Suspected lysosomal storage disease in kangaroos.

A probable neurovisceral lysosomal storage disease is reported, for the first time, in immature red and grey kangaroos (Macropus rufus and M. giganteus). Foamy, pale eosinophilic, periodic acid-Schiff positive, intracytoplasmic material was stored in the liver, lymphoid tissue, kidney, adrenal gland, stomach, blood vessels and central nervous system. Extensive Wallerian-type degeneration was present in the central nervous system. Electron microscopic study of one animal revealed electron dense, cytoplasmic lamellar bodies in neurons and foamy visceral cells. The disease differs from other reported storage diseases in the distribution and nature of the lesions.

Experimental transmission of bovine papilloma virus (BPV) extracted from morphologically distinct teat and cutaneous lesions and the effects of inoculation of BPV transformed fetal bovine cells.

Bovine papilloma virus (BPV) was extracted from five cattle each affected with only one of five morphologically distinct lesion types. When inoculated into experimental calves either by scarification or intradermal injection, the BPV extracts produced lesions macroscopically and microscopically similar to those from which individual extracts were made. Fetal bovine cells, transformed in vitro with BPV, failed to produce fibromas, fibropapillomas or papillomas when inoculated into experimental calves. When calves inoculated with virus or BPV transformed cells were challenged with the five original BPV extracts, a differential immunity was demonstrated, while control calves were susceptible to all extracts. Post mortem examination revealed the presence of upper alimentary tract papillomas in three of eight calves forming one group. These results suggest that different strains of BVP, causing morphologically separable lesion types, exist. There may be additional BPV variants causing fibropapillomas of the teat and anogenital regions of cattle. The inoculation of BPV transformed fetal bovine cells conferred a relative immunity to later challenge with some but not all BPV extracts.

Filiform viral squamous papillomas on sheep.

Filiform squamous papillomas occur rarely on young sheep and correspond closely to those on cattle and other species; they lack the fibromatous component of papillomas reported previously. This paper describes microscopical, immunological and molecular evidence for the presence of a putative ovine papillomavirus in these lesions.

In vitro transformation by bovine papilloma virus.

This paper reports the development of a quantal transformation assay for bovine papillome virus. Support for its specificity to fibropapilloma derived bovine papilloma virus comes from (I) the absence of transformation associated changes following inoculations of normal bovine skin, bovine teat papilloma, bovine teat focal epithelial hyperplasia lesion and canine papilloma derived suspensions; (2) in vitro transformation occurs when CsCl purified fibropapilloma-derived BPV is used; (3) in vitro transformation experiments reported here parallel in vivo transmission of fibropapillomas described elsewhere using the same extracts; (4) the time-temperature inactivation of BPV using in vitro transformation parallels in vivo results and is similar to that reported for other papovaviruses; (5) BPV in vitro transformed cells are tumorigenic in nude mice and increase in vivo resistance in calves to subsequent challenge with fibropapilloma derived virus; (6) inhibition of in vitro transformation by bovine papilloma virus occurs when sera from calves bearing regressing fibropapillomas are used in conjunction with complement; (7) transformation inhibition activity may be adsorbed from high titre sera using BPV-induced tumour cells or in vitro transformed cells but not using various virus suspensions. The detection of BPV in commercially available milk is reported. While it is highly likely that milk-derived BPV is active, no direct evidence is available since the vast majority of teat lesions contain papilloma and focal epithelial hyperplasia-derived BPV which neither transform cultures in vitro, nor produce fibropapillomas in vivo. The work reported here lends further support for the existence of several types of BPV suggested elsewhere.