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Neospora caninum, a protozoan parasite, has been considered as one of the most important etiological agents responsible for abortion in dairy cattle throughout the world since it was first identified in dogs in 1988. In this report, characteristics of neosporosis, detected in a dairy cow ranch having epidemic abortions as high as 18.4%, were described. Blood samples were collected from 25 infertile or aborted dairy cattle, 6 calves born in 2006 and 40 heifers that were born in 2005 and raised in the same ranch. Necropsy was conducted in a 20-day-old Simmental calf that exhibited neurological signs including incoordination, head shaking, hyperextension in forelimbs and hindlimbs and tremor. The seroprevalance in aborted or infertile dairy cattle, heifers, and calves was 60%, 40%, and 33.3%, respectively. The mothers of seropositive two calves including clinically affected calf and its dam were N. caninum seropositive. In immunoperoxidase examinations, N. caninum antigen immunopositivity was observed in the degenerative and necrotic neurons in the brain, cerebellum as well as neurons in dorsal root ganglia of the cervical and thoracic regions of the spinal cord. In the heart, myocytes and Purkinje cells exhibited granular and linear patterns of immunoreactivity. Striated myofibers around the eyeball also showed immunolocalization for N. caninum antigen. Ultrastructurally, tachyzoites with typical apical complex, rhoptries and double-layered parasitic membrane were detected in the brain and heart sections. In conclusion, this report described clinical neosporosis for the first time in Turkey with tissue localization of the causative agents. This scientific communication also discusses the possible impact of cattle neosporosis by clinical, serologic and pathologic evidences collected from the survey of calves born in two successive generations in a ranch.

The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the prostate and to determine normative fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of healthy prostate with a 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. Thirty volunteers with a mean age of 28 (25-35) years were scanned with a 3-Tesla MRI (Intera Achieva; Philips, The Netherlands) system using a six-channel phased array coil. Initially, T2-weighted turbo spin-echo (TSE) axial images of the prostate were obtained. In two subjects, a millimetric hypointense signal change was detected in the peripheral zones on T2-weighted TSE images. These two subjects were excluded from the study. DTI with single-shot echo-planar imaging (ssEPI) was performed in the remaining 28 subjects. ADC and FA values were measured using the manufacturer supplied software by positioning 9-pixel ROIs on each zone. Differences between parameters of the central and peripheral zones were assessed. Mean ADC value of the central (1.220 +/- 0.271 x 10(-3) mm(2)/s) was found to be significantly lower when compared with the peripheral gland (1.610 +/- 0.347 x 10(-3) mm(2)/s) (P < 0.01). Mean FA of the central gland was significantly higher (0.26), compared with the peripheral gland (0.16) (P < 0.01). This study shows the feasibility of prostate DTI with a 3-Tesla MR system and the normative FA and ADC values of peripheral and central zones of the normal prostate. The results are compatible with the microstructural organization of the gland.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to visualize the human median nerve on diffusion tensor imaging and to determine the normal fractional anisotropy (FA) value and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the normal median nerve., Subjects and Methods: The wrists of 20 healthy volunteers and of two patients with carpel tunnel syndrome were examined with a 3-T MRI system with a standard eight-channel sensitivity-encoding head coil. Diffusion tensor imaging was performed with a spin-echo echo-planar sequence. A T1-weighted sequence was performed for anatomic reference. After tractography, the FA value and ADC of the whole nerve were calculated automatically. Manual focal measurements also were obtained at the levels of the flexor retinaculum, wrist, and forearm., Results: We visualized the median nerve with MR diffusion tensor tractography and followed the nerve for approximately 77.5 mm. We found the normative diffusion values of the median nerve were an FA of 0.709 +/- 0.046 (SD) and an ADC of 1.016 +/- 0.129 x 10(-3) mm2/s. There was a statistically significant difference between the FA values obtained at the level of the flexor retinaculum and the values obtained from the other parts of the median nerve (p < 0.0001). We found a decrease in FA value (p < 0.01) and an increase in ADC (p < 0.05) with advancing age., Conclusion: The normative diffusion values of the human median nerve can be used as a reference in evaluation, diagnosis, and follow-up of entrapment, trauma, and regeneration of the median nerve.

Myxomas are benign mesenchymal tumors, which rarely develop in the breast. Histologically, stellate, round, and spindle-shaped cells with vesicular nuclei and scant cytoplasm are scattered in the myxoid stroma. We present a case of this rare type of breast tumor with sonographic and mammographic findings.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare 3 imaging techniques-plain radiography, soft-tissue radiography, and ultrasonography-in detecting nonradiopaque foreign bodies in soft tissue., Methods: In this randomized, blinded, and descriptive in vitro study, 40 chicken thighs with 2 types of nonradiopaque foreign bodies (wood and rubber) and 40 chicken thighs as part of a control group were evaluated to detect soft-tissue foreign bodies with plain radiography, soft-tissue radiography, and high-frequency ultrasonography., Results: The overall sensitivity, specificity, as well as positive predictive and negative predictive values of plain radiography for both nonradiopaque foreign bodies were 5%, 90%, 33%, and 48%, respectively; those of soft-tissue radiography for both nonradiopaque foreign bodies were 5%, 90%, 33%, and 48%, respectively; and those of ultrasonography for both nonradiopaque foreign bodies were 90%, 80%, 81%, and 89%, respectively., Conclusions: In this experimental model, the results show that high-frequency ultrasonography is superior to plain and soft-tissue radiographies and that the latter 2 techniques are similarly poor at detecting nonradiopaque foreign bodies.

Polioencephalomalacia (PEM) in ruminants has been recognized as a consequence of excess sulphur intake. The present study describes clinical, gross and histopathological findings of PEM following an abrupt change of diet in two ranches housing 2750 dairy and 2300 beef cattle. As a result of severe PEM, 256 cattle died or were slaughtered. Clinical findings included circling, hypersensitivity, excessive salivation, hypermetria, incoordination, blindness and death. The first clinical signs occurred in beef calves (6-8 months old) at a holding facility. Clinical signs of the disorder continued intermittently during the 5-month period in both ranches and were more evident in calves and lactating dairy cows. The affected cattle did not respond to thiamine injections. Clinical signs disappeared gradually following removal of barley malt sprouts from the diet. Although macroscopic lesions were not apparent in the brain tissues of some animals, histopathology typical of PEM was found in most cases: spongiosis in the neuropil and neuronal necrosis, haemorrhage, capillary hyperplasia, fibrinoid degeneration in arterioles, multifocal liquefaction necroses in the grey matter and abundance of gitter cells with vacuolar large cytoplasm. Sulphide in rumen fluid of a clinically affected animal was measured as 1.55 mg/dl, which is considerably higher than that collected from two control cows (mean 0.21 mg/dl). The total sulphur content of the diet containing barley malt sprouts was estimated to be 0.45%, which is also higher than the National Research Council (NRC) maximum tolerable levels. In conclusion, PEM can result from excess barley malt sprout intake because of its higher sulphur content. Clinical signs may occur shortly after the intake of barley malt sprout as outbreaks with a higher number of deaths or as an ongoing periodic condition.

The enzyme 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3beta-HSD) is essential in the synthesis of all steroids by cleaving dehydroepiandrosterone to androstenedione. In the present study, 3beta-HSD immunoreactivity was investigated in the prostate of Akkaraman breed rams aged older than 3 years. Five normal and five hyperplastic ram prostates were processed for immunohistochemistry. Prostate hyperplasia was determined by histopathological evaluation of 375 ram prostate and confirmed with significantly (P<0.01) increased number of cells expressing proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunoreactivity in the glandular epithelia. The 3beta-HSD immunoreactivity with a variable intensity and pattern of distribution was present in the glandular epithelia and endothelia of blood vessels in normal and hyperplastic ram prostates. While immunoreactivity was focally present in some glands, some sections had a homogenous distribution. The presence of 3beta-HSD immunoreactivity indicates that steroids are locally synthesized in the ram prostate. No differences in the distribution pattern of 3beta-HSD immunoreactivity and the percentage of immunoreactive cells were observed between normal and hyperplastic prostates (P>0.05), suggesting that locally produced steroids have little or no effect on the pathogenesis of the ram prostate hyperplasia which affects a very small proportion of the ram population (5 out of 375).

Objective: Tumoral growth is an angiogenesis-dependent event. Although there are studies about the importance of histopathologic angiogenesis in various malignancies, the assessment of the angiogenesis by radiologic techniques is not well established. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of echo contrast-enhanced power Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS) in determining the angiogenic status of renal cell carcinoma (RCC)., Methods: Power Doppler ultrasonography was performed before and after intravenous administration of an echo contrast agent in 42 patients with renal masses. Twenty-one of these renal masses were diagnosed as RCC histopathologically, and these 21 patients were reevaluated retrospectively. The color pixel ratios of selected images were calculated as the ratio of the number of pixels showing power Doppler signals to the total number of pixels within the lesion. The results were compared with the histopathologic microvessel density (MVD)., Results: A significant correlation was found between color pixel ratio and MVD values in both PDUS techniques. The use of the echo contrast agent improved this correlation and P values (Spearman rho from 0.436 to 0.551; P from .048 to .01)., Conclusions: Color pixel ratio values reflect the MVD in RCC. Therefore, these results suggest that preoperative quantification of angiogenesis can be possible with the help of PDUS in RCC.

3Beta-hydroxysteroid-dehydrogenase (3beta-HSD) is an isoenzyme that catalyses an essential step in the synthesis of all classes of active steroid hormones. The presence of steroid hormones of the vertebrate type in invertebrates is acknowledged in addition to a group of steroid-like hormones called ecdysteroids that were present in arthropods and helminths. In the present study, 3beta-HSD was detected in the bradyzoites enclosed in sarcocysts of Sarcocystis spp. with immunohistochemistry. The results suggest that self-originating steroid hormones may play important roles in the development of Sarcocystis spp., and possibly in the regulation of the reciprocal immune interaction between the host and these parasites.

The cerebella of 21 dogs with canine distemper virus (CDV) infection and four normal dogs were examined histopathologically and immunohistochemically. Cerebella of CDV-infected dogs showed nonsuppurative demyelinating encephalomyelitis, classified as acute, subacute or chronic. Immunolocalisation of CDV antigen also confirmed the infection. Tissues were examined for co-localisation of the CDV antigen with either an astrocyte-specific marker, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), or an oligodendrocyte-specific marker, galactocerebroside (GalC). Immunoreactive cells were counted in demyelinating areas of the white matter. The number of astrocytes (GFAP positive) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in CDV-infected dogs compared to controls. In contrast, the number of oligodendrocytes (GalC positive) was significantly (p < 0.001) lower in CDV-infected dogs and was much lower in chronic cases (p < 0.05). Approximately 41% of astrocytes and 17% of oligodendrocytes were immunoreactive for CDV. The ratio of CDV-infected oligodendrocytes and astrocytes remained almost constant during the progression of the disease (P > 0.05). In conclusion, CDV infects both astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. The gradual loss of oligodendrocytes is most likely responsible for the progressive demyelination in CDV infection. Astrocytosis in CDV infection should be further investigated if it occurs to stimulate oligodendrocytes for myelin production to compensate for the loss or to induce oligodendrocyte degeneration.