Experimental infection of foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) upregulates the expression of Coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) in the myocardium of suckling mice.

The relative overexpression of Coxsackie and adenoviral receptor (CAR) predisposes children to viral myocarditis. As the foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) causes fatal myocarditis in calves, lambs, and piglets and belongs to the same family as the Coxsackie virus, we investigated the role of CAR in FMDV induced myocarditis in the suckling mice model. Swiss albino suckling mice of 5 days (n = 24) were divided into two equal groups. One group was inoculated with suckling mice adapted FMDV serotype O at 10 LD50, while the other group served as uninfected control. In addition, adult mice (n = 12) served as the control for age related CAR expression and lack of pathogenicity to FMDV. The establishment of myocarditis was confirmed by histopathological changes typical of myocarditis along with immunolocalization of FMDV antigens in the heart of suckling mice. The FMDV inoculated suckling mice group showed a significant upregulation of CAR transcripts by 2.5 folds, overexpression of CAR protein by densitometric analysis of immunoblots, and intense immunolocalization of CAR in the sarcolemma and intercalated discs of cardiomyocytes as compared to the uninfected suckling mice group and adult mice. It was concluded that FMDV infection induced overexpression of CAR in the myocardium of suckling mice.

Monocytic anaplasmosis in a cow: a case report.

A five year old Holstein-Friesian cross breed cow was brought to Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex with the history of anorexia, shivering and respiratory distress since a week. On close physical examination, enlarged prescapular lymph nodes and conjunctival mucous membranes with petechiae were noticed. Physiological parameters like rectal temperature, heart rate and respiratory rates were found to be 105.3 °F, 86 beats per minute and 48 per minute respectively. On hematological examination, hemoglobin and total erythrocyte count were found to be low i.e., 5.2 g/dl and 3.2 million cells/cmm respectively. Peripheral blood smear examination revealed the presence of Anaplasma bovis organisms in the monocytes. Based on these findings a diagnosis of bovine monocytic anaplasmosis was made and the case was treated with two doses of long acting Oxytetracycline @20 mg/kg body weight 48 h apart, I/M, and Meloxicam @0.5 mg/kg body weight, I/M for 5 days. Improvement was noticed after 3 days of treatment.