Humans and dogs are the two major hosts of Strongyloides stercoralis, an intestinal parasitic nematode. To better understand the phylogenetic relationships among S. stercoralis isolates infecting humans and dogs and to assess the zoonotic potential of this parasite, we analyzed mitochondrial Cox1, nuclear 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, and a major sperm protein domain-containing protein genes. Overall, our analyses indicated the presence of two distinct lineages of S. stercoralis (referred to as type A and type B). While type A parasites were isolated both from humans and dogs in different countries, type B parasites were found exclusively in dogs, indicating that the type B has not adapted to infect humans. These epidemiological data, together with the close phylogenetic relationship of S. stercoralis with S. procyonis, a Strongyloides parasite of raccoons, possibly indicates that S. stercoralis originally evolved as a canid parasite, and later spread into humans. The inability to infect humans might be an ancestral character of this species and the type B might be surmised to be an origin population from which human-infecting strains are derived.
ABSTRACT. Prior to euthanasia, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed for a five-year-old male Yorkshire Terrier following portosystemic shunt (PSS) surgical attenuation. Hyperintensity was observed on T1W images of the lentiform nuclei. Trace elements in this area were measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. The manganese concentration in the lentiform nuclei was four times higher than that in the control group. Therefore, the manganese accumulation would be the substance that causes the hyperintensity on T1W images of the lentiform nuclei in PSS dogs. KEY WORDS: canine, manganese, MRI, portosystemic shunt.
Animals with a portosystemic shunt (PSS) often have neurologic abnormalities. Diagnostic imaging, including brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, is not performed routinely in these animals. In this study, brain MR images were obtained in 13 dogs and three cats with a PSS, and in 15 dogs and five cats that were neurologically normal and used as controls. All animals with a PSS had widened sulci. In addition, 10 out of 13 dogs with a PSS and one out of three cats with a PSS had hyperintense focal areas in the lentiform nuclei on T1-weighted (T1W) images, which did not enhance after intravenous gadolinium. Following surgical correction of the PSS, MR imaging examinations were repeated in one dog and one cat. The hyperintensity of the lentiform nuclei had decreased. This study indicates that MR imaging findings of widened sulci and hyperintensity of the lentiform nuclei on T1W images may be found in dogs and cats with a PSS.
The pathophysiology of canine gallbladder diseases, including biliary sludge, gallbladder
mucoceles and gallstones, is poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate the component
of gallbladder contents and bacterial infection of the gallbladder in order to elucidate
the pathophysiology of biliary sludge and gallbladder mucoceles. A total of 43 samples of
canine gallbladder contents (biliary sludge, 21 and gallbladder mucoceles, 22) were
subjected to component analysis by infrared spectroscopy, and the resultant infrared
spectra were compared with that of swine mucin. Of the 43 samples, 41 were also evaluated
by aerobic and anaerobic bacterial culture. The contents of 20 (95.2%) biliary sludge and
22 (100%) gallbladder mucocele samples exhibited similar infrared spectra as swine mucin.
Although biliary sludge and gallbladder mucocele contents exhibited similar infrared
spectra, one sample of biliary sludge (4.8%) was determined to be composed of proteins.
The rate of bacterial infection of the gallbladder was 10.0% for biliary sludge and 14.3%
for gallbladder mucoceles. Almost all of the identified bacterial species were intestinal
flora. These results indicate that the principal components of gallbladder contents in
both gallbladder mucoceles and biliary sludge are mucins and that both pathophysiologies
exhibit low rates of bacterial infection of the gallbladder. Therefore, it is possible
that gallbladder mucoceles and biliary sludge have the same pathophysiology, and, rather
than being independent diseases, they could possibly represent a continuous disease. Thus,
biliary sludge could be considered as the stage preceding the appearance of gallbladder
mucoceles.
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