Assessment of vitamin E levels, selenium levels and presence of viral pathogens as the etiology of mulberry heart disease

摘要

Mulberry heart disease (MHD) in swine usually manifests as sudden death in young, fast-growing, apparently healthy pigs. The hallmark lesions are acute hemorrhagic myocarditis and myocardial necrosis resulting in heart failure. It has long been suspected that MHD is linked to deficient levels of vitamin E and/or selenium.5'7,8,10 However, this relationship is still unclear and vitamin E and selenium deficiency are not observed in all cases of MHD.3 Furthermore, recent evidence suggests that infectious disease may be associated with similar heart lesions in pigs. Veterinarians and producers need better diagnostic tools and clarity on etiology, thereby allowing them to select the most cost effective implementation strategy for MHD. To clarify ongoingand recently increased questions concerning the etiology of MHD, we investigated the relationship between MHD and vitamin E, selenium, and 13 other mineral levels in heart and liver tissues. Additionally, several PCR assays were conducted on heart tissues to explore a possible relationship between viral pathogens and MHD.