Computed tomography angiography (CTA) and biochemical parameters cannot specify liver pathologies in dogs with congenital portosystemic shunts (CPSS) that are easily determined by invasive histopathology. This study aims to assess the possibility of using circulating serum canine familiaris (cfa) microRNAs (miRNAs) as novel non-invasive serum-based fingerprints for liver injuries associated with various morphologies of extrahepatic and intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (EHPSS and IHPSS). Data were obtained from 12 healthy dogs and 84 dogs confirmed to have EHPSS (splenocaval, splenophrenic, splenoazygos, right gastrocaval (RGC), right gastrocaval with caudal loop (RGC–CL)) and IHPSS (right divisional and left divisional) using CTA. Hepatic pathologies were determined by histopathology. Serum expression of miRNAs was assessed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Based on the nature of liver injuries in each shunt type, cfa-miR-122 was significantly upregulated in all CPSS groups. Meanwhile, serums cfa-miR-34a and 21 were not significantly expressed in splenophrenic or splenoazygos groups, but they were extensively upregulated in splenocaval, RGC, RGC–CL groups and less frequently in right or left divisional groups. Also, serum cfa-miR126 was significantly upregulated in both IHPSS groups but less significantly expressed in RGC, RGC–CL, and splenocaval groups. Overall, estimated cfa-miRNAs could serve as novel biomarkers to mirror the histopathological and molecular events within the liver in each shunt type.

Primary hepatitis (PH) is one of the most frequently diagnosed hepatic diseases in dogs. Its popular forms are acute hepatitis (AH) and chronic active hepatitis (CAH) which can progress to hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis. This investigation aimed to evaluate the use of hepatocyte released Canine familiaris miRNAs(cfamiR)-122 and -21 as serum biological markers for the early and reliable diagnosis of PH and to reveal the onset of hepatic fibrosis. After the ultrasonographic and histological examination, fifteen healthy dogs were involved in the study as control group to compare with other thirty dogs confirmed to have AH or CAH (n = 15). Activity of liver enzymes as well as serum level of globulin and total bilirubin were significantly elevated in AH (P 0.001) and CAH (P 0.01) groups whereas, serum level of total protein, albumin, BUN and A/G ratio were significantly lowered in both PH groups (P 0.01) compared to control. Cfa-miR-122 significantly expressed in AH (P 0.001) and CAH (P 0.01) and exhibited a potential significance in distinguishing these groups from control with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.98 and 0.96, respectively. Additionally, cfa-miR-122 displayed a potential role in distinguishing AH (P 0.05) from CAH group with an AUC of 0.85. Cfa-miR-21 was only expressed in dogs of CAH group and displayed a potential role in distinguishing this group (P 0.001) from AH and healthy groups with an AUC of 0.99 and 0.88, respectively. Therefore, cfa-miR-122 can be significantly expressed in dogs with two forms of PH whereas, cfa-miR-21 could be potentially enhanced only in chronic form of PH and may act as new non-invasive biomarker for distinguishing AH from CAH.

Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract of horses are caused by many factors and have a complex pathogenesis. Developing effective methods of differential diagnostics is of high fundamental and applied importance. The pathogenesis of diseases of the digestive tract of horses accompanied by the development of inflammation and oxidative stress, can be associated with a lack of the nitrogen monoxide which controls many signaling pathways in the body. The level of the nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the regulation of the immune and nervous systems, the tone of all the blood vessels, and the courses of many pathological processes. The nitric oxide activates guanylate cyclase (sGC) and leads to vascular relaxation. The aim of this investigation was to study the metabolites of nitric oxide in horses suffered from intestinal diseases. The levels of nitric oxide in the blood serum of horses depending on their age and health state was studied. The concentration of nitrites in the blood serum of horses aged 6–25 years was 3.4 ± 4.2 μM, and in the young horses (1–5 years) the level of this indicator was 8.2 ± 5.4 μM. A sharp decrease in nitrite was observed in all the horses with intestinal diseases of 2 ± 0.9 μM, especially with tympanitic caecun of 0.6 ± 0.4 μM and with spasmodic colic of 1.8 ± 0.5 μM. The level of nitrosylhemoglobin HbNO in the blood of the diseased animals was higher than that in clinically healthy horses, regardless of age.

Background Hepatic cholesterol accumulation in small breed dogs is a leading risk factor for hepatic fatty changes, gallbladder hypomotility, and cholelith development, which, if not discovered early, could lead to life‐threatening choledocholithiasis and acute pancreatitis. Objective This study proposed to assess the use of hepatocyte‐derived canine familiaris (cfa)‐microRNAs (miRNA‐122, ‐34a, and ‐21) as new diagnostic serum biomarkers of liver steatosis or fibrosis, for which both processes have been implicated in canine cholecystolithiasis. Methods Forty client‐owned dogs diagnosed with cholecystolithiasis and hepatic steatosis (C+HS) or fibrosis (C+HF) based on ultrasonographic, biochemical, and histopathologic findings, and 20 healthy dogs used as controls were included in the study. Serum cfa‐miRNA expression was determined using a real‐time polymerase chain reaction assay. Results Serum cfa‐miRNA‐122 and −34a expression was significantly upregulated in the C+HS (P < .001) and C+HF (P < .01) groups compared with the control group and showed a positive correlation with alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TBIL), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), γ‐glutamyl transferase (GGT), total cholesterol (TC), and triglycerides (TG) levels in the C+HS group. Cfa‐miRNA‐122 and −34a expression discriminated the diseased groups from the control group better than traditional serum‐derived liver biomarkers, as evidenced by areas under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC‐ROC) curve of 0.99 and 0.97 for cfa‐miRNA‐122 expression in the C+HS and C+HF groups, and 1.0 and 0.96 for cfa‐miRNA‐34a in the C+HS and C+HF groups, respectively. Cfa‐miRNA‐21 expression was upregulated only in the C+HF group compared with the C+HS (P < .01) and control (P < .001) groups and showed a positive correlation with serum ALT, AST, TBIL, ALP, and GGT and negative correlation with serum TC and TG levels. Cfa‐miRNA‐21 expression could also differentiate the C+HF group from the control and C+HS groups with a diagnostic performance superior to that of the conventional serum biochemical variables as evidenced by AUCs of 1.0 and 0.98, respectively. Conclusions Serum cfa‐miRNA‐122, ‐34a, and ‐21 expression was significantly upregulated in dogs with cholecystolithiasis with hepatic steatosis or fibrosis compared with control dogs. These miRNAs could serve as novel biomarkers for hepatic steatosis or fibrosis, which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cholecystolithiasis.

Московская государственная академия ветеринарной медицины и биотехнологии им. К.И. Скрябина ул. Скрябина, 23, г. Москва, Россия, 109472 В работе отражено влияние ферментативного гидролизата на морфологические показатели норок. Научнообоснована и экспериментально подтверждена возможность и целесообразность использования белковых гидролизатов как дополнительных экономически выгодных источников белка в кормлении пушных зверей клеточного разведения.Ключевые слова: норка, гидролизат, кожа, волос, белокПоиск новых белоксодержащих источников сырья в кормлении животных и оценка их влияния на организм представляет одну из актуальных проблем био-логической науки.Анализ доступной литературы показал наличие немногочисленных исследо-ваний, посвященных эффективности их использования в различных отраслях жи-вотноводства [5][6][7]. Вместе с тем практически не изучен вопрос о влиянии про-дуктов ферментативного расщепления белков на организм пушных зверей в целом и общий покров, в частности систему, определяющую экономическую эффектив-ность отрасли.Исходя из вышеизложенного нами предпринято исследование, направленное на выявление структурных перестроек кожи как природного компонента, обус-ловленное влиянием белкового гидролизата с целью обоснования возможности его использования в рационе пушных зверей клеточного разведения в качестве источника животных белков.Исследование выполнено на кафедре диагностики болезней, терапии, акушер-ства и репродукции животных Московской государственной академии ветеринар-ной медицины и биотехнологии им. К.И. Скрябина и в ОАО Племенном зверо-совхозе «Салтыковский» Балашихинского района Московской области.Объектом исследования служила норка американская (n = 50). Для проведения экспериментальных исследований было сформировано по принципу аналогов (пол, возраст, интенсивность роста в подготовительный период) 2 группы животных: контрольная и подопытная. Все животные принад-лежали к четырехмесячным самцам с одинаковой массой тела (761 ± 8,3 г).