Gabriele Rossi

Background
Feline coronavirus (FCoV) causes inapparent to progressive fatal feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) in domestic and wild cats, which affects multiple-organ systems.

Methods
We investigated three clinically sick cats using different laboratory and molecular tests to diagnose and confirm FCoV and propagate the virus in Vero cell culture.

Results
All the cats exhibited effusive FIP with multiple clinical signs. The haematology profiles revealed lymphopenia in all cases and leukopenia, neutropenia and regenerative left shift in one case. Serum biochemistry showed elevated creatine kinase, aspartate aminotransferase, hyperbilirubinaemia and hypoalbuminaemia in all the cases. Urinalysis revealed bilirubinuria in two cases and marked proteinuria in another. All effused samples showed a positive Rivalta test, and the cytology showed a mixed pyogranulomatous inflammatory exudate. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) confirmed that all the cats were infected with FCoV. The specific gene sequencing of three isolates clustered in the same clade of the phylogenetic tree, suggesting a closely related genotype associated with FIP in cats. Feline coronavirus induced cytopathic effects (CPEs) in Vero cells, first appearing on day 5 post-infection (pi) in the primary passage. In the second passage, more distinct CPEs, including cell rounding, shrinkage, detachment and death, were evident from day 2 pi. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction confirmed active viral replication, with significantly decreasing Ct values across passages.

Conclusions and clinical importance
The adaptation and propagation of FCoV in a non-feline cell line provide promising opportunities for future studies, including generating sufficient viral RNA for sequencing, evaluating antiviral resistance, and establishing a practical in vitro system for drug screening and vaccine development.

Companion animal cancer diagnostic reports are text-based documents containing essential information on tumor classification and diagnosis. Establishing an animal cancer registry requires integrating and extracting structured data from diverse report formats across multiple providers. This study presents the development of an object-oriented programming approach to standardize and automate cancer data collection for canine and feline patients, enabling the creation of the Australian Companion Animal Registry of Cancers (ACARCinom); Australia’s first national registry of cat and dog cancers. An object-oriented programming approach was developed using the C# language for data processing, tested on sample data from 6 data providers. The initial programming phase focused on designing a parser that identified report sections using regular expressions based on standardized headings. The text was then cleaned to remove unnecessary formatting and HTML tags. Data dictionaries containing preferred terms and synonyms were used to extract key information such as diagnosis, topography, grade, and metastasis, improving consistency and accuracy. A coordinate map of extracted terms was generated to analyze spatial relationships within the report, allowing prioritization of diagnoses. The system also logged parsing decisions and potential issues for expert review. Markup using HTML tags enabled clear visualization of parsed content within the original reports. Extracted data and patient metadata were stored in an intermediary database table, allowing veterinary pathology experts to review and refine entries before final import. This automated solution streamlines data extraction and standardization from diverse sources, enabling the efficient analysis of cancer records and enhancing research and surveillance capacity in veterinary oncology.

The metabolic and lipid profiles of horses treated with sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors are not well understood. This retrospective study evaluated blood parameters in hyperinsulinemic horses treated with either ertugliflozin (0.05 mg/kg) or dapagliflozin (0.02 mg/kg) orally once daily. Blood samples were collected at baseline (day 0) and after 7 and/or 30 days of treatment. Statistical analyses were conducted using Wilcoxon signed-rank, Mann-Whitney and Spearman's rank correlation tests. Thirty-four horses received dapagliflozin and 24 received ertugliflozin. Significant (p<0.05) within-horse changes between day 0 and day 30 included [median, inter-quartile range (IQR)]: basal serum [Insulin] (uU/ml) reduced 170 (92-280) to 28.7 (14.5-90); [triglycerides] (mmol/l) increased 0.5 (0.3-0.6) to 1.0 (0.6-1.56), [β-hydroxybutyrate] (umol/l) increased 0.22 (0.17-2.7) to 0.30 (0.24-0.35); [total cholesterol] (mmol/l) increased 2.36 (2-2.6) to 2.84 (2.4-3.7); and GGT (IU/ml) increased 21 (16-32) to 25 (18-38). As a percentage of total serum lipids, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) reduced 52.4 % (47.9 %-61.0 %) to 50 % (41 %-54.8 %) and very-low density lipoprotein (VLDL) increased 10.4 % (6.4 %-14.4 %) to 12.3 % (9.9 %-16.8 %) (all p<0.05). Differences between ertugliflozin and dapagliflozin groups were not significant in any of these parameters at days 0, 7 or 30. At day 30, 10/48 (21 %) cases had [triglycerides] > 2.0 mmol/l (maximum = 10.8mmol/l). Day 30 [triglyceride] correlated with day 0: basal insulin (rho=0.47); [triglyceride] (rho=0.42); %VLDL (rho=0.34) day 30: [total cholesterol] (rho=0.67), %HDL (rho=-0.432) and %VLDL (rho=0.708). Our findings suggest that SGLT2 inhibitors induce minor changes in lipid profiles, with occasional cases of marked hypertriglyceridemia, and that dapagliflozin and ertugliflozin exhibit similar biochemical effects.

Background
Lipoprotein fractions are reported to be unstable in stored human samples, and there is a paucity of information on the analytical precision of electrophoretic separation of lipoproteins in canine serum samples.

Objective
The aim of this study was to assess the effects of intra- and inter-assay imprecision and of storage conditions on the electrophoretic separation of canine lipoproteins.

Methods
Imprecision was assessed by calculating the coefficient of variation (CV) of five replicates of six serum samples run in two sequential runs of agarose gel lipoprotein electrophoresis. The effect of storage was assessed with a Friedmann test by comparing the results of samples analyzed after sampling (T0) and after 24 and 48 h at room temperature or stored at 4°C and after 7, 14, 21 days, 1, 2, and 3 months at −20°C or at −80°C. Moreover, electrophoretograms obtained after storage were visually analyzed by two observers in a blind manner to assess whether storage alters the electrophoretic profile.

Results
The imprecision of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), low-density lipoproteins (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and chylomicrons were respectively 0.8%–11.5%, 2.4%–22.7%, 2.3%–11.5%, and 12.5%–105.2%. Compared with T0, HDL significantly decreased, and LDL significantly increased over time in all the storage conditions, whereas VLDL significantly increased only in frozen samples, and chylomicrons did not significantly differ. In frozen samples, deviations from baseline values were lower than the imprecision of the method, and visual misclassifications of electrophoretograms were rare.

Conclusions
Despite minimal variation in the percentage of some fractions, freezing does not influence the interpretation of canine lipidograms.

Objective:
To explore changes in urinary biomarkers of acute kidney injury (AKI) in healthy dogs experiencing intra-operative hypotension and explore the relationship between blood pressure and urinary biomarkers.

Study Design:
Observational cohort study.

Animals:
A group of 50 client owned dogs.

Methods:
Urine and blood samples were collected prior to anaesthesia (T0), within 24 hours after anaesthesia (T1) and 10 days post-surgery (T10). During anaesthesia, the lowest mean arterial pressure (MAP) in each dog. Impact of duration was explored by categorising according to arbitrary thresholds of MAP < 50, < 60, < 70 and < 80 mmHg and calculating duration (minutes) within each category Serum creatinine (Cr) and validated biomarkers of AKI including urinary gamma-glutamyl transferase (uGGT), urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL), and urinary cystatin C (uCystatin C) were measured. Biomarker measurements were standardised to urinary Cr. The frequency of dogs with proportional increases between T1 and T0 and between T10 and T0 was recorded. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the simplest subset of independent variables (lowest MAP, duration with each MAP category) to best explain the variance in the proportional change of each biomarker.

Results:
Hypotension, defined as MAP < 60 mmHg was observed in 38/50 (76 %) of the dogs. Between T1 and T0, increases in uGGT/Cr, uCystatin C/Cr, and uNGAL/Cr were observed in 37 (82%), 17 (41 %) and 19 (35%) of 50 dogs, respectively. Of the variance observed in uGGT/Cr at T1/T0, 62% could be explained by the lowest MAP recorded when combined with duration MAP < 50mmHg (adjusted R2 0.62).

Conclusion and clinical relevance:
In this clinical model of intra-operative hypotension uGGT/Cr demonstrated potential for diagnosis of early AKI in healthy dogs. Increases in validated biomarkers uCystatin C/Cr, and uNGAL/Cr support their use in future studies investigating different causes or severity of AKI.

Through evaluation of serum and plasma buterylcholinesterase (BChE) and brain acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, we investigated the possibility of the involvement of an acute organophosphate toxicosis in the pathogenesis of ongoing annual outbreaks of paresis and paralysis that in some cases progress to death, in endangered Western Australian Carnaby's cockatoos (Zanda latirostris). The condition, named Carnaby's hindlimb paralysis syndrome (CHiPS), was first described in 2012. Following initial investigations involving clinical, epidemiologic, toxicologic, gross necropsy, and histologic evaluation, a toxic etiology, specifically an organophosphate toxicosis, was considered most likely. The study aimed to validate the BChE assay for use in serum and plasma in Carnaby's cockatoos. This study found no evidence of changes in serum or plasma BChE or brain AChE that indicate an acute organophosphate toxicosis as the cause of CHiPS. Although these results render an acute organophosphate toxicosis unlikely, an organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy has not been ruled out. Based on the results from the BChE validation study, the authors can recommend this assay for the evaluation of BChE measurement in plasma and serum from Carnaby's cockatoos with results showing excellent accuracy and precision.

Introduction: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) are prescribed to manage hyperinsulinemia but the effects of dapagliflozin have not been investigated. Although hyperlipaemia is very rare, hypertriglyceridemia is commonly associated with SGLT2i treatment and investigation of the lipoprotein profiles is warranted.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of clinical records and stored serum from horses with hyperinsulinemia that received dapagliflozin (0.02 mg/kg, [n = 34]) or ertugliflozin (0.05 mg/kg [n = 24]) PO SID for 30 days. Within-horse changes, correlations between variables, and differences between treatments were assessed using Wilcoxon signed-rank, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rho) and the medians tests, respectively.

Results: Between day 0 (pre-treatment) and day 30 within-horse changes (median, inter-quartile range [IQR]) were: basal serum [Insulin] (uU/mL) reduced from 170 (92-280) to 28.7 (14.5-90) (P < .0001), lameness grade (scale 0-12) reduced from 6 (4-10) to 2 (0-2) (P < .001), serum [triglyceride] (mmol/L) increased from 0.5 (0.3-0.6) to 1.0 (0.6-1.56), [β-hydroxybutyrate] (μmol/L) increased from 0.22 (0.17-2.7) to 0.30 (0.24-0.35) (P < .0001), [total cholesterol] (mmol/l) increased from 2.36 (2-2.6) to 2.84 (2.4-3.7) (P < .0001) and, as a percentage of serum lipids, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) reduced from 52.4% (47.9%-61.0%) to 50% (41%-54.8%) (P = .034), very-low density lipoprotein (VLDL) increased from 10.4% (6.4%-14.4%) to 12.3% (9.9%-16.8%) (P = .005). Differences between ertugliflozin and dapagliflozin groups in these parameters were not significant at day 0 or 30. At day 30, 10/48 (21%) cases had [triglycerides] >2.0 mmol/L (maximum = 10.8 mmol/L). Day 30 [triglyceride] was correlated with day 0: basal insulin (P < .001, rho = 0.47), [triglyceride] (P = .003, rho = 0.42) and %VLDL (P = .019, rho = 0.34) and day 30: [total cholesterol] (P < .001, rho = 0.67), %HDL (rho = −0.432, P = .014) and %VLDL (rho = 0.708, P < .001).

Discussion and clinical relevance: Dapagliflozin or ertugliflozin treatment is associated with reductions in [insulin] and lameness grade. Changes in [triglyceride] and lipoprotein profiles were usually minor with occasional marked hypertriglyceridemia. [β-hydroxybutyrate] increased indicating ketosis, a metabolic pathway previously not thought to be relevant in horses.

ORAL PRESENTATION ACVIM Resident Research Abstract Award Winner

Laminitis associated with hyperinsulinaemia is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in horses with equine metabolic syndrome. The diagnosis and management of hyperinsulinaemia are therefore critical to prevent the development of laminitis. This review article aims to help primary care clinicians manage patients with hyperinsulinaemia by providing an overview of diagnostics, management strategies and new therapies that are available.

Background
Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) are being used increasingly in equine practice. While there is emerging clinical evidence of the safety and efficacy of these drugs, there are currently no reports to document owner experiences with treatment.

Objective
The objective of the study was to report owner experiences and observations following treatment with SGLT2i in horses.

Study design
A cross-sectional online survey.

Methods
Horse owners were recruited via social media, online forums and their veterinarians to participate in an anonymous online survey to document their experiences and observations when treating their horses with SGLT2i.

Results
Three hundred forty-two responses met the inclusion criteria. Ertugliflozin was the most commonly prescribed SGLT2i (79.8%), and the most common reasons for treatment were high insulin concentrations (84.2%) and active laminitis (59.7%). 85.3% of owners reported their horses had an improved quality of life after commencing treatment, while 9.4% reported no change and 5.3% reported a worsening of clinical signs. Of owners who had considered euthanasia prior to treatment (n = 77), 80.5% reported their horse's level of pain to be either mild or absent after 30 days of treatment and 94.8% reported their horse's quality of life to be improved. Most owners (n = 220, 64.7%) reported they were either extremely satisfied or somewhat satisfied (n = 72, 21.2%) with treatment. Treatment concerns included safety/side effects, medication cost, availability and long-term efficacy. 114 owners (33.3%) reported one or more initial adverse effects upon induction onto the medication, particularly excessive urination (n = 70, 20.5%), excessive drinking (n = 38, 11.1%), excessive weight loss (n = 34, 9.9%) and dullness (n = 26, 7.6%).

Main limitation
Sampling bias through social media and veterinary practices and reliance on subjective owner reports.

Conclusion
The use of SGLT2i in horses was associated with excellent rates of owner satisfaction and owner-reported improved quality of life for the horse; however, some adverse effects were observed.

Malaria and other haemosporidian parasites are common in reptiles. During baseline health surveys of sea turtles in Western Australia (WA), haemosporidian parasites were detected in flatback (Natator depressus) and green (Chelonia mydas) turtle erythrocytes during routine blood film examination. 130 blood samples were screened via polymerase chain reaction (PCR), including 105 N. depressus, 20 C. mydas, and 5 olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea). A novel Haemocystidium sp. was identified, detected exclusively in foraging turtles and not in nesting turtles. The combined prevalence by microscopic and molecular methods was 16.9% (22/130), primarily affecting immature C. mydas (77.3%; 17/22). Mature N. depressus were also affected (22.7%; 5/22). DNA sequencing of a partial fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene together with phylogenetic analysis identified two different Haemocystidium sp. genotypes, A and B, with genotype A being most prevalent. The phylogenetic analysis showed close genetic relationships to Haemocystidium sp. in freshwater and terrestrial turtles, suggesting a shared evolutionary lineage despite ecological differences. Preliminary analysis indicates that this parasite is incidental, as no association between health and parasite presence or grade was detected. This study provides the first formal detection of haemosporidian parasites in sea turtles, contributing essential baseline data while highlighting their evolutionary significance and host–parasite ecological relationships.