Inherited erythrocytic pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency is an autosomal recessive hemolytic disorder described in dogs and cats. Pyruvate kinase is one of two key-regulatory enzymes in the anaerobic glycolytic pathway, and its deficiency causes premature destruction of the ATP-depleted red cells. This case study reports the clinical and laboratory findings in a West Highland White Terrier (WHWT) dog with a life-long history of weakness and exercise intolerance from Brazil. The dog was found to have persistently profound pallor, a highly regenerative hemolytic anemia and osteosclerosis. PK deficiency was confirmed by a breed-specific DNA test for the previously described 6 bp insertion at 3' end of exon 10 in red blood cell (RBC) R- PK gene sequence. The dog was euthanized at 20 months of age due to the deterioration of its clinical condition including anemia and blood incompatibility. Other PK-deficient WHWTs have lived as long as 9 years. Hereditary red cell defects are important differential diagnoses for chronic hemolytic anemias in younger animals after excluding immune-mediated and infectious causes. Furthermore, purebred dogs for which DNA tests for hereditary diseases are available should be screened prior to breeding in order to limit the spread of the mutant allele and to avoid future production of PK-deficient animals.

La deficiencia de piruvato quinasa (PK) es un desorden hemolítico autosómico recesivo descrito en perros y gatos. La piruvato quinasa es una de las enzimas regulatorias esenciales de la glicólisis anaeróbica, la deficiencia de esta enzima causa una destrucción prematura de los eritrocitos. El presente es un estudio de caso y relata los hallazgos clínicos y paraclínicos en un perro brasileño de la raza West Highland White Terrier (WHWT) con historia de debilidad e intolerancia al ejercicio. El paciente presentaba mucosas pálidas, anemia hemolítica bastante regenerativa y osteoclerosis. La deficiencia de PK fue confirmada a través de una prueba de ADN raza específica para la inserción 6bp en el extremo 3' del exón 10 de la secuencia del gen de la piruvato quinasa eritrocitaria (R-PK) como fue descrito. Al perro se le practicó eutanasia a los 20 meses de edad debido al deterioro de su estado clínico, el cual incluyó anemia e incompatibilidad sanguínea. En otros casos descritos en perros de la raza WHWT con esta deficiencia, existen relatos hasta de nueve años de sobrevivencia. Los defectos hereditarios deben ser objeto de diagnóstico diferencial importante en casos de anemias hemolíticas crónicas en animales jóvenes después de la exclusión diagnóstica de disturbios inmunomediados y causas infecciosas. Adicionalmente, perros de razas puras para las cuales la prueba de ADN está disponible para enfermedades hereditarias deben ser evaluados antes de la edad reproductiva para limitar la diseminación del alelo mutante y la generación futura de animales deficientes.

One to 42-d-old (432) female broilers were fed different levels of inorganic selenium (ISe) and organic selenium (OSe), according to the following treatments: (1) 0.3 mg ISe; (2) 0.3 mg ISe + 0.2 mg OSe; (3) 0.5 mg ISe and (4) 0.3 mg OSe/ kg of feed. All birds were vaccinated against infectious bursal disease (IBD) at 19d of age and three birds/replicate (R) were inoculated with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) at 32d. Three other birds/R received Freund's adjuvant at 37d and avian tuberculin (AT) in the wattle at 47d of age. All birds were submitted to heat stress after 21d. Performance parameters, bursa and spleen weights, lymphocyte bursa depletion, antibody (Ab) production against IBD and SRBC, hematocrit, leukocytes, heterophil/lymphocyte ratio (H/L), and cellular reaction to AT were evaluated. The contrast analysis showed that OSe has improved feed intake (FI) between day 1 and 42 (p<0.10). Birds fed ISe presented worse H/L ratio (p<0.10), but higher Ab titers against IBD (p<0.04) and SRBC (p<0.05) than birds fed OSe, but OSe supplemented birds showed lower lymphocyte depletion scores in the bursa. The higher FI promoted by OSe may be beneficial when rearing broilers in hot weather. The use of ISe induced higher humoral immune response