Use of Neonatal Fostering To Remove Helicobacter spp. from Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus).

Helicobacter species can be found in a wide variety of animals and remain common contaminants of laboratory rodents. Fostering of neonatal pups has been used to eliminate Helicobacter spp. from various laboratory rodents, including laboratory mice and gerbils. Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) from a captive colony enzootic for at least one Helicobacter species were mated, and the pups produced were fostered on laboratory mice 24 h after birth. After 2 rounds of fostering, both foster dams and pups were free of Helicobacter spp. as determined by fecal PCR analysis. Removal of Helicobacter infection through neonatal fostering has not been described previously for Peromyscus maniculatus.

Health, growth and reproductive success of mice exposed to environmentally relevant levels of Ra-226 via drinking water over multiple generations.

PURPOSE: To assess health, growth and reproductive success of mammals exposed for multiple generations to levels of radium-226 known to occur in environments surrounding uranium mines and mills in Canada. METHODS: The study consisted of a control group and four treatment groups each containing 40 mice (20 males and 20 females) of the CBA/CaJ strain that were continuously exposed to a range of radium-226 levels via drinking water. Breeding was at 8-10 weeks of age and the study was concluded after three breeding cycles. RESULTS: When compared to control mice, constant consumption of drinking water containing 0.012, 0.076, 0.78 and 8.0 Bq/l of radium-226 over four generations of mice did not demonstrably affect physical condition, weight, pregnancy rate, number of pups per litter, sex ratio and bodyweight gain of pups. Between generations, the observed differences in pregnancy rates that were noted in all groups, including controls, seemed to directly correlate with the weight and age of the females at breeding. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the endpoints measured on four generations of mice, there is no indication that the consumption of radium-226 via drinking water (at activity concentrations up to 8.0 Bq/l) affects health, growth and reproductive fitness.

Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis in children: the disorder, its diagnosis, and treatment.

Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis is a newly characterized severe neuroautoimmune syndrome with a progressive, clinical course. Most often seen in females, it usually begins with a prodromal phase suggestive of an acute or subclinical upper respiratory tract infection that lasts for up to 2 weeks. This is followed by a psychotic and seizure phase in which the child may rapidly develop seizures, behavioral changes, and, less commonly in children, psychiatric symptoms, resulting in frequent misdiagnoses. The child may become mute and unresponsive but awake during the akinetic phase. Autonomic instability characterizes the hyperkinetic phase. A teratoma or, more rarely, another tumor type is found in 25% of affected adolescents beyond the first decade of life. The finding of oligoclonal protein electrophoresis (>80%) and antibodies in serum and cerebrospinal fluid directed against the NR1 subunit of the NMDA receptor confirms the diagnosis. Prognosis is improved with the appropriate use of immunosuppressant therapies. Relapses in children may be multiple and occur in 20-25% of cases. Recovery is slow and may take 3 years or longer. Even so, the child may not always regain its premorbid level of health.

Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. The disorder, the diagnosis and the immunobiology.

Anti-NMDAR encephalitis is a newly characterized syndrome with a progressive, predictable clinical course and the possibility of effective treatment. Accurate and timely diagnosis is critical to selection and implementation of treatments, and optimal patient outcomes. Outcomes are improved with early diagnosis via indirect immunofluorescence or cell-based assays, and the rapid and appropriate administration of immunosuppressant and anti-psychotic therapies. Three possible scenarios accounting for the immunopathogenesis of anti-NMDAR encephalitis are presented, with the most probable one being that of paraneoplastic autoimmunity. Future efforts in this disorder should focus on elucidating the mechanisms that contribute to initiation of this antibody response, as well as exploring the role of tumors, infectious triggers and immune-reactivation. Finally, accessible tools need to be developed that allow for reliable identification of specific antibody markers against synaptic proteins.

Current and future molecular diagnostics for prion diseases.

It is now widely held that the infectious agents underlying the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are prions, which are primarily composed of a misfolded, protease-resistant isoform of the host prion protein. Untreatable prion disorders include some human diseases, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and diseases of economically important animals, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (cattle) and chronic wasting disease (deer and elk). Detection and diagnosis of prion disease (and presymptomatic incubation) is contingent upon developing novel assays, which exploit properties uniquely possessed by this misfolded protein complex, rather than targeting an agent-specific nucleic acid. This review highlights some of the conventional and disruptive technologies developed to respond to this challenge.