Hematology and serum biochemistry of free-ranging nutria (Myocastor coypus).

Information on reference blood values in the literature is lacking for many wild rodents. In this study, comprehensive reference intervals (RIs) for a wide range of analytes from 101 healthy free-ranging nutria were determined. Animals were captured in Buenos Aires, Argentina (37degrees 50'S, 57 degrees 34'W), and southward (38 degrees 60'S, 58 degrees 23'W), encompassing major biotopes of agricultural pampas with dunes and grassland steppes on the east coast. Traps were set at locations with high-density nutria populations (i.e., those areas that showed signs of movement, territorial marking, or feeding activities). Although the small sample size limits the interpretation of these findings, RIs were determined by a robust method using the central 95th percentile. In nutria, the RI range varied greatly for the leukocyte differentials, with mature neutrophils: 3,907-5,544/mmicrol for females and 3,744-5,900/microl for males; band neutrophils: 0-10/ll for females and 3-18/microl for males; lymphocytes: 4,213 5,940/microl for both sexes combined; monocytes: 165-402/microl for both sexes combined; eosinophils: 13-91/microl for females and 108-165/microl for males; and basophils: 0-87/microl for both sexes combined. Platelet concentration was 543-727 x 10(9)/L for both sexes combined. There was also a wide RI range for biochemistry values for some enzymes, such as alkaline phosphatase: 200-399 IU/L for both sexes combined; cholinesterase: 762-1,407 IU/L for females and 763-1,284 IU/L for males; creatine kinase: 182-552 IU/L for females and 162-451 IU/L for males; amylase: 853-1,865 IU/L for females and 779-1,293 IU/L for males; and glucose concentration 120.2-180.6 mg/dl for both sexes combined. Conversely, there was not a wide pooled RI range for calcium: 7.0-11.2 mg/dl; phosphorous: 6.1-9.3 mg/dl; sodium: 133.0-159.0 mEq/L; potassium: 3.0-8.2 mEq/L; chloride: 101.4-143.0 mEq/L; and urea: 11.3-36.8 mg/dl. The red blood cell indices had a narrow range, with mean corpuscular volume: 84.0 -102.5 fl and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration: 18.2-28.8 g/dl, and which was most likely due to strict physiologic controls. The results from this study were similar to those previously reported for farmed nutria.

30-day intravenous administration of VRCTC-310-ONCO in rabbits.

VRCTC-310-ONCO, an agent based on the snake phospholipase A2 (crotoxin), is currently under clinical development. After phase I study in patients by intramuscular administration, the interest of intravenous (IV) dosing arose. To evaluate IV administration of VRCTC-310-ONCO in rabbits, ten animals were subjected to surgical implant of fixed jugular catheter, by which they received daily IV doses of 0.03 mg/kg body weight of VRCTC-310-ONCO for 30 days (n = 8) or saline (n = 2). The procedure was well tolerated in all rabbits. One of the animals died after the sixth dose of VRCTC-310-ONCO with CNS involvement; two additional rabbits required dose-reduction. All other rabbits achieved 30 days of treatment and were sacrificed. All rabbits (even controls) developed lymphocytosis and mild anaemia, without changes in blood neutrophils. No changes were found in serum transaminases (GOT and GPT), cholesterol, triglycerides, and y-glutamyl transpeptidase. At necropsy, chronic granulation tissue was found surrounding the implant in all rabbits. VRCTC-3 10-ONCO-treated rabbits presented generalised and marked swelling of hepatocytes, with areas of cytoplasmic vacuolisation. No abnormalities were found in kidney, heart, lung, spleen, adrenal gland, uterus, testes and ovary. Additional studies with IV route for VRCTC-310-ONCO, including humans, are required to define its toxicity in the clinical setting.

Comparación de cuatro antígenos para la determinació de anticuerpos antileptospiras en serología por ensayo inmuno enzimático (ELISA) en leptospirosis canina / Comparison of four antigens in immunoenzymatic assay (ELISA) for especific antibody determination in a serology of leptospirosis in dogs

Introducción. La Leptospirosis es una enfermedad, que frecuentemente pasa sub diagnosticada debido a la falta de una prueba de diagnóstico de fácil realización. Dentro de las técnicas de laboratorio, las inmuno-enzimáticas, se encuentran entre las de mayor sensibilidad. El presente trabajo tiene por objetivo el desarrollo de la técnica de ELISA, que permita la detección diagnóstica de la Leptospirosis en forma rápida, sencilla y económica. Material y métodos. Se utilizaron como antígeno (Ag) cultivos vivos de Leptospira interrogans sv. icterohaemorrhagiae con distintos tratamiento: cultivo total, sonicado, termo resistente (TR) y TR sonicado. La prueba se realizó con 29 sueros caninos sospechosos clínicamente de leptospirosis, diluido en PBS 1/8; utilizándose 3 controles negativos y 3 controles positivos. Todos los sueros fueron comparados con la técnica de Aglutinación Microscópica (MAT) utilizando como Ag la misma cepa utilizada para ELISA. Resultados. Los resultados de este estudio muestran que de 29 sueros analizados 10 (34 por ciento) dieron resultados positivos. Todos los controles positivos dieron desarrollo evidente de color en los pocillos, no variando su color con controles negativos. La correlación con la técnica de MAT fue de +0,80 (Ag sonicados) y +0,70 (Ag sin sonicar) según los antígenos utilizados. Discusión. Esta técnica de rápida realización (150 minutos) podría ser adaptada a cualquier laboratorio y permitiría su uso como método de diagnóstico tamiz de Leptospirosis en canino