In studies of serum, in the early 1930s, from patients with pneumonia, a factor was found. It could agglutinate certain pneumococcal species. This factor, which later became known as C-reactive protein (CRP), increased sharply during the early and middle stages of the disease. CRP was identified as an acute phase protein and found especially in bacterial infections. CRP is synthesized in the Liver by stimulation of interleukin 6 (IL-6), which is produced by the monocytes, and consists of five non-covalently bound subunits.The aim of this study was to compare two different analytical instruments (Vitros 5.1 FS Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics and QuikRead CRP Orion Diagnostica) for CRP analysis.

The level of cadmium (Cd) in Swedish arable land has increased during the last century and the average concentration of Cd in the plough layer is today 0.23 mg/kg. The increase is mainly due to anthropogenic activities such as phosphorus fertilizing, liming, import of feed, and atmospheric deposition from industrial emissions. Cadmium in the soil will be taken up by crops and is thereby transferred to humans via food. Carrot is one of the crops of concern, both because it may contain quite high Cd concentrations and due to the large consumption in Sweden. In the body, Cd is stored mainly in the Liver and the kidneys and may cause several diseases already at low concentrations.

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element that is involved in several physiological functions in mammals. Mostly, Se is bound to proteins, many of them with enzymatic functions. A group of seleno-depending enzymes, glutathione peroxidases (GSH-Px?s), are important as antioxidants and protects against free radicals. The activity of GSH-Px is strongly regulated by Se storage in the Liver.

Every spring you can see newborn foals running on fields among the mare. But some unfortunate end up visiting the equine hospital requiring surgery. This is a challenge for the anesthetist because of the neonatal foal?s unique physiology. Therefore you need to take these differences under consideration when you anesthetize foals.

Acrylamide (AM) is a commonly used monomer in the manufacture of polyacrylamide. In addition, AM has been found in heated foods that are rich in starch. The main dietary sources in Sweden tend to be crisps, French fries, fried potatoes, crisp bread, cookies and coffee. Un-fortunately, dietary intake of AM has in several studies been shown to cause cancer in ro-dents. Consequently, the compound is currently regarded as a potential carcinogen in hu-mans.

This study was the first part of a larger project investigating a new surveillance method for Echinococcus multilocularis. In this study we examined Livers from wild boar (Sus scrofa), looking for lesions caused by E. multilocularis. E. multilocularis is a small tapeworm which has an indirect life cycle.

Hemoplus® (Sarstedt, Nümbrecht, Tyskland) is a guaiac-based fecal occult blood test developed for human medicine. Guaiac-based tests make use of the pseudoperoxidase activity of hemoglobin so the test is not specific for human hemoglobin and can therefore be used in veterinary medicine. Peroxidase-containing foods such as meat (hemoglobin and myoglobin) can cause false-positive results of the test. To ensure that a positive result is not caused by diet, it has been suggested that canine patients should be fed a meatless diet for a few days prior to fecal occult blood testing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of commercial dog food on guaiac-based tests. In this study fecal samples from healthy dogs were analyzed with Hemoplus®.

Mykotoxinet fumonisin B1 som förekommer i hela världen på framförallt majs, har visats ge upphov till flera olika toxiska effekter hos en mängd olika djurslag. De mest specifika är leukoencefalomalaci hos häst (ELEM) och lungödem hos gris (PPE), men även skador i lever, njurar och hjärt-kärlsystemet samt carcinogenicitet har observerats. Effekterna skiljer sig en hel del mellan olika djurslag, vilket den här uppsatsen syftade att hitta möjliga anledningar till. Dessutom var syftet att sammanställa information om fumonisins verkningsmekanismer ? både bekräftade och mer osäkra sådana, samt beskriva de toxiska effekterna hos olika djur och i olika organ och även ta upp diagnosticering, vilken dos som krävs för att orsaka sjukdom samt jämföra de rekommenderade gränsvärden som har satts upp för fumonisiner i foder med forskningsresultat.

The purpose with this study was to analyze the possibilities to produce organic lambs and to hihglight the most common difficulties in such a production system. A description of current organic and conventional lamb production systems was conducted, both from Sweden and from some other countries. The Department of Animal Environment and Health at SLU in Skara performed the project together with The County Board of Agriculture in Västra Götaland and Värmland and The Swedish Animal Health Service. The project lasted from 2002 to 2004. The student report contains the years 2002 and 2003. In the year of 2003 there were 210 000 adult sheep in Sweden, of which 16 400 adult sheep were certified by KRAV. Of the different countries in Sweden, Västra Götaland and Gotland had the largest number of sheep, 14 and 13 per cent of the total number.