Cardiac markers in five different breeds of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus Linnaeus, 1758) used for cardiovascular research / Marcadores cardíacos em cinco diferentes raças de coelhos (Oryctolagus cuniculus Linnaeus, 1758) utilizados para pesquisa cardiovascular

Cardiac biomarkers for clinical and experimental heart diseases have previously been evaluated in rabbits. However, several laboratory assays performed and reported with inconsistent results. This study aimed to assess the effects of breed on serum ANP, CRP, and ACE and establish reference interval (RI) for these biomarkers in a large population of healthy rabbits. Ninety-seven adult rabbits from five breeds were included in this study. Assays were performed using specific ELISA commercial kits. The results were statistically analyzed using ANOVA, Tukey test (p<0.05), arithmetic mean, RI of mean, and standard deviation. A significant effect of breed was shown, indicating different RI between breeds for each biomarker. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that breed is an important physiological variable influencing the normal values of cardiac markers in healthy rabbits.(AU)

Biomarcadores cardíacos têm sido avaliados em coelhos para avaliação clínica e experimental das doenças cardíacas. Entretanto diferentes testes laboratoriais têm sido utilizados e relatados, sem uma confluência de resultados. Os objetivos deste estudo foram verificar os efeitos de diferentes raças de coelhos sobre as concentrações séricas de ANP, CRP e ACE, além de estabelecer intervalor de referência para estes biomarcadores em uma população de coelhos saudáveis. Foram utilizados noventa e sete coelhos de cinco diferentes raças. Os exames foram realizados pela metodologia de ELISA, por meio de kits comerciais específicos. Os resultados foram analisados estatisticamente os testes de ANOVA e Tukey (p<0,05), média aritmética, intervalo de referência da média e desvio padrão. Um efeito significativo da raça foi observado sobre as variáveis estudadas, indicando diferentes intervalos de referência entre as raças para cada biomarcador. Em conclusão, este estudo demonstrou que a raça é uma variável fisiológica importante que influencia os valores normais destes biomarcadores em coelhos saudáveis.(AU)

[Risk factors of Cryptosporidium sp. infection in household dogs of Campos dos Goytacazes City on Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil]. / Fatores de risco associados à infecção por Cryptosporidium spp. em cães domiciliados na cidade de campos dos goytacazes, Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Cryptosporidium sp. is an opportunistic protozoan parasite that may infect animals and humans, causing asymptomatic to severe intestinal infections, according to the immunological response of the hosts. The present work had the objective to determine the risk factors involved on Cryptosporidium sp. infection in dogs from Campos dos Goytacazes City on Rio de Janeiro State; and the frequency of this protozoan. Independent of sex, age, consistency and health of dogs, 200 feces samples were analyzed. Data were obtained using a questionnaire with the dogs owners. Feces were analyzed with an optical microscope after the concentration by modified Ritchie technique and coloring with the modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique. Association tests through c2 and multiple logistic regression analysis were made. Among the 200 dogs analyzed, 90 (45%) showed oocysts of Cryptosporidium genus in the feces. The conclusion was that the occurrence of asymptomatic cryptosporidiosis in dogs from the City of Campos dos Goytacazes is high. The risk factors involved are the social level of the owner, presence of cats and sporadic stage of vomiting and diarrhea. The final model detected the risk factors by social level, other animals, regions of the city, kind of residence, sporadic stage of vomiting and diarrhea.

Diagnosis of paratuberculosis in a dairy herd native to Brazil.

Paratuberculosis (PTB) in Brazil has previously only been reported in imported animals and is officially considered as an exotic disease. A dairy herd, which had no imported animals, presented clinically suspect animals and was investigated for paratuberculosis using faecal culture, histopathology, indirect ELISA and the agar gel immunodiffusion test. Infection with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) was confirmed by culture of faeces from five cows with clinical symptoms of PTB and in 7/24 randomly selected asymptomatic cows from the same herd. Two cows with clinical symptoms were necropsied and their tissues were positive for Map by culture and histopathology. Twelve asymptomatic, randomly selected cows were positive on ELISA. The results confirmed the presence of PTB in this dairy herd and for the first time demonstrated the disease in a herd of native-bred cattle in Brazil.

[First report of Anaplasma bovis (Donatien and Lestoquard, 1936) Dumler et al. (2001) at micro region of Campos dos Goytacazes, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]. / Primeiro relato de Anaplasma bovis (Donatien e Lestoquard, 1936) Dumler et al. (2001) na microrregião de Campos dosGoytacazes, Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

The first report of Anaplasma bovis was pointed out at the micro region of Campos dos Goytacazes, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Blood smears were done from peripherical blood vessels from 151 calves. Five calves (3.31%) were positive for A. bovis. Symptoms were characterized by debility, fever, pale mucous membranes, and enlargement of prescapular lymph nodes.

[Oocysts of the genus Cryptosporidium in domiciliated dogs from the city of Campos dos Goytacazes, the State of Rio de Janeiro]. / Oocistos do gênero Cryptosporidium em cães domiciliados na cidade de Campos dos Goytacazes, Estado do Rio de Janeiro.

This study had the objective of determining the occurrence of Cryptosporidium oocysts in domiciliated dogs from Campos dos Goytacazes City on Rio de Janeiro State. Feces samples were collected from 100 dogs, male and female, of different races, with age varying from 15 days to 15 years old and clinically healthy. These samples were analyzed by using the modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique. Among the dogs, 40% of them shed oocysts in their feces. In conclusion, there is a high number of asymptomatic domiciliated dogs in the City of Campos dos Goytacazes, that maintain the environmental contamination and provide infection for sensible animals.