Histochemical and morphometric studies of peripheral muscle in bovine progressive degenerative myeloencephalopathy of brown Swiss cattle.
Histochemical and morphometric analysis of selected skeletal muscles was performed on 14 pure bred, Brown Swiss cattle. Nine cattle were clinically affected with bovine progressive degenerative myeloencephalopathy (BPDME) while five served as controls. Statistically significant trend differences were not observed for the parameters of mean cross sectional area, and mean fiber type percentages for types, I, IIA, and IIB fibers between affected and control test groups. In general, patterns of hypertrophy or atrophy, fiber type grouping, fiber type predominance, or fiber cross sectional profile alteration were not observed in the muscles examined from affected cattle. The findings suggest that BPDME, or weaver syndrome, is not a muscular dystrophy and that muscle pathology is not a primary part of the syndrome nor would muscle pathology be expected to contribute significantly to the clinical signs of the disease.
Oyster
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R
Department of Veterinary Diagnosis, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506.
Leipold
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HW
Troyer
D
D
Cash
W
W
Johnson
D
D
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*