Mastitis is the most frequent and costly disease in dairy herds, as it negatively affects yield and milk quality. The presence of clinical mastitis is quite easy to asses, whereas the diagnosis of the subclinical form can be more difficult and requires laboratory assays. Somatic cell count (SCC) is widely used as a rapid and low-cost indicator of mastitis, even if is not useful in discriminating between the clinical and subclinical form. As amyloid A has been investigated as a marker of mastitis, the aim of this study was to assess the potential value of measuring amyloid A in serum and milk and the correlation with SCC in the diagnosis of subclinical mastitis. The reliability of two different ELISA kits for the measurement of amyloid A in milk was also tested. During a 1-month trial period, 21 cows were assigned to three experimental groups according to their health status: 6 cows with clinical mastitis (CM), 10 cows with subclinical mastitis (SM) and 5 healthy cows (HE). Amyloid A was measured both in serum (SAA) and in quarter milk samples (mAA) with a serum ELISA kit, and in quarter milk samples (MAA) with a milk ELISA kit. SCC, total microbial count (TMC) and bacterial examination of the milk were also carried out. After a log transformation, the data were submitted to ANOVA and linear regression. TMC was significantly higher in cows with clinical mastitis, while no differences were observed between the other two experimental groups. SCC and MAA levels were significantly different among the three groups. mAA concentrations were similar between cows with subclinical and clinical mastitis, and SAA was not affected by mastitis. A significant correlation between SCC and MAA or mAA was detected, while no correlation was recorded between SAA and mAA. A close relationship between MAA and mAA was noticeable even at low concentrations, suggesting MAA as a potential physiological marker of subclinical mastitis.

A series of experiments on rats have been performed, to study the effects of long time (50 days) exposure to electromagnetic fields of extremely low frequency (ELF, i.e. less than 100 Hz) and amplitude (non thermal), testing whether the metabolic processes would be affected. The background lies on recent observations on the behaviour of isolated enzymes in vitro exposed to EFL fields. In these experiments, the cyclotron (or Larmor) frequency of the metallic ion has been used to "stimulate" the metalloproteins redox-active site, thus obtaining a clear variation of the enzyme functionality. In this paper we have extended for the first time the check to more complex animal metabolism. The novelty of this approach implies that a large amount of data had to be analyzed since it was not possible, in principle, to select only a few parameters among all the potential effects. Several biochemical parameters have been evaluated by comparing their values during the periods of exposure (field ON) and non exposure (field OFF). The evidence that long term exposure to electromagnetic fields with a well defined frequency may have relevant effects on parameters such as body weight, blood glucose and fatty acid metabolism has been obtained.

The effectiveness of dry ageing with regard to retaining meat quality is still subject to debate. At 4 d post mortem, samples of boneless strip loins were excised from young Charolais carcasses and then stored for a further 26 d in a cooler, either vacuum-packaged (VP) or dried-aged (DA). Loin samples were also dissected 7 d post mortem as a control treatment (CT). Chemical, instrumental and microbiological data (n = 18) were determined in longissimus dorsi and underwent ANOVA to estimate the differences in the ageing fixed factor split into two orthogonal contrasts: control vs. aged and VP vs. DA. Ageing loss (both surface dehydration and water purge) was greater in DA compared to VP samples, resulting in the lowest moisture content and highest crude protein and fat percentage in DA loins. The ageing method did not affect meat surface colour, except for redness, which had the lowest value in DA samples. Meat tenderness improved a similar amount following both VP and DA ageing treatments. Compared to the control, prolonged ageing raised both the peroxide value and the total microbial count, especially in DA samples, though both remained within the recommended limits. In summation, both ageing methods improved beef meat tenderisation, preserving its shelf life.

The study aimed to assess the seasonal variation in raw milk volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from three indoor feeding systems based on maize silage (n = 31), silages/hay (n = 19) or hay (n = 16). After headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), VOC profiles were determined by gas chromatography (GC). Chemical and VOC (log₁₀ transformations of the peak areas) data were submitted to a two-way ANOVA to assess the feeding system (FS) and season (S) effects; an interactive principal component analysis (iPCA) was also performed. The interaction FS × S was never significant. The FS showed the highest (p < 0.05) protein and casein content for hay-milk samples, while it did not affect any VOCs. Winter milk had higher (p < 0.05) proportions of protein, casein, fat and some carboxylic acids, while summer milk was higher (p < 0.05) in urea and 2-pentanol and methyl aldehydes. The iPCA confirmed a seasonal spatial separation. Carboxylic acids might generate from incomplete esterification in the mammary gland and/or milk lipolytic activity, while aldehydes seemed to be correlated with endogenous lipid or amino acid oxidation and/or feed transfer. The outcomes suggested that VOCs could be an operative support to trace raw milk for further mild processing.

Feline parvovirus (FPV) causes severe gastroenteritis and leukopenia in cats; the outcome is poor. Information regarding specific treatments is lacking. Class A CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-A) are short single-stranded DNAs, stimulating type I interferon production. In cats, CpG-A induced an antiviral response in vivo and inhibited FPV replication in vitro. The aim was to prospectively investigate the effects of CpG-A on survival, clinical score, hematological findings, antiviral response (cytokines), viremia, and fecal shedding (real-time qPCR) in cats naturally infected with FPV. Forty-two FPV-infected cats were randomized to receive 100 µg/kg of CpG-A (n = 22) or placebo (n = 20) subcutaneously, on admission and after 48 h. Blood and fecal samples were collected on admission, after 1, 3, and 7 days. All 22 cats showed short duration pain during CpG-A injections. The survival rate, clinical score, leukocyte and erythrocyte counts, viremia, and fecal shedding at any time-point did not differ between cats treated with CpG-A (50%) and placebo (40%). Antiviral myxovirus resistance (Mx) gene transcription increased in both groups from day 1 to 3 (p = 0.005). Antibodies against FPV on admission were associated with survival in cats (p = 0.002). In conclusion, CpG-A treatment did not improve the outcome in cats with FPV infection. FPV infection produced an antiviral response.

Transcription factors control the development of the endocrine pancreas in various mammals. In humans, paired box-4 (PAX4) and aristaless-related homeobox (ARX) allocate endocrine progenitor cells toward β-cell and α-cell specification, respectively. In adulthood, PAX4 contributes to reprogramming α-cells into β-cells and exocrine into endocrine cells; induction of ARX in β-cells drives them to reprogram into α-cells. Feline diabetes mellitus has a similar pathophysiology to human type 2 diabetes, but information about the role of these transcription factors is unavailable in diabetic cats. The study aim was to test whether diabetic cats have an increased number of pancreatic cells expressing developmental markers of β- and α-cells, respectively, suggesting reprogramming. In 9 diabetic and 9 well-matched control cats, pancreas was collected, formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded. Tissue slides were labelled for insulin, glucagon, PAX4, and ARX. Positive cells for each marker and double-positive cells for their combinations were counted in the pancreas and compared between groups. Against controls, diabetic cats had fewer insulin-positive cells in the islets (p = 0.001) and exocrine pancreas (p = 0.038); glucagon-positive cells were similar. In the islets, diabetic cats had higher counts of insulin/glucagon-positive cells (p = 0.024), PAX4-positive cells (p = 0.038), as well as PAX4/insulin-positive cells (p = 0.027). In conclusion, in diabetic cats, the increased number of islet cells expressing PAX4 leads to the hypothesis that β-cells change to an earlier stage of differentiation or that novel β-cells are formed. Furthermore, the higher count of islet insulin/glucagon-positive cells might indicate that α-cells transform into β-cells or vice versa. Hence, reprogramming seems possible in diabetic cats, specifically in the islets.