An abattoir survey on the frequency of fatty liver syndrome in dairy cows from the suburbs of Tehran

Incidence of Characteristic Findings during Veterinary Carcass Inspections 2010-2019 in the Czech Republic and the Relation to the Level of Health and Welfare of Individual Classes of Cattle

Pathological findings in individual classes of cattle were assessed from the viewpoint of their localization and category. The objective of the study was to evaluate whether there are differences in the range and number of findings made between the individual classes of cattle. The results of veterinary inspections on 2,514,666 head of cattle slaughtered in the Czech Republic in the period 2010-2019 were used for the assessment. In terms of localization, the most frequent findings in cows were in the liver and pancreas (46.13%), the urinary tract (40.76%) and the lungs (36.23%). These findings also predominated in heifers and bulls, though they were recorded at lower frequencies (p < 0.01) than in cows. The most frequent pathological changes in heifers and bulls were chronic findings in the lungs (16.09% and 12.27%, respectively). The range of findings in calves differed significantly from other classes of cattle, primarily as the result of respiratory and diarrheal syndrome being the most frequent diseases in calves. Calves were the class of cattle most frequently diagnosed with findings in the lungs (44.89%), as well as other unclassified changes (24.43%) and overall changes (21.55%), which point to a systemic disorder of the organism. The results of this study confirmed the differing states of health in the individual classes of cattle and the differing health issues to which treatment and the prevention of the most frequently occurring infectious and non-infectious diseases must be adapted. Cattle welfare is affected not only by the level of health but also by the herd management and economics. This is confirmed by the range of findings, and the deterioration of living conditions especially in cows, likely because of great intensity of farming, but also in calves which suffered from emaciation or stunted growth.

Variation in fat content between liver lobes and comparison with histopathological scores in dairy cows with fatty liver

Background

The assessment of a liver biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosing and staging fatty liver in dairy cows, which is often necessary for diagnostic and research purposes. Accuracy of the diagnosis relays on the quality of the biopsy, the assumed representativeness of a small tissue sample for a disease process throughout the liver and accurate human evaluation of histologic specimens. The objective of the present study was to assess the distribution of triacylglycerol (TAG) infiltration throughout the parenchyma of livers with different degrees of fatty liver in dairy cows. In addition, histopathological scores from the corresponding specimens were compared to a quantitative measurement of TAG, as well as the agreement between two observers.

Methods

Thirty livers with different degrees of lipid infiltration were selected and 10 different locations throughout the liver were assessed. The TAG content was measured enzymatically, calculated in % or mg/g wet weight, and assigned to a scoring system. Corresponding tissue specimens were stained with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and Oil red O (ORO) for histopathological evaluation, using a scoring system.

Results

The difference in TAG content between any locations was less than 2%. Based on the scoring system the TAG concentration was even distributed in 79.3% of the livers. Based on kappa statistics the agreement between two pathologists and staining technique in scoring histological specimens was moderate to fair.

Conclusions

Overall the distribution of TAG throughout the liver and the accuracy of human evaluation of liver biopsies may lead to acceptable diagnoses for clinical purposes. Within the liver lobules a common pattern of lipid distribution depending on severity could be observed. For the staging of lipid infiltration for research projects, some degree of variation needs to be considered.

Transcutaneous vs. intraoperative quantitative ultrasound for staging bovine hepatic steatosis

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that quantitative analysis of transcutaneous (Transc) ultrasound (US) images can predict the liver fat content with similar accuracy and precision as using intraoperative (Intraop) US. The second goal was to investigate if a tissue mimicking phantom (TMP) might be used as reference for automatic gain compensation (AGC) vs. depth instead of using the data of a set of cows without hepatic alterations. A study was performed in post partum dairy cows (N = 151), as an animal model of human nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), to test these hypotheses. Five Transc and five Intraop US liver images were acquired in each animal and a liver biopsy was taken. In liver tissue samples, triacylglycerol (TAG) content was measured by biochemical analysis and hepatic alterations, other than hepatic steatosis, were excluded by clinical examination. Several preprocessing steps were performed before the ultrasound tissue characteristics (UTC) parameters of B-mode images were derived. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed on a training set (N = 76) and the results were used on the test group (N = 75) to predict the TAG content in the liver. In all cases, the residual attenuation coefficient (ResAtt) was the only selected parameter. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was applied to assess the performance and area under the curve (AUC) of predicting TAG and to compare the sensitivity and specificity of the methods used. High ROC values for AUC (95%), sensitivity (87%) and specificity (83%) for both Intraop and Transc applications with control group as well as with phantom-based AGC were obtained. Consequently, it can be concluded that Transc results are equivalent to Intraop results. Furthermore, equivalent ROC values, when using TMP AGC, indicates the potential use of TMP-based corrections instead of normal group-based corrections. The high predictive values indicate that noninvasive quantitative US has a great potential for staging and screening on hepatic steatosis in cows.