The Microbiome: The Trillions of Microorganisms That Maintain Health and Cause Disease in Humans and Companion Animals.

The microbiome is the complex collection of microorganisms, their genes, and their metabolites, colonizing the human and animal mucosal surfaces, digestive tract, and skin. It is now well known that the microbiome interacts with its host, assisting in digestion and detoxification, supporting immunity, protecting against pathogens, and maintaining health. Studies published to date have demonstrated that healthy individuals are often colonized with different microbiomes than those with disease involving various organ systems. This review covers a brief history of the development of the microbiome field, the main objectives of the Human Microbiome Project, and the most common microbiomes inhabiting the human respiratory tract, companion animal digestive tract, and skin in humans and companion animals. The main changes in the microbiomes in patients with pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and cutaneous lesions are described.

Retrospective Analysis of Aetiological Agents Associated with Pulmonary Mycosis Secondary to Enteric Salmonellosis in Six Horses by Panfungal Polymerase Chain Reaction.

Pulmonary mycosis secondary to enterocolitis is an uncommon diagnosis in equine medicine, but is thought to result from mucosal compromise and translocation of enteric fungi. The aetiological agent associated with translocation is often identified based on fungal culture or hyphal features in histological sections. In order to understand better the aetiological agents involved, six horses diagnosed with Salmonella enteritis and concurrent pulmonary mycosis were identified retrospectively through a database search of veterinary teaching hospital records. Samples from these cases were subjected to polymerase chain reaction and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS-2) located between the 5.8S and 28S rRNA genes to identify the aetiological agent involved. Sequencing identified Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium spp., Cladosporium spp. and Curvularia spp. A single case had a dual infection with Fusarium spp. and A. fumigatus.

Interobserver Agreement Using Histological Scoring of the Canine Liver.

BACKGROUND: Grading schemes for the assessment of hepatic fibrosis and necroinflammatory activity in humans previously have been applied to dogs with chronic hepatitis. Interobserver agreement is a desirable characteristic for any histological scoring scheme. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To assess interobserver agreement associated with pathologists using a previously published histological scoring scheme to assess hepatic fibrosis and necroinflammatory activity in dogs and to compare fibrosis scores assigned to serial sections stained with hematoxylin & eosin (H&E) and picrosirius red. ANIMALS: Histological sections of liver from 50 dogs with variable degrees of hepatic fibrosis and necroinflammatory activity were selected from institutional tissue archives. METHODS: Six board-certified veterinary anatomic pathologists assigned fibrosis and necroinflammatory activity scores to the histological sections. The multiuser kappa statistic was calculated to assess interobserver agreement. Fibrosis stage assigned to serial sections stained with picrosirius red and H&E was compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. RESULTS: Multiuser kappa statistics for assessment of fibrosis and necroinflammatory activity from H&E-stained sections were 0.35 and 0.16, respectively. There was no difference in median fibrosis scores assigned to serial section stained with H&E and picrosirius red (P = .248). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: There was fair interobserver agreement when pathologists assessed fibrosis and poor agreement when they assessed necroinflammatory activity. This suboptimal agreement must be taken into account by clinicians making decisions based on histology reports of the liver and in the design of studies evaluating these findings. To decrease this variability, ideally >1 pathologist should evaluate each section.

Serum C-reactive protein and S100A12 concentrations in dogs with hepatic disease.

OBJECTIVES: To describe serum C-reactive protein and S100A12 concentrations in dogs with hepatic disease and to determine whether there is a relationship between the concentration of either and the severity of hepatic necroinflammation. METHODS: Serum C-reactive protein and S100A12 concentrations were measured in 46 dogs undergoing hepatic biopsy. Dogs were divided into three groups: congenital portosystemic shunts, chronic hepatitis and hepatic neoplasia. The histological severity of hepatic necroinflammation was scored. RESULTS: C-reactive protein and S100A12 concentrations were greater than the upper limit of the reference intervals in 39 and 26% of dogs, respectively. There was no association of disease group with C-reactive protein (P=0·1733) or S100A12 (P=0·1513) concentrations. There was a positive correlation between serum C-reactive protein concentration and hepatic necroinflammatory activity (rs =0·428, P=0·006). CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Increased serum C-reactive protein and S100A12 concentrations were observed in a subpopulation of dogs with various types of hepatic diseases, suggesting acute-phase inflammation and activation of phagocytic cells, respectively. Dogs with higher hepatic necroinflammatory activity scores tended to have higher serum C-reactive protein concentrations. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding in a larger group of dogs.

Immunohistochemical expression of ionized calcium binding adapter molecule 1 in cutaneous histiocytic proliferative, neoplastic and inflammatory disorders of dogs and cats.

Ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 (Iba1) has been used widely as a marker for microglial cells and, recently, was also recognized as a 'pan-macrophage marker', as it is expressed by all subpopulations of cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage. To determine the specificity of Iba1 as an immunohistochemical marker for canine and feline histiocytic proliferative, neoplastic and inflammatory disorders of the skin, we evaluated its expression in two types of histiocytic tumours, two non-neoplastic histiocytic proliferative conditions, one case of granulomatous dermatitis and four non-histiocytic tumours. Cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage in all cases of canine cutaneous histiocytoma (9/9), reactive histiocytosis (9/9), histiocytic sarcomas (5/5), feline progressive dendritic cell histiocytosis (3/3) and macrophages in cutaneous mycobacteriosis (7/7) showed strong cytoplasmic expression of Iba1. Neoplastic cells of melanomas (10/10), lymphomas (7/7), mast cell tumours (7/7) and plasmacytomas (4/4) did not express Iba1. Iba1 is therefore a useful marker of cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage in canine and feline inflammatory, proliferative and neoplastic conditions and can be used to identify these cells in formalin-fixed, paraffin wax-embedded tissues. Iba1 is not able to differentiate between macrophages and dendritic antigen presenting cells and expression does not allow classification of these histiocytic disorders.