1,721,053 research outputs found
Cardiorespiratory and gastrointestinal parasites of dogs in north-west Italy
Full text linkThe present study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of gastrointestinal and cardio-respiratory
parasites in dogs in Liguria (northwest Italy) which is a region that has scarcely been studied. A
total of 450 dogs (260 males and 190 females) were enrolled in the study from 2009 and 2013. All
dogs lived in a rural or semi-rural environment in the provinces of Imperia (n = 352) or Savona (n =
98), Liguria. Coprological examinations showed that 197 dogs (43.8 %, CI 38.7-48.9 %) were infected
by parasites. Specifi cally, 3.3 % of the dogs presented only cardio-respiratory species, 32.4 %
only intestinal species, and 8.0 % presented a mixed infection.
The most frequent intestinal parasites were Toxocara canis (20 %), Trichuris vulpis (17.8 %), Ancylostomatidae
(12 %), Coccidia (2.7 %), Aonchotheca putorii (1.8 %) and Toxascaris leonina (1.8 %).
The cardio-respiratory species found were Eucoleus aerophilus (9.6 %), Eucoleus boehmi (1.6 %),
Angiostrongylus vasorum (0.7 %), and Crenosoma vulpis (0.2 %). A total of 116 dogs (25.8 %) were
parasitized by a single species, multiple infections were observed in 81 dogs (18.0 %) up to a six-order
infection.
This preliminary study highlighted that the prevalence of intestinal parasites in investigated area is
high. Cardio respiratory parasites were detected in an area that has not been investigated before.
The creation of a more extensive sampling programme of the area, on a provincial basis in order to
build a more detailed map of prevalences for different species of dog parasites throughout Liguria, a
more extensive sampling programme of the area needs to be created - ideally for each province
Microbiome in cancer: A comparative analysis between humans and dogs
No full textCancer is a major cause of death in humans and animals worldwide. While cancer survival rates have increased over recent decades, further research to identify risk factors for the onset and progression of disease, and safe and highly efficacious treatments, is needed. Spontaneous tumours in pets represent an excellent model for neoplastic disease in humans. In this regard, dogs are an interesting species, as the divergence between the dog and human genome is low, humans and dogs have important similarities in the development and functioning of the immune system, and both species often share the same physical environment. There is also a higher homology between the canine and human microbiome than murine model. This review aims to describe and organize recently published information on canine microbiome assemblages and their relationship with the onset and progression of colorectal cancer, breast cancer and lymphoma, and to compare this with human disease. In both species, dysbiosis can induce variations in the gut microbiota that strongly influence shifts in status between health and disease. This can produce an inflammatory state, potentially leading to neoplasia, especially in the intestine, thus supporting canine studies in comparative oncology. Intestinal dysbiosis can also alter the efficacy and side effects of cancer treatments. Fewer published studies are available on changes in the relevant microbiomes in canine lymphoma and mammary cancer, and further research in this area could improve our understanding of the role of microbiota in the development of these cancers
Eucoleus aerophilus and other Trichinelloid Nematodes in Dogs from Liguria (North -West Italy)
No full text
DETERMINATION OF OCHRATOXIN A IN FARMED FISH BY ENZYMATIC DIGESTION (ED) COUPLED TO HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH A FLUORESCENCE DETECTOR (HPLC-FLD)
Full text linkSeveral studies have demonstrated that fish feeds contain significant concentrations of chemical contaminants, many of which can bioaccumulate and bioconcentrate in fish tissues (1). The serious concern regarding the use of fish meal and fish oil in the the aquaculture industry has led to extensive search of alternative raw materials for aquafeeds. The most obvious alternatives are oils and proteins of plants origin. The use of these alternative feed ingredients can introduce contaminants that were previously not associated with fish farming such as mycotoxins (2). Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced as a secondary metabolite by various Aspergillus and Penicillium species with nephrotoxic, carcinogenic, immunotoxic and teratogenic potential (3). OTA has been found in several food commodities, including cereals and can also be present in food of animal origin as a result of carryover from contaminated feed (3). The aim of the present study was to determine OTA concentrations in muscle, kidney and liver of 10 seabream and 10 seabass of farmed origin collected on the market. Analysis will be performed by using an enzymatic digestion (ED) method coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD). Fish tissues were digested for 1 hour at 37°C with a 1% pancreatin solution in a phosphate buffer and then cleaned up with ethylacetate. After being evaporated to dryness and re-dissolved, the sample was processed using HPLC-FLD. The method was validated for: specificity, recovery, trueness, selectivity, linearity, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quntification (LOQ), repeatability and reproducibility. Recoveries of analytical method were higher than 85 % for all the matrices. Intra and inter-day repeatability expressed as relative standard deviation were less than 9%. The LOD and LOQ for liver and muscles samples were 0.001 and 0.002 μg/kg, respectively. The LOD and LOQ for kidney samples were 0.01 and 0.02 μg/kg, respectively. The highest concentrations of OTA were found in kidney of the 20 fishes analyzed (rang
First report of acanthocephalan Spaerirostris lanceoides in a Eurasia badger (Meles meles) from Liguria
No full textDNA and Mini-DNA barcoding for the identification of Porgies species (family Sparidae) of commercial interest on the international market
Full text linkThe morphological similarity among Sparidae species, which are characterized by a different market price, represents a serious problem for their trade and for stock management, since it encourages frauds for substitution. The most accredited morphological method for their identification is based on the dental-plate, but this approach is not simple and cannot be used for prepared products. When molecular methods are used the DNA degradation induced by cooking is the main drawback. In this work, we collected 314 reference tissues belonging to 75 Sparidae species and we produced a dataset of full (FDB) and mini-barcode (MDB) reference sequences starting from DNA extracted from fresh and ethanol-preserved tissues using universal primes. Moreover, some fresh samples were cooked. The FDB was successfully amplified in 91% (fresh), 50% (cooked) and 81% (ethanol-preserved) samples, while the amplification rates of the MDB were considerably higher in case of cooked (100%) and ethanol-preserved (94%) samples. The same primers were used for the amplification of the DNA obtained from 58 market samples (MS). All the DNA barcodes were compared with BOLD and GenBank using IDs and BLAST analysis. FDB was able to provide unambiguous species-level identifications for 53 (78%) and 44 (64.7%) reference samples analyzed on BOLD and GenBank, respectively. The Mini-DNA barcode (MDB) showed a lower discriminating power with 32 (45.7%) and 29 (41.4%) sequences unambiguously matched to a species on BOLD and GenBank. However, the MDB allowed to identify all the reference sequences as belonging to the Sparidae family. FDB and MDB showed a similar performance in analyzing the MS, allowing to highlight 21 (38%) mislabeled MS. Our study, while confirming the FDB as a reliable tool for fish authentication, proposes the MDB as a promising tool to recover molecular information in case of cooked products
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