Abstract
This study was designed to evaluate serum and electrocardiographic (ECG) changes in cattle with foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Thirty-two cows with clinical signs of FMD and 13 healthy cows were randomly enrolled. After blood sampling, ECG was performed on 23 of the 32 ill cows. Serum circulatory troponin I (cTnI), CPK, LDH, and CK-MB activities were determined in the patient and control groups. Arrhythmias including ventricular tachycardia (VT), sinus tachycardia (ST), atrial fibrillation (AF), and premature ventricular complex (PVC) were seen in 4, 4, 2, and 1 of the patients, respectively. The patients had higher cTnI levels than the control group (P = 0.05). A significant rise in cTnI was observed in patient cows with VT (0.86 ± 0.33; P < 0.01) and AF (0.22 ± 0.01 ng/mL; P < 0.05) in comparison with the control group (0.14 ± 0.04 ng/mL). The most significant finding of this study was the death of all of the cows with VT. It appears that the cause of death in the cows with VT was cardiac impairment, which was marked by serum cTnI elevation. It can be concluded that cows with VT have a grave prognosis. In some FMD cases with an increase in cTnI, AF was also observed, but with a fairly good prognosis.
Highlights
Seven immunologically distinct serotypes of viruses (O, A, C, Asia 1, South African Territories (SAT) 1, SAT 2, and SAT 3) that belong to the foot-and-mouth disease virus cause footand-mouth disease (FMD) [1]
Two months after the outbreak had subsided in the region, 13 clinically healthy cattle with normal rhythms and rates of auscultation and without a history of FMD in their herds were selected as the control group
ventricular tachycardia (VT) occurred at a significantly higher rate in the 6–12 months of age group compared to the oldest patients (P < 0.05)
Summary
Seven immunologically distinct serotypes of viruses (O, A, C, Asia 1, South African Territories (SAT) 1, SAT 2, and SAT 3) that belong to the foot-and-mouth disease virus (genus Aphthovirus, family Picornaviridae) cause footand-mouth disease (FMD) [1]. Several outbreaks of FMD have taken place in Iran. In this regard, a remarkable level of mortality, especially in calves over 6 months of age and occasionally adults, was one of the major concerns of farmers. Serum activities of LDH, AST, CPK, and CK-MB have been used as biomarkers to detect myocardial injury in farm animals, but they did not show a good predictive value [4,5]. Serum concentration of cTnI provides an excellent and persistent cardiac biomarker in large animals [1]. Troponins play a role as regulatory proteins in the contraction of skeletal and cardiac muscle tissue [6].
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