Journal Articles
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Item Protothecosis in four dogs in New Zealand.(Taylor and Francis Group, 2023-09-04) Price PSA; Klobukowska HJ; Castillo-Alcala F; Foxwell JA; Orbell GMB; Brown S; Irving ACCASE HISTORIES: Medical records of four dogs diagnosed with protothecosis in New Zealand were reviewed. The dogs were aged between 4 and 9 years and three of the four dogs were female. Breeds were one Labrador, one Miniature Schnauzer and two crossbreeds. The reasons for initial veterinary evaluation were a cough and opaque appearance of the right eye (Case 1), diarrhoea (Cases 2 and 3), and cutaneous disease (Case 4). CLINICAL FINDINGS: The ocular signs were characterised by panuveitis, retinal detachment and secondary glaucoma. Gastrointestinal signs included chronic haemorrhagic diarrhoea due to colitis. Three cases had disseminated infection and developed both bilateral, blinding, ocular disease and chronic gastrointestinal disease. Cutaneous signs consisted of draining fistulae over the olecranon, multifocal cutaneous nodules, and ulceration and tracts of the foot pads. Disseminated protothecosis was confirmed by histopathology of biopsied ocular tissues in Cases 1 and 2 and by gastrointestinal biopsies in Case 3. Prototheca spp. were also identified in cytological specimens from Cases 1 and 4 and recovered by culture in Cases 2 and 4. Cutaneous protothecosis was diagnosed in Case 4 initially by cytology and histopathology of skin lesions, and Prototheca zopfii was confirmed by PCR of cultured organisms. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: Prior to diagnosis of protothecosis, a variety of treatments were prescribed to treat the gastrointestinal and ocular signs. After diagnosis, only Cases 2 and 4 received medication aimed at treating the protothecal infection, which was itraconazole in both cases. Following the progression of clinical signs and concerns about quality of life, all four dogs were euthanised. DIAGNOSIS: Disseminated protothecosis in three dogs, cutaneous protothecosis in one dog. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Canine protothecosis is rarely reported, despite the ubiquity of the causal algae, and the disease usually carries an extremely grave prognosis when infection is generalised. In New Zealand, protothecosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis in dogs with panuveitis, chorioretinitis or retinal detachment, colitis, or nodular, ulcerative or fistulating cutaneous lesions.Item Exposure to nonmicrobial N-glycolylneuraminic acid protects farmers' children against airway inflammation and colitis(y Elsevier Inc on behalf of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 4/01/2018) Frei R; Ferstl R; Roduit C; Ziegler M; Schiavi E; Barcik W; Rodriguez-Perez N; Wirz OF; Wawrzyniak M; Pugin B; Nehrbass D; Jutel M; Smolinska S; Konieczna P; Bieli C; Loeliger S; Waser M; Pershagen G; Riedler J; Depner M; Schaub B; Genuneit J; Renz H; Pekkanen J; Karvonen AM; Dalphin J-C; van Hage M; Doekes G; Akdis M; Braun-Fahrländer C; Akdis CA; von Mutius E; O'Mahony L; Lauener RP; Prevention of Allergy Risk factors for Sensitization in Children Related to Farming and Anthroposophic Lifestyle (PARSIFAL) study group; Protection Against Allergy Study in Rural Environments (PASTURE)/Mechanisms of Early Protective Exposures on Allergy Development (EFRAIM) study groupBACKGROUND: Childhood exposure to a farm environment has been shown to protect against the development of inflammatory diseases, such as allergy, asthma, and inflammatory bowel disease. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate whether both exposure to microbes and exposure to structures of nonmicrobial origin, such as the sialic acid N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc), might play a significant role. METHODS: Exposure to Neu5Gc was evaluated by quantifying anti-Neu5Gc antibody levels in sera of children enrolled in 2 farm studies: the Prevention of Allergy Risk factors for Sensitization in Children Related to Farming and Anthroposophic Lifestyle (PARSIFAL) study (n = 299) and the Protection Against Allergy Study in Rural Environments (PASTURE) birth cohort (cord blood [n = 836], 1 year [n = 734], 4.5 years [n = 700], and 6 years [n = 728]), and we associated them with asthma and wheeze. The effect of Neu5Gc was examined in murine airway inflammation and colitis models, and the role of Neu5Gc in regulating immune activation was assessed based on helper T-cell and regulatory T-cell activation in mice. RESULTS: In children anti-Neu5Gc IgG levels correlated positively with living on a farm and increased peripheral blood forkhead box protein 3 expression and correlated inversely with wheezing and asthma in nonatopic subjects. Exposure to Neu5Gc in mice resulted in reduced airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammatory cell recruitment to the lung. Furthermore, Neu5Gc administration to mice reduced the severity of a colitis model. Mechanistically, we found that Neu5Gc exposure reduced IL-17+ T-cell numbers and supported differentiation of regulatory T cells. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to microbial exposure, increased exposure to non-microbial-derived Neu5Gc might contribute to the protective effects associated with the farm environment.
