Use of human recombinant erythropoietin for the treatment of nonregenerative anemia in a rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis).

Erythropoietin, a glycoprotein growth hormone that is produced primarily in the kidneys, promotes mitosis and survival of erythroid progenitors. The recent synthesis of the human form of the hormone by recombinant technology has provided a new therapeutic option, which is being used in both human and veterinary medicine for treatment of various anemias. A mature male rough-toothed dolphin, Steno bredanensis, was treated with human recombinant erythropoietin in an attempt to resolve a nonregenerative anemia. Two i.m. injections 48 hr apart were associated with an almost immediate increase in circulating immature reticulocytes, total reticulocytes, and nucleated erythrocytes. Over the next several weeks, the hematocrit, hemoglobin, and erythrocyte counts returned to normal, and the animal was subsequently released back into the wild. Endogenous erythropoietin concentrations were determined for this animal as well as three other conspecifics by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for human erythropoietin. These measurements showed circulating erythropoietin concentrations (5-20+ mU/ml) similar to those of most other mammals. This study suggests that human recombinant erythropoietin can be safely and effectively used in this species and may have applicability to other cetacean species for the treatment of nonregenerative anemia. Caution should be exercised during long-term use because production of antibodies to human recombinant and endogenous erythropoietin may lead to potentially serious side effects.

Renal changes in selenium-exposed fish.

A group of green sunfish was collected from a selenium-rich lake and compared with a similar group collected from a control lake upstream in the same drainage system in east Texas. Since the level of selenium in kidneys of these fish was relatively high (averaging 11 ppm on a fresh weight basis), histopathological and ultrastructural data were collected. Kidneys from fish from the selenium-rich lake showed proliferative glomerulonephritis and hematuria as well as vacuolation and necrosis of cells of the convoluted tubules.

Mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis in lambs. III. Quantitative and qualitative aspects of immunopathology.

Newborn Finnish Landrace lambs subsequently affected with mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis (MCGN) were deficient in the third component of complement (C'3), serum levels being approximately 5 per cent. of those in unaffected lambs. Hypocomplementaemia persisted until symptoms of renal failure occurred at around 6-8 wk of age. Immunofluorescence examinations of renal cortex with antisera specific for IgG, IgM, IgA, C'3 and fibrin supported previous morphological evidence of a strong similarity between this disease and MCGN in man. Similar examinations of choroid plexus suggested that immune complexes containing IgG, IgM and C'3 were present in the interstitium.

The role of colostrum in glomerulonephritis of Finnish Landrace lambs: effect of cross-fostering newly born Finnish Landrace and Cheviot lambs.

Newly-born Finnish Landrace and Cheviot lambs were cross-fostered to determine the role of colostrum in the development of mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis of the Finnish Landrace breed. Severe glomerulonephritis occurred in four Finnish Landrace lambs reared by their own dams. One of six siblings of affected lambs, all reared by Cheviot foster mothers, developed a milder focal form of the disease. No glomerulonephritis occurred in three Cheviot lambs reared by Finnish Landrace foster mothers whose own naturally reared lambs died of the disease. An artificially reared colostrum-free Finnish Landrace lamb became severely affected, though its naturally reared sibling had no renal disease in sequential biopsies. It is concluded that colostrum has no primary role in the development of the disease.