with the vehicle control. In addition, the treatments of BM 10, 50, and 250 mg/kg actually increased the expression of AMPK-α2 compared with vehicle control. These results suggest that BM has a respectable anti-diabetic effect resulting from inhibition of blood glucose level and lipid level in serum and that consumption of BM may give a benefit for controlling diabetes mellitus in humans.

There are accumulating evidences that high levels of dietary iron may play a role in colon carcinogenesis. Elevated iron status has been associated with oxidative stress. Phytic acid (PA) functions as an antioxidant by chelating divalent cations and prevents formation of reactive oxygen species responsible for cell injury and carcinogenesis. The protective effect of PA was investigated on formation of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) induced by azoxymethane (AOM) in iron-overloaded male F344 rats. After acclimation with AIN-93G purified diet (35 ppm Fe, normal control diet) for one week, animals were fed iron-overloaded diet (350 ppm Fe) and PA (0.5% or 2% PA in water) for 8 weeks. Animals received two (1st and 2nd week) injections of AOM (15 mg/kg b.w.) to induce colonic ACF. The colonic mucosa was examined for the total numbers of aberrant crypt (AC) and ACF after staining with methylene blue. The blood and serum were analyzed with a blood cell differential counter and an automatic serum analyzer. Iron-overloaded diet increased the concentration of iron in liver of the rats. But iron-related parameters in blood were not changed among experimental groups. The numbers of ACF per colon and AC per colon were 178.8 ± 33.2 and 448.4 ± 110.2 in the iron-overloaded F344 rats. The total AC was significantly increased, compared with normal-diet AOM control group (p less than 0.05). The treatments of PA at the dose of 0.5% slightly decreased the number of ACF and AC per colon to 153.6 ± 29.5 and 396.3 ± 107.5. However, there were no significant differences in the total numbers of ACF and AC between the AOM control group and PA (0.5% or 2%)-treated groups. These results suggest that PA may not affect the formation of ACF or AC induced by AOM in iron-overloaded F344 rats.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a member of the perfluoroalkyl acids that have wide commercial applications, is persistent organic pollutants widely spread throughout the environment and human population. But little is known about the adverse biological effects of the PFOA. In the present study, the toxicological effects of PFOA were investigated in rats. Sprague-Dawley rats (N = 10 in each group) were orally administered with PFOA in drinking water for 4 weeks (0, 100, 200, or 400 ppm in male, and 0, 200, 400, or 800 ppm in female). These female rats given 800 ppm died during the study. PFOA treatment decreased the body weight gain and increased the liver weights in both genders. Serum biochemical investigations revealed significant increases in the aspartate aminotransferase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, blood urea nitrogen, total cholesterol, and total bilirubin in male but in female. Serum estradiol (E2) levels were increased in all treated in all treated rats. Histopathologically, hepatocellular hypertrophy around central vein was noted in the liver of treated rats. No significant histopathological change were noted in other organs. In conclusion, PFOA induced toxicological changes in the liver and increased serum E2 level which was not related to histopathological changes of endocrine and reproductive system.

Although power analysis is of important tool research, investigators in veterinary medicine are unaware of the concepts of the statistical power. Two types of error occur in classical hypothesis testing and, those errors should be avoided, if possible. Since power is highly dependent on the sample size, whenever declaring non-statistically significant result they should consider the potential for committing a Type Ⅱ error in their studies, which refers to the probability of falsely stating that two treatments are equivalent despite true difference between them. Also, sample size determination is one of the most important tasks facing the researcher when planning a diagnostic study, and provides valuable information on the characteristics of a test performance. This type of analysis forms the basis for proper interpretation of test results. The aim of this article was to re-evaluate some selected studies on diagnostic test reported in the domestic veterinary publications to determine the power and necessary sample size for inequality testing to ensure the desired power. Power calculations were illustrated using real-life examples of comparison of a new test and a reference test for detecting antibodies of various animal diseases. Factors affecting to the power were also discussed.

A 4-year-old female Cocker spaniel was presented with respiratory distress and abdominal distension. Pleural effusion, ascites, hepatosplenomegaly, and superficial lymphadenopathy were observed and multicentric lymphoma was diagnosed by cytological examination. Immunophenotyping of lymph node and bone marrow using polymerase chain reaction for antigen receptor rearrangement identified a stage V lymphoma origination from T-cell. Despite of systemic chemotherapy using L-asparagenase, vincristine, cyclophoaphamide and prednisolone, neurologic deficits came out and progressed. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis revealed neoplastic lymphocytic pleocytosis indicating central nervous system involvement of lymphoma. The postmortem diagnosis was confirmed based on the histology and imunohistochemistry.