Master of Veterinary Biomedical Science / Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology / Michael W. Dryden / Patricia A. Payne / Giardiasis is a common intestinal protozal parasitic infection of the pet dog and cat population. Veterinarians often have difficulty correctly diagnosing this parasite. Studies were conducted to compare the zinc sulfate double centrifuge fecal flotation to the SNAP (registered trademark) Giardia fecal ELISA test manufactured by IDEXX laboratories Inc. in purpose bred beagles and shelter and commercial kennel dogs. In these evaluations the zinc sulfate double centrifuge fecal flotation and fecal ELISA test performed similarly. Both tests performed better in the shelter and commercial kennel dog population than the chronically infected purpose bred beagles. There was an increase in number of positive animals identified when 3 consecutive daily samples were evaluated as compared to any one individual day for either test method. Post treatment evaluation of the diagnostic tests was performed in 23 laboratory beagles. Each beagle was treated for 3 consecutive days with Drontal plus and then bathed on the last day of treatment and fecal samples were collected from the treated dogs every other day starting one day post treatment for 21 days. It was found that all beagles were negative on zinc sulfate double centrifugation fecal flotation, fecal ELISA and IFA within 24 hours of treatment and nineteen (82.6%) of the beagles did not re-shed cysts during the 21 day post-treatment evaluation period. Four beagles returned to shedding cysts (Flotation or IFA positive) between days 17 and 21. These findings suggest that a positive test within a week of treatment is likely the result of inappropriate treatment. After the prepatent period, positive results may occur due to a return to shedding, reinfection or inappropriate treatment. Chronically infected laboratory beagles may not be a good model for acute Giardia infections as these dogs are rarely clinically ill and detection is more difficult.

Giardia intestinalis is the most common parasite found in dogs and cats. It is traditionally diagnosed using a microscope. These methods include direct immunofluorescence, DIF, and zinc sulphate centrifugal flotation, ZnSO4 C-flotation. However, there are commercially available SNAP tests such as the FASTest® GIARDIA strip that is often used by dogs and cats owner to detect Giardia. The aim of this study was to compare the sensitivity, cost and labor intensity of these three methods for detection of Giardia. To investigate this, 150 samples from dogs and cats were examined at the National Veterinary Institute in Sweden. The samples were a mixture of diarrheic and non-diarrheic stool. Of the 150 stool samples 100 samples were examined with FASTest® GIARDIA strip while 150 samples were examined with DIF and ZnSO4 C-flotation. The results indicated that FASTest® GIARDIA strip had a sensitivity of 66.18 %, a cost of 100 Swedish crowns (SEK) per sample and was the easiest test to use. ZnSO4 C-flotation had a sensitivity of 89.90 %, cost 418.75 SEK and took about 15 minutes to perform. DIF had 100 % sensitivity and specificity and due to that it was used as a standard reference method. The cost for DIF was 300 SEK and took more than an hour to perform per sample. The conclusion from this study is that, FASTest® GIARDIA strip is not a recommended test for detection of Giardia despite their low cost and easiness to use. DIF and ZnSO4 C-flotation remain a better diagnostic option for detection of Giardia.

Giardia is a parasite that causes disease in both humans and animals all around the world. Approximately 200 million people are infected each year. The parasite is spread mainly through contact with contaminated feces but can also be spread through food and water contaminated with infectious cysts. Symptoms that may occur during infection could be diarrhea and abdominal pain. Not all host organisms get symptoms and there are lots of asymptomatic carriers. The aim of this report was to compare and evaluate the performance of three different methods used to detect Giardia in dogs and cats. Today the gold standard is detecting cysts with immunofluorescence, which was one of the methods evaluated. One cyst visible was enough to say the test was positive. The other two methods were an ELISA and a rapid test, and both detected soluble Giardia antigen. For both methods, color development occurred in case of positive results. The ELISA wells were read spectrophotometrically at 450 nm. During this project, 294 tests from randomly chosen dogs and cats were analyzed. Of all these tests, 103 were analyzed with all three methods, whereas 191 tests were only analyzed with immunofluorescence and ELISA. When analyzing the results, the number of positive test results was very similar between the three methods and there was no statistically significant difference between them. Therefore, when price, time and results were taken into consideration, the method recommended was ELISA.

Orientadores: Theo Guenter Kieckbusch, Valdecir Luccas / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Quimica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T18:45:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Quast_LedaBattestin_D.pdf: 1972832 bytes, checksum: a34ffd60e85d88858ba49961e507cd34 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: A influência da incorporação de gorduras alternativas low e zero trans na cristalização da manteiga de cacau foi avaliada através da caracterização física de misturas binárias de manteiga de cacau com gordura de cupuaçu, gordura CBR low trans e gordura CBS, nas proporções de 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 e 30 %. O processo de pré-cristalização (temperagem) foi realizado em um reator encamisado de escala piloto dotado de um agitador e com capacidade para 700 mL. As amostras foram caracterizadas através da curva de sólidos, tensão de ruptura (snap test), calorimetria diferencial de varredura e difração de raios-X. A melhor condição de pré-cristalização da manteiga de cacau pura (taxa de resfriamento de 1,8 ºC/min, cristalização à 24 ºC por um tempo de 8 minutos) também foi utilizada nos ensaios com as misturas, com exceção das amostras com 20, 25 e 30 % de CBR e CBS que foram pré-cristalizadas a 23 ºC por 10 minutos. A manteiga de cacau apresentou um perfil de fusão de gordura na boca, DS(25ºC-35ºC), de 59,2 %, que sofreu apenas pequenas alterações com a adição de até 20 % de cupuaçu e até 30 % de CBR. A curva do conteúdo de sólidos sugere a formação de um eutético entre a manteiga de cacau e a gordura CBS. A tensão de ruptura para a manteiga de cacau foi de 2,48 kgf/cm2 e a adição das gorduras tende a diminuí-la, sendo que com 30 % de cupuaçu e 30 % de CBR esse valor foi 1,90 kgf/cm2 e 1,81 kgf/cm2, respectivamente. Para a amostra com 30 % de CBS a tensão de ruptura baixou para 0,39 kgf/cm2. Observou-se uma diminuição do ponto de fusão das misturas quando comparadas à da manteiga de cacau pura. A difração de raios-X identificou a forma cristalina b como predominante para a manteiga de cacau e para a gordura de cupuaçu enquanto que para as gorduras CBR e CBS a principal forma cristalina é a b'. A incorporação de apenas 10 % das gorduras CBR e CBS à manteiga de cacau promoveu interferências na estruturação cristalina das amostras. O estudo indicou ser possível adicionar até 30 % de gordura de cupuaçu ou CBR e até 10 % de gordura CBS sem alterar de forma sensível os atributos físicos da manteiga de cacau / Abstract: Physical properties of pre-crystallized cocoa butter with the addition of alternative low and zero trans fats were studied. Binary mixtures of cocoa butter were conducted using cupuassu fat, CBR low trans and CBS at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 % (w/w) levels. Pre-crystallization was carried out using a lab scale jacket vessel (700 mL) whit stirring system. Samples were evaluated by means of solid fat content, snap test, differential scanning calorimetry and X-Ray diffraction. The better condition for plain cocoa butter pre-crystallization was determined as follows: cooling rate (1,8 ºC/min), crystallization time (8 minutes), crystallization temperature (24 ºC). These conditions were also used for mixtures precrystallization (tempering). Mixtures with 20, 25 and 30 % of CBR and CBS were pre-crystallized at 23 ºC for 10 minutes. Regarding to solid fat content, cocoa butter fusion profile DS(25ºC-35ºC) was 59,2 %. Similar values were obtained for mixtures with up to 30 % of cupuassu and up to 30 % of CBR fats. Mixtures with CBS fat indicated eutectic effect. Snap value for crystallized cocoa butter was 2,48 kgf/cm2. The snap values decreased with the increase of the alternative fats proportion. Mixtures containing cupuassu fat or CBR have similar trend regarding to snap values profile. For mixtures with 30 % of cupuassu and CBR the snap values were 1,90 kgf/cm2 and 1,81 kgf/cm2, respectively. CBS 30% have the lowest snap value (0,39 kgf/cm2). Similar trend was observed regarding to melting point. Alternative fats incorporation decreased the melting point of the mixtures. Regarding to X-Ray diffraction, cocoa butter and cupuassu fat patterns results showed the formation of ß phase. For CBS and CBR patterns, there are evidence of ß¿ phase formation. The addition of 10 % CBR and CBS fat to cocoa butter was detected by X-ray diffraction patterns. The addition of up to 30 % cupuassu or CBR fat, and up to 10 % CBS butter showed no significant differences of physical properties when compared to cocoa butter / Doutorado / Engenharia de Processos / Doutor em Engenharia Química