Radiographic and histological evidence of metabolic bone disease in gliding leaf frogs (Agalychnis spurrelli)

Abstract

Bone alterations due to metabolic bone disease in captive animal populations can have a negative impact on repopulation and research initiatives. This investigation has the purpose of describing the principal radiographic and anatomopathological findings present in nine gliding leaf frogs (Agalychnis spurrelli) kept in captivity with alterations in their spines and long bones. The observed histopathological findings were in the canalis vertebralis, paraspinal muscle and long bones, and included deformed bones with alteration of the adjacent tissues, alterations in the ossification process, bone degeneration and resorption, decreased number of osteocytes and deposition of osteoid and fibrous material in the compact bone tissue. Additionally, the spinal cord showed compressed white matter, chronic meningitis in the duramater, alteration in the number of glial cells and loss of delimitation between the gray and white matter. Radiographical changes were found mainly in the long bones and included moth-eaten osteolysis, solid periosteal reaction, bone deformities, cortical tunneling and inflammation of adjacent soft tissues. Also, pathological fractures of the femur and urostyle were observed together with spinal column deviations with increased bone density.