ABSTRACT
A 6-month-old male Nubian goat suddenly showed dullness, tachypnea, recumbency and opisthotonus in August 2011 in Okinawa, Japan. The goat was consequently necropsied: gross lesions in the brain included slightly swollen foci of yellowish discoloration on the cerebral hemisphere. Histopathologically, necrosis of the cortex with ischemic changes of neuronal cells was present, and swelling of the vascular endothelium, thickening of the basement membrane and diffuse infiltration of macrophages were observed in the cerebral lesion. Autofluorescence of the cerebral cortex was confirmed by an ultraviolet light test. The thiamine levels of the blood serum and tissue samples (brain, liver and heart) of the goat were low compared with goats from the same herd. The goat was diagnosed with cerebrocortical necrosis (CCN). This is the first case report of caprine CCN in Japan.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Cortex/pathology , Goat Diseases/pathology , Necrosis/veterinary , Animals , Blood Chemical Analysis/veterinary , Brain/metabolism , Fatal Outcome , Goats , Japan , Liver/metabolism , Male , Myocardium/metabolism , Necrosis/pathology , Optical Imaging/veterinary , Thiamine/blood , Thiamine/metabolismABSTRACT
We describe a high-performance liquid chromatographic method for determining ustiloxin A, a mycotoxin produced by Ustilaginoidea virens, in forage rice silage. Lyophilized silage samples were ground and extracted with water. The extracts were purified by solid-phase extraction and subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography using an octadecylsilane-bonded column. Separated ustiloxin A was detected with ultraviolet (UV) absorption at 254 nm. The limit of quantitation for ustiloxin A in silage found to be 2.5 mg/kg. The present method can be used for routine monitoring of the contamination of ustiloxin A in forage rice silage.
