VN July 2020

Vetnews | July 2020 39 Researchers at four universities have said they have made a significant breakthrough in scientists’ understanding of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). SCC affects horses’ genitalia, eyes or the skin around the eyes, and tumours typically have a guarded to poor prognosis. Therapy has a variable success and euthanasia on welfare grounds is common in many cases. Collaboration Researchers at the RVC, King’s College London (KCL), The University of Edinburgh and University College London (UCL) have published a study in Scientific Reports that used both “classical” anatomic histopathology assessment and artificial intelligence to demonstrate a correlation between chronic inflammation, equine papillomavirus infection and progression of equine penile SCC. Additional cancer-related signalling molecules, which are important in researchers’ understanding of human penile cancer, were also studied, and the results obtained will lead to a much better understanding and treatment of the cancer. Earlier study The work followed earlier research by the RVC’s Alejandro Suárez- Bonnet and Simon Priestnall that showed equine SCC affecting the Photo Alexandr Frolov, CC BY-SA Bits and Bobs I Stukkies en Brokkies penis frequently acquires the ability to degrade the extracellular matrix and become much more biologically aggressive. This is known as “epithelial to mesenchymal transition”. Prof Priestnall, professor of veterinary anatomic pathology at the RVC, said:“Equine SCC is the second most common type of cancer in horses, with a variable prognosis, so we are delighted to have made this breakthrough that provides a greater understanding and can lead to more effective treatments for horses and their owners. (Source: www.vettimes.co.uk ) v Study highlights impact of climate change on freshwater fish Rising water temperature could affect the cognitive abilities of minnows. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology found that fish may undergo significant psychological changes when adapting to rising water temperatures, which could affect their ability to find food. In the study, scientists set out to see if living in warm water could affect cold-blooded freshwater fish. They fished minnows from the River Kelvin, located close to the university, and split them into two groups. The team raised one group of minnows in a tank filled with water at the usual temperature of 14°C, the others were raised in tanks heated to 20°C – the predicted temperature of the River Kelvin by the end of the 21st century. They spent the following eight months observing eachminnow's physiology andbehaviour, paying special attention to how they interacted with their environment. Photo: DifferenceBetween, CC by SA By measuring the minnows' oxygen consumption at rest and during exercise, researchers found that the fish in warmer tanks used more energy in both states, suggesting their metabolisms had increased as they adapted to the heat. The teamalsonoted thatminnows fromthewarmer tanks developed bigger brains than the cooler fish. But despite the increase in brain size, their performance was significantly poorer in a test designed to measure their ability to navigate and find food. “While the minnows we studied were able to adapt to live in the warmer water, their reduced ability to find their way around in order to catch food does raise some questions,” said lead author Dr Libor Zavorka. “Although we found their brains were larger, they seemed less able to accomplish the simple tasks that minnows carry out every day.” She continued: “It’s likely that the expansion of brain tissue isn’t accompanied by an expansion of neural density, so their brains don’t provide any additional benefits for being larger. Brain tissue requires a lot of energy to maintain, so it’s likely that the minnows’ bigger brains act solely as a drain on their resources. “As their metabolisms increase to cope with the larger brains and the increased temperature of the water, they will need to eat more to fuel their bodies – but if they are less able to find food efficiently, they will need to spend more energy looking for it.” (Source: https://mrcvs.co.uk) v Study breakthrough for common equine cancer