Effect of prenatal stress on subsequent response to mixing stress and a lipopolysaccharide challenge in pigs.

Sows subjected to prenatal stress have been found to produce offspring that have altered responses to stress. Our objective was to determine if exposing a sow to stress would alter the response of the offspring to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) at 2 mo of age or their response to mixing stress at 4 mo of age. Sow treatments consisted of intravenous injections of ACTH (1 IU/kg of BW), exposure to rough handling for a 10-min duration (rough), or no treatment (control) once per week from d 42 to 77 of gestation. At 2 mo of age, pigs from each treatment, 1 per litter (n = 21, 17, and 15 for the ACTH, rough, and control treatments, respectively), were challenged with 2 µg of LPS/kg of BW or saline, or served as a noninjected control. Their behavioral response to a human approach test and salivary cortisol were measured. At 4 mo of age, 1 pig from each treatment (n = 14, 14, and 15 for the ACTH, rough, and control treatments, respectively) was taken from its home pen and placed in a pen of unfamiliar pigs. At this time, a punch biopsy wound (6 × 6 mm) was created to measure the ability of the pig to heal the wound. At this same time, each pig received a 1-mL intramuscular injection of 20% ovine red blood cells (oRBC), and then a second injection of oRBC at 21 d postmixing. Blood samples were collected 3 times per week for 2 wk and then once a week for 4 more weeks. Blood samples were analyzed for cortisol, porcine corticosteroid-binding globulin, antibody response to oRBC, and nitric oxide production by macrophages. Behavior was recorded during the first 5 d after mixing. All pigs in the LPS challenge responded with characteristic sickness behavior; however, pigs in the rough treatment showed less sickness behavior than those in the other 2 treatments (P < 0.05). Maternal stress treatment did not affect (P < 0.43) salivary cortisol. Pigs from all treatments responded similarly to mixing stress with regard to cortisol, porcine corticosteroid-binding globulin, antibody titers, nitric oxide production, and hematology measures, and all pigs experienced the same amount of aggression in response to mixing. Without altering peripheral measures of stress responsivity, prenatal stress enhanced the ability of pigs to cope with a simulated immune challenge, which could prove to be an adaptation to challenging environments.

Can owners and clinicians assess outcome in dogs with fragmented medial coronoid process?

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the long term reliability of clinician and owner visual analogue score (VAS) for dogs with unilateral forelimb lameness attributable to fragmented medial coronoid process (FMCP) when compared to objective gait analysis. METHODS: Nine dogs with unilateral thoracic limb lameness due to FMCP underwent inverse dynamics gait analysis at initial presentation, and at one, two, six and 12 months following diagnosis. Total support moments were calculated and a total support moment ratio (TSMR) derived as an objective assessment of thoracic limb asymmetry. A VAS questionnaire for lameness was completed by the owner of each dog for each visit. Video footage of each dog walking and trotting at each visit was compiled, assigned to random order and subjected to VAS for lameness by a specialist in small animal surgery. Data from owner and clinician VAS lameness questionnaires were compared to the thoracic limb TSMR. RESULTS: Statistical analysis demonstrated a significant negative correlation between TSMR and owner VAS at four weeks post treatment but at no other period of evaluation. There was no significant correlation between TSMR and clinician VAS score at any evaluation period. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Assessments by owner and clinicians using VAS appear to be of limited use as a long term outcome measure for dogs with unilateral lameness due to FMCP when compared to objective gait analysis. There is a tendency for owners to underestimate forelimb lameness with increasing time which is not supported by quantitative measures of gait.

Reliability of radiological assessment of ulnar trochlear notch sclerosis in dysplastic canine elbows.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to quantify the sensitivity and specificity of visual assessment of radiographs of the canine elbow in detecting ulnar trochlear notch sclerosis, to establish interobserver and intra-observer variation for the presence and grade of sclerosis and to quantify the effect of radiographic exposure on observer grading. METHODS: Mediolateral elbow radiographs were obtained from Labrador retrievers (n=34) aged between six and 18 months. Radiographs from dogs with an arthroscopic diagnosis of fragmented medial coronoid process (n=17) and those from a control population (n=17) were subjected to observer grading for the presence or absence of and the grade of ulnar trochlear notch sclerosis. Interobserver and intra-observer variation and observer sensitivity and specificity were calculated. Digital data from the ulnar trochlear notch were correlated with mean observer grade to quantify the effect of radiographic exposure on observer grade. RESULTS: Interobserver agreement was "fair" (kappa=0.251 to 0.369) and intra-observer agreement was "moderate" to "substantial" (kappa=0.462 to 0.667). The sensitivity of observer assessment was 72 per cent with a specificity of 22 per cent. Mean observer grade was not significantly correlated with the degree of radiographic exposure (P=0.70). CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Ulnar trochlear notch sclerosis is a phenomenon associated with fragmented medial coronoid process. However, interobserver agreement in grading this feature is only fair, being identified by observers with moderate sensitivity but with relatively poor specificity. This low specificity may predispose to overdiagnosis in clinical cases. Intra-observer agreement is moderate to substantial, suggesting that individuals can reliably quantify this radiological feature on multiple occasions. The ability of observers to assess the degree of sclerotic change is not significantly affected by radiographic exposure.