• 한국임상수의학회지
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.77-81
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• 2007

본 연구는 개에서 심장사상충을 검출하기 위하여 표준검사를 적용하지 않은 상황에서 중합연쇄반응검사 (PCR)의 진단 능력을 평가하였다. 효소면역검사법 (ELISA)과 PCR 검사를 동시에 사용한 경우 PCR 검사의 민감도와 특이도는 두 검사의 조건부 독립을 가정한 상태에서expectation-maximization (EM) 알고리즘을 이용한 최대우도법과 Bayesian 기법으로 두 집단 검사 모형으로 분석하였다 2002-2004년 기간 중 심장사상충검사 결과를 기록한 의무기록에서 무작위로 266개 결과를 추출하여 133개씩 2회의 시험으로 배치하였다. 2회의 분석결과를 종합할 때 EM 알고리즘에서 PCR 검사의 민감도와 특이도는 각각 96.4-96.7%와 97.6-98.8%, Bayesian기법에서는 94.4-94.8h와 97.1-98%로 추정되었다. PCR 검사는 심장사상충을 스크리닝하는 도구로 유용하며, 표준검사를 적용하지 않은 상황에서 진단검사의 특성을 추론하는 방법으로 Bayesian 기법은 매우 유용함을 확인하였다.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제52권6호
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• pp.691-694
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to conduct a survey of Dirofilaria immitis infection among stray cats in Korea using nested PCR. We included 235 stray cats (121 females and 114 males) and evaluated each for the presence of feline heartworm infection. Blood samples were collected from 135 cats in Daejeon, 50 cats in Seoul, and 50 cats from Gyeonggi-do (Province). Of the 235 DNA samples, 14 (6.0%) were positive for D. immitis. The prevalence of infection in male cats (8/114, 7.0%) tended to be higher than that in female cats (6/121, 5.0%), but the difference was not statistically significant. In each location, 8, 2, and 4 cats were positive for infection, respectively, based on DNA testing. No significant differences in the prevalence were observed among the geographic regions, although the rate of infection was higher in Gyeonggi-do (8.0%) than Daejeon (5.9%) and Seoul (4.0%). We submitted 7 of the 14 D. immitis DNA-positive samples for sequencing analysis. All samples corresponded to partial D. immitis cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene sequences with 99% homology to the D. immitis sequence deposited in GenBank (accession no. FN391553). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first survey using nested PCR to analyze the prevalence of D. immitis in stray cats in Korea.

• 대한수의학회지
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• 제54권1호
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• pp.53-54
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• 2014

This study was conducted to determine the serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI) concentrations in clinically normal (uninfected) Korean Jindo dogs and those infected with Dirofilaria (D.) immitis. Forty Korean Jindo dogs (22 females, 18 males) were obtained from two kennels in the Boryeong area of Chungnam Province and the Daejeon area, Korea. Significantly higher cTnI concentrations were observed in D. immitis-infected dogs than clinically normal dogs. cTnI testing in addition to thoracic radiography, echocardiography, and electrocardiography shows promise as an additional method for diagnosis of heartworm infection.

• 한국동물위생학회지
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.155-164
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• 2007

This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of canine heartworm infections, canine brucellosis and hematologic values from 153 free roaming dogs in the area of Gwangju city from March to November 2006. Nineteen (12.4%) of 153 samples tested with modified Knott's technique showed positive reaction for microfilariae. Polymerase chain reaction using specific primers for D immitis amplified the expected product from all samples of 19 microfilaremic canine blood samples as determined by the modified Knott's test for microfilariae. The seasonal infection rates of microfilariae were higher in the spring season (10/19, 52.6%) than in the other seasons. The major hematological findings in microfilaremic dogs were mild leukocytosis and mild monocytosis. A total of 100 dogs randomly selected from 153 free roaming dogs were negative for canine brucellosis by serological test using immunochromatographic antibody test kit.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제55권6호
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• pp.673-677
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• 2017

The present study was performed to investigate the seroprevalence and risk factors for Dirofilaria immitis infection in cats from Liaoning province, northeastern China. From October 2014 to September 2016, sera of 651 cats, including 364 domestic cats and 287 feral cats (332 females and 319 males) were assessed. They were tested for the presence of D. immitis antigen using SNAP Heartworm RT test kit. In this population, the average prevalence was 4.5%. Age and rearing conditions (feral or domestic) were found to be associated with the prevalence of D. immitis. The prevalence was significantly higher in feral cats compared with domestic cats (8.4% vs 1.4%, P<0.01). There was no significant difference between males and females (4.7% vs 4.2%, P>0.05), but older cats (${\geq}3$ years old) showed a statistically higher prevalence compared with younger cats (<3 years old) in feral populations (16.8 vs 2.4%, P<0.01), while the difference between the age groups was not statistically significant in domestic cats (2.4% vs 0.51%, P>0.05), all these results suggest that outdoor exposure time may be one of the most important factors for D. immitis prevalence in cats. Results reveal that D. immitis are prevalence in domestic and feral cats in northeastern China, which indicates that appropriate preventive measures should be taken to decrease the incidence of feline heartworm disease in Liaoning province, northeastern China.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제52권1호
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• pp.21-26
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• 2014

Dirofilaria immitis (heartworm) infections affect domestic dogs, cats, and various wild mammals with increasing incidence in temperate and tropical areas. More sensitive antibody detection methodologies are required to diagnose asymptomatic dirofilariasis with low worm burdens. Applying current transcriptomic technologies would be useful to discover potential diagnostic markers for D. immitis infection. A filarial homologue of the mammalian translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) was initially identified by screening the assembled transcriptome of D. immitis (DiTCTP). A BLAST analysis suggested that the DiTCTP gene shared the highest similarity with TCTP from Loa loa at protein level (97%). A histidine-tagged recombinant DiTCTP protein (rDiTCTP) of 40 kDa expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) showed immunoreactivity with serum from a dog experimentally infected with heartworms. Localization studies illustrated the ubiquitous presence of rDiTCTP protein in the lateral hypodermal chords, dorsal hypodermal chord, muscle, intestine, and uterus in female adult worms. Further studies on D. immitis-derived TCTP are warranted to assess whether this filarial protein could be used for a diagnostic purpose.

• 대한수의학회지
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.297-307
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• 2009

Animal shelters are potentially vulnerable to constant exposure to a variety of diseases for both animals and humans, because thousands of animals with unknown histories are being admitted to each shelter on a yearly basis in Korea. The control of disease spread, therefore, can be a major challenge to veterinarians in most shelters. This study investigated the health status of stray dogs admitted to the Gwangju Animal Shelter during the year of 2008, and analyzed types of disorders at the time of admission as well as newly acquired diseases while housed in the shelter. Canine heartworm disease was the most prevalent infection among stray dogs at the time of admission, while the respiratory disorder was the most common shelteracquired disease. The majority of dogs (93.5%) was either small or middle-sized breeds with Maltese (19.7%) and Shih Tzu (16.0%) being the most commonly found stray dogs. Out of 1,143 dogs admitted to the shelter, owners of 128 dogs (11.2%) visited the shelter and found their lost dogs, while 518 dogs (45.3%) were adopted to new families. Results of this study strongly indicate that stray dogs in Korea are exposed to a variety of diseases and the disease control by veterinarians is one of the most important aspects of the shelter management.

• 한국임상수의학회지
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.92-94
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• 2002

천연기념물 제 331호인 식욕목 바다표범과 포유류인 수컷 잔점박이 물범(harbor seal, Phoca vitulina) 1마리가 폐사되어 부검을 의뢰하였다. 포획시기는 불명확하지만 연령은 10세로 추정되는 물범은 체중이 약 90kg이고 체장140cm이며, 4여년 동안 동물원에서 전시되었다가 폐사하였다. 부검시 심장에서는 선충 2마리가 발견되었다. 이 성충 2마리중 길이가 14cm인 수컷 1마리는 우심방에서 발견되었고, 죄심방에서는 길이가 28cm인 암컷 1마리가 발견되었다. 검사결과 본 선충은 심장 사상충 (Dirofilaria immitis)으로 판명되었고, 동물원 풀장에서 서식하는 동안 감염된 것으로 생각된다.