The correlation of potassium content and moisture in bovine liver samples analyzed for trace mineral concentrations.

Beef cattle in the United States are often found to be deficient in essential trace minerals such as copper and zinc. Established reference ranges for mineral concentrations exist and usually designate a concentration as adequate, marginal, deficient, or excessive. This research investigates a new method of interpreting detected elemental concentrations in bovine liver that will add confidence to the final diagnosis. This is based on the hypothesis that a correlation exists between potassium concentration and moisture in a bovine liver sample. This relationship between potassium and moisture content enables the diagnostician to more accurately predict mineral concentrations and wet weight regardless of sample moisture loss. Correlations were found between potassium content and percentage of moisture in experimental samples, clinical biopsies, and a validation study, to a statistical significance of P < 0.001. Experimental samples had a correlation coefficient of R2 = 0.95 and the mathematical relationship y = 2513.2x(-1.0662). Clinical biopsies had a correlation of R2 = 0.83 and the mathematical relationship y = 2203.4x(-0.991). The validation study had a correlation of R2 = 0.55 and a mathematical relationship y = 2321.4x(-0.952). An exponent of -1 is predicted by conservation of potassium mass. These findings have practical significance in maintaining and improving cattle growth, health, reproduction, and food safety.

Isolation of a gammaherpesvirus similar to asinine herpesvirus-2 (AHV-2) from a mule and a survey of mules and donkeys for AHV-2 infection by real-time PCR.

Equids are commonly infected by herpesviruses, but isolation of herpesviruses from mules has apparently not been previously reported. Furthermore, the genomic relationships among the various equid herpesviruses are poorly characterized. We describe the isolation and preliminary characterization of a mule gammaherpesvirus tentatively identified as asinine herpesvirus-2 (AHV-2; also designated equid herpesvirus-7 (EHV-7)) from the nasal secretions (NS) of a healthy mule in northern California. The virus was initially identified by transmission electron microscopic examination of lysates of cell culture inoculated with NS collected from the mule. A 913 nucleotide sequence of the DNA polymerase gene was amplified using degenerate primers, and comparison of this sequence with those of various other herpesviruses showed that the mule herpesvirus was most closely related to EHV-2 (AHV-2 sequences were not available for comparison). The sequence of a shorter portion (166 nucleotides) of the mule herpesvirus DNA polymerase gene was identical to that of the published sequence of an asinine gammaherpesvirus, previously designated as AHV-4-3 (AY054992). AHV-2 was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction assay in the NS of approximately 8% of a cohort of 114 healthy mules and 13 donkeys.