Pathology of Coronavirus Infections: A Review of Lesions in Animals in the One-Health Perspective

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are worldwide distributed RNA-viruses affecting several species, including humans, and causing a broad spectrum of diseases. Historically, they have not been considered a severe threat to public health until two outbreaks of COVs-related atypical human pneumonia derived from animal hosts appeared in 2002 and in 2012. The concern related to CoVs infection dramatically rose after the COVID-19 global outbreak, for which a spill-over from wild animals is also most likely. In light of this CoV zoonotic risk, and their ability to adapt to new species and dramatically spread, it appears pivotal to understand the pathophysiology and mechanisms of tissue injury of known CoVs within the "One-Health" concept. This review specifically describes all CoVs diseases in animals, schematically representing the tissue damage and summarizing the major lesions in an attempt to compare and put them in relation, also with human infections. Some information on pathogenesis and genetic diversity is also included. Investigating the lesions and distribution of CoVs can be crucial to understand and monitor the evolution of these viruses as well as of other pathogens and to further deepen the pathogenesis and transmission of this disease to help public health preventive measures and therapies.

Monoarticular juvenile chronic arthritis of the shoulder. Report of a case and review of the literature

In 20% of the cases Juvenile Chronic Arthritis (JCA) has a monoarticular onset. Usually the inflammatory process spreads out to other joints with pauciarticular or polyarticular course. Very rarely the disease persists in one joint only and this is in about 70% of the cases, the knee. We describe a case of Monoarticular JCA with isolate and persistent involvement of the shoulder never reported in the literature. The clinical, pathologic features and different diagnoses are discussed.

Severe gastroenteropathy associated with Clostridium perfringens isolation in starving juvenile sturgeons

In November 2020 a mortality episode (30%) in juvenile Siberian and Russian sturgeons (Acipenser baerii, Brandt, and A. gueldenstaedtii, Brandt & Ratzeburg) and GUBA hybrid sturgeons (A. gueldenstaedtii × A. baerii) occurred in a hatchery in Northern Italy, associated with severe coelomic distension and abnormal reverse surface swimming. The fish were reared in concrete tanks supplied by well water, fed at 0.4% of body weight (b.w.) per day. Thirty sturgeon specimens were collected for necropsy, histological, bacteriological and virological examination. Macroscopic findings included diffuse and severe bloating of gastrointestinal tracts due to foamy contents with thinning and stretching of the gastrointestinal walls. Histological analysis revealed variable degrees of sloughing and necrosis of the intestinal epithelium, and the presence of bacterial aggregates. Anaerobic Gram-positive bacteria were investigated, and Clostridium perfringens was isolated from the gut. Specific PCRs identified the toxinotype A and the β2 toxin gene. The daily feed administration was increased to 1.5% b.w. and after 5 days, the mortality ceased. A new animal cohort from the same groups was examined after 12 weeks, showing neither gut alterations nor isolation of C. perfringens. The imbalance of intestinal microbiota, presumably caused by underfeeding, favoured C. perfringens overgrowth and severe gas formation. The diet increase possibly restored the normal microbiota.

Juvenile arthritis in Turner's syndrome: a multicenter study

OBJECTIVE

Turner's syndrome (TS) is a disorder associated with characteristic defects in the X chromosome. Autoimmune conditions such as thyroiditis, inflammatory bowel diseases and diabetes have been described in association with TS.

METHODS

We have studied the association between TS and juvenile arthritis (JA) by using a survey in which 28 pediatric rheumatology centers (15 in the USA, 10 in Europe, and 3 in Canada) participated.

RESULTS

Eighteen cases of TS in a population of approximately 15,000 JRA patients have been found. Two different patterns of arthritis were present: polyarticular (7) and oligoarticular (11). Children with polyarticular disease had early onset, seronegative, progressively deforming arthritis and growth retardation. Those with oligoarticular arthritis had a benign course and were ANA+ (8/11). The oligoarticular children had varying karyotypes whereas almost all of the polyarthritic patients shared the same 45X0 karyotype (6/7). The light and electron microscopic studies of synovium performed in two patients showed chronic inflammation and hyperplasia of the synovial lining cells, vascular proliferation and infiltration with lymphocytes, plasma cells and mononuclear phagocytes.

CONCLUSION

Juvenile arthritis is a new autoimmune condition association with Turner's syndrome. The prevalence seems to be at least six times greater than would be expected if the two conditions were only randomly associated. This is the first description of the synovium in Turner's syndrome; no differences from other forms of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis were found.

Evaluation of TFR-1 Expression in Feline Mammary Cancer and In Vitro Antitumor Efficacy Study of Doxorubicin-Loaded H-Ferritin Nanocages

Simple Summary

Transferrin receptor one (TFR-1), recognized by ferritin, is overexpressed in many tumor cells. This feature has been exploited to produce a selective overload of drugs within tumor cells by creating an engineered ferritin nanocage loaded with doxorubicin (HFn(DOX)). This bionanotechnology has been tested in human cancer, but there are no studies in veterinary oncology. This work, after evaluating the expression of TFR-1 in feline tumors, demonstrated for the first time the effectiveness in vitro of this nanocage in animals. These results confirm that engineered bionanocages also offer unprecedented opportunities for animal cancer to be applied in veterinary medicine and in comparative studies including spontaneous animal models of cancer.

Abstract

The transferrin receptor 1 (TFR-1) has been found overexpressed in a broad range of solid tumors in humans and is, therefore, attracting great interest in clinical oncology for innovative targeted therapies, including nanomedicine. TFR-1 is recognized by H-Ferritin (HFn) and has been exploited to allow selective binding and drug internalization, applying an HFn nanocage loaded with doxorubicin (HFn(DOX)). In veterinary medicine, the role of TFR-1 in animal cancers remains poorly explored, and no attempts to use TFR-1 as a target for drug delivery have been conducted so far. In this study, we determined the TFR-1 expression both in feline mammary carcinomas during tumor progression, as compared to healthy tissue, and, in vitro, in a feline metastatic mammary cancer cell line. The efficacy of HFn(DOX) was compared to treatment with conventional doxorubicin in feline mammary cancer cells. Our results highlighted an increased TFR-1 expression associated with tumor metastatic progression, indicating a more aggressive behavior. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the use of HFn(DOX) resulted in less proliferation of cells and increased apoptosis when compared to the drug alone. The results of this preliminary study suggest that the use of engineered bionanocages also offers unprecedented opportunities for selective targeted chemotherapy of solid tumors in veterinary medicine.