Purification of salmon clotting factors and their use as tissue sealants.

Fibrin sealant prepared from the blood of farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) represents a potential source of well-controlled natural material with utility in a variety of clinical settings. A potential advantage of this material is a lower probability of viral or bacterial infection that has limited general approval of fibrin glues made from human or bovine proteins. This report describes the purification of fibrinogen from salmon blood, the use of fibrin glues derived from this material to promote wound healing in rats, and the antigenic response to this material. While the low ambient temperature of these cold water fish significantly lessens the probability of infectious transmission to humans, fibrinogen and factor XIII derived from S. salar are activated by human thrombin at 25 degrees C and 37 degrees C to form clots equivalent to those formed by human fibrin. We compare the reactivity of salmon and human fibrinogen with human and bovine thrombin and the structure and viscoelastic properties of the resulting fibrin gels over a range of pH and salt concentrations. The efficacy of salmon fibrin glues in a wound healing assay and the low antigenic response to salmon fibrinogen suggest that this material may substitute for proteins derived from mammalian sources with lower probability of infections.

An outbreak of myxobacterial disease in coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) reared in a Maine estuary.

An epizootic of a myxobacterial infection in coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) was responsible for the death of 50,000 fish, 30% of the population. Cartiage in the nose, mouth and lower jaw was eroded, and yellow sheets of bacterial growth were observed in the mouth, pharynx and pneumatic duct. The severity of the disease increased with increasing water temperature. Pathogenicity trials were inconclusive; only two of 18 experimentally infected fish succumbed to the disease. However, the lesions, and the absence of other known pathogens suggests the myxobacterium was responsible.

Outcome of 19 dogs with parathyroid carcinoma after surgical excision.

Parathyroid carcinoma (PTC) is rare in dogs and there is little information documenting its treatment and prognosis. The objective of this study was to describe the outcome of dogs with PTC treated with surgical excision. Medical records of 19 dogs undergoing surgical excision of PTC between 1990 and 2010 were reviewed retrospectively. Dogs were presented for clinical hypercalcaemia or incidental hypercalcaemia noted by referring veterinarians on routine serum chemistry profiles. A parathyroid nodule was identified with cervical ultrasound in 17/17 dogs. Hypercalcaemia resolved in 18/19 dogs within 4 days postoperatively. Nine developed hypocalcaemia. None were confirmed to develop recurrent or metastatic PTC. The only death associated with PTC was a dog that was euthanized for intractable hypocalcaemia 9 days after surgery. Estimated 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates were 72, 37 and 30%, respectively. Excision of PTC results in resolution of hypercalcaemia and excellent tumour control.