Anti-D. immitis Polyclonal antibody

Background Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD) is a rare cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in humans and can be classified in idiopathic, heritable, drug and radiation-induced, and associated with connective tissue disease or human immunodeficiency virus infection. Recently, biallelic mutations of the EIF2AK4 gene have been discovered as a cause for an autosomal recessive form of PVOD in humans. In dogs, PAH is poorly characterized and is generally considered to be idiopathic or secondary to (for example)congenital left-to right cardiovascular shunts or heartworm disease. However, recently, the pathologic features resembling human PVOD were retrospectively described in post-mortem lung samples of dogs presenting with respiratory distress and idiopathic pulmonary hypertension (PH), which suggests that PVOD contributes to an unknown percentage of cases with unexplained PH. In dogs, information on the clinical presentation of PVOD is scarce and the cause and pathogenesis of this disease is still unknown. Case presentationAn 11-year-old, intact male German Shepherd dog (GSD) was presented with a 2-day history of acute-onset dyspnea and generalized weakness. Physical examination, laboratory analysis, thoracic radiography, echocardiography, a computed tomography scan and an ante mortem lung biopsy demonstrated severe arterial hypoxemia and severe PH but were not diagnostic for a known disease syndrome. Based on the poor reaction to therapy with oxygen, sildenafil, pimobendan and dexamethasone the dog was euthanized. Histopathology of the lungs showed venous and arterial remodelling, segmental congestion of alveolar capillaries and foci of vascular changes similar to human pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis, indicating that the dog suffered from PVOD. Whole genome sequencing analysis was performed on the case and a healthy GSD. Validation was performed by Sanger sequencing of five additional GSD's unknown for any form of respiratory stress and aged >= 10 years. No causal variants were found in the genes that are known to be involved in human PVOD and PAH. ConclusionsThis case report confirms that PVOD should be a diagnostic consideration in dogs presenting with dyspnea and unexplained PH. In the present case, no casual genetic mutations known to be involved in humans with PVOD and PAH were found.

Dirofilaria immitis (canine heartworm) is a filarial nematode found in the pulmonary circulation and the heart of susceptible hosts. It represents an important zoonotic vector-borne disease of domestic dogs and several wildlife species. Herein we report for the first time, the finding of Dirofilaria immitis worms in a brown bear killed in a vehicle collision in Northern Greece. The worms were morphologically identified; molecular examination, based on the analysis of the mitochondrial genes 12S (433 bp) and CO1 (610 bp), verified the identification by demonstrating 100% similarity to D. immitis specimens deposited in GenBank. Brown bears in Greece occupy habitats that are shared with the potential wild and domestic hosts and the vectors of D. immitis and thus may be particularly susceptible to this parasite. This report contributes to the knowledge of dirofilariosis spread in Europe and on the epidemiological threats that may affect the survival of the endangered brown bear in Greece.