No abstract

Background -Dermal arteritis of the nasal philtrum is a rarely reported condition commonly affecting large breed dogs.Objective -To describe the effective treatment of nasal philtrum arteritis with topical tacrolimus in one dog.Animal -A 9-year-old, intact male German shorthair pointer dog was presented with well-demarcated deep erythematous ulcers targeting exclusively the skin of the nasal philtrum, accompanied by frequent series of haemorrhage.Methods -Complete blood count, serum chemistry profile, urinalysis, histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry of skin biopsies.Results -The presence of a V-shaped ulcer with subendothelial spindle cell proliferation resulting in stenosis of dermal arteries and arterioles on histological evaluation, together with a well-demarcated deep nasal philtrum ulcer was consistent with arteritis of the nasal philtrum. Treatment was initiated with twice daily oral doxycycline and niacinamide in conjunction with topical fluocinolone cream. Over the course of two years, the lesions progressed with frequent bleeding episodes. A novel surgical approach provided deep resection of all grossly affected tissue; four months later a recurrence of fissures and occasional mild bleeding from the original site was noted and there was no improvement after another two months of oral doxycycline/niacinamide and topical fluocinolone treatment. Topical application of 0.1% tacrolimus twice daily resulted in complete healing of the ulceration and normalization of the epidermis. Over the subsequent 15 months, the dog's lesions remained in remission with topical tacrolimus application twice daily.Conclusions and clinical importance -Topical tacrolimus ointment appeared effective at inducing and maintaining lesion remission in this dog with nasal philtrum arteritis.

No abstract

The 2014 outbreak of clade 2.3.4.4A highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) led to the culling of millions of commercial chickens and turkeys and death of various wild bird species. In this outbreak, older chickens and turkeys were commonly infected, and succumbed to clinical disease compared to younger aged birds such chicken broilers. Some experimental studies using waterfowl species have shown age-related differences in susceptibility to clinical disease with HPAI viruses. Here, we evaluate differences in H5 Hemagglutinin (HA) tissue binding across age groups, using recombinant H5 HA (rHA) proteins generated using gene sequences from low pathogenic (A/mallard/MN/410/2000(H5N2 (LPAIV)) and a HPAIV (A/Northern pintail/Washington/40964/2014(H5N2)) influenza A virus (IAV). Respiratory and intestinal tracts from chickens, ducks (Mallard, Pekin, Muscovy) and turkeys of different age groups were used to detect rHA binding with protein histochemistry, which was quantified as the median area of binding (MAB) used for statistical analysis. There were species and tissue specific differences in the rHA binding among the age groups; however, turkeys had significant differences in the HPAIV rHA binding in the respiratory tract, with younger turkeys having higher levels of binding in the lung compared to the older group. In addition, in the intestinal tract, younger turkeys had higher levels of binding compared to the older birds. Using LPAIV, similar species and tissues, specific differences were seen among the age groups; however, only turkeys had overall significant differences in the respiratory tract MAB, with the older birds having higher levels of binding compared to the younger group. No age-related differences were seen in the overall intestinal tract rHA binding. Age-related differences in rHA binding of the LPAIV and HPAIV demonstrated in this study may partially, but not completely, explain differences in host susceptibility to infection observed during avian influenza outbreaks and in experimental infection studies.

Infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) is an acute respiratory disease of poultry caused by infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV). Control of the disease with live attenuated vaccines administered via eye drop build upon immune responses generated by the eye-associated lymphoid tissues. The aim of this study was to assess cytokine and lymphocyte changes in the conjunctiva-associated lymphoid tissues (CALT) and Harderian gland (HG) stimulated by the ocular inoculation of the ILTV chicken embryo origin (CEO) vaccine strain and virulent strain 63140. This study offers strong evidence to support the roles that the CALT and HG play in the development of protective ILTV immune responses. It supports the premise that ILTV-mediated immunomodulation favors the B cell response over those of T cells. Further, it provides evidence that expansions of CD8α+ cells, with the concomitant expression of the Granzyme A gene, are key to reducing viral genomes in the CALT and halting ILTV cytolytic replication in the conjunctiva. Ultimately, this study revealed that the early upregulation of interleukin (IL)-12p40 and Interferon (IFN)-γ cytokine genes, which shape the antigen-specific cell-mediated immune responses, retarded the decline of virus replication, and enhanced the development of lesions in the conjunctiva epithelium.