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Iowa State University Veterinarian: Volume 45, Issue 2
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Our knowledge of selenium deficiency as a cause of animal disease has increased since 1973, when the role of selenium (Se) in glutathione peroxidase was discovered. Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) works with vitamin E in the cytosol to prevent cell membrane damage. Selenium deficiency causes nutritional myopathy (white muscle disease) in young calves and yearlings. It is also implicated in a sudden death syndrome in calves less than three months old from acute myocardial degeneration.
The modern dairy cow has become a refined "biological machine." Hers is a background of production-oriented breeding and management practices that seek to maximize lactation capabilities. Such emphasis on these capabilities is not without consequence, however, and the dairy cow has acquired maladies that are uncommon in other members of the bovine species. This paper will review a problem that is more or less unique to dairy cows.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease affecting multiple systems and has been reported in humans, dogs, and cats. Although known since the 19th century in humans, SLE was not recognized in the dog until 1965. Since the first case report, a number of cases have been documented in the dog. On the other hand, the firs case of SLE to be suspected in a cat was in 1971, and only five further cases have appeared in the literature.
The control of estrus, and more importantly ovulation, may be desirable in a breeding program to service an animal at a predetermined time, to synchronize ovulation in a group of mares, or to spread ovulations over a prolonged period of time according to the various needs of managing the breeding animals. Ideally, the goal would be to control ovulation with enough precision that breeding could be done without the necessity of estrus detection.
This article contains news pertaining to the students and faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine.