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Simple Summary: Cerebrospinal fluid analysis is an important diagnostic test for a neurological canine patient. For this analysis, the total nucleated cell count and differential cell counts are routinely taken, but both involve time-consuming manual methods. The Sysmex XN-V body fluid mode is a specific setting used for analyzing different body fluids, including cerebrospinal fluid samples, while the deep-learning-based algorithm generated by the Olympus VS200 slide scanner allows recognition and classification of various cell types on scanned slides. In this study, the faster automated methods mentioned above were assessed by comparing them with the manual methods for both the total nucleated and differential cell counts. Manually set gates were used for the Sysmex body fluid mode following incorrect cell classifications recorded when using the predefined settings. This study demonstrates that automated methods may be used for total nucleated cell count assessments in canine cerebrospinal fluid samples, but optimization is still needed for both differential counts. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis is an important diagnostic test when assessing a neurological canine patient. For this analysis, the total nucleated cell count and differential cell counts are routinely taken, but both involve time-consuming manual methods. To investigate faster automated methods, in this study, the Sysmex XN-V body fluid mode and the deep-learning-based algorithm generated by the Olympus VS200 slide scanner were compared with the manual methods in 161 canine cerebrospinal fluid samples for the total nucleated cell count and in 65 samples with pleocytosis for the differential counts. Following incorrect gating by the Sysmex body fluid mode, all samples were reanalyzed with manually set gates. The Sysmex body fluid mode then showed a mean bias of 15.19 cells/μL for the total nucleated cell count and mean biases of 4.95% and −4.95% for the two-part differential cell count, while the deep-learning-based algorithm showed mean biases of −7.25%, −0.03% and 7.27% for the lymphocytes, neutrophils and monocytoid cells, respectively. Based on our findings, we propose that the automated Sysmex body fluid mode be used to measure the total nucleated cell count in canine cerebrospinal fluid samples after making adjustments to the predefined settings from the manufacturer. However, the two-part differential count of the Sysmex body fluid mode and the deep-learning-based algorithm require some optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Globally, small ruminants are important animals since they provide food, income, and livelihoods for millions of people, contributing to biodiversity conservation and offering a range of products with cultural, economic, and environmental significance. Central nervous system (CNS) diseases in sheep and goats encompass a range of conditions that affect the brain and spinal cord. The diseases afflicting these animals can have significant economic and health implications. The diagnosis and management of CNS diseases affecting small ruminants often require the involvement of veterinary care. The timely identification and treatment of these conditions are essential to minimizing the impact on the affected animals and preventing the spread of contagious diseases to herds or flocks. Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid can be an important tool in the diagnosis of CNS diseases in small ruminants, and knowledge about the results of CSF analysis in relation to CNS diseases is of importance and can contribute to improving the health statuses of these animals and humans. The present study investigated the cytological pattern of cerebrospinal fluid in sheep and goats with CNS diseases. Infectious diseases of bacterial origin were determined to be the most common underlying causes for CSF alterations in sheep and goats, followed by parasitic disorders. Alterations in the cellular components of cerebrospinal fluid in small ruminants with CNS disease were mainly due to an increase in monocytic and lymphocytic cells with variable quantitative expression, whereas neutrophilic pleocytosis and cytoalbuminologic dissociation were rare findings. Background: Small ruminants often suffer from central nervous system (CNS) disorders, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis can be used as a diagnostic tool in this regard. In small animals and cattle, specific CSF patterns have been defined for specific disease categories. No data exist regarding CSF results obtained from small ruminants and their association with certain CNS diseases. Objectives: The objective of this study was to retrospectively investigate CSF findings obtained from sheep and goats and to identify possible CSF patterns associated with disease categories. Methods: CSF samples and medical records from 44 sheep and 27 goats were included in this study. All animals were presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital Zurich of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital Zurich of the Vetsuisse Faculty of the University of Zurich between 2003 and 2016 and had either a confirmed CNS diagnosis or showed CSF changes without a specific CNS diagnosis. Results: Mixed mononuclear pleocytosis was the most common CSF pattern in sheep (25%), followed by monocytic pleocytosis (21%). Lymphocytic pleocytosis was most frequently found in goats (37%). In 75% of sheep and 56% of goats, infectious CNS diseases were diagnosed, with listeriosis being the most common infectious disease in both species, followed by parasitic disorders (nematodiasis and coenurosis). Conclusions: The cytologic CSF patterns in small ruminants are mainly based on the increased presence of monocytic and lymphocytic cells with variable quantitative expression, whereas neutrophilic pleocytosis and cytoalbuminologic dissociation were rare findings. Infectious diseases of bacterial origin were the most common underlying causes for CSF alterations in sheep and goats, followed by parasitic disorders. The pleocytosis type is not helpful for differentiating disease types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[177Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA was previously characterized with moderate albumin-binding properties enabling high tumor accumulation but reasonably low retention in the blood. The aim of this study was to investigate [177Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA in preclinical in vivo experiments and compare its therapeutic efficacy and potential undesired side effects with those of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 and the previously developed [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-ALB-56. BALB/c nude mice without tumors were investigated on Day 10 and 28 after injection of 10 MBq radioligand. It was revealed that most plasma parameters were in the same range for all groups of mice and histopathological examinations of healthy tissue did not show any alternations in treated mice as compared to untreated controls. Based on these results, a therapy study over twelve weeks was conducted with PC-3 PIP tumor-bearing mice for comparison of the radioligands's therapeutic efficacy up to an activity of 10 MBq (1 nmol) per mouse. In agreement with the increased mean absorbed tumor dose, [177Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA (~ 6.6 Gy/MBq) was more effective to inhibit tumor growth than [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 (~ 4.5 Gy/MBq) and only moderately less potent than [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-ALB-56 (~ 8.1 Gy/MBq). As a result, the survival of mice treated with 2 MBq of an albumin-binding radioligand was significantly increased (p < 0.05) compared to that of mice injected with [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 or untreated controls. The majority of mice treated with 5 MBq or 10 MBq [177Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA or [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-ALB-56 were still alive at study end. Hemograms of immunocompetent mice injected with 30 MBq [177Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA or 30 MBq [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 showed values in the same range as untreated controls. This was, however, not the case for mice treated with [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-ALB-56 which revealed a drop in lymphocytes and hemoglobin at Day 10 and Day 28 after injection. The data of this study demonstrated a significant therapeutic advantage of [177Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA over [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 and a more favorable safety profile as compared to that of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-ALB-56. Based on these results, [177Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA may has the potential for a clinical translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Bleeding disorders can cause life-threatening illness in dogs. The need for fast recognition and diagnosis of these conditions is therefore of the utmost importance to have a positive impact on the patients' survival. In the past decade, the use of viscoelastic testing for rapid assessment of global haemostasis has gained popularity. However, the most reliable time for testing after blood collection has not been determined. For this reason, blood samples were taken from healthy client-/staff-owned dogs and repeated measurements were performed at three different time points (10 min, 30 min, and 70 min after blood collection). Additionally, a group of currently ill patients was included and Ex-TEM S measurements were performed at the same three timepoints. We found that there was a significant change of results over time, suggesting the need for time-specific reference intervals. Which of these time points reflects the "true" coagulation status of our patients currently remains unknown. Viscoelastic testing as a bedside test to assess global haemostasis has gained popularity in the past decade, with rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) and thromboelastography (TEG) being the two commonly used devices. TEG studies suggest analysis 30 min after blood sampling. However, the reproducibility of results over time for ROTEM analysis using lyophilized samples in dogs has not been established. In this study, we investigated the influence of time on viscoelastic testing, using 33 healthy staff-/client-owned dogs for blood sampling and repeated measurements of ROTEM tracings at three different time points after blood collection. Additionally, a group of 21 hospitalized patients with suspected coagulation disorders were included to investigate whether stability over time was comparable between healthy and ill dogs. We demonstrated a significant difference of ROTEM tracings over time, with a tendency towards hypocoagulability over time. These changes do have a clinical relevance as they exceed reference intervals and could therefore lead to erroneous conclusions about a patient's coagulation status. Therefore, time-specific reference intervals are proposed and presented in this publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ROTEM platelet device, a point-of-care whole blood platelet impedance aggregometer, is an add-on to the rotational thromboelastometry ROTEM delta device. The latter has been validated in dogs. We examined whether canine whole blood is suited for analysis with the ROTEM platelet device using adenosine-5′-diphosphate (ADP) and arachidonic acid (ARA) as agonists for platelet activation, and if there are significant differences between sample storage times and anticoagulants used. Subsequently, we determined canine reference intervals (RIs) for the ROTEM platelet device for ADP and ARA. In a pilot study, we examined whole blood from 7 dogs after 15-min and 60-min storage of lithium-heparinized samples and 40-min and 80-min storage of hirudinized samples. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences between ROTEM platelet device results for both ADP and ARA in lithium-heparin and hirudin anticoagulated canine whole blood. Lithium-heparinized blood samples analyzed after 15-min storage had the lowest coefficient of variation. RIs were determined for heparinized whole blood samples from 49 dogs after 15 min of storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study was performed to optimize and standardize the use of the Multiplate® whole blood impedance aggregometer in the Beagle dog and Wistar rat for use in a research laboratory environment. The anticoagulants citrate, heparin and hirudin were compared and platelet aggregation responses to ADP, collagen, arachidonic acid and Par-4 agonist were evaluated to determine their half maximal effective concentrations (EC50) in blood containing low concentrations of a drug solvent (0.1% DMSO). The results indicate that citrate anticoagulation is not suitable for Multiplate® whole blood aggregometry because of the presence of spontaneous aggregation. ADP and collagen were found to be appropriate agonists for both species, whereas in the Beagle dog Par-4 agonist failed to induce aggregation and arachidonic acid induced platelet aggregation showed a high interindividual variability. The agonists EC50 calculated in hirudin blood were 2.70μM ADP, 0.85μg/ml collagen, 0.03mM arachidonic acid and 165.7μM Par-4 agonist in the Wistar rat, and 0.95μM ADP and 0.23μg/ml collagen in the Beagle dog. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Recently, a gammaherpesvirus was described in domestic cats (FcaGHV1). The goal of the present study was to investigate the presence of FcaGHV1 in Swiss domestic cats and analyze potential risk factors. Blood samples from 881 cats presented to veterinarians in all Swiss cantons and from 91 stray cats and neoplastic tissue samples from 17 cats with lymphoma were evaluated. FcaGHV1 was detected by real-time PCR targeting the glycoprotein B gene, followed by sequencing. Blood samples were also tested for feline hemoplasmas, feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). The molecular prevalence of FcaGHV1 was 6.0% (95% confidence interval (CI), 4.5–7.8%) in cats presented to veterinarians and 5.5% (95% CI, 1.8–12.4%) in stray cats. FcaGHV1 PCR-positive cats originated from 19/26 Swiss cantons. Factors significantly associated with FcaGHV1 detection included male sex, age >3 years, nonpedigree status and co-infection with FIV and hemoplasmas. Moreover, FeLV viremia tended to be associated with FcaGHV1 detection. High FcaGHV1 blood loads were found more frequently in FeLV-viremic cats and less frequently in hemoplasma-infected cats than in uninfected cats. Clinical information was unavailable for most of the 881 cats, but leukemia, carcinoma and cardiomyopathy were reported in FcaGHV1-positive cats. None of the tissue samples from the 17 cats with lymphoma tested positive for FcaGHV1. Sequence analyses revealed homogeneity among the Swiss isolates and >99.7% identity to published FcaGHV1 sequences. In conclusion, FcaGHV1 is present in Switzerland with a similar prevalence in cats presented to veterinarians and in stray cats. The pathogenic potential of FcaGHV1 needs further evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]