Primary mandibular hemangiosarcoma in a bull.

Disseminated pulmonary and subcutaneous-muscular hemangiosarcoma at the left hemimandible was diagnosed postmortem in a 2-year-old Jersey bull that presented with a 7-day history of facial swelling from suspected traumatic injury. Hemangiosarcoma is uncommon in cattle and has never been reported to affect the bones of the skull.

Cardiac isoenzymes in healthy Holstein calves and calves with experimentally induced endotoxemia.

This paper describes a controlled study designed to establish normal values for cardiac troponins I and T (cTnI and cTnT) and CK-MB mass in healthy newborn Holstein calves, and to compare values for cTnI, cTnT, CK-MB and total creatine kinase (CK) with age-matched calves experiencing experimentally induced endotoxemia. Nineteen healthy Holstein bull calves, 48 to 72 h of age were used. Baseline cTnI, cTnT, CK-MB and total CK measurements were obtained from control (n = 9) and experimental (n = 10) calves. Controls then received physiological saline and experimental calves received endotoxin (O55:B5 Escherichia coli LPS) intravenously after which cardiac biomarkers and total CK were measured at 3 h, 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h post-initiation of infusion. Measured values were analyzed and compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA) by repeated measure design, with statistical significance set at P < 0.05. The cardiac biomarker cTnT was not detected in any calf at any time point, and CK-MB was only detected in 5 of 95 samples. The cTnI was significantly increased compared to baseline and controls, 3 h post lipopolysaccharide (LPS) infusion. Total CK was significantly increased in LPS administered calves at 18 and 24 h post infusion. The mean, standard deviation, and range for cTnI in healthy controls were 0.023 ng/mL (s = 0.01), and 0.01 to 0.05 ng/mL, respectively. In conclusion, LPS administration was associated with rapid and significant increases in cTnI but CK-MB and cTnT were not detected in the plasma of healthy calves. Total CK values increased significantly following LPS administration. Biochemical evidence of myocardial injury occurs within 3 h following LPS administration to neonatal Holstein calves.

Biochemical markers of cardiac injury in normal, surviving septic, or nonsurviving septic neonatal foals.

The cardiac biomarkers cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and I (cTnI) and the cardiac isoenzyme of creatine kinase (CKMB) are used extensively in human medicine to diagnose and provide valuable prognostic information in patients with ischemic, traumatic, and septic myocardial injury. We designed a study to establish normal values for these markers in healthy, neonatal foals and to compare them with values obtained from septic neonates in a referral hospital population. The 25th, 50th, 75th, and 95th percentiles for cTnI and CKMB in the healthy-foal population were 0.08, 0.14, 0.25, 0.49 ng/mL and 1.4, 2.3, 4.0, 7.4 ng/mL, respectively. The values obtained for cTnT were frequently (43/52 foals; 83%) below the lower limit of detection of the assay (0.009 ng/mL), but the median and range were 0.009 and 0.009-0.041 ng/mL, respectively. In the septic foal population, the 25th, 50th, 75th, and 95th percentile values for cTnI and CKMB were 0.05, 0.12, 0.22, and 1.10 ng/mL and 2.0, 4.4, 7.8, and 24 ng/mL, respectively. The values obtained for cTnT were less frequently below the lower limit of detection (23/38 foals; 60%) compared with the healthy foal population, and the median and range were 0.009 and 0.009-0.20 ng/mL, respectively. Significantly higher values were observed for cTnT and CKMB in septic foals compared with the healthy neonatal foal population, but there were no differences among septic foals in survivors compared with nonsurvivors. These findings suggest that myocardial injury occurs during septicemia in neonatal foals but that the injury is not associated with survival among septic foals.

Plasma endotoxin concentration in horses: a methods study.

BACKGROUND: Accurate determination of plasma endotoxin concentration is critical for ex vivo and in vitro cellular and molecular studies of endotoxemia in horses. However, reports are conflicting with respect to anticoagulant, handling, and sample preparation. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of blood sample fraction and handling time on measurement of endotoxin concentration in horses. METHODS: Whole blood, anticoagulated with 3.8% (0.12 M) sodium citrate (9:1), was collected from 5 healthy horses. Whole blood (WB), platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and platelet-poor plasma (PPP) were spiked with endotoxin (2 EU/mL). Endotoxin-spiked WB samples were centrifuged immediately to generate PRP for measurement. Endotoxin concentration was subsequently measured by Limulus amebocyte assay at 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes. Assays were performed in triplicate and results were analyzed using Student's t-test, with significance set at P <.05. RESULTS: Mean endotoxin concentrations in 2 EU/mL-spiked WB were significantly different from those in PPP at all time points tested. Recovery of endotoxin in PRP generated from WB was significantly diminished after just 15 minutes. CONCLUSION: PRP generated from WB is significantly more reliable than PPP in determining endotoxin concentration ex vivo. Measurement of endotoxin in PRP generated from WB was significantly diminished after 15 min, identifying a time frame within which to process blood samples for endotoxin analysis.