Histological observations of the brains of symptom-less adult cattle (abstract)

Authors: Johnstone AC, Thompson KG
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 53, Issue 1, pp 94, Feb 2005
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Cattle, Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant
Subject Terms: Nervous system/neurology, Pathology
Article class: Abstract

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Abstract: Abnormal findings in a single section of the brainstem at the level of the rostral colliculus that included the red nucleus of 396 clinically normal ≥3-year-old cattle are reported. Neurons containing sometimes multiple intracytoplasmic vacuoles with large, round and distinct cytoplasmic margins were observed in the red nucleus of 259 (65%) animals. In 98 animals, only one affected neuron was identified, but in many cattle >1 neuron was vacuolated, with a maximum of 18 in one animal. The occurrence of such vacuoles in this and other locations in the brain of domestic animals is well documented in the literature, notably in the red nucleus of cattle and the dorsal motor nucleus of sheep and goats, and are frequently recognised in the red nucleus of deer in New Zealand. Focal areas of spongiosis were identified in the substantia nigra of 33 (8.3%) cattle, a lesion described previously in clinically normal animals. The vacuoles occurred in bundles of white matter and their morphology was consistent with intramyelinic oedema. Other areas of the brainstem (medulla oblongata at obex and cerebellar peduncle) examined in the cattle were normal.

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