Lesion In Pigs Research Articles

THE OCCURRENCE OF GASTRIC LESIONS IN SLAUGHTERED PIGS AT THE KUMASI ABATTOIR, GHANA

Information on the occurrence of gastric lesions in pigs in Ghana is lacking in literature. This study was designed as a preliminary investigation to determine the occurrence and pattern of gastric lesion in pigs in Ghana. Ante-mortem animal assessment and post-slaughter stomach evaluation were conducted on 75 pigs out of a total of 694 slaughtered between October, 2014 and March, 2015 at the Kumasi abattoir. The gross lesions observed on the gastric mucosa were graded using standard technique. Stomach contents were assessed and tissue sections were used for histopathology evaluation. The data obtained were cross tabulated and analyzed using Chi-square and One-way ANOVA. Significance was determined at p < 0.05.The prevalence of gastric lesions in the sampled population was 25.3% while the non-glandular stomach (pars oesophagea) and glandular had a prevalence of 17.3% and 21.3% respectively. The predominant lesions observed were epithelial changes in the pars oesophagea and ulcers in glandular region of the stomach. Epithelial changes were restricted to the non-glandular region and it affected 8 (42.1%) of the stomachs with lesions. Erosions and ulceration were observed in the pars oesophagea and glandular stomach while mucosa damage was restricted to the glandular stomach. Lesions were observed in the two breeds studied and the stomach contents of the pigs were mostly finely grounded compounded feed, millet/maize chaff or cassava based feed. Histopathological evaluation of gastric mucosa tissues revealed erosion, multifocal ulcerations with occasional presence of silver staining micro-organisms. There was no significant association between breed, age, sex and occurrence of gastric lesions in pigs. Stomach content volume and feed type were identified as risk factors. Evidence of stomach infection with spirochetes was also observed. Our findings reveal the occurrence of gastric lesions in pigs in Ghana and its associated risk factors. It is therefore recommended that stake-holders should adopt on-farm and abattoir periodic monitoring of the condition as well as improved animal welfare and hygiene practices both on farm and in transit.

Myocardial cavitation-enabled therapy modeling

A therapeutic method named Myocardial Cavitation Enabled Therapy aiming at noninvasive cardiac tissue reduction is modeled here. Sparsely distributed microlesions induced by ultrasound cavitation of contrast agents are hypothesized to cause myocardial shrinkage. The objective is to model lesion formation based on the acoustic field and plan treatments accordingly. An ultrasound field simulation was established in Field II, an acoustics toolbox. It simulates the acoustic field of a 1.5 MHz ultrasound burst of five cycles at 4.0 MPa peak rarefactional pressure amplitude (PRPA) by use of a F# 2 single element therapeutic transducer, as used in concomitant animal studies. Medium parameters, including speed of sound, density, absorption, and B/A were set to water path and heart tissue along the acoustic path. Lesions were masked as region exceeding 2 MPa PRPA, the threshold of microlesions occurrence. The lesion volume is 143 μL compared to in vivo rodent study of approximately 100 μL. To reach a larger lesion in pigs, sweeping of the ultrasound beam is needed using a phased array. Nonlinear acoustic simulation from k-Wave software will assist transitioning from single element to imaging array apertures in terms of interpreting possibly different lesion formation resulting from nonlinearities.

Optimising an escalating shockwave amplitude treatment strategy to protect the kidney from injury during shockwave lithotripsy

Study Type--Therapy (case series) Level of Evidence 4. What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Animal studies have shown that one approach to reduce SWL-induced renal injury is to pause treatment for 3-4 min early in the SWL-treatment protocol. However, there is typically no pause in treatment during clinical lithotripsy. We show in a porcine model that a pause in SWL treatment is unnecessary to achieve a reduction in renal injury if treatment is begun at a low power setting that generates low-amplitude SWs, and given continuously for ≈ 4 min before applying higher-amplitude SWs. • To test the idea that a pause (≈ 3 min) in the delivery of shockwaves (SWs) soon after the initiation of SW lithotripsy (SWL) is unnecessary for achieving a reduction in renal injury, if treatment is begun at a low power setting that generates low-amplitude SWs. • Anaesthetised female pigs were assigned to one of three SWL treatment protocols that did not involve a pause in SW delivery of >10 s (2000 SWs at 24 kV; 100 SWs at 12 kV + ≈ 10-s pause + 2000 SWs at 24 kV; 500 SWs at 12 kV + ≈ 10-s pause + 2000 SWs at 24 kV). • All SWs were delivered at 120 SWs/min using an unmodified Dornier HM3 lithotripter. • Renal function was measured before and after SWL. • The kidneys were then processed for quantification of the SWL-induced haemorrhagic lesion. Values for lesion size were compared to previous data collected from pigs in which treatment included a 3-min pause in SW delivery. • All SWL treatment protocols produced a similar degree of vasoconstriction (23-41% reduction in glomerular filtration rate and effective renal plasma flow) in the SW-treated kidney. • The mean renal lesion in pigs treated with 100 low-amplitude SWs delivered before the main dose of 2000 high-amplitude SWs (2.27% functional renal volume [FRV]) was statistically similar to that measured for pigs treated with 2000 SWs all at high-amplitude (3.29% FRV). • However, pigs treated with 500 low-amplitude SWs before the main SW dose had a significantly smaller lesion (0.44% FRV) that was comparable with the lesion in pigs from a previous study in which there was a 3-min pause in treatment separating a smaller initial dose of 100 low-amplitude SWs from the main dose of 2000 high-amplitude SWs (0.46% FRV). The time between the initiation of the low - and high-amplitude SWs was ≈ 4 min for these latter two groups compared with ≈ 1 min when there was negligible pause after the initial 100 low-amplitude SWs in the protocol. • Pig kidneys treated by SWL using a two-step low-to-high power ramping protocol were protected from injury with negligible pause between steps, provided the time between the initiation of low-amplitude SWs and switching to high-amplitude SWs was ≈ 4 min. • Comparison with results from previous studies shows that protection can be achieved using various step-wise treatment scenarios in which either the initial dose of SWs is delivered at low-amplitude for ≈ 4 min, or there is a definitive pause before resuming SW treatment at higher amplitude. • Thus, we conclude that renal protection can be achieved without instituting a pause in SWL treatment. It remains prudent to consider that renal protection depends on the acoustic and temporal properties of SWs administered at the beginning stages of a SWL ramping protocol, and that this may differ according to the lithotripter being used.

Corticomotor excitability of back muscles is affected by intervertebral disc lesion in pigs

Morphological and behavioural changes in back muscles are common in back pain and injury. Recent data indicate a rapid reduction in the size of the multifidus, a deep back muscle, within 3 days of experimental intervertebral disc (IVD) injury in pigs. A reduced neural drive may contribute to this. We investigated changes in corticomotor excitability following IVD lesion by evaluation of the response of back muscles to electrical stimulation of the motor cortex. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were studied in 12 Swedish landrace pigs before injury, immediately after abdominal incision, immediately after L3-4 IVD lesion with a scalpel, and 15 min later. In two animals, responses were also evoked by descending volleys excited at the level of the mastoid processes (cervicomedullary evoked potentials) without motor cortex activation. In five animals, a sham procedure was followed without IVD lesion. MEPs were recorded in short (deep) and long (superficial) fibres of the multifidus at L3-5 on the lesioned side and at L4 contralaterally with intramuscular wire electrodes. Although the MEP amplitude increased in several muscles after incision, at 15 min after IVD lesion only the MEP amplitude of the deep L4 multifidus on the lesioned side was increased [36% (SD 15%), P < 0.05]. There were no changes in MEP amplitude after 15 min at adjacent or contralateral levels. The response to cervicomedullary stimulation reduced slightly. This suggests that the increased MEP amplitude was due to changes in cortical excitability. These data indicate that IVD lesion induces localized increases, and not decreases, in the excitability of cortical inputs to the deep paraspinal muscles that cross a lesioned disc.

Thymic Granulomatous Lesions in Pigs

Rare cases of thymic granulomatous lesions were found in pigs. The lesions consisted of epithelioid cells, multinucleated giant cells, and lymphocytes. Such lesions also were observed in the mesenteric lymph nodes, spleen, kidney, and stomach. The cytoplasm of the majority of giant cells and some epithlioid cells was periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) positive. All cells were positive for vimentin, lysozyme, and desmin. Ultrastructurally, the giant cells were rich in organella and attached to adjacent epithelioid cells by membrane interdigitation. The cells included numerous coated vesicles and granules. No etiologic pathogen, including porcine circovirus type 2, was detected in the lesions. This is the rare case of idiopathic thymic granulomatous lesion in pigs.

Evaluation of caspase-dependent apoptosis during fluoride-induced liver lesion in pigs

Sixteen barrows (Duroc x Landrace x Yorkshire) were randomly divided into two groups, each consisting eight pigs. The groups received the same basal diet supplemented with 0 and 400 mg/kg fluoride, respectively. Histological examinations, including in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL), Haematoxylin and Eosin staining (HE) and transmission electron microscopy observation, found apoptotic hepatocytes 50 days after additional 400 mg/kg fluoride treatment. The obvious DNA ladder and the significantly increased both hepatic caspase-9 and caspase-3 activity indicated that fluoride induced caspase-dependent apoptosis in vivo. In addition, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) activity and hepatic lipid peroxides (LPO) concentration was significantly increased. The activity of serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) showed an increased trend. The results suggest that fluoride induces apoptosis by elevating the oxidative stress-induced lipid peroxidation, causing mitochondrial dysfunction and further activating caspase-9 and caspase-3.

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The acute phase response of acid soluble glycoprotein, α1-acid glycoprotein, ceruloplasmin, haptoglobin and C-reactive protein, in the pig

The acute phase serum protein response to infection, inflammation or trauma has been identified in a number of species and consists of alterations to the serum concentrations of several proteins. It is known that the profile of acute phase protein response to stimulation differs between species. In the pig, individual proteins have been identified as acute phase proteins in association with infection or pathological lesions. In this investigation, turpentine injection was used to stimulate a sterile inflammatory lesion in pigs so that the relative changes in acute phase protein could be determined and the most appropriate proteins identified as markers of inflammation. The mean serum concentration of the acid soluble glycoprotein fraction showed a two-fold increase with a peak 2 days after treatment. The mean serum α 1-acid glycoprotein concentration fluctuated during the period following injection of turpentine with little difference from the control animals. The mean concentration of serum ceruloplasmin increased by 40% by the 4th day following treatment. The mean serum concentration of haptoglobin increased more than two-fold reaching a peak on the 2nd day after treatment. The mean serum C-reactive protein level increased eight-fold with a peak on the 2nd day after turpentine injection. C-reactive protein and haptoglobin are likely to be the best markers for the identification of inflammatory lesions in pigs.

The sequelae of fragmented anconeal process (FAP) lesion in pigs: a radiologic, macroscopic and histopathological investigation.

The development of the anconeal process its lesions and their sequelae were scrutinized during the follow-up radiographic study (every 5 months) of porcine osteochondrosis of elbow joint bones done in 80 Danish Landrace pigs from day 42 of age to 38 months of age. The anconeal process was observed radiologically to be ossified at the age of between 6 to 7 months. Normally it ossifies by pyramidal extension from the proximal ulna. However, fragmented/ separated anconeal process lesion was demonstrated in 15 pigs (the process was "ununited' with the rest of the proximal ulna). The diagnosis was confirmed in nine pigs at gross post-mortem and microscopically when the pigs were slaughtered due to other reasons than lameness of the front leg. These cases were interpreted as "fragmented/separated anconeal process' (FAP/SAP). This lesion showed a tendency to heal with increasing age. The lesions were healed in all surviving pigs at the age of 25-26 months.