November 2018 Research Roundup

A look at some of the newest published studies coming out of the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine

• Ed Breitschwerdt and Ricardo Maggi have reported the first documented human case of blood stream infection with Bartonella vinsonii subspecies vinsonii in a girl from North Carolina who was co-infected with Bartonella quintana.  

The study is published in Medical Microbiology and Immunology. The bacteria genus Bartonella lives mostly in the lining of blood vessels and can infect a wide range of mammals.

Read the study here.

• Research co-authored by Andy Stringer is the first countrywide study of the prevalence, risk factors and distribution of West Nile virus in Jordan.

The study, published in Transcriptions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, shows West Nile circulating in the country and notes it should be considered as a differential diagnosis in people displaying nervous system symptoms, especially older populations living in the Jordan Valley and the desert region of Badia.

Read the study here.

• A new review of Enterococcus cecorum in poultry outlines increasingly dangerous strains of the bacterium that was previously thought to be a harmless just 30 years ago.

The study, published in Avian Diseases and co-authored by Luke Borst, John Barnes, Mitsu Suyemoto and Laura Chen, presents the current understanding of E. cecorum’s pathogenesis, antimicrobial resistance in the bacterium and its role in human disease.

Read the study here.

• Daily changes in humidity regulate the circadian clock influencing plant physiology, according to a study co-authored by Nicolas Buchler.

The study reports that under constant light, circadian humidity oscillation can entrain a plant’s circadian clock to a period of 24 hours, increasing the clock’s amplitude. It was also found to improve plant fitness-related traits, such as the ability to counter increased pathogen virulence under high humidity.

The study appears in Nature Communications. Early circadian studies in plants alluded to regulation of circadian clocks by humidity, but its regulation had not previously been detailed or demonstrated.

Read the study here.

• Antinerve growth factor therapy is a promising treatment for chronic pain in dogs and cats, according to a study co-authored by Duncan Lascelles and Masataka Enomoto.

The study, published in Veterinary Record, notes that anti-NGF therapy has positive analgesic effects and is well tolerated in dogs and cats suffering from osteoarthritis. Researchers add that anti-NGF therapy could be an effective alternative to current pharmacological pain management options.

Read the study here.

• New findings suggest that age is not an important factor in the binding of several veterinary drugs to plasma proteins in calves.

Age was found to not effect plasma protein binding for danofloxacin, flunixin meglumine, tulathromycin and florfenicol in dairy calves. Plasma protein can influence drug distribution and the relationship between total drug concentrations and its pharmacological effects. Ronald Baynes, Geof Smith, Ginger Hobgood, Claire Bublitz and Danielle Mzyk co-authored the study that appears in Research in Veterinary Science.

Read the study here.

• A survey of 206 cases over five years of horses with septic synovial structures yields valuable information on characteristics of infections, therapy approaches and mortality rates.

The study, published in Veterinary Microbiology, takes a close look at infections of synovial joints in horses, conditions that are often difficult to treat. Among the study findings: clinicians can potentially use the synovial fluid cell count to guide therapy; higher synovial fluid cell counts are associated with gram-negative infections; and multi-drug resistant infections, especially those that are gram-negative, result in increased euthanasia rates.

Co-authors of the study include Jessica Gilbertie, Lauren Schnabel and Megan Jacob.

Read the study here.