Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: P. Vasickova Author-Workplace-Name: University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Czech Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: I. Psikal Author-Workplace-Name: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: P. Kralik Author-Workplace-Name: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: F. Widen Author-Workplace-Name: The National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden Author-Name: Z. Hubalek Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: I. Pavlik Author-Workplace-Name: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Title: Hepatitis E virus: a review Abstract: The hepatitis E virus (HEV), the causative agent of hepatitis E, is a non-enveloped RNA virus. The HEV genome is formed by a non-segmented positive-sense RNA chain. The 3´end of the chain is polyadenylated and the 5´end is structurally characterised by the so called "capping". According to currently accepted taxonomy, HEV is classified in the genus Hepevirus, the only member of the Hepeviridae family. HE is usually transmitted via the faecal-oral route due to the fact that drinking water or water for industrial purposes is contaminated due to poor sanitation. This spread of HEV has been reported in developing countries of Asia, Africa, South and Central America. However, cases in countries with the sporadic occurrence of HEV have been associated with travelling to countries with an increased risk of infection (developing countries in Asia, Africa and America). HEV infections have subsequently been described in people who have not travelled to endemic countries. Further studies of the HEV suggested other routes of transmission and a zoonotic potential of the virus (pigs and deer as the potential source of human infection). Keywords: risk assessment, food safety, foodborne viral outbreaks, zoonoses, pigs Journal: Veterinární medicína Pages: 365-384 Volume: 52 Issue: 9 Year: 2007 DOI: 10.17221/1999-VETMED File-URL: http://vetmed.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/1999-VETMED.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/vet-200709-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlvet:v:52:y:2007:i:9:id:1999-VETMED Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: J. Rajchard Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic Title: Intraspecific and interspecific chemosignals in birds: a review Abstract: This review of chemosignals in birds considers intraspecific oriented chemosignals such as pheromones, interspecific chemosignals, and chemical interactions with parasites. Intraspecific chemosignals are known in some seabirds, especially burrow- or crevice-nesting auklets and petrels that breed in large colonies and are often nocturnal on land. Crested Auklets secrete a distinctive scent closely associated with courtship and important in sexual selection. Individually distinctive odours of petrels allow them to identify their own nest and can have a significant role in social relationships. Substances considered as sex pheromones, diesters of 3-hydroxy fatty acids, are produced by female mallards in their uropygial glands during the mating season. In many species of Charadriiformes during nesting monoester waxes are substituted with mixtures of less volatile diester waxes, less easily detected by mammals searching for nests. The tissues, mainly skin and feather of the New Guinean Passerines of the genus Pitohui and Ifrita contain steroidal alkaloids from the batrachotoxin group probably as a chemical defense. The variation of preen gland secretion in some other Passerines is apparently due to selective pressures caused by ectosymbionts. The auklets' odour, considered as a signal of mate quality, has also a function as ectoparasite repellent: aldehyde constituents of this odour kill and repel ectoparasites. Parasitic nematodes influence grouse digestion and thereby scent emission, making parasitized birds more vulnerable to depredation by mammals. Conversely, scents of some mammalian predators can function as a bird repellent. Keywords: olfactory, pheromone, odor, waxes, parasit Journal: Veterinární medicína Pages: 385-391 Volume: 52 Issue: 9 Year: 2007 DOI: 10.17221/2000-VETMED File-URL: http://vetmed.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/2000-VETMED.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/vet-200709-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlvet:v:52:y:2007:i:9:id:2000-VETMED Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: I. Pavlik Author-Workplace-Name: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: L. Matlova Author-Workplace-Name: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: M. Gilar Author-Workplace-Name: State Veterinary District Administration, Pelhrimov, Czech Republic Author-Name: J. Bartl Author-Workplace-Name: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: I. Parmova Author-Workplace-Name: State Veterinary Institute, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: F. Lysak Author-Workplace-Name: Field Veterinarian, Pelhrimov, Czech Republic Author-Name: M. Alexa Author-Workplace-Name: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: L. Dvorska-Bartosova Author-Workplace-Name: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: V. Svec Author-Workplace-Name: State Veterinary District Administration, Pelhrimov, Czech Republic Author-Name: V. Vrbas Author-Workplace-Name: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: A. Horvathova Author-Workplace-Name: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Title: Isolation of conditionally pathogenic mycobacteria from the environment of one pig farm and the effectiveness of preventive measures between 1997 and 2003 Abstract: Between 1997 and 2003, in one herd of breeding pigs with 90 sows and two boars, positive and dubious responses to avian tuberculin were detected in 4 and 72 pigs, respectively. Pigs were examined using the agglutination test for the presence of serum antibodies against corpuscular antigens prepared from various Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) members: M. a. avium (MAA) of serotype 2, M. a. hominissuis (MAH) of serotype 8 and M. intracellulare (MI) of serotype 19. Positive skin responses were found in animals with antibodies against MAH (18; 23.7%), MAA (3; 4.0%) and MI (9; 11.8%) antigens. By serological examination of 17 sows with repeated dubious responses for tuberculin skin testing with avian tuberculin, no antibodies against MAA were detected; MAH antibodies and MI antibodies were found in eight and two animals, respectively. By post mortem examination of lymph nodes (ln) and organ samples from all 76 animals with responses to avian tuberculin, no tuberculous/tuberculoid lesions were detected. By culture examination of ln and organs from 13 animals, conditionally pathogenic mycobacteria (CPM) were isolated from only one animal (breeding boar): from mesenteric, pulmonary, hepatic ln and from spleen tissue samples. These isolates were identified as MAH and CPM by the PCR method and biochemically. By investigation of the external environment (205 samples), 33 (16.3%) CPM isolates were obtained: 13 MAH, eight M. fortuitum, one M. nonchromogenicum, one M. abscessus, one M. scrofulaceum and nine unidentified isolates, which were non-MAC according to the PCR examination. Non-specific responses obtained in the intravital tests (skin and serological tests) caused by CPM present in the environment substantially complicated diagnosis of avian tuberculosis. Based on these findings, animal hygiene measures have been adopted since 2002; resulted in a decrease of environmental contamination with CPM and a reduction in the number of animals giving positive responses to avian tuberculin. Keywords: IS901, IS1245, dnaJ, zoonosis, avian mycobacteriosis, food safety, ecology Journal: Veterinární medicína Pages: 392-404 Volume: 52 Issue: 9 Year: 2007 DOI: 10.17221/1997-VETMED File-URL: http://vetmed.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/1997-VETMED.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/vet-200709-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlvet:v:52:y:2007:i:9:id:1997-VETMED Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: R. Rekawiecki Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Olsztyn, Poland Author-Name: J. Kotwica Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Olsztyn, Poland Title: Molecular regulation of progesterone synthesis in the bovine corpus luteum Abstract: In bovine luteal cells, progesterone can directly affect its own synthesis by increasing the activity of 3β-HSD. The effect of progesterone on its own secretion coincides with increased expression of the genes for 3β-HSD, StAR, and cytochrome P450scc. Therefore, progesterone regulates its own synthesis by affecting the activity of the enzymes that take part in luteal steroidogenesis, and also by affecting the expression of the genes for these enzymes. The aims of this study were: (a) to determine whether progesterone affects the expression of the gene for its own receptor, thereby affecting its own synthesis; and (b) to determine whether oxytocin and noradrenaline affect the expression of the genes for the oxytocin receptor (OT-R), the progesterone receptor (P4-R), and the β2 receptor (β2-R), thereby regulating luteal steroidogenesis. Two populations of luteal cells were used in the present study: from 6th-10th and 11th-16th days of the estrous cycle, which were isolated from corpus luteum (CL) from slaughtered cows. The luteal cells were treated for six hours with one of the following hormones: luteinizing hormone (LH; 100 ng/ml); progesterone (P4; 10-5M); progesterone antagonist (aP4; 10-5M); noradrenaline (NA; 10-5M); or actinomycin D (ActD; 500 ng/ml). After treatment, the medium was collected for the determination of progesterone concentration. With LH, the P4 concentration in the medium increased with both 6th-10th and 11th-16th days. None of the other treatments affected the progesterone concentration of the medium. The level of expression of the genes for OT-R, P4-R and β2-R were determined. Total RNA was extracted from cells, treated with DNase, and subjected to reverse transcription. Treatment with luteinizing hormone was the only treatment that increased the level of expression of the gene for P4-R in both 6th-10th and 11th-16th days of the estrous cycle. Both treatment with luteinizing hormone and treatment with progesterone increased the level of expression of the gene for OT-R in 6th-10th days. The basal level of expression of the gene for OT-R was higher in 6th-10th days than in 11th-16th days. This suggests that there is positive feedback between progesterone and oxytocin, with both playing a role as a local, intra-ovarian factor that enhances the function of the corpus luteum. Keywords: steroidogenesis, corpus luteum, oxytocin receptor, progesterone receptor, β 2 receptor, cattle Journal: Veterinární medicína Pages: 405-412 Volume: 52 Issue: 9 Year: 2007 DOI: 10.17221/1996-VETMED File-URL: http://vetmed.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/1996-VETMED.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/vet-200709-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlvet:v:52:y:2007:i:9:id:1996-VETMED Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: S. Cech Author-Workplace-Name: University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: R. Dolezel Author-Workplace-Name: University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic Title: Treatment of ovarian cysts in sows - a field trial Abstract: Different procedures of treatment of large follicular ovarian cysts in 177 sows using GnRH, hCG and PGF2α are evaluated in this study. Ovarian cysts were diagnosed by transcutaneous ultrasonography, which was a part of routine pregnancy diagnosis. No treatment was performed in the control group (Group 1, n = 29); the method of treatment used in the other groups immediately after the diagnosis was intramuscular administration of lecirelin in doses 50 µg (Group 2, n = 28), 100 µg (Group 3, n = 27) and 200 µg divided into 2 equal doses administered at a 12-hour interval (Group 4, n = 25) and of hCG in doses 1 500 IU (Group 5, n = 23), 3 000 IU (Group 6, n = 21), and 250 µg of cloprostenol (Group 7, n = 24). Insemination rate (IR), conception rate (CR) in inseminated sows, pregnancy rate (PR = recovery rate), treatment-insemination interval (TII) and treatment-pregnancy interval (TPI) within 42 days after the initial examination were evaluated. In addition PR in groups of sows divided according to parity (1-3, 4-6 and ≥ 7) were also evaluated. IR and PR were higher in Group 4 (84.0% and 44.0%) and lower in Group 1 (17.2% and 6.9%) in comparison with the other groups (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05). CR, TII and TPI did not differ between the experimental groups. PR were similar in sows with different parity. The study proved a positive response in sows with large follicular ovarian cysts to the treatment consisting of 2 administrations of 100 µg GnRH at a 12-hour interval. Keywords: cystic ovaries, swine, GnRH, hCG, PGF2α Journal: Veterinární medicína Pages: 413-418 Volume: 52 Issue: 9 Year: 2007 DOI: 10.17221/1995-VETMED File-URL: http://vetmed.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/1995-VETMED.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/vet-200709-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlvet:v:52:y:2007:i:9:id:1995-VETMED Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: J. Pikula Author-Workplace-Name: University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: J. Pikulova Author-Workplace-Name: Animal Veterinary Clinic, Kurim, Czech Republic Author-Name: H. Bandouchova Author-Workplace-Name: University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: P. Hajkova Author-Workplace-Name: Animal Veterinary Clinic, Kurim, Czech Republic Author-Name: M. Faldyna Author-Workplace-Name: University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic Title: Schmidt's syndrome in a dog: a case report Abstract: This report describes a clinical case and development of the polyglandular failure syndrome including hypothyroidism and hypoadrenocorticism in a 6-year-old female Black Russian Terrier. The bitch was presented because of hypothyroidism on the first occasion. Oral supplementation with sodium levothyroxine resulted in clinical improvement. Four months later, it was presented again with similar and rather vague clinical signs and diagnosed with adrenocortical deficiency both in mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid functions. Indirect immunofluorescence to investigate the presence of circulating autoantibodies against the thyroid and adrenal glands revealed only anti-thyroid antibodies (microsomal pattern) at a dilution of 1:40. Since then, the bitch has been on hydrocortisone and fludrocortisone with no adjustments necessary for a year. The combination of two endocrinopathies and the episodic course of hypoadrenocorticism made the final diagnosis difficult, posed a diagnostic challenge and required the owner's compliance with diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Keywords: polyglandular failure syndrome, hypothyroidism, hypoadrenocorticism Journal: Veterinární medicína Pages: 419-422 Volume: 52 Issue: 9 Year: 2007 DOI: 10.17221/1998-VETMED File-URL: http://vetmed.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/1998-VETMED.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/vet-200709-0006.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlvet:v:52:y:2007:i:9:id:1998-VETMED