Direct interspecies transmissions of group A rotaviruses (RVA) have been reported under natural conditions. However, the pathogenicity of RVA has never been directly compared in homologous and heterologous hosts. The bovine RVA/Cow-tc/KOR/K5/2004/G5P[7] strain, which was shown to possess a typical porcine-like genotype constellation similar to that of the G5P[7] prototype RVA/Pig-tc/USA/OSU/1977/G5P9[7] strain, was examined for its pathogenicity and compared with the porcine G5P[7] RVA/Pig-tc/KOR/K71/2006/G5P[7] strain possessing the same genotype constellation. The bovine K5 strain induced diarrhea and histopathological changes in the small intestine of piglets and calves, whereas the porcine K71 strain caused diarrhea and histopathological changes in the small intestine of piglets, but not in calves. Furthermore, the bovine K5 strain showed extra-intestinal tropisms in both piglets and calves, whereas the porcine K71 strain had extra-intestinal tropisms in piglets, but not in calves. Therefore, we performed comparative genomic analysis of the K71 and K5 RVA strains to determine whether specific mutations could be associated with these distinct clinical and pathological phenotypes. Full-length sequencing analyses for the 11 genomic segments for K71 and K5 revealed that these strains were genetically nearly identical to each other. Two nucleotide mutations were found in the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of NSP5 and the 3′ UTR of NSP3, and eight amino acid mutations in VP1-VP4 and NSP2. Some of these mutations may be critical molecular determinants for RVA virulence and/or pathogenicity.

This study compared crosslinked dextrans in hydroxylpropyl methycellulose (DiHMs, pH 5 or 7) with polymethylmethacrylate in bovine collagen (PMMA) and hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers on soft tissue augmentation and safety in rats. HA tended to maintain its size throughout the experimental period but was moveable and friable because of a lack of thick fibroconnective tissue formation. Although, PMMA induced moderately thick fibroconnective tissue formation, its size was decreased markedly from 3-week postimplantation (PI) and became the smallest at 24-month PI. DiHM (pH 7) elicited strong fibrous encapsulation around the filler. Its size decreased slowly but was still considerably maintained at 24-month PI. In contrast, the rate of the DiHM (pH 5) size decrease was slower than that of PMMA, faster DiHM (pH 7), but comparable to HA. Immunohistochemically, types I and III collagens were deposited inside and outside DiHMs (pH 5 and 7). DiHMs (pH 5 and 7), PMMA, and HA showed no adverse reactions. These results suggest that DiHM (pH 7) assures efficacy and safety and is a good candidate for soft tissue augmentation in both humans and animals.

A 10-year-old, intact female Yorkshire terrier had multiple pulmonary nodules on thoracic radiography and ultrasonography with no lesions elsewhere. Computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET-CT) using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) were performed to identify metastasis and undetected primary tumors. On CT examination, pulmonary nodules had a hypoattenuating center with thin peripheral enhancement, suggesting ischemic or necrotizing lesion. In PET-CT at 47 min after intravenous injection of 11.1 MBq/kg of FDG, the maximum standardized uptake value of each pulmonary nodule was about from 3.8 to 6.4. There were no abnormal lesions except for four pulmonary nodules on the CT and PET-CT. Primary lung tumor was tentatively diagnosed, and palliative therapy using 2 mg/kg tramadol and 2.2 mg/kg carprofen twice per day was applied. After the dog’s euthanasia due to deteriorated clinical signs and poor prognosis, undifferentiated pulmonary adenocarcinoma was diagnosed through histopathologic and immunochemistry examination. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of CT and PET-CT features of canine pulmonary adenocarcinoma. In this case, multiple pulmonary adenocarcinoma could be determined on the basis of FDG PET-CT through screening the obvious distant metastasis and/or lymph node invasions and excluding unknown primary tumors.

A 12-year-old spayed female Yorkshire Terrier with intermittent vomiting was diagnosed with regional granulomatous enteritis through histopathological examination. On ultrasonography and computed tomography, a focal thickened duodenal wall showed a mass-like appearance with indistinct wall layers. Marked uptake of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose was observed from the mass on positron emission tomography-computed tomography. Regional granulomatous enteritis is a rare form of inflammatory bowel disease and may have imaging features similar to intestinal tumors. This is the first study describing the diagnostic imaging features of ultrasonography, computed tomography and positron emission tomography-computed tomography for regional granulomatous enteritis in a dog.